Grow Africa - Jenman Safaris empowers their guides

If you haven't heard about our Grow Africa project then here is a little update; Grow Africa is our company project where we aim to make a difference from education to food-growth projects in Africa. Every little bit helps and we believe in getting involved directly and making a difference... as the saying goes "give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach that man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime"... which is our aim!

So far we have been working very hard at our Grow Africa projects and only the other day we realized that we haven't kept you updated with what all we have been doing. So this is our latest project:

We recently sent 3 of our treasured guides (Blessed, Jorge and Thula) to a German training course in Cape Town. The goal was to empower them by giving them the necessary language skills to improve their career opportunities.

We also prefer hiring local guides as we believe in investing back into the local community.

Training our local guides means we are able to give our German clients the best of both worlds - a German speaking local guide!

The guides all had a blast learning German. In fact when Jorge popped into the Jenman office for a photo recently he was thrilled (a HUGE smile on his face) about the course and was so excited about being given the opportunity to empower himself! It was great to hear that and made us, all in the office, feel really good about the Grow Africa program! This project seemed to have 'taught them to fish and eat for a lifetime'...

Right, now onto the next project...

Who took the best picture? Brochure competition!

Firstly, a big thanks to everyone who sent in their images for the brochure picture competition! It was great to go through the safari & holiday photos... we all sat behind our desks with a good excuse to stop working for a second and dream of our next safari adventure and update our destination travel wish list!

The winner will only be announced next month! We have given our brochure designer the top 5 that we love... and now it's up to him to select what he thinks is the best one for our 2011 brochure. So watch this space to find out if you won.

A different type of game drive!

Our Zimbabwe operations manager, Charles, sent us this image of elephants in Victoria Falls at "rush hour"... Imagine driving down the road and seeing elephants walking casually to your left/right. This would have been an amazing experience on a game drive... but... um... this isn't your typical game drive experience! Seems to give a whole new meaning to "game drives"!

Thanks Charles for sending us this!

Cape Town wins AGAIN

Well, it's no surprise (since we live in Cape Town and think is absolutely stunning) that Cape Town was declared 'Africa's Best Travel Destination' at the World Travel Awards' gala dinner. And after hosting an extremely successful 2010 FIFA World Cup (which we are already missing!) it's no wonder why Cape Town won!

Congratulations!

So now that you know that Cape Town is fabulous, why not explore it a bit more? Even if you stay in Cape Town already or are planning a trip down to Cape Town in the future then we suggest trying our half day city tour & Table Mountain trip! It's really the best way to see the 'best' of the award winning city in the shortest period of time.

From only ZAR 350 pp you will be able to explore Table Mountain, the Cape of Good Hope, the vibrant and arty flea market (Greenmarket Square) and more! This is a great way to see the best of Cape Town and what the mother city is all about... And what's even better is that you can book and pay for this online (securely and simply)! Click here to find out more, we also have other daytrips that you might like (shark cage diving, Aquila... etc).

A road over the Serengeti could kill the migration...

We found this story online not so long ago and we were completely shocked by this so we had to share (read the full story on our blog)!

It's being described as the greatest threat in the Serengeti's history - a commercial highway in the direct path of ancient wildlife migration routes. The government of Tanzania recently approved a major commercial truck corridor across the Serengeti National Park. Conservation organizations have warned that this highway would be devastating. The Frankfurt Zoological Society, which has been the primary supporter of the Serengeti for the past 50 years, has stated, "We sincerely believe that the road will have disastrous effects on the entire ecosystem. The northern parts of the Serengeti and the adjacent Masai Mara are critical for the wildebeest and zebra migration during the dry season, as it is the only permanent year-round water source for these herds. "

Overall, we are all are asking the government to adopt another proposal, which offers a safer alternative route to the south which bypasses Serengeti altogether.

There is also a facebook page dedicated to stopping the road development through the Serengeti, click here to support the page and voice your views. More importantly (we don't normally do this) but if you feel very strongly against it then there is a petition online (click here) that desperately needs your name! They currently have just over 7200 people and need more.

Let's hope an alternative plan can be reached and it doesn't ruin the migration and the beauty of the Serengeti!

Mozambique visa

The Mozambican Government has announced an increase in visa fees for tourists to Mozambique with immediate effect. This comes as a result of the introduction of the biometric system - currently enforced at Maputo (Malavane) Airport and the Komatipoort border. The cost of the visas has increased to USD 82 per person, however, at only these 2 points of entry at this time.

The increase apparently kicked in on the 6th of July when tourists obtaining visas at the Mozambique borders were charged USD 82 pp (or the USD equivalent of ZAR 600 based on that days exchange rate). It appears the increase is currently only applicable at some borders. Most airports are still working on between USD 25 and USD 30 pp as they don't yet have the technology required for the new visas. It is however confirmed that the remainder of the country will follow suit - dates of implementation to be advised.

Mozambique is a stunning holiday destination - beautiful white beaches, tropical warm waters and an abundance of history and culture to keep you fascinated for days! If you would like to visit Mozambique then please chat to us - we have some great safaris that include Mozambique and we also have a fantastic Ibo & Dhow hopping Island (priced from USD 1275 per person) trip if you are looking for something tropical and relaxing!

Meet Aline - your consultant!

Aline has only been with us since the beginning of March which is just over 5 months but as she says "Shuuuh, time passes quickly". And indeed it has. What can we tell you about Aline? Aline is great fun; she always has smile on her face and a naughty giggle... and yet at the same time she is very dedicated as well as extremely passionate about travel! Aline has made a great impact on everyone and is already a great addition to the Jenman team. Welcome!

Even though Aline has only been with us a short time she has already been on an educational - which took her through South Africa and Swaziland. Her favourite part of the safari was without a doubt the "rhino chase" which happened on a walking safari in Hlane (see below for the story)... which does sound very thrilling!

Where to next? "Well I have my eye on one of our safaris - either the Northern or Southern experience. I can't think of anything better then been able to travel through 3 countries (SA, Botswana and Namibia) on one safari ... the highlights must be amazing... I am getting excited just thinking about it! Hmmm, other than that I would love to go to Uganda or Tanzania... Come to think of it - basically anywhere would be great since each place and safari has something very special in it that makes it unique and exciting.

As we always do in each and every newsletter we ask the consultant of the month where their favourite place to eat in Cape Town is and why...?
"Yummy, eating out is one of my favourite things to do in my time off. There are plenty of awesome restaurants to choose from in Cape Town. For special occasions I love to go the Roundhouse which is located on the slopes of Camps Bay. It boasts beautiful views of the 12 Apostles and has perfect food & service in a beautiful historic building - you couldn't ask for more! Besides that I also enjoy the laid back atmosphere at the "Dunes" in Hout Bay which is close to the Chapman's Peak Drive. 'Dunes' is directly on the beach front and is very easy going. Enjoy your Savanna with the sand between your toes, listen to the ocean and if you are lucky you might even see dolphins jumping in the waves!

* Map and Google link apply to the 'Round House'.

Been chased by a Rhino... eeek!

Not too long ago Aline (Sales Consultant) and Lisa (E-Marketer & Web-Editor) were sent on a safari around South Africa and Swaziland as an educational... Big 5 sightings, great accommodation, awesome food, new 12-seater vehicle and more awaited them.

After their week away they came back to the office and all they spoke about was their exciting highlight - of been chased by rhinos in Hlane, Swaziland! This is what happened

;

"Let me start off by saying that this was so exciting and defiantly the highlight of our educational... and probably the best part of a safari - the unknown and the luck of the day. We were only in Hlane Royal National Park for 2 days of our safari when we were given the opportunity to go on a walking safari into the Rhino enclosure. All the areas in Hlane are surrounded by huge fences (which you hardly see since the area is large) to protect the animals. As we were walking a fellow game driver stopped to let us know that there were some rhino's around the corner... Naturally, we all wanted to see the rhinos! As we got closer we saw 2 females fighting (which apparently is rather unusual?!)... Around about this time our guide prepped us with 'what to do if the rhinos chase us' which is something we didn't really think would happen! His information was things like; stand down-wind, be quiet and hide in the nearest & biggest tree'! As we moved closer to the rhinos they must have heard us or something because they suddenly turned and started to circle and charge us... At about this time we all were pretty much running around in circles, and eventually one of the girls remembered the tree tip... we all cowered in the tree watching this scene as our hero (our Hlane guide) casually scared the rhinos away! It was the most magnificent experience (afterwards) and definitely the highlight of our safari! I think that is what makes a safari special - the chance to have a lifetime experience... and who knows what could happen!" - Lisa

If you are interested in any type of adventure safari, then please chat to one of our friendly consultants, who knows maybe you will have a better story to share with us!

Missing the World Cup? We are!

When the world cup was here we were all excited - living from game to game, predicting the scores and wearing our supporting gear...

However, while the world cup was here we never realised how much we would miss the games, the vibes, the colours and the vuvezelas. Yes, we even missed the vuvuzelas! So much so that we have decided to have a Jenman Office party this week to relive the world cup. We will all be dressing up, having some penalty shoot-outs and a few competitions... The best part of all this? Is that our party doesn't have a World Cup Country winner yet... We will all be starting from scratch and your country or our country could still win! Go South Africa!! Check out our facebook page - we are sure to upload some fun pictures.

Wonder what Paul the octopus would say!