Innholdsfortegnelse for Edition 102, November 2023-January 2024 i Travel Africa

UNESCO has added six African sites to the 98 already on its World Heritage list. For a different perspective, why not include one or more of these on your next trip to the world's most exciting continent? 2 THE GEDEO CULTURAL LANDSCAPE ETHIOPIA Travel to the steep escarpments of the Ethiopian Highlands to discover sacred forests used by the Gedeo people for religious rituals. Along the mountain ridges you'll find dense clusters of megalithic monuments revered by the Gedeo and cared for by their elders. The landscape is a prime example of agroforestry, where large trees shelter enset crops, under which grow coffee and other shrubs, and the local communities use traditional forest management skills to maintain the area.  1 FOREST MASSIF OF ODZALA – KOKOUA REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO…

Botswana “The queleas move in such numbers that the yellow-billed kites that have come to feed on them are overwhelmed, unable to fix a sole target…” H ere in Botswana's Okavango Delta, even the treetops roar. White noise laps over twisted branches in waves: the cumulative flapping of hundreds of thousands of tiny wings. I'm standing alongside my guide, Robbie Garenamotse, outside my camp in the Shinde Concession in the northern Okavango. We're watching as a nebulous murmuration of thousands of red-billed queleas shifts and merges as one. This immense, amorphous cloud is occasionally shot through with the precise, darting movements of a raptor, each of which emerges without prey in either beak or talon. The queleas move in such numbers that the yellow-billed kites that have come to feed…

Over the last decade I have seen Lapalala evolve from a beautiful conservation area into a world-class game reserve. I have been fortunate to fly over the park many times and see the beauty of the Palala and Kgogong rivers as they carve their way through gorges filled with aloes, waterfalls and stunning rock formations and frequented by black eagles. The reserve has been transformed by a combination of clearing a great deal of dense brushland and opening it up as beautiful grassland, a nutrient-rich soil rehabilitation programme, removing man-made structures and by rewilding additional properties that have been incorporated. A secure perimeter and a very capable and diligent security force has allowed the reintroduction of key predator species such as cheetah, lion, wild dog and hyena, as well as…

Zimbabwe should, by rights, be one of Africa's top tourist destinations. And — easy to forget today — for a few years in the 1990s that's exactly what it was. Adrenaline junkies flocked to Victoria Falls to raft the white waters of the Zambezi and bungee jump from its historic bridge. Safari enthusiasts enjoyed world-class wildlife viewing in the likes of Hwange and Mana Pools. A plethora of scenic highlights, headed by the peerless Victoria Falls, was complemented by a tangible cultural heritage that included the monumental ruined city of Great Zimbabwe and some breathtaking prehistoric rock art sites. Boosted by tourist amenities that catered to every corner of the market, and one of Africa's highest literacy and education levels, Zimbabwe back then was positively pumping, and it felt like…

In recent issues of Travel Africa we've highlighted some of the larger charities — Africa-specific and global — that help conserve Africa's precious biodiversity. Here we look at a selection of the myriad organisations dedicated to protecting individual parks or reserves across the continent, from the shadows of Mt Kenya to the banks of the Zambezi, from vital rainforests to vulnerable ocean environments. Whilst they may be small geographically, compared to the NGO heavyweights, they punch way above their weight when it comes to their impact on communities and conservation, even discovering species new to science and exploring pioneering technology to save critically endangered species. The Malilangwe Trust, Zimbabwe WWW.MALILANGWE.ORG In 1994, the non-profit Malilangwe Trust, founded by philanthropist Paul Tudor Jones II, bought a former cattle ranch in south-west…

Basecamp Explorer, Kenya I have travelled extensively throughout Africa and enjoyed some incredible places in supreme locations with truly wonderful experiences. Today I feel it is important to seek value for money, somewhere without high-end opulence but still providing an excellent experience. Basecamp Masai Mara is one place I can recommend. Here I have enjoyed some wonderful game drives and stayed in comfortable tented accommodation overlooking the Talek River, with views beyond into the Mara Reserve. They have direct access into the reserve via a beautiful cable/rope bridge — no need for lengthy queues at the gates, saving precious time. It is very convenient. The food is delicious and all of the staff here are Maasai — they are so welcoming, the hospitality is superb and your guide will be…

This is Africa “When you get back from the desert, you must come into my shop,” says Ibrahim. “Sure,” I reply, not really intending to. But on returning to M'Hamid, the village that lies at the end of the road before the sand takes over, I can't resist the charming smile on Ibrahim's craggy face. Ibrahim's shop is the proverbial Aladdin's cave, filled with headscarves, shirts, jewellery, alabaster masks, swords, you name it. “Come, come,” he beckons. “I have more.” I enter a backroom. He invites me to sit at his desk as he empties the contents of a Tardis-like drawer of jewellery on to it. Along the wall, piles of rugs catch my eye. Ibrahim unravels a few onto the floor. “How much for this one?’’ I ash. “And…

There are few regions with more satisfying alliterative names than the Waterberg. Places like Bela-Bela, Lapalala, Modimolle and Thabazimbi roll off the lips in a bubble of consonants. But you don't visit the Waterberg for its vocally-pleasing towns and villages. It's big appeal is that it's the easiest and most affordable destination close to Johannesburg for a big game safari or complete immersion in nature. It's a sparsely populated wilderness, and there is considerably less tourist traffic here than Greater Kruger. To “promote solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use” 6,500 square kilometres of the Waterberg was designated the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve (WBR) in 2001. In practice this means that economic development carefully uses the natural resources and protects biodiversity richness. This includes threatened species like the…

Malawi With all the options that Africa offers (54, if you are just counting countries), why do I keep returning to Malawi? Sure, there's the obvious — the friendly people, a relaxed vibe and easy travelling. While that's a big part of it, there is so much more to this landlocked country which, because of that big pond, feels like it's on the coast. It's ultimate bush-tobeach country: you can be watching elephants in the morning and snorkelling with blue zebras in the afternoon; you can go from bartering in Lilongwe's markets to walking in a forest in a jiffy; then there's kayaking, fishing, hiking… Malawi pretty much has it all. 1 NYIKA NATIONAL PARK Malawi's oldest national park offers myriad experiences — game drives, walking safaris, mountain biking or fly…

Dark, foreboding clouds accompanied my first mountain gorilla encounter in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, echoing silverback Makara's angry mood. Minutes after our trackers found three gorillas from the Habinyanja family, the huge male broke our awestruck silence with a scream that shook us to the bones. He rushed towards us waving his fist in the air, his eyes full of fury. Thankfully, he stopped just a couple of metres from us, then begrudgingly backed away. “Something's wrong,” our guide Gard whispered. “There should be 19 gorillas in this group. When the silverback's unhappy, he hides them.” With an almost human expression of petulance, Makara glared at us for a few minutes, then charged again. For four humid hours, we'd trekked along steep paths, through mud, tangled vines and dense vegetation with…

In April this year, 2000 white rhinos — that's 15 per cent of the entire global population — were put up for auction by the owner of the world's largest rhino breeding farm. Not a single bid came in. Nobody, it seemed, was willing to take them on. Their future looked bleak… Thankfully, in September, following urgent feasibility assessments and emergency fundraising, conservation NGO African Parks stepped in, buying the farm and its rhinos, with an unprecedented project to rewild all the animals within ten years. When Donovan Jooste got the call offering him the unique job as African Parks’ Rhino Rewilding Project Manager, his initial thoughts were “this would be massive, absolutely daunting — but absolutely exciting,” he told me from his office in South Africa. “Potentially, within 10…

How did you feel when the fire struck? lla is where it all started for Green Safaris. It was our first lodge — a 10-bedroom property set above the banks of the Kafue River — which made it even harder to deal with when a fire burnt its main boma to the ground in June. Our immediate priority was to ensure the wellbeing of our guests and staff. But the disaster presented an opportunity to rebuild, to create a lodge that is fresh, relevant for today's needs and as eco-friendly as possible. What were your initial thoughts on what you could build? Our guiding principle is to build in such a way that, if a lodge for whatever reason didn't remain, we would be able to hand the land back…

WHY DO SAFARIS MATTER TO YOU? What impact have you had in the safari world, and how has a safari had an impact on you? November 25 is World Safari Day – an initiative conceived by African Bush Camps’ founder Beks Ndlovu in 2020 — and this year the campaign is encouraging travellers to think about why they travel and why conscious travel is important: how we deepen our impact, not expand our footprint. By sharing your stories with the hashtag #worldsafariday, it is hoped others will be inspired to travel responsibly and make a meaningful difference in Africa. Since Covid, many people have embraced bucket list trips like a safari, emphasising the importance of conserving Africa's natural wilderness areas and the benefits that tourism brings to communities across the…

You'll find the answers on page 159 Q1: How many crocodile species are there in the world? 1. 10 2. 23 3. 5 4. 16 Q2: Reptiles are known as ectothermic. What does it mean? 1. Cold-blooded 2. Scaly 3. Slimy 4. Have no legs Question 11 Question 15 Q3: How many different types of reptiles exist? 1. 100 2. 2,500 3. 11,700 4. 25 Q4: Snakes use their tongues to smell. True or false? 1. True 2. False Q5: Which reptile is the biggest in the world? 1. Leopard tortoise 2. Anaconda 3. Saltwater crocodile 4. Water monitor Q6: What is the speed of a leopard tortoise? 1. Less than 1kmph 2. 1 kmph 3. 5 kmph Q7: Which of the following reptiles changes colour in order to camouflage? 1. Turtle 2. Gecko 3. Boomslang 4. Chameleon Q8: All reptiles lay eggs. True or false? 1. True 2.…

South Africa Legend has it that when South African statesman Paul Kruger fell out with any of his awkward political chums, they were despatched in no short order to a farm on the barely hospitable Waterberg plateau. Such was their disgrace. Dry and rocky, it was a nightmare to cultivate and, just to make matters worse, intensive cattle farming proceeded to wreak havoc with Limpopo's rolling grasslands. Not surprisingly, it wasn't long before the native wildlife population was decimated. Fast forward to the 21st century, however, and it's a very different picture. So much so, in fact, UNESCO has designated the entire area as the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve — “a learning place for sustainable development under diverse ecological, social and economic contexts.” To find out exactly what that means, I…

The Waterberg's escarpment of massive sandstone buttresses and outcrops is scenery on a grand scale, presenting a dominating massif in all its red, orange and purple oxide glory. Seven biomes, including savannah and wooded grasslands, support wild and farmed animals. Pockets of igneous rock contain rich deposits of platinum, iron ore, coal, palladium and other metals, and mines litter the edges of the plateau. In Welgevonden Game Reserve, staring up at a vertical cliff some half a kilometre tall and glistening with moisture, I notice fissures spurting mini waterfalls from the sheer volume of water coming off the mountains. The Waterberg's aquifers are a major source of underground water storage, and while the landscape is green, there's little surface water. Whether you hike it, bike it, 4x4 it, ride a…

Leopards Of all the species featured in the Remembering Wildlife series so far, sightings of leopards are arguably the most coveted by photographers and safari-goers alike,” writes Margot Raggett in the sleeve notes for Remembering Leopards, the eighth title she has compiled to raise funds for conservation. “Whether it is their sheer beauty, their aloofness, their agility or simply their ability to disappear, there is something mesmerising about them that wins hearts the world over. And yet, for all the adulation, thanks to human actions, the global leopard population and distribution is in decline and they're now believed extinct in 23 of their 85 original range countries.” The Remembering Wildlife coffee table books are both a celebration of the animals we cherish and a reminder of their vulnerability. Hundreds of…

I had not visited Meru before, but it had been on my radar for a while. I have long been drawn to off-thebeatentrack locations, where you can escape the crowds and feel immersed in a remote wilderness, and the reputed allure of Meru had caught my attention. For me, there is nothing more exciting than photographing wildlife in a beautiful setting — it adds context that makes the images more evocative and meaningful. In places like the Serengeti, the kopjes and sweeping savannahs can provide a striking backdrop, but it is one that has been widely photographed. Meru promised opportunities to capture more unusual scenes, evoking a bygone era, where wildlife seems wilder and there are surprises around every corner. I've experienced similar feelings in areas of the Luangwa Valley…

A WALK IN THE PARK In June, a team from Natural Capital and the Zambezi Wilderness Trust, along with African Parks and My Trees Trust, joined the first stage of the Zambezi Elephant Fund's inaugural Trans-Zambezi Walk for Wild, starting at the exit of the Kariba gorge in Zimbabwe and traversing an initial 60km over three days. The walk was part of a valley-wide awareness and fundraising campaign for conservation of the Zambezi landscape and follows Natural Capital's investment in the 800sq km Rifa concession, on the western border of Mana Pools National Park. The organisation's mission is to secure and safeguard large wilderness areas in Africa, adopting a business-minded approach to conservation to preserve intact natural landscapes, protect wildlife herds and generate tangible benefits for local communities. In all,…

What is your role? Tour operators provide a crucial link between consumers and service suppliers in Africa, offering specialist knowledge and financial protection. If you go direct to suppliers or agents in Africa, you miss out on these benefits. Even general travel agents book their clients through tour operators to gain from this. How has your business evolved? The company was established in 1983 when there was no-one in the UK who specialised purely on tailor-made African safari holidays, including those featuring tented and walking safaris. The core principals of what we do have changed very little. Even though information is more readily available, we still travel regularly to Africa to build our knowledge and keep up to date. We still prioritise personal contact with our clients, where possible speaking…