Justice Travel

Category: Africa

  • Top 5 Places to See Elephants in Africa

    Top 5 Places to See Elephants in Africa

    Watching elephants in their natural surroundings is always a thrill, so we have put together five of the best places to get fabulous pachyderm experiences in Africa.

    1. Safari Lodge, Amakhala Game Reserve, South Africa

    This beautiful lodge is located on the 7,200ha Amakhala Game Reserve in South Africa’s Eastern Cape and is adjacent to the famed Addo Elephant National Park – widely regarded as the country’s premier destination for elephant viewing. Game drives are taken on both the Amakhala reserve and in Addo. The lodge is Fair Trade Tourism certified.

    2. Mombo Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana

    Nicknamed “The Place of Plenty”, Wilderness Safaris’s Mombo Camp is located on a private concession on the renowned Chief’s Island, deep in the heart of the Okavango Delta’s Moremi Game Reserve. This is one of the best spots in Africa from which to view wild elephants at close quarters!

    Mombo Camp is recognised by Fair Trade Tourism through its partnership with Botswana’s Ecotourism Certification programme.

    3. Motswari Private Game Reserve, Timbavati

    Part of the Greater Kruger National Park, the Timbavati is teeming with wildlife, with huge herds of elephant regularly moving through the reserve. Fair Trade Tourism certified Motswari Private Game Reserve is located in the heart of the Timbavati and elephants often pay the lodge a visit to drink from the swimming pool!

    4. Oliver’s Camp, Tanzania

    Deep in the southern reaches of Tarangire National Park and with easy access to the Silale Swamps, Oliver’s Camp is an echo of the early days of African safaris. Part of the Asilia Africa group, this camp is recognised by Fair Trade Tourism through its partnership with Responsible Tourism Tanzania.

    5. Nkasa Lupala Tented Lodge, Caprivi Strip, Namibia

    Nkasa Lupala tented lodge is built on the banks of one of the many channels of the Kwando-Linyanti river system in the Caprivi region of Namibia. This unique wetland paradise is part of Nkasa Lupala National Park and the lodge itself is recognised by Fair Trade Tourism through its partnership with Eco Awards Namibia.

    Elephants regularly visit the lodge.

  • A journey to Success: Transfrontier Parks and Communities

    A journey to Success: Transfrontier Parks and Communities

    Southern Africa has often been at the forefront of conservation initiatives on the African continent. The region’s experience in game capture, managed game parks and translocating elephants being a few examples of where it has set standards.

    Over the past couple decades it’s been doing the same in cross-border conservation initiatives, such as establishing Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCA). These are wilderness areas which have no political boundaries, entities created to encourage natural game migration across ecosystems that are allowed to flourish.

    Along with TFCA comes a group with its own particular focus – balancing community needs with those of nature and the over-used but all-important buzzword, ‘sustainable tourism’ (now known as ‘Better Tourism’).

    This is Transfrontier Parks Destinations (TFPD), run by co-founder Glynn O’Leary, who finds tourism locations where development is needed most – in or adjacent to Transfrontier Conservation Areas – and there revitalises and operates community-owned hospitality facilities, which essentially translates into lodges.

    The TFPD then assists in commercializing these community assets, such as !Xaus Lodge – exactly 91 dunes west off the Auob River road in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (linking South Africa and Botswana), on ancestral land owned by the ‡Khomani San and Mier communities. Sometimes it may involve a national park, or a provincial tourism authority; whoever is involved, it’s all about partnership.

    !Xaus Lodge has 12 individual chalets, each with its own deck overlooking a vast saltpan and waterhole fed with fresh water. Watching gemsbok traipse across the pan in energy-saving desert fashion is a wilderness treat, as is exploring the dunes with the resident ‡Khomani San bushmen.

    At over 3,5 million hectares, the park is almost twice the size of the Kruger National Park, and is home to the famous black-maned lion.

    An area that has more socio-economic need, given its history of civil war, social and political upheaval and associated rural poverty, is the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP). Fifteen years ago it was proclaimed with the signing of an international treaty involving Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe, thereby connecting the Kruger Park, Zimbabwe’s Ghonarezou Game Reserve and Mozambique’s Parque Nacional do Limpopo, a conservation area of 35 000km².

    All three countries’ borders meet at Crooks Corner, at the lush and wooded confluence of the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers. This is the northernmost Pafuri section of the Kruger National Park, a location of great elephant herds, historical legend and crocodiles. It has tourism, and the opportunity for responsible development, written all over the landscape.

    Travellers who support the increasingly popular model of ‘Better Tourism’ can access this land rich in stories through Awelani Lodge, situated near the Pafuri Gate entrance to the Kruger. The lodge offers visitors the opportunity to walk or mountain bike through the wooded conservancy, a lush landscape dominated by significant woodland, sandstone outcrops and over 700 species of birds.

    Over the border in the Mozambique section of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, home to the Big 5, the unfenced Machampane Wilderness Camp offers full-service accommodation and guided wilderness walking trails, especially significant in an area where jobs are almost unheard of, and bush skills abound.

    At 2200m, Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge in the Maluti Drakensberg TFCA is far south of what is known as ‘the bush’, and the highest lodge in South Africa’s statuesque northern Drakensberg remote mountain range. As with the other TFPD operations, the lodge provides essential employment opportunities and secondary economic activity that has proven to impact positively on the local economy.

    The lodge provides access to Sentinel Peak and the Maloti Drakensberg that draws backpackers, hikers and climbers, probably viewing the endangered bearded vulture and the extraordinary mountain flora, like the sewejaartjie, that has adapted to grow at high altitudes.

    Each TFPD managed lodge is a holistic entity, providing essential work and local economic activity in an area of great natural beauty.

    Just recently O’Leary spoke of a meeting involving serious tourism players where he highlighted the following: “What we see is that these community-owned tourism activities create strong rural development, and that ‘Better Tourism’ is helping create great places to live”.

  • Traveling with a conscience in the Selinda Reserve

    Traveling with a conscience in the Selinda Reserve

    Almost an hour by plane to the north-east of Botswana’s legendary Okavango Delta, close to the borders with Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, lies an African conservation legend… The Selinda Reserve.

    It’s hell-hot as the build up to the annual rains reaches its height, reducing the area to nothing more than a loose collection of permanent pools and lagoons dotting an otherwise parched landscape. And yet life is abundant here, and the dusty road to Selinda Camp is littered with amazing game sightings.

    Guide Motsamai “Mots” Morundu marvels at how the resident wildlife copes with the heat and tells me about the success story we are traversing over.

    Little more than a decade ago, this area was still home to a hunting concession before Great Plains Conservation, headed up by wildlife filmmakers extraordinaire Dereck and Beverly Joubert, took it under its wing – and introduced the concept of sustainable development, community engagement and conservation through low-impact, high-end tourism.

    Mots has worked with Great Plains since it began, and sums up the concept very nicely: “it’s about making sure that what we have now, here, is valued by everyone and can be enjoyed by my children, their children, and their children’s children,” he says. “It’s not just about recycling, reducing energy and being green – it’s about being beneficial to everyone involved in it – whether you are an animal or a person,” adds Mots.

    Selinda Camp, and its sister properties on the reserve – Zarafa and Selinda Explorer’s Camp – are recognised by Fair Trade Tourism, Africa’s leading sustainable tourism organisation, through its partnership with the Botswana Tourism Organisation‘s Ecotourism Certification Programme. This means that guests staying on the reserve can rest assured that their holiday spend is making a real and lasting difference to both conservation and communities.

    Koketso “Koki” Mookodi is the community liaison officer for Great Plains Conservation. “For us here on the Selinda Reserve, and across all of the camps we operate, conservation underpins our business,” she says. “It’s vitally important that we equip young people with conservation knowledge and an understanding of the role that tourism plays in helping to protect our environment,” Koki explains.

    “We have adopted two villages on the Delta’s panhandle – Seronga and Gudigwa – and have rolled out a conservation education programme in their schools to complement the work of the conservation clubs,” says Koki. “Through this programme the children have become conservation ambassadors, teaching their entire communities on the importance of protecting wilderness areas and the wildlife that call them home. They are also champions of our Big Cat Initiative and Rhinos Without Borders campaigns.”

    The big question seems to be: “does sustainability really matter to tourists?” For Americans Celsea and Wyatt Jenkins it most certainly does. They are among a growing number of international travellers who choose to live sustainable lifestyles and select their destinations based on how sustainable they are.

    “We travel widely and make a point of engaging in authentic, local experiences which benefit communities no matter where we are in the world,” explains blogger and fitness guru Celsea. “We live in San Franciso and use solar energy, recycle, give to community programmes and try to live as consciously and sustainably as we can. So it makes sense for us to choose our holidays based on how sustainable they are.”

    Business developer Wyatt reinforces his wife’s viewpoint by saying that he is particularly conscious of where their holiday spend ends up. “We need to know where the money goes and feel comfortable with the footprint we leave behind us,” he says. “There has never been a greater need for sustainability in everything we do. Communities and people need to feel the benefit of tourism in places as remote and wild as this in order to see the value of protecting them for future generations.”

    The sun is setting, and a breeding herd of elephants files silently past Selinda Camp, silently reinforcing the sentiments of all concerned.

    Your travel choices can help to change the world, so remember to choose wisely!

    More about Selinda Camp and Fair Trade Tourism

    For more information on Selinda Camp, visit www.greatplainsconservation.com. For more information on Fair Trade Tourism and sustainable tourism destinations in Africa, visit www.fairtrade.travel or download the Fair Trade Traveller app free from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

  • Child-friendly Wildlife Photography Workshops at Jaci’s Lodges

    Child-friendly Wildlife Photography Workshops at Jaci’s Lodges

    They say a picture tells a thousand words. Whether you’re an aspiring amateur snapper with a passion for wildlife or a professional paparazzo looking for that perfect photographic moment, Jaci’s Lodges’ photographic safaris guarantee an encounter with some of the most sought-after wildlife subjects. And it’s not just adults who can join in the fun, but young people can also take part in these photographic excursions thanks to Jaci’s Lodges’ children’s photographic safaris.

    The photographic workshops and safaris for children are unique to Jaci’s Lodges and are hosted by well known photographer, Andrew Aveley.

    The aim is to have fun while learning basic photographic skills from Andrew, with a strong focus on creativity with no rules.

    Having never been on safari before, a recent guest, 11-year-old Finlay McDonald from Scotland, was keen to learn how to properly capture some exciting wildlife moments with his new camera.

    So that morning, instead of going out with the rest of his group, Finlay got to head out with Andrew in their own private vehicle to experience a one-on-one photography session with him!

    Finlay describes Andrew as “an enthusiastic teacher with the patience of a saint!”

    Andrew went through the basics of wildlife photography with Finlay, talking him through some of the more important aspects of photographing animals in their natural habitat.

    “The thing he said that he thought was the most important was composition. Let the animal walk into the frame.” – Finlay MacDonald

    They were lucky enough to see wild dogs as one of their first animal sightings, and Finlay managed to capture some great shots thanks to Andrew’s professional advice. They also saw two lions taking a power nap next to the leftovers of their breakfast feast; an unfortunate buffalo; tall and elegant giraffes; a warthog; and a guinea fowl in tree. What a fun morning!

    Finlay enjoyed his first session so much that he asked Andrew if he would take him out a second time, but in the evening instead.

    The following evening Andrew took Finlay and his family out on a drive and taught them about night photography, guiding them through some of the technicalities that a photographer must prepare for when photographing at night. For example, what to set the ISO to and how to adapt the camera to the artificial light created by the vehicle’s spotlight.

    Again they were very lucky with their sightings – they saw a brown hyena with the remnants of a zebra in its mouth, a herd of elephants out on an evening stroll with their newly born calf, and two lions that had just killed a wildebeest. Seeing the lions was especially exciting as they had tried to track them down earlier that evening but when they saw Jenna, their amazing guide, they ran away. “I had a brilliant time with Andrew and extremely enjoyed my stay at Jaci’s Lodges!” – Finlay MacDonald, age 11

  • Can the elephants survive the coup in Central African Republic

    Last month saw the government of the Central African Republic overthrown by rebels and the state has now become lawless. Rebels groups have reportedly joined up with Sudanese poachers and elephants are facing a crisis. Conservation groups World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and World Conservation Society (WCS) have today released a joint statement calling for immediate action to tackle the problem.

    Elephant meat is openly on sale in the markets and villages around the World Heritage Site of Dzanga-Sangha protected area.  Many of the park rangers have fled the area because of the dangers as rebel groups take control.  The WWF have pulled many of their staff out of the park after a series of armed raids on their offices. Some rangers and WWF staff have stayed behind to try and protect key areas despite the dangers to their lives.

    Bas Huijbregts, head of policy for WWF’s campaign against poaching in Central Africa, said it’s impossible to know for sure how many elephants have been killed because patrols have been suspended in the area.

    “Given the total absence of any type of law enforcement and rule of law in the  area, there is elephant meat all over the place,” he said. Heroic rangers are standing firm in the face of immense danger, but they alone cannot safeguard the special species and places the world treasures.

    Despite patrols being severely restricted since the coup on 24th March it’s known that at least 40 elephants have been killed in or around the World Heritage Site. The rebel group behind the overthrow of the country are the Seleka and they are known to have joined forces with the Sudanese poachers who regularly target central African elephants.

    Next week sees a regional meeting of African countries to discuss ways of tackling elephant poaching the is rife across the region.

    Jim Leape, WWF Director General said, “The elephant poaching crisis – driven by insatiable ivory demand – is so severe that no area is safe, not even the World Heritage Site Dzanga-Sangha where both WWF and WCS have now worked for the conservation of elephants for decades. Heroic rangers are standing firm in the face of immense danger, but they alone cannot safeguard the special species and places the world treasures. When meeting next week, Central African governments must urgently join forces against this criminal activity that is also threatening the stability and economic development of their countries. I encourage them in the strongest terms to take a stand against wildlife crime and together declare that poaching and illicit trafficking will not be tolerated.”

    Cristian Samper, WCS President and CEO said,  “Together, WCS and WWF, are calling on the Central African Republic government to immediately increase security in the region to protect these elephants from poachers and is asking other regional governments to provide assistance to stop the killing. Our staffs have been forced to evacuate in the chaos. I recently visited CAR and saw first-hand that without a full-time conservation presence in the region, these elephants are in jeopardy from poachers. WCS and our partners will continue to work tirelessly to protect elephants across their range.”