Travel Butlers African Safari Blog.

The Mabula Private Game Reserve, in the Waterberg Mountains, has introduced 5 roan antelope to the reserve.

Roan antelope are sensitive to habitat changes, and as such have specific and critical habitat requirements. Glenys Du Pont, resident manager of Mabula Game Lodge, says that the antelope have adapted well to the veld conditions and that they are regularly spotted on game drives.

“The main focus for introducing the roan antelope was tourism-based, as they are quite a big drawing card for game viewers. We are also looking at increasing their numbers in the reserve in the long run,” says Du Pont.

A fire has been raging in the Zuurberg Mountain area of the Addo Elephant National Park since Sunday afternoon, August 10.

The blaze, which is still burning, has destroyed an estimated 7,000 hectares of fynbos and grassland vegetation in the mountainous areas of the park.

However, South African National Parks (SANParks) affirms that the region’s tourist accommodation and infrastructure have not been affected. This includes the Addo Rest Camp, main game area and Camp Matyholweni. Visitors were evacuated from Narina Bush Camp yesterday afternoon as a safety precaution, although the fire has not reached the area in which the camp is located. The situation is being monitored.

The Zuurberg Mountain Village, which is a private resort located on the borders of the park, has sustained considerable damage. Owner, Henri Alant, confirms: “The chapel and function venue have been destroyed and 29 rooms burnt out. We estimate the damage to be around R20m to repair. As a result, the property will be closed until December 15.”

Park rangers, assisted by Cacadu District and Working for Fire teams, continue to battle the wildfire as extremely dry conditions and strong winds hamper efforts to contain the blaze.

SANParks asserts that visitors to the National Park would not be affected, apart from being able to participate in the hiking trails and guided horse trails in the Zuurberg Mountains.

The fire has affected smaller animals in the area but as of yet there have been no reports of deaths of large animals such as eland, kudu and red hartebeest.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Day visitors to the Kruger National Park will again be able to book ahead of time to secure their entrance to South Africa’s most well known National Park.

Visitors who wish to use this facility should be advised that advanced bookings can be made no less than one day prior to date of arrival at the Kruger National Park and that using this facility will come at a minimal and non-refundable cost per person of R20 per adult and R10 per child entering the Park. This fee will be payable (in advance) by all who wish to make a day visitor booking in advance. Guests with day visitor bookings will also be expected to arrive at the booked gate by not later than 1 pm on the date of booking, after which time the booking lapses. Advanced day-visitor bookings will only constitute 60% of the gate’s day visitor quota, with 40% being kept open for visitors to enter on a first-come first-served basis. The gate quotas are limits per gate on the number of day visitors that the area and infrastructure adjacent to each gate is able to support to ensure a good visitor experience.

All travellers to Zimbabwe are advised that no payments can by made by credit card at all. The banks have suspended all credit card transactions until they can introduce new systems, as their equipment is no longer able to handle the billions of local currency involved in even the smallest of transactions.

Clients must carry cash on them in either U$ or Rand, and in small denominations as places are unable to give change in foreign currency.

Only a short 2 hour flight from Jo’burg, a trip to Victoria Falls is certainly memorable. One of the 7 Wonders of the World, the sheer noise of the Falls as they cascade over the edge into the deep gorge is deafening, and the misty clouds of spray, occasionally broken by rainbows, are visible from over 40 km away.

For some, however, the real thrill of visiting the Falls during September through to December comes from swimming right up to the very edge of the Falls themselves …
Known as “The Devil’s Swimming Pool”, this naturally formed safe pool, accessed via Livingstone Island, offers visitors the adrenelin-pumping opportunity to swim in shallow water literally within a couple of inches from the edge of the gorge.

This spot is becoming well known amongst the “radical tourist” industry as more and more people search for the ultimate experience.

At the recent Good Safari Guide Awards ceremony, which took place in Durban on May 8th 2008, the prestigious Singita Boulders Lodge walked away with the Best Safari Property in Africa award, and Notten’s Bush Camp won the Runner Up Best Safari Property in Africa award.

 The Good Safari Guide is an independent directory of the top safari lodges, hotels and camps in Africa.  It is the travel professional’s definitive selection of the most professionally run, independently selected and vetted safari properties.

Amied at travel professionals globally, the guide cuts through the clutter of the many thousands of safari products, focusing on those that are established and managed by the most professional ’safari’ hoteliers.

The independent Awards honour the best in the safari industry.  Nominations in the 13 categories are accepted only from qualified travel professionals, with a panel of distinguished industry judges making the final tough decisions.

Thanda Private Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal has won two prestigious awards at this year’s World Travel Awards: South Africa’s leading safari lodge, and Africa’s leading luxury lodge which it won for the 2nd consecutive year.

The news comes just 6 months after Thanda was voted ‘luxury individual hotel, lodge or resort offering best overall product and service’ in the Selling Long Haul awards for 2007 by readers of the trade publication. Thanda, which means ‘love’ in Zulu, won the Leading Safari in South Africa award in 2006 and Africa’s Leading Luxury Lodge in 2007.  

The only private game reserve in the world to hold exclusive membership with the prestigious Leading Hotels of the World, Thanda’s world-class facilities include the opulent main lodge, authentic safari-style tented camp and award-winning wellness centre.

Nationwide has confirmed this afternoon - 29 April 08 - that all flights have been cancelled until further notice. The airline is said to have grounded its flights due to cash-flow problems.

Nationwide tickets will unfortunately not be honoured by other airlines.

Anyone travelling in South Africa currently or within the next couple of days and who have flights booked on Nationwide Airlines are requested to arrive very early at all airports in order to make alternative arrangements with other airlines.

Should anyone request a refund for their Nationwide Flights, the airline has advised that paperwork will need to be completed and this will be followed up by the airline directly.

The Table Mountain Cableway in Cape Town will be closed for its Annual Maintenance from 14 July 2008 until the 03 August 2008. 

Visitors wanting to get to the top of the mountain at this time will have to do one of the popular hikes, many of which can be done without a guide.  Not surprisingly, it is a long slog to the top, and you should allow yourself plenty of time to get up and back down again - anything up to 6 hours if you also want to spend some time at the top.

The Cable Car will be running again from 04 th August.

We have been advised that the Zambian Government has now officially approved its dropping of  the visa waiver system, and now all visitors Zambia are required to pay for a visa on arrival.

This story was originally reported on our blog back on 28 January (see here for details), however, although the decision was enforced from the end of January, final Government approval was only confirmed recently.

 The following visa fees are payable upon entry for all visitors to Zambia:

 British Nationals:       £75.00 for single entry and £240.00 for multiple entry

American Nationals:  $135.00 for standard visa

Canadian Nationals:  $55.00 for standard visa

Other Nationalities:    $50.00 for single, $80.00 for double and $160.00 for multiple entry.