Pic of the week : Hippo by Stephen Raffay

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Vanessa

Hippopotamus amphibius  – “river horse”

This great shot of a hippo showing off his incisors was taken by Stephen Raffay, a professional photographer who is currently on safari in the Kruger National Park area care of africansafaris.com.   Contrary to popular belief, this old guy is not yawning or opening up wide for the dentist…! This is a typical display of aggression towards younger bull hippos.

Stephen visited Mala Mala Game Reserve and Tinga Safari Lodge.  If you would like to see more of Stephen’s wildlife photography or order prints, here is his website raffayphoto

Old Big-Mouth in the foreground. Rhino mother and calf are reflected in the water in the background

 

 

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We’ve been nominated for Travel & Leisure magazine’s A-List Travel Agent awards!

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Vanessa

“As long time T&L (Travel & Leisure Magazine) readers and subscribers, we want to tell you about our recent trip to South Africa, Botswana, Zambia & Namibia, and to nominate our Tour Operator, African Safari Consultants, for your 2012 A-List. We were celebrating our 20th anniversary, and wanted to plan a “trip of a lifetime.”  We knew we wanted to go to Africa, but had no idea where to start or how to narrow down our choices.  Enter African Safari Consultants.  With over fifteen years of experience, and a wonderful, informative website, ASC’s head honchos Jeff Ward in NY and Liesl Matthews in Cape Town worked tirelessly with us to figure out which countries, habitats, and lodges would best suit our needs.  They were wonderful at planning a trip that fit our budget, and the varied needs of two old fogies, as well as our teenage children.  They were endlessly patient as we went back and forth about cost, level of luxury, and types of lodges, giving advice that was helpful, accurate, and based on a thorough first-hand knowledge of the locations we were considering. They even considered when we would need unscheduled down time (after our two day journey from IAH-LHR-CPT), and when we would be happy to go-go-go.

We were particularly cognizant of the value of having someone in NY and in Cape Town looking out for us when, in the middle of our trip, a Chilean volcano eruption caused the cancellation of one of our flights.  Liesl quickly got us rebooked and all of our downline transfers re-organized so that we were able to rejoin our intended itinerary as soon as the skies cleared.  This had the potential to be a nightmare, but ended up being a small blip on our radar screens thanks to the excellent in-country support of ASC.

Our expectations were high, but our trip far surpassed them.  Every part of the trip was just as advertised by the folks at ASC.  There were no unpleasant surprises, and we would HIGHLY recommend them to anyone planning a trip to Africa.

We would be happy to answer any questions you might have about our experience with ASC.”

Jill & John Pollock, Houston, TX

 

 

 

 

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Obituary : Africa’s Tree lady

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Vanessa

This week, Kenyans and environmentalists are mourning the death of their Tree Lady. Wangari Maathai was a most remarkable woman who dedicated her life to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She was 71. This charismatic Kenyan woman was known around the world as well as in the hallowed halls of international governments as the Tree Lady. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 and was the first woman in East Africa to get a PhD. She has inspired many, has captivated many high powered audiences, and was certainly one of the most impressive women of her generation.

Her long career was a continual fight, against all odds, for rights and freedom, but she is most famous for her environmental activism and ‘green’ campaigns which earned her the Tree Lady title.

Wangari Maathai’s philosophy and methodology were so simple… she encouraged the women of Kenya to plant tree nurseries throughout the country. She encouraged them to find seeds in nearby forests to grow trees native to the area. The women were then paid a small amount for each seedling which was later planted elsewhere. This concept ultimately became known as the Greenbelt Movement which has to date planted almost 4 million trees in Kenya.

Her life story is known to many, but I often wonder how many more ‘Tree Ladies’ there are out there who are doing great things against all odds at a grass-routes level that none of us get to see or hear about. This blog post is a tribute to those people. I like to believe that there are more people doing good as opposed to bad…even though it’s the sensational bad guys that make the news!

Travellers to Africa often want to see community upliftment and conservation projects in action, and we have facilitated many such visits to local on-the-ground organisations. It is part of what we do, besides planning your African safari, we are happy to arrange cultural interactions and facilitate visits to sustainable development projects.

Kenya's amazing Tree Lady

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Wildlife pic of the week: The African Buffalo

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Vanessa

The African Buffalo is a respected member of the Big Five even though he might look like a mellow bovine. His cousins in the East, the Asian Water Buffalo, can be domesticated. Not this guy!  He is extremely dangerous, and is capable of killing a lion. He is on the trophy wish list of big game hunters and I am pleased to report that he has gored and maimed many a hunter! You have heard the expression – ‘like a wounded buffalo’ to describe someone who is so mad with rage and attacks relentlessly again and again…Those geeky looking horns actually act as a ‘shield’ and the thick bone is capable of stopping a rifle bullet. We do NOT condone big game hunting! But we do encourage you to join an African Safaris photographic safari to the Kruger National Park, the Sabi Sands, the South Luangwa National Park, the Lower Zambezi National Park, the Masai Mara and the Serengeti.

It is thrilling to be in a safari vehicle amongst a herd of buffalo. You are quite safe if you stay in the vehicle, but you definitely get a sense of their power and potential danger.

Posted in Africa, African Safaris, big 5 safari, Botswana, classic safari, Kenya, luxury safari, private safari, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment