Source: Sunday Times Travel & Food 2011, Jacques Sellschop
My wife and I are helpless addicts of the wildlife and game-viewing ritual. But we are also allergic to floppy canvas tents, sleeping-bags and bucket-showers hanging from branches of trees. I guess we’ve just outgrown the charm of smelling like wood smoke, scratching at insect bites and constantly picking bits of grass out of each other’s hair.
During the month of April this year , I ventured out on a Trans African Safaris with Jenman Safaris.
It was a soul “finding” experience and I have kept some very special memories from the trip.
We began our journey in Vic Falls -Zimbabwe, and slowly made our way to Windhoek Namibia over the duration of 11 days with many stops that involved heart-warming cultural experiences.
Our trip started when we flew into Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe where we picked up one of Jenman Safaris custom built Land Cruisers called ‘Tshomi’.
We planned to spend two weeks in Zimbabwe, and then cross over into Botswana for two weeks and head back down to Cape Town by travelling the last two weeks through Namibia.
Read moreAndrew and Joni Explore Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia
Leopards (Pantera Pardus) are by nature elusive and shy creatures. They have evolved over time to blend in.
They are powerful cats that stalk their prey. Therefore camouflage is very important. This is of course why it is so difficult to spot these beautiful large cats. Anyone who sees them is extremely lucky. I was pleasantly surprised in April of this year while doing a Trans African lodge safari.
Read moreDiscovering more about leopards with Chantal (a Jenman Guide!)…
I was fortunate to be invited by the Namibia Tourism Board on a fam trip to Namibia to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. Myself and 3 other delegates from Cape Town met up at Cape Town International Airport with Leisel Wild, the manager of the Namibia Tourism Board in Cape Town, and Margaret De Gois, the sales rep for Air Namibia. After a quick latte we were advised by Margaret that we had all been upgraded to business class.
Source: Getaway Magazine, November 2010 There’s something about its vast ochre plains, baked earth, sun-drenched mirages and other-worldly, a massive salt pan that imprints on your mind and stays with you long after you leave. And that’s just the scenery. If you visit Etosha during the dry season (April to September) you’re practically guaranteed some … Read moreEtosha is hard to forget…
Windhoek – Namibia’s President Hifikepunye Pohamba Tuesday declared a state of emergency in northern parts of the country after heavy flooding displaced nearly 10 000 people and washed away roads. “I and my cabinet colleagues have discussed the prevailing situation in depth, consulted various experts… and I have come to the conclusion that I declare an emergency situation in the north and northeastern parts of our country,” Pohamba said.
Nico Smit; February 2011: AllAfrica.com
Heavy rains in southern Namibia have flooded roads, preventing residents and tourists from reaching Sossusvlei.
Consistent rain over the weekend resulted in the Tsauchab River breaking its banks, causing road wash-aways.
If you think of wildlife, you think of lions hunting antelopes, crocodiles lurking in the water waiting to attack their prey and rhinos charging at each other in a fight over a female. But there is also another maybe more human side to wildlife.
Animals are known to share the same emotions as we do. But what would an elephant do to say “I love you” and show its affection to another elephant?
Continue reading for the third and final part of Liz’ Adventures in Namibia! Enjoy!
Day 9: Khorixas Lodge to Etosha National Park – Okaukuejo
After breakfast, we drove about 50kms to the Petrified Forest. On paying an entrance fee, we followed a track through the space vegetation coming across a number of petrified tree trunk like objects lying randomly around the place.
Enjoy the second part of Liz’ adventures in Namibia!
Day 5:
Hammerstein to Solitaire
The theme today was to be sand and lots of it! After a 5am breakfast we drove to Sesreim and on paying the conservation fee drove (on a tarred road – joy of joys!) to the dunes of Sossusvlei – a remarkable phenomenon – the highest sand dunes in the world!
Liz Shaw, recently went on a private holiday trip through Namibia. She and her father were kind enough to write a little review about their trip and all the fantastic experiences they had. Read on for part one of this very interesting story!
Nothing is better then downloading all your emails and seeing one from a guide with the subject line ‘Our dinner at Fish River Canyon‘! Naturally it’s the first one we opened! Blessed, one of our treasured guides, was on our Northern Experience safari when they stopped off at the majestic Fish River Canyon (Namibia) to enjoy a sunset dinner …
On our trip through Namibia we stayed at Hammerstein Lodge. It is not far from the biggest sand dunes in the world – Sossusvlei which is one of the main highlights in Namibia.
What makes Hammerstein so special? Hammerstein has lots of furry friends that stay on the property…
Who stays on the property?
Only when my plane was about to touch down in Frankfurt did I finally realise that my time in South Africa was over… Since then it has been two weeks… I’ve almost settled down in Germany again (even if I still walk on the “wrong”, left side of the pavement). The first few days were quite exciting – it was great to see my family and my friends and I continued doing what I did on my last days in Cape Town…
Read moreTobias from Germany – explored Cape Town and Jenman African Safaris… the LAST blog!
I just wanted to let you all know about my trip to Namibia in the hopes that it might inspire some of you to visit this beautiful country!
My 10 day adventure began as I landed at the Hosea Kutako International Airport. Stepping out into the hot African it really hit me that I was in Namibia and that my dream holiday was just beginning! We were met by our guide and taken to our accommodation (the Roof of Africa Lodge) so that we could freshen up after our long flight. Later that day we were treated to a city tour of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was great to learn more about the history of Namibia and to see the quaint old fashioned town of Windhoek. By the time my head hit the pillow that evening all I could think about was exploring the famous red dunes of Sossusvlei that I had heard so much about, even though we were only going to visit them at the end of the safari…
In March of 2010 I was leading a tour through Namibia. One of our destinations was to be Ruacana Falls… I had been there a few times before, so I knew that the falls were dry at this time of the year (well, supposed to be!)… However, even when the falls are dry they are still a sight to behold with beautiful rock formations and of course there is also that ‘quick’ visit to Angola (where you can take your picture with a stone that states exactly where you are) which is always fun!!
You get all kinds of visitors in your life, some welcome while others not so. Occasionally you get one which is utterly surprising and oh so welcome. We (a group of Jenman Safaris clients and myself – the Jenman guide) had such a visitor in our camp site at Epupa Falls in northern Namibia on the banks of the Kunene River.
The Nile Monitor, Varanus Niloticus, just wondered into our camp while we were all sitting around and started to explore the area… Looking for something to eat no doubt!!
Written by: Corinna Muller-Lorenz (Conny)v. 19.1. – 9.02.2010
When I close my eyes, I know immediately what it looks like, smells like and how it tastes – my very own Africa. Due to the enormous versatility of this tour, it was the perfect trip to Africa to experience the first time and find out what landscapes, climates, people and animals like one at best.
Fascinating were all the facets of the country along our route, I have not been concluded once the eyes during car trips, for fear of missing a wonderful change of scenery, human biodiversity and Animal varieties.
Read more22 days Northern Experience Safari – Cape Town to Victoria Falls
Dear reader. I hope that you are acquainted with the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Perhaps even with “The Flying Trunk”. His tale is about a young man who comes into possession of an old trunk, which turns out to have the capability of flying. So he enters the trunk and flies out into the world. Here he almost obtains the princess and half the kingdom, but alas, the trunk burns, and he is bound to suffer the conditions of an ordinary life. Poor bastard…
We thought that this week we would share some funny anecdotes from some recent safaris. Below are two funny stories from Andree (Jenman Safaris tour guide), on his first guided tour around Botswana with a group of German clients. We hope these stories will make you laugh and brighten your day. Enjoy!
Smoke without fire?
An exciting and fascinating 14-day tour through Botswana, Namibia and Zambia comes to an end in Livingstone. The bush-conquerors from Germany are meeting for a final breakfast on the patio of the Waterfront Lodge. Together, they are enjoying their last meal of their safari overlooking the mighty Zambezi River.
By: Jim & Phyllis Conran, Orinda, California, USA
Have a look at this Jenman Safaris review – this review comes from a couple who recently traveled on our Northern Experience safari (Cape Town to Victoria Falls safari). In this blog we have included all the comments as well Garth Jenman’s (managing director of Jenman Safaris) responses:
On the recommendation of a neighbor, we booked a 3 week safari with Jenman. We also booked an extra week to visit Johannesburg and Cape Town. This was in July which is the dry season in the region. This means fewer bugs and mosquitoes and the animals congregate around the water holes making them easier to see.
Source: Weekend Argus 18th July 2009
Words and pictures by Brenton Geach
Dreamland is just across the border – Namibia! – Jenman African Safaris In Namibia, you will find endlessly long dirt roads with a scattering of wild animals along the way. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets. No robots or people begging on every corner, just friendly locals. And don’t forget to buy a couple of oranges at Citrusdal to sweeten the dusty ride.
Whilst staying at a hostel in Windhoek – the capital of Namibia – I managed to hire a Bakkie with long range fuel tanks, roof tent, camping gear and spare wheels for GDP 30 per day (normally GDP 60 per day just for a basic bakkie so I was well pleased with that!) and toddled off for a trip around Namibia: 1st stop was Swakopmund which I got to via a part tarmac, part gravel road across country and thru the Namib Naukluft park. The scenery changed from barren or sparsely covered hills and valleys thru to the desert terrain of the lower country – with sightings of Impala and Gemsbok (Oryx) as the journey ended. Swakopmund is a nice place but so German it’s unbelievable! – Even down to the deli menus being in German! I stayed at a beachfront campsite overnight and had sundowner drinks at the bar actually on the beach.
From Victoria Falls to Cape Town on Safari! Many times clients travel with us on an African Safari and make their own personal blog/website containing images and memories… Keith and Steve went on our Northern Experience Safari which took them from Victoria Falls all the way to Cape Town on a 20 day adventure. Our Northern Experience Safari is now a 22 day safari and includes a few different highlights. They went on our safari in 2004 and still speak very highly of it… even to the point that he would use Jenman on his next Africa Safari!
Please read on to read his overview of his African Safari. Or click on his ‘blog’ to see all of their fantastic safari pictures!
The Namibia workshop was held on Friday, 23 January from 14h00 – 20h00 at the Stellenrust Wine Estate which is located on the R44 between Stellenbosch and Somerset West.
Both Wiebke and I had never been to Stellenrust before. So, just when you think that you have run out of wine farms to visit on a weekend, voila, up pops another one. It is one of the largest family owned wine estates in South Africa and has several award winning wines just waiting to be tasted…
On arrival, we were welcomed by colleagues from NTB with a glass of nice cold Stellenrust sparkling wine. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before both Wiebke and I caught up with some fellow Namibians and the “kuiering” began :~).
Read moreThe Namibian Tourism Workshop in Stellenbosch, Cape Town!
We (Elana from the Sales Department and Wiebke from the Product Department) were very privileged to recently embark on an educational journey highlighting the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, the Western Okavango Delta in Botswana, as well as Livingstone in Zambia. Together with our trusted tour guide, Thomas Dhilwayo, this proved to be an awesome and eventful experience…
Bright and early on Friday morning (21 Nov) we met up at Cape Town Airport (well, one of us was a little late due to oversleeping) for our flight to Johannesburg. We then boarded the aircraft to Livingstone, where we arrived just after lunchtime. Thomas and our trusted vehicle, Endesha (and we will get back to this later), met us at the airport and off we went for our first three site inspection of this trip.
Read moreFiring away on the Caprivi on Educational, Botswana and Zambia
The second part of the review is here! This is by the same client (Marden Phelps) as our prior blog and was also featured on African Safari Journals! This part contains all the reviews about the accommodation, the meals and their disappointments AND highlights of the tour with Jenman Safaris. Read the unedited review below…
Accommodation
Pioneer Camp near Lusaka, Zambia. Nice chalet with well kept grounds. A variety of fruit trees and flowers…..
Finally… here is part 2 of the Great Trans African Safari (that Laurina took a group of safari travellers around on)… we are sure that you have been eagerly awaiting to read the second part of this holiday adventure and here it is! This takes you from day 12 until the very end… Most of … Read moreSkinnymarinky dinky doo – Memories of the Great-Trans African Safari with Laurina and her safari group! PART 2…
Almost 1 year ago to the day, Laurina (one of our sales consultants/tour guide) took a fabulous group of travellers on safari – on the Great-Trans African Safari … which took them all around Namibia, Botswana and Zambia on a 22 day adventure. Down the line, this group decided to email Laurina day-by-day accounts of their safari – exactly one year ago to the day it turned out to be! You may be asking why the title has ‘Skinnymarinky dinky doo’ in it…. Well you will read about some of it in this blog – but read Part 2 to find out why this song is so special to Laurina!
Read their email snippets of their holiay safari with Laurina!
