Jenman African Safaris offers a range of Guided Group Safaris throughout Southern Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar. These tours with set departures … Read more
Perched atop a hill that borders the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zimbabwe, the Stanley and Livingstone Lodge offers splendid views of the mighty Zambezi River and the spray in the distance of Victoria Falls, which is situated only three kilometres away from the Lodge. Set deep within the beauty of unspoilt bush, the Lodge offers a diverse and unique African safari experience, surrounded by the natural wonders found in the 6 000-acre Victoria Falls Private Game Reserve.
Formerly known as Northern Rhodesia, Zambia is a legendary landlocked country in southern Africa that delivers travelers to the beauty of the Victoria Falls, the tumultuous Zambezi River, an abundance of wildlife, and an unrivaled wilderness that leaves a lasting impression on all who visit it. Not only is it the perfect destination for those who wish to experience the magic of an African safari, but also those who would love to learn more about this land of little known facts.
I recently had the privilege of spending a week in Livingstone Zambia, atop the majestic Victoria Falls. I didn’t go for all the reasons people usually go to visit Livingstone – the falls, the sunset cruises and fancy hotels or the crazy adrenaline activities. In fact I wouldn’t really say I went to visit. This adventure, I went to share. I travelled approximately 2500km from my home in Cape Town to share with both local Zambian communities in Livingstone and international and local volunteers, and they shared with me too.
Of all the many wonders to take your breath away that Southern Africa has to offer, Victoria Falls is perhaps one of the better-known attractions. Situated on the Zambezi River, which acts as the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, this waterfall is a truly spectacular sight. The sheer scope of the falls, with a height of 108 meters and an average flow of 1088 cubic meters per second, makes it widely recognised as the largest waterfall in the world.
Adventurers Steve Fisher, 37, Dale Jardine, 33, both from South Africa, and Sam Drevo, 33, from the U.S., paddled up … Read more
Source: The Daily Record
A thrill seeking tourist who plunged into the crocodile-infested Zambesi River after her bungee jump cord snapped has told of her miraculous survival.
Erin Langworthy fell into the raging waters at Victoria Falls when her bungee jump went horribly wrong as dozens of stunned tourists looked on.
Nerine Dorman samples the magic of the great river and falls under its spell
They melted out of the dusk-shrouded river forest, at least a dozen great dark shapes that resolved into elephants moving along the banks of the mighty Zambezi. Silent, like ghosts they were browsing sedately as the sun’s disc ruby slashes into the lapping cobalt river, until the orb sank behind a silhouetted tree line in a blaze of tangerine sky.
What’s it all about?
Protea Hotels announced plans in July 2009 to build a 144-bed hotel on the banks of the Lower Zambezi within the Chiawa Game Management Area (GMA). The site identified for the project sits 500m across the Zambezi River from the World Heritage site of Mana Pools National Park. Heralded as a 12 month development, the project was expected to employ in the region of 100 people, almost matching the level of employment provided by all safari operators currently working in the Lower Zambezi combined, bringing significant benefits to the local area.
What happened then?
Source: Sawubona October 2009
With two days to test the limits of my fear, I stood on the edge of the cliff looking down 130 m to the bottom of the deep gorge; the deep rock face that extended all the way to the falls formed over many thousands of years, as the river moved away from the falls. A group of us were being shown the magnificent Batoka Gorge by Choongo, who would be our river rafting guide. Choongo went through precautionary rules, then handed us indemnity forms to sign. A mere formality he told us, and not to worry, it was going to be a fun ride.
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…
As a way of introducing myself, I have traveled to 90 countries, most of them multiple times. My wife has visited about fifty countries. We consider ourselves seasoned travelers and we’ve experienced the total spectrum of quality in transportation, accommodations, activities and cuisine. As a result, we feel we can make an informed assessment of performance when it comes to travel.
We have included some unedited guest comments from our travelers below – you can read what they have to say about there safari adventure with Jenman Safaris… We also have an entire page dedicated it guest feedback on our Jenman Safaris website. Have a look at some comments below and if you have any stories you wish to share then feel free to comment or even enter our blog competition where you can win a USD 1000 travel voucher!
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.
Following on from the previous blog:
Before I arrived at Planet Baobab I was wondering: “Why the name?” And after just a short while I realized that there really were so many huge Baobab trees in the area and that it really is the “Baobab Capital of the World”! With the average age of the trees amongst us being 4000 years, the walk into the Baobab capitol and the use of the medicinal plants, explained to us by our local guide, proved to be very educational. But not before enjoying the coolest and most welcoming pool in the Kalahari! A sunset drink to end of the walk was a “must” and as you can see, the sunset was awesome!
I was thrilled to be offered the opportunity to travel on our Botswana Classic Scheduled Safari from the 12th to the 17th of March 2009 – and just as thrilled to be able to “drag” my partner, Antonie along. Herewith my blog on the trip:
We flew from Cape Town via Johannesburg on an early flight on the 10th and then connected with BA to Livingstone. I am afraid Livingstone airport is not much to write about so I won’t mention much. I was happy to be a South African because the queue for the foreigners was awfully long with only one Customs official to attend to them. $50 got you a Visa – pretty steep! We were warmly greeted by Jan who looks after the Jenman Safaris Livingstone office – and he kindly drove us around to all the hotels in the area so that I could “inspect” them.
So, we crossed the border and stayed at Shoestrings hostel in Victoria Falls …nice place though pretty empty (we’re in the rainy season remember so not a top tourist time). First things first: Money changing!.There are 2 options: No.1 the official way ~ change 1 US dollar for 30,000 Zim dollars. Or no.2 black-market ~ change 1 US dollar for 2,000,000 (yes, MILLION) Zim dollars! …we opted for no.2 😉 So with money changed, its time for some sightseeing: The view of the Falls from the Zim side is fabulous! You get a ‘frontal’ view of the Falls and can walk along the length of them (though from the other side of the gorge).Incredible sight right the way along. And we got to see a rainbow from Danger Point too…which was nice. Downside is you get absolutely sodden! Again though: a sight not to be missed if you ever get here (the choice is yours as to whether you want to see the falls in full flow or fairly quiet).
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!
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.
Jenman Safaris has updated the Real Zambian Adventure, simply put the Real Zambian Adventure includes another day in the Kafue National Park… Our real Zambian Adventure Safari is 14 days from Livingstone to Livingstone… Vast tracts of wilderness and sensational wildlife: these are the hallmarks of Zambia and what you’ll experience on this 14-day camping safari in the heart of Southern Africa. Spot magnificent game and birdlife in the North Kafue and South Kafue National Parks, witness the unbridled power of Victoria Falls, relax at Kariba and canoe the Zambezi River in the company of hippos….
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…..
During the evening boat ride at Chobe we saw over two hundred elephants at one time. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. They would come down the hill and into the river in herds of twenty to fifty and just frolic and play.
There was one young calf that kept plopping down in the mud and getting stuck. The older elephants would help him out and he would run right back in and get stuck again. We watched the sun go down and took some amazing photos of elephants against the setting sun.
Finally… here is part 2 of the Great Trans African Safari (that Laurina took a group of safari travellers around … Read more
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!
On Wednesday 13 August a whole bunch of guides (which included Chantal – one of our treasured Jenman African Safari … Read more
