Praia do Barra is one of Mozambique's most popular beaches, right at the tip of the peninsula in Inhambane Province. The nearby waters are famous for their huge populations of whale sharks and manta rays. Photo courtesy of Riëtte Stoltz

A trip only a few kilometres outside of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique and a large port city, leads to a number of quiet hidden beaches perfect for snorkelling, diving and fishing. And across Maputo Bay, just far enough to be beyond the horizon, are islands like Portuguese and Inhaca, where isolated retreats provide hours of opportunity for quiet walks and tranquil reflection.

Alternatively, when you feel like sinking your feet into something other than sand, there’s a world of African wildlife waiting in the south of country. Right on the South African border, 100 kilometres south of Maputo, lies Kruger National Park, one of the best places in Africa to spot the ‘Big Five’ – lions, elephants, buffalo, leopards and rhinoceros – animals that old-time hunters used to risk life and limb to shoot.

Of course, there are plenty of things to see and do in Maputo itself. With impressive colonial architecture, the city lends itself to wandering along cobblestone streets, sipping coffee at local cafés and perusing colourful downtown markets. A tour of the Mafalala district opens windows onto Mozambique’s more recent and turbulent past, putting the country’s rich ethnic and cultural diversity into historical perspective.

A beautiful sunset behind the Matola Rio Bridge. Linking the Matola suburbs with Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, the bridge is heavily used by both commuters and by travellers on their way to neighbouring Swaziland and South Africa. Photo courtesy of Riëtte Stoltz

As Mozambique continues to navigate its post-war development, effort is being put into building better infrastructure, like the good mix of Mozambique accommodation. Many Maputo hotels, like the Cardoso Hotel, realise the importance of connecting business development with community development and are actively involved in the local Maputo non-profit sector. A number of Mozambique spas and resorts are gaining popularity as well. Resorts like Indigo Bay balance diving and other water-sport activities against community involvement, an important part of creating successful ecologically and socially minded enterprises.

Natalie Tenzer-Silvia and her team at Dana Tours, the new whl.travel local partner in Mozambique, are no strangers to the community development that is so central to Mozambique’s success. In addition to organising a number of Mozambique tours and running their own Mozambique transport company, Dana Tours is actively involved in hosting volunteers through programs that connect North American students with hands-on learning experiences in Mozambique orphanages.

In Mozambique, a mother does her washing in the river near the Pequenos Libombo dam with her baby asleep on her back. The dam, near the Swaziland border, is a popular spot with the local community. Photo courtesy of Riëtte Stoltz

Dana Tours has been in operation since 2002 and Natalie is very excited to be expanding her business with the whl.travel family. “One of the attractions of joining whl.travel is that I will be dealing with the clients directly,” says Natalie. “So often we don’t get a feel for what the client really wants because there are agents in between us who don’t really know much about Mozambique and what it has to offer – though this is no fault of the agent. There is not much available in the way of tourist information about Mozambique. By dealing directly with the client, we can elicit exactly what he expects to accomplish, and ensure that we realise his dreams.”

The new Mozambique Web portal at www.tourmozambique.travel joins a growing list of whl.travel websites in Southern Africa.

A major draw is the opportunity to compete in a unique and spectacular environment. Forget the endless fire roads and jeep-track climbs that some races tend to rely on, where road-bike endurance tends to matter more than MTB skill. The Induna MTB Challenge provides an entirely different challenge for riders to get their teeth into.

Known for its hand-cut trails that snake through the forest, the course serves up a difficult mix of short sharp climbs, rock shelves, rooty drops and tricky switchbacks. Add a few shallow water crossings and even some single tracks beaten flat by hippos and you can see that the riders have their work cut out for them.

The Lowveld’s warm winter climate provides a comfortable environment for those who choose to camp at the race venue. As excitement builds before the race, the community spirit of the riders and spectators is a jovial and rewarding experience.

For those not up for competing, the race is an incredible event just to be around. But if you are looking for something to get the adrenaline pumping, there are plenty of activities available in the Western Kruger area.

Traditional dancers perform in the Ringetani Cultural Village. Photo courtesy of Brenna Bales-Smith

Even better, the attention tourists give to the province – and the consequent need for local accommodation and tour providers – has put locals involved in the industry in a position to design and implement sustainable business strategies that help protect the area they serve.

Making the Best of New Opportunities

Although Kruger National Park is the jewel in the province’s rich tourism crown and acts as a major drawing card in this part of South Africa, other industry subsectors – in adventure, heritage and cultural tourism – have also shown enormous market potential as well.

For example, around Kruger National Park and the Lowveld in particular, the growth of tourism has led to the development of new tour operators, adventure outfits, accommodations and restaurants, but It has also given organisations such as Maholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre and Ringetani Cultural Village the exposure they need to enhance and develop their endeavours.

Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre is an animal educational centre that offers tours in and around their facility, to educate the visiting, local and surrounding communities and public through programs, talks, skills development and unique interactive workshops and experiences about the importance of wildlife conservation and environmental awareness.

The Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre is a haven for the care of abandoned, injured and poisoned wildlife. Photo courtesy of Brenna Bales-Smith

Ringetani Cultural Village is the result of a local community that jumped at a commercial opportunity to reclaim their heritage. Working together, they built and created a traditional village where they work and entertain. Through their earnings and fundraising, they built a school where they educate their youth about African principles and the importance of preserving nature and the environment. Their non-profit organisation subsists largely on donations made by the visitors they receive each day and entertainment services provided to the hospitality and tourism industries in Lowveld and the surrounding areas.

Finding Support from All Quarters

More visitors to Mpumalanga has also spurred the creation of new jobs in what is otherwise a struggling province, providing strong incentives for locals to develop the skills necessary for earning a living through sustainable tourism and hospitality. As a result, Mpumalanga has seen improved services and facilities, as well as a rise in environmental and conservation awareness through education and environmental campaigns conducted by national parks and affiliated wildlife programs such as Moholoholo.

Some important secondary effects of environmentally friendly practices and awareness have been beneficial developments in the use of clean energy. In fact, most of Kruger National Parks facilities now use solar heating and recycle all their rubbish, which has added to the sustainable tourism boom in South Africa.

Fine crafts and bead work sold to visitors at Cultural Villages help raise funds for local projects and needs. Photo courtesy of Brenna Bales-Smith

Finally, even targeted external investment is making a difference. Through organisations like WHL Consulting’s Project-Exposure, small-scale local accommodation and tour providers in the Mpumalanga Lowveld region have gained an understanding of how to shift from unreliable energy practices to better, cleaner and, in the long term, more cost-effective energy sources.

All in all, as Mpumalanga draw in more and more visitors, all stakeholders – local tourism businesses, non-profit organisations and national parks – must continue to work together to protect the homelands they rely on and cherish. The travel industry has helped to promote economic growth and environmental awareness and long-term sustainable strategies designed to bring lasting benefits to the social, economic, natural and cultural environments in Mpumalanga.

This African Gospel Church - a structure like many in the townships - is in the Langa Township in the Flats outside Cape Town

So what are you to do? Are there reasonably priced accommodation options anywhere in South Africa? How can one find exciting and responsible travel options beyond the pomp of a month of games? And, as we’ve written about already, is there any way of ensuring that some of the money spent will be fairly distributed, so that the inflated profits benefit as wide a cross-section of people as possible, not just the already rich and powerful?

Opportunism and Exploitation

We’ve seen a growing number of articles decrying the avarice of accommodation owners in South Africa as they set special room rates to laughably outrageous levels. “Research this week on Hotels.com UK website showed that the four-star, centrally located Cape Town Lodge Hotel, which from May 28 to June 5 charges £68 per room per night, is raising its rate on June 11, when the tournament gets under way, to £395,” reported Travelmole in mid-December 2009. “Hotel rates always rise during big sporting events: during the Olympic Games in Athens (2004) and Sydney (2000) they were three times the usual level. But the increases in South Africa almost match those made during the Beijing Olympics, when hoteliers were accused of exploitation.”

The lion is one of the Big Five found in Kruger National Park, the country’s largest game reserve and a superb place for a safari (photo courtesy of South African Tourism)

“The World Cup has brought out the worst in some sectors of the tourism industry both in South Africa and abroad, but it seems that this is a phenomenon that follows every big event of this sort,” added Martin Hatchuel, the South African travel writer who publishes www.thistourismweek.co.za. “I have had quite a bit of contact with people in Australia who tell me that Sydney suffered a decline in tourism in the three years following its Olympics – and the reason most people seemed to have for avoiding the city as a destination was ‘greed.’ So South Africa is not alone.”

Given the price gouging and apparent absence of reasonable oversight, one real fear is that not only will little of any profits actually reach the local level, but that any backlash suffered as a result of unfair market practices will hurt locals the most.

Finding a Fair Room

One way of helping to make a small difference – and help redress some of the possible imbalances – is to book accommodation and tours with locally run, small-scale lodges and tour operators, especially those committed to bringing opportunity to the townships. This is not only in keeping with FIFA’s social development policy of providing support to community-based organisations, it also provides alternative lodging options in World Cup host cities where exploitative pricing is now evident.

In fact, continued Hatchuel, “It seems to me that the people who are being most sensible about this World Cup are those who own the smaller accommodation establishments and other small tourism businesses.”

To help the price-daunted World Cup fan, below is a list of off-the-beaten-track lodging options on offer through whl.travel, in some cases the only online booking service available for these properties. While other hotels are charging outlandish rates, these B&Bs promise not to bamboozle their customers. Their rates will be higher than usual, but still most definitely a bargain, especially considering the unbeatable cultural experience of life in a South African township (especially during the World Cup) and the assurance that the money spent is actually reaching the people.

Cape Town

• Kopanong
• Liziwe’s Guest House
• Majoro’s B&B
• Malebo’s Bed and Breakfast
• Ma Neo’s
• Ndibovayo Bed and Breakfast
• Radebe’s B&B
• Vicky’s Bed and Breakfast

Mossel Bay (on the Garden Route, midway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth)

• Polani’s Xhosa Homestay
• Yonwaba Sesotho Homestay

Meeting the People

Whether or not alternative accommodation is key, meeting the people and experiencing the country should be. In a previous blog post, we’ve already proposed community or nature tours and activities in or near the World Cup host cities. What follows is a more targeted list to help zero in.

Traditional Xhosa dancers in South Africa perform for guests at a Mossel Bay township's first non-alcoholic shabeen and day-care centre

Cape Town
whl.travel offers access to a variety of community-based cultural and volunteer experiences, including:

• half-day, full-day and three-day township tours, and
• extended (28-day) volunteer adventures involving cheetahs, lions, monkeys, surfing and outreach to children.

Nelspruit
Nelspruit is quite close to Kruger National Park and the Panorama Route, as well as within several hour’s drive of the Mpumalanga Highlands.

All three are superb destinations with a broad offering of nature-oriented and outdoor activities, like river rafting, geckoiing, mountain biking, zip-line flying, rock abseiling, mountain boarding and following an aerial cable trail over a forest.

Animal enthusiasts will find satisfaction in visits to the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre for abandoned, injured and poisoned wildlife or to an elephant sanctuary.

Geckoiing is the use of a small raft steered using webbed gloves. It is one of the best ways to have fun with family and friends.

Port Elizabeth and the Garden Route
In Port Elizabeth, both a Shebeen Tour and a Real City Tour bring travellers to the heart of township life, while the Addo Tour spends a day at the famous Addo Elephant National Park.

Further west, along the Garden Route, a Meet the People Tour out of Mossel Bay is an absolute must, although a coastal cliff hike, game drive in Fynbos or horseback ride through a private game preserve are also a treat.

The Day After It’s Over

Not long after Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, declared “This World Cup belongs to Africa!” on the day of the World Cup 2010 draw, Nelson Mandela, appearing via video link, closed a short speech by saying that “The people of Africa have learned the lessons of patience and endurance in their long struggle for freedom. May the reward brought by the World Cup prove that the long wait for its arrival on African soil has been worth it.”

It’s time to wonder if the reward, so promising in principle, is still out of reach in practice because of misguided expectations about who is coming to the World Cup, how much they can afford and how widely they will travel after it’s all over.

“I think that the organisers of the World Cup and the tourism authorities in South Africa have missed – or failed to communicate – one important piece of intelligence: the demographics of the average soccer traveller,” said Hatchuel. “I have a suspicion that most of them will be males in the 24-32 year bracket, and if that’s the case, I expect they’ll be sticking to the host cities, and looking for the parties rather than travelling round the country.”

If that does turn out to be true, then it’s even more important that the mindful minority shows genuine interest in more than just sport and partying, both during the World Cup and after it’s over. South Africa can’t afford to suffer as Sydney did for its greed.

“This World Cup belongs to Africa!” declared Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, at the Cape Town Convention Centre on 5 December 2009, the long-awaited day of the World Cup 2010 draw. Needless to say, since then, Africa’s already considerable pride at hosting the world’s most popular sporting event grows by the day, in lock step with the excitement of soccer fanatics from all across the continent (and around the world) eagerly awaiting kickoff of the first game – South Africa versus Mexico in Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium at 4pm local time on 11 June 2010.

Supporters of Bafana Bafana, the South Africa national soccer team (photo courtesy of South African Tourism)

The success of the World Cup will however be measured by more than just the tenacity of the teams. Nearly 500,000 people are expected to visit South Africa from game 1 until the finals precisely one month later. Their presence comes as an important economic injection, especially in the tourism sector, as the hordes head out to experience the country.

So, as a primer for the independent traveller in South Africa during the games – the traveller passionate about soccer, but also about meeting and making a difference with the local communities hosting the games – here’s a quick overview of how between games you can connect with the people, just a small but important step in being a good guest.

On the World Cup Trail

Nine cities will be the stage for the 2010 World Cup: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Pretoria, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth and Rustenburg.

The spread of destinations covers a great deal of the country, facilitating discovery of the diversity of regions and people.

Johannesburg

The opening match, nine other first-round matches, two second-round matches, two quarter finals and the finals will all be held in Johannesburg’s two venues: Ellis Park and Soccer City stadiums. Despite its bad reputation, Jo’burg is the financial hub of South Africa and a city full of life and interesting sights.

The busy city centre of Johannesburg

In between games is a perfect opportunity to take them in, not the least of which are the Museum of Apartheid, Soweto or other townships, the Mai-Mai market and the botanic gardens. Perhaps the best way to get to them and understand their significance is on any of several emotion-packed Johannesburg day tours possible through Urban Adventures.

Jo’burg is also within easy reach of two other game venues: Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria and Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, both sites of five first-round and one second-round matches.

Cape Town

Cape Town’s Cape Town Stadium will welcome 70,000 spectators to each of five first-round, one second-round, one quarter-final and one semi-final matches. More commonly known as the ‘Mother City’, Cape Town is one of South Africa’s most storied cities. Naming Cape Town’s top five attractions – Table Mountain, the V&A Waterfront, Robben Island, the Winelands and Cape Point – conveys some of its richness but only just scratches the surface, for there is a great deal more to see and do.

Wine tasting and cellar tours are favourite pastimes in the Cape Winelands. These Franschhoek vineyards are a 1.5-hour drive from downtown Cape Town.

As in Jo’burg, Cape Town tours are highly recommended, not only because they can help you get to places a little difficult to reach but because the accompanying guides put you in the right frame of mind to understand the important but sometimes intangible historical contexts, especially on Robben Island, where many political prisoners were incarcerated, including Nelson Mandela for over 20 years; the Cape Winelands, a perfect retreat for wine lovers; and any of several township and volunteer experiences that show you a different side of Cape life.

Cape Town is a good launch point for travel along South Africa’s famous Garden Route, an unspoiled and often inaccessible coastal corridor rich with wetlands, dunes, rivers, ancient forests, beaches, lakes, mountains and indigenous flora and fauna. Beyond its eastern reaches lies the seaside city of Port Elizabeth, whose Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium will be the site of five first-round and one second-round matches, as well as a quarter-final game and the third-place playoff.

Nelspruit

The city of Nelspruit is the smallest of the host locations, a community of approximately 200,000 people who will welcome four first-round matches to their Mbombela Stadium.

Giraffes are commonly sighted in Kruger National Park, also home to the Big 5, Little 5 and the Birding Big 6

Nelspruit brings two of South Africa’s most tantalising natural wonders into easy reach: Kruger National Park, which is the country’s largest game reserve and a superb place for a safari; and the dramatic Panorama Route, just a short drive from Nelspruit. Both destinations offer an array of adrenalin-pumping outdoor activities, most of which are conducted in a responsible and sustainable manner involving both briefings about local flora and fauna and proactive measures to minimise impact on the environment.

Nelspruit could also be a point of departure to reach Polokwane, 300 kilometres to its northwest, where the Peter Mokaba Stadium will see four first-round matches. To reach Polokwane from Nelspuit, one could detour west across the nature-rich rolling hills of the Mpumalanga Highlands, where outdoor enthusiasts will find plenty of activities from which to choose.

Bloemfontein and Durban

Both Bloemfontein and Durban will host five first-round matches and one second-round match each in their Free State Stadium and Moses Mabhida Stadium, respectively. One semi-final game will also be played in Durban.

Bloemfontein, South Africa’s judicial capital, is popularly referred to as the ‘City of Roses’ due in part to its floral displays and annual Bloem Show (late April/early may), the largest agricultural and entertainment show in the country.

Coastal and cosmopolitan, Durban is the place to go for sun, sea and sand. Most city attraction are found along its Golden Mile of beach, including uShaka Marine World (one of the world’s largest aquariums) and Wilson’s Wharf (the trendy shopping and dining distrinct) on the Victoria Embankment, where there’s no shortage of restaurants and nightclubs.

In a gateway community in Southern Limpopo, South Africa, a woman weaves baskets. Travellers making local connections like this are what the Shared Growth Challenge Fund hopes to highlight.

But some people are already (wisely) asking what will happen when the trophies have been celebrated, the afterglow faded and media attention lifted. Well, the South African Tourist Board estimates that 300,000 more visitors than usual over the next five years will continue to respond to the hype of the first African country ever to host the world’s biggest sporting event.

While that’s very encouraging, a more long-term view of tourism development in South Africa suggests that it’s not far-sighted enough.

Local Partners to the Rescue

Thankfully, three local tour operators – Raw Africa, Induna Adventures and Roc ‘n Rope – have joined forces with WHL Consulting and the whl.travel Africa team to ensure that small accommodation providers in Mpumalanga, Southern Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal are marketed well beyond 2010 both to international travellers and to South Africans eager to explore their own country.

The project is partly funded by the Shared Growth Challenge Fund, a Business Trust project that provides one-off grants to private companies to support ‘pro-poor’ innovation and investment. The 4.5 million rand (approximately US$600,000) project will take 18 months to give new online visibility to at least 150 small accommodation providers. The sustainable long-term effect of this enhanced exposure – including websites with room-booking functionality – is expected to be considerable, particularly in communities routinely excluded from the global marketplace, especially the e-marketplace.

Zachary Rozga, CEO of WHL Consulting, is extremely excited about this project, with ambitious visions far beyond the established scope of the work. The core objective, he believes, is “to get bums in the beds of small and medium tourism accommodation venues by setting up unique websites for accommodation providers, as well as offering affordable package holidays that combine accommodation and fun activities for visitors. Our goal in this project is to reach between 300-600 small and medium enterprises. If all things go well in the following year, we hope to expand that to 1,000 and move into other provinces.”

The project aims to support small and medium-size hotels and lodges (like the one pictured above) in Mpumalanga, Southern Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal

Bums in Beds

Underpinning the Shared Growth Challenge Fund project is a new concept called the Tourism Development Bank that “uses room nights as currency” instead of money, said Rozga.

Local accommodation providers pay a small registration fee of 350 rand (approximately US$50) and then set aside 18 room nights. In return, the providers receive specialised WHL Consulting market-readiness assessment services. Those deemed ready are then eligible to receive:

• a selection of professionally taken photos of their property, including photos for use in ‘immersive tours’ whereby travellers take an online ‘virtual’ tour of a venue;
• a professionally drafted travel write-up highlighting the venue’s appeal to experiential and mindful travellers;
• a unique e-commerce website linked to the whl.travel global network;
• access to a local whl.travel tourism market training seminar.

The 18 room nights “banked” by WHL Consulting will in turn be incorporated into affordable package holidays made available exclusively through whl.travel and combining accommodation with local-economy boosting tours and activities, such as river rafting, abseiling, horse-riding and hiking.

In keeping WHL Consulting, whl.travel and all three local tour operator commitments to responsible travel, the whl.travel package holidays will aim to leverage interest in and support for the two World Heritage sites located in KwaZulu-Natal – iSimangaliso Wetland Park (once called and still better known as the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park) and Drakensburg – as well as the wildlife-rich and heavily protected Kruger National Park and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve.

The project will place great importance on supporting local resources, with a special emphasis on World Heritage Sites and the game parks of Kruger National Park and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve

Pushing a Winning Solution

The benefits to all partners make this project appealing on many levels, in particular for the three local tour operators, all whl.travel partners.

For Danny Pinkas (Roc ‘n Rope), the project is “a win-win situation for everyone involved, from tour operators and accommodation establishments to travellers as well as local communities, who will benefit from spinoffs.”

Darron Raw (Raw Africa), of www.kzn.travel (for KwaZulu-Natal) and www.swazi.travel, agrees: “Up until now a large number of SME (small and medium enterprise) accommodation and activity providers have not been able to participate effectively on the Internet, and this project will integrate them in a professional online e-marketing and booking service.”

Says Jaco Lubbe (Induna Adventures), who oversees www.panorama-tours.travel and www.krugersafaris.travel, “The outcome of this initiative will help local accommodation establishments to provide a more professional and technologically ‘with it’ service to the world. It will also create a platform and give the accommodation establishments the necessary tools to be more visible to specific target markets. I am convinced that this project will help make our piece of the earth more sustainable for generations to come.”

Even for WHL Consulting, this project is an opportunity “to invest heavily in new technology platforms that allow evolution of the Market Access Program from a purely donor-funded exercise to a more commercial enterprise,” said Rozga. “In so doing the intention is to bring the overall cost of the exercise down significantly so that the activities of the program, which are critical in many emerging destinations, can be more widely implemented.”

Of course, for whl.travel, the on-the-ground support of so many local accommodation providers significantly expands the product base offered to independent consumers headed off the beaten path and yearning to book with local businesses, no matter how small, and especially those making socially responsible and sustainable decisions about their destinations.

Just one of many stunning views along the Panorama Route

Winding northeast from the spectacular Drakensburg Mountains of Mpumalanga to the northeastern end of the Great Escarpment, the Panorama Route takes in some of Africa’s (and the world’s) most dramatic scenery. It is also the gateway to Kruger National Park, where you will find the Big 5, endless spectacular views, age-old traditions and cultures. It’s all part of an incredible adventure that will awaken the child within you. So buckle up as we take a quick journey through the highlights.

Real Highs and Brilliant Light

A single day is far too short for all there is to see on the Panorama Route, but if that’s all the time you have, you will not be disappointed!

Along the most famous and fabulous stretch – the 33km of Blyde River Canyon, the world’s third largest – don’t miss the Three Rondavels (giant spiral rock formations) and the Bourke’s Luck Potholes, both a glimpse at nature’s creative forces. Millions of years of swirling air and water have carved and shaped the rocks here resulting in unbelievable formations.

Whitewater rafting in Blyde River Canyon

Also noteworthy is God’s Window, from which there are incomparable views of the Lowveld, a vast blanket of plain almost a kilometre below.

Save your hunger for a stop at Harrie’s Pancakes in Graskop, or the traditional art and candy shops in Pilgrim’s Rest. Both towns impart a sense of the old gold-mining culture that once thrived here.

Even if you’re not usually impressed by waterfalls, check out those on the way to Sabie. Not only are they beautiful, but, when the weather’s right, you can take a moment to dangle your feet, or even swim, in the cool mountain pools. Some are a bit off the beaten track, so pack a good pair of shoes and a picnic basket.

The picturesque Maria Shires waterfall

End your day at the Shangana Cultural Village, where you can taste traditional food, participate in song and dance and experience the history and ways of the Shangaan people.

Outdoor Thrills

If life is your playground, or you don’t just want to be a bystander, dedicate as much time as possible to the many adventures on offer along the Panorama Route, from mild to wild all in one location.

Start off your day in a hot-air balloon and enjoy breathtaking views of the Sabie River Valley.

The more ambitious will thrill to an quad-biking experience that overnights at the private and secluded Matumi Log Cabin on the bubbling Mac Mac River. A typical South African braai under starry skies rounds out a busy day. This experience is ideal for backpackers, nature lovers and birders. The latter will especially appreciate sightings of the Purple-crested Turaco and the elusive Nerina Trojan.

Another special experience is a visit to the Elephant Sanctuary, where you can walk hand-in-trunk with Kasper and Kitso.

Getting It Right

A mother and daughter at the Shangana Cultural Village

* When embarking on any part of the Panorama Route, be sure to get an early start.

* It is advisable to choose a clear day in winter, as misty or cloudy weather, which is common in summer, will prevent you from enjoying the amazing views.

*  Even if it’s warm when you begin, take along some warm clothing, as the temperature changes with the different elevations.

* Get hold of a good map.

* If possible, hire an air-conditioned car. Having your own wheels will mean that you can spend as much time at the various sites as you want.

* The Panorama Route area is busy with thousands of children orphaned by HIV and Aids. Think of supporting and empowering these needy children by spending time at or making a contribution to Sizabantwana.

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For more information about the Panorama Route, including accommodations, tours, activities and lots of insider tips, contact your local whl.travel connection: the team from Induna Adventures at www.panorama-tours.travel.