ASC Safari Guru recently spent some time in Namibia where she managed to take in all sorts of interesting sights. The following are excerpts from her travel diary. 13 May 2013 Once again I packed my bags for yet another African adventure, it was a Monday afternoon as I sat at Cape Town airport waiting [...]

The Landmark Foundation
A week or so ago, we at African Safari Consultants (ASC) were fortunate enough to chat with Dr Bool Smuts of the Landmark Foundation – a South African NGO dedicated to building South Africa’s conservation economy so that it’s natural landscapes can be more effectively conserved. The paragraphs that follow are from notes made during [...]
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Tinga Tinyeleti Tree House Lodge
The new Tinga Tinyeleti Tree House lodge offers the chance to rekindle our ancient love affair with trees, in an ultra luxurious setting overlooking the pristine wilderness of the Tinga private concession. Ever since childhood days of tree houses and tire swings, trees have always held a special place in our hearts – many an [...]
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Safari Icons: Dereck and Beverly Joubert
In this instalment of our Safari Icons series, we take a look at the world-renowned Husband and Wife conservationist/photographic team – Dereck and Beverly Joubert. Veterans of the industry, with over 25 years experience, the Jouberts were recently honoured with their appointment as National Geographic Society’s “Explorers in Residence”. Having worked in some of Africa’s most remote [...]
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Our Favourite World Heritage Sites in Africa
Africa is a truly beautiful continent, with many a site to behold. These are some of our favorite UNESCO World Heritage Sites that we’ve been fortunate to visit over the years. Which is your favorite?
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ASC Launch Scholarship Program
African Safari Consultants (ASC) feel strongly about wildlife conservation and community development, and always support those making a difference, whenever and however we can. In 2011 we successfully partnered with the Wilderness Foundation’s ‘Forever Wild’ initiative, where we actively campaigned to raise money to combat rhino poaching (you can find the campaign post here). We [...]
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Q&A With Sir David Attenborough for BBC Africa
On Wednesday this week, the legendary British broadcaster and conservationist Sir David Attenborough hosted a brief question and answer round on BBC Africa’s Twitter and Facebook platforms in promotion of his new series entitled ‘Africa’. The series, Attenborough’s last of such magnitude, examines six distinct ecological zones on the continent: The Kalahari; The Savannah; The Congo; The [...]
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ASC Scholarship Follow Up: Mandi Tembo
Around this time last year, ASC offered $500.00 in financial assistance to an American student studying abroad in Africa as part of our continued commitment to CSI (see here). Applicants had to be involved in either an environmental conservation or community upliftment program in order to qualify, and submitted their CVs along with their letters of motivation for consideration [...]
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African Safari Consultants Team Profile: Liesl Mathews
In the second part of our exclusive Q&A series with the team behind African Safari Consultants, we speak to Cape Town based partner Liesl Mathews about eggs benedict, where to go with your kids, the perfect holiday snap and much (more) more… For part one of our series, where we speak to Jeff Ward, click [...]
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ASC at The New York Times Travel Show [free passes up for grabs]
This weekend, the 18th-20th of January, African Safari Consultants will be based at the Botswana Tourism stand for the duration of The New York Times Travel Show. Represented by our Safari Guru Jeff, we’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have about a future trip to Africa, to offer travel expert travel advice, or just to [...]
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African Safari Consultants Team Profile: Jeff Ward
With this, the first in a new series of posts, we’ll be chatting to the faces behind African Safari Consultants and asking them about their favorite destinations, how they got into the industry and much (much) more. First up we speak to Mr Jeff Ward, managing partner of the New York office. 1) Where are you from? [...]
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ASC Plants Trees with Greenpop
At African Safari Consultants, we all have a major passion for nature and the environment. We believe that our beautiful surroundings should be preserved for future generations to enjoy, so we often join forces with like-minded individuals or organisations with this common purpose. Greenpop is just such an organisation… Founded in 2010, Greenpop has now successfully planted over 17000 [...]
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Feedback
Hi Ilze- Nicole and I are back in the US and wanted to thank you again for all the help that you gave us to make our trip truly fantastic! We're happy to give you some feedback on some places that stood out to us, as well as some learnings for future travelers. I'll also try to address your questions in the respective sections. Below is a quick summary: South AfricaZambia
- Cape Town accommodations were fine. Nothing "special" but we knew that going in. It was very comfortable, clean and convenient.
- The lodge in Franschhoek was really nice.
- The Elephant Lodge was a really nice location. Very unique and charming.
- You definitely warned us about the distance between all locations - we probably should of listened. While it was great to see the towns that we did, it was often after a long day of driving only to have to leave again first thing in the morning.
- All in all, the locations and lodges were all lovely in S. Africa.
Mozambique
- Everything was amazing! LOVED Islands of Siankaba.
Kenya
- We've already given feedback here. It was an amazing island. Beautiful, tranquil, etc.
- The Banguerra Lodge had a lot of potential. It was beautiful, the food was good.
Overall Feedback Aside from the above, we were very very happy with all the other elements of our trip (food, boarding, activities, transfers). That said, we thought we’d summarize some things that may have made our trip a bit more seamless so that you can pass along to future customers. Looking forward to connecting at your convenience. Thanks again for your help in planning a truly amazing, life changing trip. I hope the feedback above is helpful, and in the context that it was intended - which is that all in all, we are VERY happy. Have a great day. Colby
- We really loved the Stanley.
- Travel time between parks.
Hi Liesl, Sadly, our African journey has come to an end! Everything was flawless as far as arrangements. We loved absolutely everything we did. The apartment was great in Cape Town; loved the ostrich farm. African Perfection is worth recommending in Jeffrey's Bay. LOVED Bukela Lodge at Amakhala (very intimate experience, with easy access; though can't be compared to a Chobe, for example - two very different, but positive experiences). Zambezi Sun was great, although that was the only place Jim got violently ill one night from food we imagine, and Olivia had a scary high fever which came and went for 3 days. In Zambia we did the rhino walk and elephant back safari, both of which we loved. The kids and I did the village tour to Makuni Village which was far more authentic than I could've imagined. The guys had fun on their half day fishing. Olivia and I hired a driver and gave out more toys to an orphanage and kids on the streets. Wish we had time to pop into Zimbabwe for the day. LOVED Chobe Game Lodge... worth every penny to have splurged. Phenomenal animal sightings. Not many people were at the lodge (about 20 out of a capacity of 80) so once again it felt very intimate. Bush Tracks was an excellent company who showed up everywhere for every transfer on time and professional. Thanks for your superb planning with me. I wouldn't have changed a thing! Kim
Hello Liesl Yes we have been home a week now. The holiday was a great success mainly due to you and your company. Everything worked like clock work; all flights were on time, all meet and greets worked well. All of the rangers who were our guides were pleasant and very knowledgeable. The game lodges were excellent and the rooming was ideal in most instances. We have absolutely nothing negative to say. The Children were enthralled by Africa, its people and of course the multitude of animals that they encountered. It will be an experienced that will last. You asked about Alfajiri and it was as perfect as it could be. The owners were out of town and there was no one else staying there, so we had the whole place to ourselves. The staff were absolutely great ...as you would expect for a place like this...again though, there was a lot of complimentary stuff that we were not aware of ( i.e all of the massages, the golf, day trips to other beaches)...but it was a perfect end to a great safari holiday. You don't handle driving holidays in Spain by any chance do you? Anne and I are off there next year. Best regards and many thanks for a job well done ! Bob and Anne Robinson
Hi Liesl! Livingstone and the Riverclub were wonderful. Victoria Falls is one of the most breath-taking sites we've ever seen! No one minded getting a little wet and we got some fabulous photos. The market there was fun for the girls. The staff at the Riverclub were top notch! We really enjoyed getting to know everyone. The highlight there has to be the hippos - the sundowner boat trip was so fun, we did it both evenings. In Mombo, we got to see the leopard Legadima and her cub AND one of the white rhinos with her 3 week old baby! We were told that there hadn't been a rhino siting in a few months so we were thrilled. We're still going through our thousands of photos (we had 5 cameras between the 4 of us), re-living the fun! I know that Kevin and I will be looking to do a few more safari holidays while we're still in Africa. So, we may be in touch for help with that.. Here's wishing you all the best for the New Year! Thanks for all your help! Warmest Regards, Dana
Hi Liesl, We just got back to Washington a few hours ago so we are a bit tired but I wanted to tell you just how much we enjoyed our time and how everything was so well organised . Please don't worry about the problem with the luggage ( all is well that ends well). We will send you pictures and tell you all about our wonderful adventures in our next email . Jack and I want to thank you for a trip of a lifetime ! Kay & Jack















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