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Africa Travel Newsletters > South Africa
Safari
1. On Safari in South Africa - Where Africa's Wildlife Never Disappoint
South Africa continues
to enjoy
the tremendous goodwill of holidaymakers worldwide. While travel to
most long haul destinations declined last year, this
country
experienced an enviable 6.5% growth, according to the World Tourism
Organisation. The growth was jump started by the transformation
heralded
by the demise of apartheid and onset of democratic rule in
1994. Apartheid polices of racial discrimination protected by law
greatly offended
enlightened opinion in many parts of the world. And
the enemies of these policies launched a very effective campaign against
visiting South Africa. So
it came to be that South Africa, a truly
superior destination by any standards, remained hidden to many until
the dark cloud of apartheid blew
over.
The wildlife safari is a key item on the South Africa tourist menu.
Those who chose to see Africa's
wildlife here will not be disappointed.
The game viewing experience is excellent at the top rated Kruger
National Park and at other well-regarded game
parks in the country.
Wildlife is protected in over 300 public and private game and nature
reserves. SANParks (South African National Parks) manages 20
national
parks spread throughout the country.
Kruger
is the place to see big game particularly the
"big five" of buffalo,
elephant, lion, leopard and rhinoceros. Most of the other parks have
specialised in conserving particular species or
are identified with
specific animals. The Greater Addo National Park, for example, is the
only place you find elephants in the Cape region. Some of the
parks
along the 3000 km coastline host whales and dolphins.
South
Africa's wildlife conservation policies are advanced and
highly
successful. An initiative targeting wildlife sanctuaries cutting across
international boundaries hopes to replicate this success
elsewhere.
This is in recognition of the fact that wildlife is no respecter of
territorial lines covenanted between men. Transfrontier
conservation
areas have been identified in six regions along the boundaries with
Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and
Mozambique.
In
South Africa, the best places to see wildlife is at private game
reserves and national parks. Private game reserves are not as
expansive
as the publicly owned national parks. Their key selling point is the
superior accommodation and ranger escorted personalized tours.
The
national parks on the other hand are popular with self-drive tourists.
They offer accommodation in a limited number of enclosed rest-camps,
in
thatched rondavels, bungalows and chalets. Tour companies also offer
packages, including transport and guide in the national parks. See our
South Africa Tours page to view info and book one of our package safari
offers.
South Africa is home to
numerous species of land
animals, including the celebrated "big five" - rhino, buffalo, lion,
leopard and elephant. Most members of the big
five league are
undoubtedly charismatic. But this is not the reason they are so named -
otherwise I would petition that the buffalo be ejected. The
reason is
that these are the animals the early safari hunters found most
challenging. The idea of viewing game without killing had not
gained
widespread acceptance then. The arrogant practice of killing animals as
a sport is very unpopular today with those who value the right to
life
and dignity of animals as full members of our planet.
In
addition to the disagreeable aesthetics, hunting brings about a
bad
relationship between man and the animals. I will illustrate this with
an incident narrated to me by a guide on a recent visit to a country
(not
South Africa) that allows hunting. The guide recalled an occasion
when he was taken by surprise to see an elephant charging at his
vehicle. This was
contrary to his experience with elephants in that
region. This unusual behaviour arose because hunters had wounded the
elephant. The elephant hereafter
dealt with vehicles and humans as
enemies. It is regrettable that South Africa's otherwise stellar
conservation policies, allow the practice of
hunting in certain areas.
Help and More
Information for South Africa!
Planning for your next South Africa safari?
Contact
us
today and we will assist you in picking and booking the best hotel and
flight, and all your other South Africa travel
arrangements.
