Results tagged “South Africa” from Intelligent Travel Blog

For you die-hard Olympic and soccer fans out there, it's not too early to start making travel plans if you dream of heading to Vancouver for February's 21st Winter Games or journeying to South Africa for next summer's FIFA World Cup.
   
In the Practical Traveler column in this weekend's New York Times, Michelle Higgins details the best options for both big events along with handy links and thought-through strategies. She asserts that despite the bad economy, demand is still quite high for both events and the best way of getting tickets and a place to stay is to work with a tour operator.
   
For the Vancouver Games, the third hosted by Canada and the first for the province of British Columbia, only one company, CoSport, is authorized to sell tickets in the U.S. and they're already sold out, though more tickets may be released for sale this fall.

You can't help but get swept away by today's image from National Geographic's Photo of the Day:

Dolphins are known to jump out the back of big waves as they break against the shores. This pod of bottlenose dolphins was leisurely surfing in the waves as the offshore wind blew against the incoming waves, creating an atmosphere that was most unique and magical. It was shot by Andrew Wong in a place called Waterfall Bluff in the Transkei, South Africa, and entered in the National Geographic International Photo Contest 2008.

For more images: see winners' galleries, solve puzzles, and download wallpaper from the 2008 International Photo Contest.

Every trip should have a soundtrack, so we've asked CJ Fahey with Nat Geo Music to select artists from their catalog whose songs will inspire you to get going.



In two years working for Nat Geo Music I've seen thousands of music videos from all over the world and "Azania" by South African rapper Zoro stands out as one of my favorites. "Azania" is an alternative name for South Africa used by African nationalists beginning in the late 1970s. The catchy beat and colorful imagery belie lyrics that speak to the struggle of people living in townships in a country with a history of racial oppression:

"Hunger, crime, AIDS is finishing us / We're diminishing / They're laughing at us ... Azania / We grew up hard / We grew up hard."

Zoro himself grew up in the township of Guguletu outside Cape Town and from an early age identified with resistance to the apartheid regime. In 1989 he was shot by a policeman while trying to stop a fight and was paralyzed from the waist down. Through determination and faith he regained the ability to walk after one year in a wheelchair. 

South Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010. If any of you are lucky enough to travel there, you'll probably hear some great music along the way. Just don't assume that every song with a catchy beat is a lighthearted dance tune.

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It may not have appeared on many of our calendars, but yesterday was Africa Environment Day. To recognize the event, the South African Embassy hosted representatives from several African nations yesterday afternoon to discuss some of the initiatives their countries are working on to support sustainable environmental and economic development. After attending the session, I was impressed with the range of ideas and projects being put forward.

For example, right now Gabon is still glowing from the international attention it received while it played host to the season of CBS's hugely-popular Survivor: Earth's Last Eden series. Over 18 million people saw that the country was safe and politically stable, said Mireille Obame Nguema Moore, who was speaking on behalf of the ambassador. She said the country is now working on several projects, and aiming to become a "leader and innovator in conservation and sustainable tourism."

One major Gabon initiative was the creation of 13 national parks, achieved with the help of National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Michael Fay of the Megatransect project. The Gabon government continues to promote sustainable tourism through programs like Operation Loango, which helps train eco-guides in Loango National Park, who then act as ambassadors to the local community to promote the value of the park. They've also been working with PPG-Congo to establish a gorilla release program in the country, and have released 50 rehabilitated or orphaned gorillas into the wild. Increasingly interested in attracting the adventure tourist, Gabon is creating infrastructure to support travelers, and plans a "rainforest airport" which would be the world's first sustainable airport.

IT Contributor Andrew Evans offers an all-inclusive guide to all things penguin.

Penguins are never passé. Be they marching or tapping their happy feet toward another sequel, the little black and white birds are still very much in everybody's minds and hearts. I also imagine that kids who play with plastic penguins in their Happy Meals grow up to be bigger kids who want to see the birds in real life, in the wild.

Admittedly, live penguins are so astonishingly cool--the way they tilt their heads from side to side to get a good look at you, the strange braying chorus they sing, and that distinctive penguin smell that's part fishy dishwasher detergent and part dusty, old attic. Travelers often bemoan the fact that penguin Grand Central is in almost-inaccessible Antarctica, a destination better suited for scientists, explorers, and millionaires. Still, that doesn't mean you have to cross wild penguins off your wish list. The southern hemisphere is filled with alternatives for seeing wild penguins in their natural habitats.

The following locations offer options for safe and sustainable human interaction with wild penguins:

1.    Isla Magdalena, Chile: This lone clump of rocks in the Strait of Magellan is home to over 50,000 breeding pairs of adorable Magellanic penguins. After a one-hour ferry ride from the city of Punta Arenas, the boat drops you off for a good 90-minute visit with the birds. A marked path guides you safely through the penguin nests and up to the island's lighthouse for a remarkable view. (Insider's tip: in case you're tempted to use your hands to climb up those giant mountains of yellow 'dirt' for a better view, don't. That isn't dirt.)

2.    Galápagos Islands, Ecuador: The Galápagos penguin is the world's northernmost penguin species. They live right on the equator, but look and act a lot like the penguins from colder climes. The best viewing spots are on Isabela island (the largest in the archipelago) and the west coast of Fernandina island.

3.    Boulders Beach, Simon's Town, South Africa: Gigantic granite boulders and tropical-looking turquoise inlets are the exotic home for the African or jackass penguin. A system of raised wooden walkways leads you right into the heart of penguin territory, including the penguins' own sandy beach. Afterwards, enjoy a swim at the people's beach next door.

Hello city-lovers! Today's city of choice is Cape Town, Africa's Mother City, and it comes at the hands of Laura Trisnadi.

Still haven't seen your city on IT? Just complete our list of fill-in-the-blank questions then copy and paste the list into an e-mail, fill in your answers, and send your responses to IntelligentTravel@ngs.org. And if you're waiting for us to feature yours, fear not! We're attempting to post them as fast as we can (hint--it helps if you include links and photos!)

The Mother City is My City

The first place I take a visitor from out of town is Table Mountain.

When I crave ice cream I always go Marcel's.

To escape the city I head out on a drive around The Mountain to False Bay.

If I want to drink wine I go to the wine farms in Stellenbosch or Franschhoek.

Rainer Jenss and his family are currently on an around-the-world journey, and they're blogging about their experiences for us at Intelligent Travel. Keep up with the Jensses by bookmarking their posts, and follow the boys' Global Bros blog at National Geographic Kids.

What does going to a Grateful Dead concert and a safari game drive have in common? You never know what you are going to get and each one is different. This may seem like a strange analogy, especially to those who have not been to Africa or care very much about psychedelic rock music, but as someone who attended over 100 Dead shows and was about to embark on his fourth safari, it seems like a very fitting description.

Something else I can tell you about going on safari is that it's life-changing. That may sound a bit dramatic, but I can assure you that most people who have had the privilege of viewing wildlife in Africa would rank it among the greatest experiences of their lives. It certainly was for me and Carol, and for more reasons than one. We actually got engaged on our first game drive over 16 years ago during "sundowners" (I'll explain what those are in a moment). I was so overcome with what we had just seen (a leopard stalking an impala) and the magnificent beauty of the bush, that I proposed right then and there, with little care that our ranger and two other couples were there with us.  

In August 2007, I was privileged to have joined a group of fifteen children, all between the ages of 9 and 14 from all around the United States, on a trip to South Africa. Specifically, we were rewarding the winners of the National Geographic Kids' Hands-On Explorer Challenge, a competition that looks for the next generation of future explorers. For being selected, each child and a parent got a chance to "go on assignment" with National Geographic, joining a group of photographers, editors, scientists, and the NBC Today Show.

Selecting Africa as a destination was easy enough. Nowhere on earth is as synonymous with what National Geographic does than this place. The real challenge was making it "family friendly" while still capturing the spirit of adventure and exploration that this institution is so renowned for. For this, we turned to Footprints Africa, a company specializing in travel to the continent. They suggested we sample a bit of everything: shark diving, nature conservation, cultural exchange, and of course, a safari. As it turned out, the program was a smashing success and everyone had the experience of a lifetime. The only problem was that my children were not with me. Fortunately, I secretly knew all along that I would be back a mere 18 months later with the whole family in tow.

Rainer Jenss and his family are currently on an around-the-world journey, and they're blogging about their experiences for us at Intelligent Travel. Keep up with the Jensses by bookmarking their posts, and follow the boys' Global Bros blog at National Geographic Kids.

Let me say upfront that it's an incredible privilege to be able to travel around the world with my family for a year, especially during a time when there's so much economic uncertainty. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.  But as fulfilling as it is to show the boys all the wonderful places we've been, being around each other pretty much 24/7 for such a long stretch can be quite testing at times--on all of us. That's why we were enthusiastically counting down the days to when a group of our friends (including some good buddies Tyler and Stefan grew up with) would be meeting us in Cape Town for a two-week tour of South Africa. So besides being excited about arriving in one of my favorite countries, we were getting a much welcomed release that would allow us to take a break from constantly being around each other. Plus, the boys would have kids their age to be with after more than three months without such company. Yeehaw!     

As delighted as I was to be seeing everyone, I was also quite anxious. When our friends decided they wanted to connect with us in Africa, I told them to trust me in arranging everything and that I would put together a game plan everyone would be happy with. Easily being one of my favorite places, I sold them on South Africa pretty hard, guaranteeing that it would be the best family vacation they'd ever have. Since I had been to the country on four separate occasions and had experience with the proposed itinerary, I felt reasonably confident it would deliver. So I handed a wish list to an operator called Footprints Africa, and they made all the pieces come together.  

So why South Africa? When most people consider traveling to Africa, going on a safari is usually a prime motivator. Being fortunate to have been on a few before, all in South Africa, I can attest that it is life changing and certainly ranks as a top highlight of my all my travel experiences. I haven't been to Botswana, Tanzania, or Kenya (yet), which all undoubtedly have some of the best game viewing around, but what I've heard from those who know is that South Africa offers perhaps the widest variety of wildlife, all within a relatively small space. Unlike the massive planes of the Serengeti, Kruger National Park and it's private game reserves have much thicker bush, which brings in the diversity, but not in the large numbers found elsewhere on the continent.