Zambia & S. Africa Trip Report
Jul 4th, 2006, 01:53 PM
#21
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 258
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Not so subtle, Rocco. No does not make me feel welcome, yet don't feel that was your intent.
Fodor's is claiming this talk forum to be unbiased and independent information resource. With that said, if a party is going to give referrals and in many way provide advertising while securing financial gains by doing so --- would be hard pressed to not call that a conflict of interest or advertising. Barbara raised a valid question and Selwyn responded. Evidently the relationship with Selwyn is not so obvious or would not need to have asked. So Selwyn's response can now be taken in context.
Open - mind --- very much so, but also able to weigh the information presented. Interesting response on the rest - was not questioning your expertise or knowledge.
Fodor's is claiming this talk forum to be unbiased and independent information resource. With that said, if a party is going to give referrals and in many way provide advertising while securing financial gains by doing so --- would be hard pressed to not call that a conflict of interest or advertising. Barbara raised a valid question and Selwyn responded. Evidently the relationship with Selwyn is not so obvious or would not need to have asked. So Selwyn's response can now be taken in context.
Open - mind --- very much so, but also able to weigh the information presented. Interesting response on the rest - was not questioning your expertise or knowledge.
Jul 4th, 2006, 08:08 PM
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 230
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Part 3. Lower Zambezi/Chiawa Camp
We met up again with Star and Richard at the Mfue airport. Star’s trip report about Chiawa and the Lower Zambezi covers it all. So I’m done!
Just kidding. Actually, between Star (Tiger Paw) and Sharon L. (Cooncat) and Stephani (Esmeralda), the Fodors board should be completely sick of hearing about Chiawa. But on the off-chance that there is room for one more glowing report…
Chiawa camp was truly wonderful. Craig and Barbara (especially Barbara) did everything in their power to make us comfortable, to cater to our whims, and to create an environment in which we could all have a great time. Due to his relationship with the Chiawa camp, Rocco was able to get us a complimentary upgrade to the brand new Superior Safari Tent, which was really luxurious. The camp itself is well located, on the banks of the Lower Zambezi River, next to a dry riverbed down which elephants, buffalo, antelope, baboons and other animals frequently came to access the water.
Our guides were all extremely good, and fun to be around. We mostly were with Dispencer, with Lackson as our night spotter (and canoe driver), and once with Daniel (who also valiantly paddled the canoe Star and I were in on the Kanga Channel); Joe took us one of our river cruises, and the guide who took us fishing was really good at finding fish and giving us enough instruction to help us catch the fish without doing it for us. The food was the best we had at any of the camps, and rivaled that served at the Royal Livingstone Hotel. I especially loved the morning campfire breakfast with the 2 flavors of porridge (oatmeal to us Yanks). And to top it all off, Barbara and Craig always manage to have a surprise activity or two in store for each guest. They make a really great birthday cake, too…
We spent 5 nights at Chiawa, and we could have easily spent a couple more there because of the number of activities that were available in addition to the usual game drives. We fished only one morning (for tigerfish, which are really fun to catch), and canoed only once. I would have done both of these activities again. There was also a river cruise on a small pontoon type boat that took you around some of the islands in mid-river, which was really lovely in the afternoon when the water was flat. We saw a lot of birds and animals close up on the river and from the canoes, which was a nice change from the land game drives. Walking safaris were also available, but we never had time for one.
We heard animals at night at all of our camps, but Chiawa was the only place we heard a leopard “coughing” nearby, hyenas “whooping”, and a couple of bush babies making the most irritating wails we’d ever heard! Even the guides got up to see what was making all the racket, and Stephani and Bryan went outside and chased them away from the trees near their tent so they could get some sleep!
Best game viewing experience at Chiawa was watching the elephants along the Kanga channel from a canoe. One very small baby kept slipping in the mud at the river’s edge and finally went down completely on its side. Immediately, 2 adult females came over, one on either side, and with their trunks lifted the baby to its feet. What a neat thing to see. The teenagers playing was also fun to watch – shoving matches and trunk wrestling seemed to be the favorite sports.
The other really arresting experience in the lower Zambezi park (other than having a large male elephant try to eat my sandwich in the lounge area in camp) was watching the vultures at the dead elephant carcass. We were probably 15 minutes drive from the carcass when we saw the first vulture circling overhead. Within a couple of minutes there were maybe 10 vultures circling and dropping down to land. Then they started arriving in droves. By the time we got to the carcass there must have been at least 100 vultures, some on the carcass feeding, some standing around nearby and the rest roosting in the trees. Amazing to see them come out of nowhere; we had not seen a single vulture in all of our time in South Luangwa or in Lower Zambezi and yet they showed up by the dozens to join in this feast.
We also saw the effects of poaching while we were at Chiawa. On one of our game drives we came across an elephant that had lost about one-half of his trunk. Our guide was pretty certain the elephant had caught its trunk in a wire snare, and the missing part had been sheared off when he tried to extricate himself. Luckily, elephants are browsers and eat from the trees and bushes as well as grazing on grass. He was in good shape, and when we saw him he was busily destroying a young palm tree to get at the heart.
This was the last of our safari camps, and we were sad to leave, especially since we’d met so many really nice people during our stay. This is a place to which we will definitely try to return. You can see some of our pictures, if you’re not totally bored by now, at the link below.
http://olympus.kodakgallery.com/I.js...0&y=ibkb3h
We met up again with Star and Richard at the Mfue airport. Star’s trip report about Chiawa and the Lower Zambezi covers it all. So I’m done!
Just kidding. Actually, between Star (Tiger Paw) and Sharon L. (Cooncat) and Stephani (Esmeralda), the Fodors board should be completely sick of hearing about Chiawa. But on the off-chance that there is room for one more glowing report…
Chiawa camp was truly wonderful. Craig and Barbara (especially Barbara) did everything in their power to make us comfortable, to cater to our whims, and to create an environment in which we could all have a great time. Due to his relationship with the Chiawa camp, Rocco was able to get us a complimentary upgrade to the brand new Superior Safari Tent, which was really luxurious. The camp itself is well located, on the banks of the Lower Zambezi River, next to a dry riverbed down which elephants, buffalo, antelope, baboons and other animals frequently came to access the water.
Our guides were all extremely good, and fun to be around. We mostly were with Dispencer, with Lackson as our night spotter (and canoe driver), and once with Daniel (who also valiantly paddled the canoe Star and I were in on the Kanga Channel); Joe took us one of our river cruises, and the guide who took us fishing was really good at finding fish and giving us enough instruction to help us catch the fish without doing it for us. The food was the best we had at any of the camps, and rivaled that served at the Royal Livingstone Hotel. I especially loved the morning campfire breakfast with the 2 flavors of porridge (oatmeal to us Yanks). And to top it all off, Barbara and Craig always manage to have a surprise activity or two in store for each guest. They make a really great birthday cake, too…
We spent 5 nights at Chiawa, and we could have easily spent a couple more there because of the number of activities that were available in addition to the usual game drives. We fished only one morning (for tigerfish, which are really fun to catch), and canoed only once. I would have done both of these activities again. There was also a river cruise on a small pontoon type boat that took you around some of the islands in mid-river, which was really lovely in the afternoon when the water was flat. We saw a lot of birds and animals close up on the river and from the canoes, which was a nice change from the land game drives. Walking safaris were also available, but we never had time for one.
We heard animals at night at all of our camps, but Chiawa was the only place we heard a leopard “coughing” nearby, hyenas “whooping”, and a couple of bush babies making the most irritating wails we’d ever heard! Even the guides got up to see what was making all the racket, and Stephani and Bryan went outside and chased them away from the trees near their tent so they could get some sleep!
Best game viewing experience at Chiawa was watching the elephants along the Kanga channel from a canoe. One very small baby kept slipping in the mud at the river’s edge and finally went down completely on its side. Immediately, 2 adult females came over, one on either side, and with their trunks lifted the baby to its feet. What a neat thing to see. The teenagers playing was also fun to watch – shoving matches and trunk wrestling seemed to be the favorite sports.
The other really arresting experience in the lower Zambezi park (other than having a large male elephant try to eat my sandwich in the lounge area in camp) was watching the vultures at the dead elephant carcass. We were probably 15 minutes drive from the carcass when we saw the first vulture circling overhead. Within a couple of minutes there were maybe 10 vultures circling and dropping down to land. Then they started arriving in droves. By the time we got to the carcass there must have been at least 100 vultures, some on the carcass feeding, some standing around nearby and the rest roosting in the trees. Amazing to see them come out of nowhere; we had not seen a single vulture in all of our time in South Luangwa or in Lower Zambezi and yet they showed up by the dozens to join in this feast.
We also saw the effects of poaching while we were at Chiawa. On one of our game drives we came across an elephant that had lost about one-half of his trunk. Our guide was pretty certain the elephant had caught its trunk in a wire snare, and the missing part had been sheared off when he tried to extricate himself. Luckily, elephants are browsers and eat from the trees and bushes as well as grazing on grass. He was in good shape, and when we saw him he was busily destroying a young palm tree to get at the heart.
This was the last of our safari camps, and we were sad to leave, especially since we’d met so many really nice people during our stay. This is a place to which we will definitely try to return. You can see some of our pictures, if you’re not totally bored by now, at the link below.
http://olympus.kodakgallery.com/I.js...0&y=ibkb3h
Jul 4th, 2006, 10:03 PM
#24
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 7,395
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sharon~Great finale to Zambia! Excellent report and pictures. It's hard to believe that the food at Chiawa or anywhere for that manner, could be better than LRL or PR...hmmm, I'm going to have to make it to Chiawa someday to check it out! Thanks again for your contribution to Fodor's! I've enjoyed it all!
Aloha,
Dennis
Aloha,
Dennis
Jul 5th, 2006, 09:41 AM
#27
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 413
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
lovetodiscover - Fodor's does not claim the forum is unbiased, they simply insist that posts be non-commercial. Believe me when I say all my posts are completely biased by my life experiences to date.
Selwyn, Rocco, Sandi, Julian, et al, have contributed a wealth of objective and subjective information to this board. They have done this without soliciting business.
You are certainly free to pick and choose what information to ladle into your soup, but don't confuse their posts with advertising. Advocacy does not equal advertising. If you read many of their posts here you will see that.
Selwyn, Rocco, Sandi, Julian, et al, have contributed a wealth of objective and subjective information to this board. They have done this without soliciting business.
You are certainly free to pick and choose what information to ladle into your soup, but don't confuse their posts with advertising. Advocacy does not equal advertising. If you read many of their posts here you will see that.
Jul 5th, 2006, 11:05 AM
#29
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 600
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just had to go through the photos again - you saw some great interaction with the ellies as well as lions and the sparring impalas!
I like the way you organized the report and photos together. Star probably did that, too. Thanks again for the memories! Tell Richard I said hello!
I like the way you organized the report and photos together. Star probably did that, too. Thanks again for the memories! Tell Richard I said hello!
Jul 5th, 2006, 06:52 PM
#30
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 230
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
cooncat - Richard says "hi" right back at ya. And I can't believe you could sleep though the racket those bushbabies were making, even with a snootful. 
Maybe I should have stayed back with you and Craig. Definitely would have gotten more rest that night!
Cyn - the cricket was BIG. The body was about 2 and 1/2 or 3 inches long. Certainly glad we didn't see it in our tent!
Dennis - I think the chef (Marco) at South Luangwa was new (had only been there about 6 weeks), and there might have been a different chef there when you were there. Not that the food wasn't great, though - its just that Chiawa was even better. God knows, something has to be responsible for the fact that I no longer fit into my safari pants!
And a big thanks to everyone who posted a response - makes writing the trip report and sorting through all those pictures worth the effort!
Maybe I should have stayed back with you and Craig. Definitely would have gotten more rest that night!Cyn - the cricket was BIG. The body was about 2 and 1/2 or 3 inches long. Certainly glad we didn't see it in our tent!
Dennis - I think the chef (Marco) at South Luangwa was new (had only been there about 6 weeks), and there might have been a different chef there when you were there. Not that the food wasn't great, though - its just that Chiawa was even better. God knows, something has to be responsible for the fact that I no longer fit into my safari pants!
And a big thanks to everyone who posted a response - makes writing the trip report and sorting through all those pictures worth the effort!
Jul 5th, 2006, 07:23 PM
#31
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 7,395
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sharon, yes Marco is new at LRL, Simon was their chef for years. Glad I'm not the only one who came back unable to fit in pants! I left some for the boys at LRL that I know I wouldn't fit in again. Next trip is all elastic waists! 
Jul 5th, 2006, 07:55 PM
#32
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 147
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sharon,
Thanks for the great report and pictures. Who were those crazy people taking pictures of the leopard tracks??
Wonderful bird photos...especially liked the Lilac Breasted Roller.
Sorry that we missed the night drive with the genet and the brothers.
Oh yes, we won't forget the birthday cake either!
Any more pictures coming?
Star
Thanks for the great report and pictures. Who were those crazy people taking pictures of the leopard tracks??
Wonderful bird photos...especially liked the Lilac Breasted Roller.
Sorry that we missed the night drive with the genet and the brothers.
Oh yes, we won't forget the birthday cake either!
Any more pictures coming?
Star
Jul 9th, 2006, 07:55 PM
#33
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 230
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I tried to post this earlier, but it didn't seem to work, so I'll try again --
Trip Report – South Africa
We picked up our stored extra luggage at the Airport Grand Hotel in Johannesburg, and headed out in our rented car to see something of South Africa. Because of the time of year (winter), we chose to concentrate on the area known as KwaZulu-Natal, which is in the northeastern part of South Africa, and is usually warm and dry during winter. We also really wanted to see the St. Lucia World Heritage Wetlands National Park.
Driving in South Africa was great once we got used to being on the “wrong” side of the road and the tailgating that seems to be a national requirement. The roads were very good, especially the freeways (except for the tolls, which seemed to crop up with great regularity and averaged $3 to $5 U.S. at every tollgate). We loved the “motor mini-cities” (usually near the tollgates) – you could gas up, park and picnic under giant umbrellas that covered the tables and the cars, choose from a couple of different restaurants to have a meal, shop at a very well-stocked mini-market, use an atm, or just visit the very clean bathrooms. We need these in the U.S.!
Our first stop was near Mooie River at the Cleopatra Mountain Farm, a country guesthouse on the edge of the Drakensberg boasting a world-class chef and a 5-course 5-star dinner. Since Richard loves good food and is a really good cook, we figured this would be a fun introduction to South Africa. We were sooooo right. The food was fabulous, the wine cellar was excellent, the guesthouse rooms were cute and very unique, if a trifle overdone (each room done in a different style – ours was the “naturalist” with birds nests, eggs, and all manner of woodsy stuff), and it was really reasonable to stay and dine, compared to U.S. prices. Each night was a different menu. We stayed only 1 night; we might have eaten ourselves into a coma had we stayed longer. Our dinner was: Prawns wrapped in prosciutto over avocado with a really good sauce; mushroom soup made from 2 different mushrooms and reduced for 6 hours (to die for); red pepper stuffed with roasted tomato, anchovies and some other things, topped with sliced parmesan cheese and puff pastry; Springbok medallions over potato squares with roasted pumpkin and grilled asparagus; pears poached in something really delicious, with carmel sauce on puff pastry topped with homemade vanilla ice cream; wine was a 2003 Moreson Pinotage followed by port. Wow. Breakfast was also gourmet – Eggs benedict made with quail eggs, and some other things that I couldn’t possibly remember or adequately describe. There were also great views of the mountains, nice areas for taking walks and 2 very friendly dogs to keep us company on our outings.
Second stop was St. Lucia, at the Africa Ambience guesthouse. We stayed here for 4 nights, and were very happy with our choice. Lovely gardens, nice pool, very nice hosts, 2 cute Jack Russell terriers, a really nice big room and good breakfasts. St. Lucia town is very small, a typical beach town, with lots of backpacker and self-catering places to stay, a fair selection of restaurants, a roadside marketplace for tourists to buy the usual Africana, and one really good shop with great handmade items and unusual things called “Scatterings of Africa,” where we did our best to support the local economy. There are signs in St. Lucia warning of crocs and hippos; you do come upon hippos at night, and there are plenty of crocs and hippos in the river and the lake. There are beautiful wide white sand beaches on the Indian Ocean all through this area. You just don’t want to swim near the mouth of the river.
We did a self-drive up to Cape Vidal one day, where you can snorkel when the tide is out, but the water was too cold for our taste. There were some nice short hikes to really nice viewpoints. We also did a self-drive through St. Lucia Wetlands Park, which was very nice, with some lovely scenery; we saw a fair number of animals here, including our first black Rhinos, and some of the little “bushdiver” antelopes which are very shy and disappear into the bushes almost instantly.
Of course, we went fishing. Jon, our host at Africa Ambience, had a boat and took us out for a gorgeous day on the Indian Ocean. He didn’t tell us in advance, however, that the only way to launch the boat was to surf it out over the breakers! I almost decided to stay on the beach when I saw that there were 5 rows of breakers between the tideline and the open water. No wonder they call it the “bounding main.” Our dinner that night was some of the fish we’d caught, prepared by our hosts and enjoyed by us all.
The Hluhluwe Umfolozi wildlife park is only about an hour from St. Lucia, and it was a great place for self-drive game viewing. We saw a (very stinky) white rhino (completing our “big six” I guess), as well as elephants, baboons, giraffes, Nyala, Wildebeest, warthogs, impala (of course) and lots of birds. This park is what I imagine the Serengeti might look like, with hills. It has a more open savannah look than the parks in Zambia, and in June it was much drier than those. We only covered about a third of the park, and it was some of the best and easiest game viewing of our entire trip! Of course, it helped that we’d seen most of the animals, and especially the birds, for the first time on a guided safari, or we might not have been able to spot them as easily, or to identify them!
We didn’t have time to see any of the Zulu battlegrounds, or go to one of the (very touristy) Zulu villages, but we had to save something for our next trip… And there will be a next trip. Soon, we hope. The link for our pictures of this area is below – The new albums are “St. Lucia,” “Cleopatra/Drakensberg” and “Hluhluwe.”
That’s all, fffffffFolks! ;D
http://olympus.kodakgallery.com/I.js...0&y=lt7igz
Trip Report – South Africa
We picked up our stored extra luggage at the Airport Grand Hotel in Johannesburg, and headed out in our rented car to see something of South Africa. Because of the time of year (winter), we chose to concentrate on the area known as KwaZulu-Natal, which is in the northeastern part of South Africa, and is usually warm and dry during winter. We also really wanted to see the St. Lucia World Heritage Wetlands National Park.
Driving in South Africa was great once we got used to being on the “wrong” side of the road and the tailgating that seems to be a national requirement. The roads were very good, especially the freeways (except for the tolls, which seemed to crop up with great regularity and averaged $3 to $5 U.S. at every tollgate). We loved the “motor mini-cities” (usually near the tollgates) – you could gas up, park and picnic under giant umbrellas that covered the tables and the cars, choose from a couple of different restaurants to have a meal, shop at a very well-stocked mini-market, use an atm, or just visit the very clean bathrooms. We need these in the U.S.!
Our first stop was near Mooie River at the Cleopatra Mountain Farm, a country guesthouse on the edge of the Drakensberg boasting a world-class chef and a 5-course 5-star dinner. Since Richard loves good food and is a really good cook, we figured this would be a fun introduction to South Africa. We were sooooo right. The food was fabulous, the wine cellar was excellent, the guesthouse rooms were cute and very unique, if a trifle overdone (each room done in a different style – ours was the “naturalist” with birds nests, eggs, and all manner of woodsy stuff), and it was really reasonable to stay and dine, compared to U.S. prices. Each night was a different menu. We stayed only 1 night; we might have eaten ourselves into a coma had we stayed longer. Our dinner was: Prawns wrapped in prosciutto over avocado with a really good sauce; mushroom soup made from 2 different mushrooms and reduced for 6 hours (to die for); red pepper stuffed with roasted tomato, anchovies and some other things, topped with sliced parmesan cheese and puff pastry; Springbok medallions over potato squares with roasted pumpkin and grilled asparagus; pears poached in something really delicious, with carmel sauce on puff pastry topped with homemade vanilla ice cream; wine was a 2003 Moreson Pinotage followed by port. Wow. Breakfast was also gourmet – Eggs benedict made with quail eggs, and some other things that I couldn’t possibly remember or adequately describe. There were also great views of the mountains, nice areas for taking walks and 2 very friendly dogs to keep us company on our outings.
Second stop was St. Lucia, at the Africa Ambience guesthouse. We stayed here for 4 nights, and were very happy with our choice. Lovely gardens, nice pool, very nice hosts, 2 cute Jack Russell terriers, a really nice big room and good breakfasts. St. Lucia town is very small, a typical beach town, with lots of backpacker and self-catering places to stay, a fair selection of restaurants, a roadside marketplace for tourists to buy the usual Africana, and one really good shop with great handmade items and unusual things called “Scatterings of Africa,” where we did our best to support the local economy. There are signs in St. Lucia warning of crocs and hippos; you do come upon hippos at night, and there are plenty of crocs and hippos in the river and the lake. There are beautiful wide white sand beaches on the Indian Ocean all through this area. You just don’t want to swim near the mouth of the river.
We did a self-drive up to Cape Vidal one day, where you can snorkel when the tide is out, but the water was too cold for our taste. There were some nice short hikes to really nice viewpoints. We also did a self-drive through St. Lucia Wetlands Park, which was very nice, with some lovely scenery; we saw a fair number of animals here, including our first black Rhinos, and some of the little “bushdiver” antelopes which are very shy and disappear into the bushes almost instantly.
Of course, we went fishing. Jon, our host at Africa Ambience, had a boat and took us out for a gorgeous day on the Indian Ocean. He didn’t tell us in advance, however, that the only way to launch the boat was to surf it out over the breakers! I almost decided to stay on the beach when I saw that there were 5 rows of breakers between the tideline and the open water. No wonder they call it the “bounding main.” Our dinner that night was some of the fish we’d caught, prepared by our hosts and enjoyed by us all.
The Hluhluwe Umfolozi wildlife park is only about an hour from St. Lucia, and it was a great place for self-drive game viewing. We saw a (very stinky) white rhino (completing our “big six” I guess), as well as elephants, baboons, giraffes, Nyala, Wildebeest, warthogs, impala (of course) and lots of birds. This park is what I imagine the Serengeti might look like, with hills. It has a more open savannah look than the parks in Zambia, and in June it was much drier than those. We only covered about a third of the park, and it was some of the best and easiest game viewing of our entire trip! Of course, it helped that we’d seen most of the animals, and especially the birds, for the first time on a guided safari, or we might not have been able to spot them as easily, or to identify them!
We didn’t have time to see any of the Zulu battlegrounds, or go to one of the (very touristy) Zulu villages, but we had to save something for our next trip… And there will be a next trip. Soon, we hope. The link for our pictures of this area is below – The new albums are “St. Lucia,” “Cleopatra/Drakensberg” and “Hluhluwe.”
That’s all, fffffffFolks! ;D
http://olympus.kodakgallery.com/I.js...0&y=lt7igz
Jul 10th, 2006, 06:24 AM
#35
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 600
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi S. Sharon! Looks like you and Richard saw some beautiful scenery in South Africa. Thanks for posting the rest of your report! That boat was pretty small to be going through those breakers! Good for you for toughing it out!
Jul 11th, 2006, 07:11 PM
#36
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 230
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi, Sharon - yep, it was a pretty wild ride over those waves to get out to sea! Lovely place though. and good fishing - what more could you ask for? Well, warmer water would have been nice...but who's complaining?
Jul 11th, 2006, 10:51 PM
#38
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 448
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sharon, wonderful report. I gained 2 lb just reading your meal description. You had me laughing at the taxi driver from the airport. That is one reason if I have an early departure, I'd rather stay at the Intercontinental that is a few steps from the airport door. I would like to know why that couple "refused to get off an Air Zambia flight-" they must have had some reason - I can't imagine they were doing it just to annoy you.
Cyn, you don't have to invite the vervets in your room at the Royal Livingstone - one just raced in and grabbed a green apple and ran back out while I screamed at my napping husband, "Wake up! There's a monkey on the bed!"
Lovetodiscover, this board is a source of great information and not ruined by advertising the way some non-Fodor boards might be. The posters who happen to have an African-travel related business are careful not to mention it as that could be considered advertising. But they love Africa and they generously share their expertise and information with us. I've been personally helped here on Fodors by Sandi, Rocco, Selwyn, Eben, Johann, Predator and others (sorry if I forgot anyone) as well as many "tourists" like myself. This board would not be half as valuable if all the pros left it.
Cyn, you don't have to invite the vervets in your room at the Royal Livingstone - one just raced in and grabbed a green apple and ran back out while I screamed at my napping husband, "Wake up! There's a monkey on the bed!"
Lovetodiscover, this board is a source of great information and not ruined by advertising the way some non-Fodor boards might be. The posters who happen to have an African-travel related business are careful not to mention it as that could be considered advertising. But they love Africa and they generously share their expertise and information with us. I've been personally helped here on Fodors by Sandi, Rocco, Selwyn, Eben, Johann, Predator and others (sorry if I forgot anyone) as well as many "tourists" like myself. This board would not be half as valuable if all the pros left it.
Jul 12th, 2006, 12:03 AM
#39
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 258
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Was not planning on responding to the ongoing criticisms, now need to clear the air. My questions were not raised to express issues regarding other operator or agents. As matter of fact Eben and Sandi and others have been giving endless support and tireless answers to those travelling to E. Africa and myself. Why are all the operators being pulled into this discussion? My question was stretched to discuss advertising, when I simply was asking if there was a business relationship that existed. Taken in context, or with disclosure, does have merits.
Favor, to see where the unbiased aspects of Fodor's are referred to, check out FAQ's, and look under "can I promote my company or organization.."
What drew me to the board were the honest answers and wealth of knowledge and offering my experiences or help to others to pay it forward.
Favor, to see where the unbiased aspects of Fodor's are referred to, check out FAQ's, and look under "can I promote my company or organization.."
What drew me to the board were the honest answers and wealth of knowledge and offering my experiences or help to others to pay it forward.
Jul 12th, 2006, 05:00 AM
#40
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 413
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
lovetodiscover - You are mistaken. In that section "unbiased" refers to the Foders.com writers. If you look at the section on Forum conduct you'll notice the proscription against commecial posting.
