A different wildlife experience
Dec 30th, 2008, 02:12 PM
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A different wildlife experience
Hi everyone!
I'm hoping that I'm allowed to post this on here, but here goes!
I've been wondering if I could get some feedback on whether you would go on a venture like this:
http://www.bhejanenaturetraining.com/index.html
"Natural Solutions
Why not live the dream? Are you tired of being a “tourist” ? Are you looking for a genuine African Experience? If so, our Natural Solutions programmes will be the perfect fit!
Learn about the ecology of nature, identifying trees, birds and animal behaviour. These are some of the basic elements of our 7 or 14 day Natural Solutions Programme. (Programmes can be customised for groups.)
An essential element of our Natural Solutions programmes is the strong focus on building your confidence as an individual, finding balance through the observation of natural systems and helping you focus on the world as a set of interrelated systems.
We believe that this experience will restore the vitality of a burnt-out executive, provide inspiration for a school leaver and understanding for those seeking meaning in life and a great adventure for restless spirits! The perfect breakaway solution, including sleep-outs under the African Sky and exciting encounters with wildlife. Departing from our base camp, all students will be leaving together to Thonga Village, situated between the Ndumo Game Reserve and Tembe Elephant Reserve, bordering Mozambique. The magical Thonga Village, is an inspirational success story on its own. Situated on Thonga Tribal land, the village is run by the local community in partnership with the Non-Profit Organization, Space4Elephants.
Evenings here are spent under the African Sky, with distant drumming and the sound of the crackling fire, reflecting on the activities of the day. You will get an appreciation and understanding of typical Thonga life, by staying in the traditional Thonga-Style huts and witnessing the daily lives of this peace-loving fishing community. At the break of dawn, you can take your canoe and witness or take part in the traditional fishing activities of the locals.
All training activities take place in the adjacent Ndumo Game Reserve and Tembe Elephant Reserve. Tembe is a Big 5 Reserve where some close encounters with Africa's biggest game can be expected. Ndumo Game Reserve is world renowned for its spectacular Bird Life. The habitat is a combination of Riverine and Sand Forest, resulting in Ndumo being one of the most attractive reserves in the whole of Southern Africa. Should you wish to complete the 14 day programme, you will depart on the 7th day from Thonga Village, en route to the Mkuze Game Reserve. Here the second part of your programme will be completed with additional activities that inlcude big game tracking and rifle handling and wilderness trails on foot.
Programmes are run throughout the year. "
Any feedback, thoughts, suggestions would be highly appreciated!
I'm hoping that I'm allowed to post this on here, but here goes!
I've been wondering if I could get some feedback on whether you would go on a venture like this:
http://www.bhejanenaturetraining.com/index.html
"Natural Solutions
Why not live the dream? Are you tired of being a “tourist” ? Are you looking for a genuine African Experience? If so, our Natural Solutions programmes will be the perfect fit!
Learn about the ecology of nature, identifying trees, birds and animal behaviour. These are some of the basic elements of our 7 or 14 day Natural Solutions Programme. (Programmes can be customised for groups.)
An essential element of our Natural Solutions programmes is the strong focus on building your confidence as an individual, finding balance through the observation of natural systems and helping you focus on the world as a set of interrelated systems.
We believe that this experience will restore the vitality of a burnt-out executive, provide inspiration for a school leaver and understanding for those seeking meaning in life and a great adventure for restless spirits! The perfect breakaway solution, including sleep-outs under the African Sky and exciting encounters with wildlife. Departing from our base camp, all students will be leaving together to Thonga Village, situated between the Ndumo Game Reserve and Tembe Elephant Reserve, bordering Mozambique. The magical Thonga Village, is an inspirational success story on its own. Situated on Thonga Tribal land, the village is run by the local community in partnership with the Non-Profit Organization, Space4Elephants.
Evenings here are spent under the African Sky, with distant drumming and the sound of the crackling fire, reflecting on the activities of the day. You will get an appreciation and understanding of typical Thonga life, by staying in the traditional Thonga-Style huts and witnessing the daily lives of this peace-loving fishing community. At the break of dawn, you can take your canoe and witness or take part in the traditional fishing activities of the locals.
All training activities take place in the adjacent Ndumo Game Reserve and Tembe Elephant Reserve. Tembe is a Big 5 Reserve where some close encounters with Africa's biggest game can be expected. Ndumo Game Reserve is world renowned for its spectacular Bird Life. The habitat is a combination of Riverine and Sand Forest, resulting in Ndumo being one of the most attractive reserves in the whole of Southern Africa. Should you wish to complete the 14 day programme, you will depart on the 7th day from Thonga Village, en route to the Mkuze Game Reserve. Here the second part of your programme will be completed with additional activities that inlcude big game tracking and rifle handling and wilderness trails on foot.
Programmes are run throughout the year. "
Any feedback, thoughts, suggestions would be highly appreciated!
Jan 2nd, 2009, 11:12 PM
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Hi MrsAK
I looked over the website and have a few concerns:
- there are no names provided of the people responsible for the business, nor is the name of the company provided (definitively, e.g., Bhejane Nature Training (Pty) Ltd) so it's nearly impossible to check up on them as a company or on the directors of the company to see if they're on the 'up and up'.
- the links to the www.space4elephants.org website take you to a "coming soon" page. Never a confidence-builder.
- they are not SATSA members, nor members of any other tourism entity (e.g., KZN Tourism) so you have no assurance that they meet tourism (as opposed to training) minimum standards or comply with a particular code of conduct, and your recourse should something go wrong would be entirely up to you -- no institutional backing from the SA side.
To me, they look like a good field guide training outfit that is trying to open themselves up to a broader market of tourists. This sounds great to me (and is smart business IMHO), but I'm concerned based on my observations above that they're not ready to handle the different needs and expectations of tourists wanting an interesting alternative experience of wildlife (versus students wanting to be certified professional guides). I could well be wrong, but here I'd suggest you err on the side of caution until you learn information allowing you to reach different conclusions.
You might contact them and ask them to address your concerns and post the replies here for further discussion. I'm keen to see programmes like this succeed, but the big risk is that they aren't properly prepared and will provide a poor experience and/or inadequate value for money.
HTH
Kurt
I looked over the website and have a few concerns:
- there are no names provided of the people responsible for the business, nor is the name of the company provided (definitively, e.g., Bhejane Nature Training (Pty) Ltd) so it's nearly impossible to check up on them as a company or on the directors of the company to see if they're on the 'up and up'.
- the links to the www.space4elephants.org website take you to a "coming soon" page. Never a confidence-builder.
- they are not SATSA members, nor members of any other tourism entity (e.g., KZN Tourism) so you have no assurance that they meet tourism (as opposed to training) minimum standards or comply with a particular code of conduct, and your recourse should something go wrong would be entirely up to you -- no institutional backing from the SA side.
To me, they look like a good field guide training outfit that is trying to open themselves up to a broader market of tourists. This sounds great to me (and is smart business IMHO), but I'm concerned based on my observations above that they're not ready to handle the different needs and expectations of tourists wanting an interesting alternative experience of wildlife (versus students wanting to be certified professional guides). I could well be wrong, but here I'd suggest you err on the side of caution until you learn information allowing you to reach different conclusions.
You might contact them and ask them to address your concerns and post the replies here for further discussion. I'm keen to see programmes like this succeed, but the big risk is that they aren't properly prepared and will provide a poor experience and/or inadequate value for money.
HTH
Kurt
Jan 3rd, 2009, 08:09 AM
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Hi Kurt.
If you want, I could send you a private email with the names of the owners and so forth. It still a brand new company, only started up in the last couple of months.
The couple who is trying to make this work both used to work at Mukhuze. I'll pass on your concerns though!
If you want, I could send you a private email with the names of the owners and so forth. It still a brand new company, only started up in the last couple of months.
The couple who is trying to make this work both used to work at Mukhuze. I'll pass on your concerns though!
Jan 3rd, 2009, 08:17 AM
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I googled sace for elephants and came across this description and info on open africa:
http://www.openafrica.org/participan...nts-foundation
It's not much, but it's a start
http://www.openafrica.org/participan...nts-foundation
It's not much, but it's a start
Jan 3rd, 2009, 11:49 AM
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MrsAK -
"hoping I'm allowed to post this one"
No!
If you had read the Fodor's rules/regs you'll note that they clearly state that no advertising is allowed (but for those that are paid for).
"hoping I'm allowed to post this one"
No!
If you had read the Fodor's rules/regs you'll note that they clearly state that no advertising is allowed (but for those that are paid for).
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