< PreviousCONSERVATION NINETY LANDOWNERS help vultures to reclaim their Karoo home. The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) proudly announces the declaration of the first official Vulture Safe Zone (VSZ) in the Karoo, just in time for International Vulture Awareness Day on 4 September. A Vulture Safe Zone is an area in which landowners and communities work collaboratively to implement targeted conservation measures to address critical local threats to vultures, such as poisoning. READ MORE FREGATE ISLAND Introduces Coral Adoption Program. Fregate Island, is excited to announce a new coral adoption program in partnership with Luxury watchmaker BlancPain and Coralive.org. The aim is to support the regrowth of corals and resilience using first of its kind mineral accretion technology. This trailblazing method results in a higher survival rate of coral fragments compared to classic rehabilitation and is one of the few locations in the world that utilize this practice. READ MORE NEWS 10 EDITION 2 2021Oering marine enthusiasts a range of life-changing experiences, designed to improve their skills and employability prospects. In association with Volkswagen Focused on the conservation and protection of the endangered African Penguin & other Sea birds. Not just another whale watching trip. Experience the Marine Big 5 in their natural habitat, around the world famous Dyer Island ecosystem. The leading 5-star cage diving experience in South Africa. More than just a dive, our marine biologists share their knowledge & adventures on each trip! African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary - APSS12 EDITION 2 2021 NEWS SOUTH AFRICANS called to play their part in recycling. South Africans have long become familiar with the call to recycle their waste. This has become ever more apparent as people worked from home during the Covid-19 pandemic, as the waste that was normally generated in the office parks and business operations is now being generated and piling up at home. As a country we boast some strong recycling rates. According to RecyclePaperZA, in 2020 1.1 million tonnes of paper and paper packaging were recovered for recycling into new products making the paper recycling rate just short of 70%. READ MORE POLYCO LAUNCHES municipal- focused recycling strategy. Polyco has partnered with the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM), Border-Kei Chamber of Business (BKCOB) and the Buffalo City Development Agency (BCMDA) to implement this recycling strategy in East London. In conjunction to funding support for recycling businesses, a community-focused recycling initiative has been welcomed by residents in East London. The Packa-Ching recycling project encourages residents to collect their recyclables and bring them to a buy- back centre, where they will have their recycling weighed and then will be paid for it. READ MORE ENVIRONMENT14 EDITION 2 2021 TRAVELEDITION 2 2021 15 travel16 Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Park 46 Experiential Travel 50 Getting to the heart of Azura Benguerra Island 64 Baobab Ridge & its ‘secret spice’ 72 Hoedspruit, a little town with a huge heart 80 Bushwillow Private Villa 88 Saseka Tented Camp 96 Nature’s Splendour 104 Banyan Tree Ilha Caldeira16 EDITION 2 2021 TRAVEL Kavango Zambezi KAZA - where nature’s bounty is revealed AFRICA’S EDEN THE KAVANGO ZAMBEZI Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) is situated in the Kavango and Zambezi River basins where the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe converge. It spans an area of approximately 520 000 km² and includes 36 proclaimed protected areas such as national parks, game reserves, forest reserves, community conservancies and game/wildlife management areas. A key objective of KAZA is to ensure connectivity between wildlife areas, and where necessary, join fragmented wildlife habitats to form an interconnected mosaic of protected areas, as well as restore trans-boundary wildlife migratory corridors between wildlife dispersal areas (WDAs). These corridors re-establish and conserve large-scale ecological processes that extend beyond the boundaries of protected areas. Within the KAZA TFCA, six geographically specific WDAs have been identified. These areas offer critical ecological and wildlife movement linkages between protected areas across the landscape. EDITION 2 2021 17 Chobe River, Botswana The six wildlife dispersal areas include the Zambezi-Chobe Floodplain; Hwange-Kazuma– Chobe; Kwando; Zambezi- Mosi Oa Tunya; Hwange- Makgadikgadi-Nxai; and Khaudum-Ngamiland. The Chobe-Zambezi Floodplain Wildlife Dispersal Area: One of the prioritised wildlife dispersal areas is the Zambezi- Chobe Floodplain WDA, a large wetland shared between Botswana, Namibia and Zambia, of which the Simalaha Community Conservancy, the eastern Zambezi region in Namibia, and the wetlands of the Chobe National Park in Botswana form the core regarding connectivity between the Chobe National Park in Botswana and the Kafue National Park in Zambia. The overall objective is to develop a sustainable wildlife economy in the Zambezi-Chobe Floodplain WDA within the KAZA TFCA based on strong community ownership, benefit sharing, resource protection and integrated management of agriculture, settlements and services. This will enhance livelihoods, secure wildlife corridors and dispersal areas and expand the wildlife economy in the area between Chobe (Botswana) and Kafue (Zambia) national parks. There are currently several community conservation areas and community development initiatives which support the development of this wildlife dispersal area on both sides of the Zambia and Namibia border. Source: www.peaceparks.org — THESE AREAS OFFER CRITICAL ECOLOGICAL AND WILDLIFE MOVEMENT LINKAGES BETWEEN PROTECTED AREAS ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE —18 EDITION 2 2021 TRAVEL Kavango Zambezi to explore the area with the aim of encouraging regional travel and to show that having Covid-19 tests aren’t as bad as one imagines and that border crossings are a breeze. More specifically though, it was to show that the KAZA TFCA (Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area) is safe and ready to host visitors... And with all Covid-19 protocols adhered to where ever we went, it was easy to relax and have fun as we travelled in our bubble FOUR SOUTHERN AFRICAN countries, two mighty African rivers and a range of experiences as diverse as the landscapes they traverse. A recent visit to Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe revealed some of the treasures to be found in this magnificent region, which can easily be referred to as Africa’s Eden. As a group of 10 journalists and travel writers from five different countries we set out words & pics - Tessa BuhrmannEDITION 2 2021 19 PREVIOUS PAGE: The mighty Victoria Falls ; locals on the Victoria Falls bridge on route to Zambia THIS PAGE: Masking up in Victoria Falls; the Kazangula Bridge over the Zambezi River from Zambia to Botswana and to mask up in public spaces. The other advantage of this region is the abundance of wide- open spaces and wonderfully fresh air which made social distancing a breeze. It was incredibly encouraging to see several international visitors once again travelling in the region... all vaccinated and ready to explore the delights and experiences that Africa offers once again. It was a whistle-stop trip – just nine days in total and included three Covid-19 PCR tests and one Covid-19 Rapid test (all negative thankfully), and seven border crossings. There was little time to explore each region adequately but the experiences in this brief time were enough to whet the appetite for a more comprehensive visit to each of these wonderful countries in the future, which I’m hoping it will inspire you to do to.Next >