OUR BEST TRAVEL BLOGS A Year of Stories

TALES FROM THE BUSH

Our Favorite Travel Blogs of 2023

Every week of every year, we bring you fresh travel blogs from around the world.

They may be reflections of staff adventures, a swathe of handy travel tips, tales from our clients, or profiles on the destinations and properties to which we travel. Whatever the theme, we write them for you; to inspire, inform, and entertain you on the world beyond your doorstep and at your fingertips.

It is always such a joy to create these travel blogs, drawing on firsthand knowledge, retold accounts by staff and guests, or inspired by our many wonderful partners and operators. Not only does it allow us to travel the world from our desks each week, it also gives us the opportunity to share a wealth of valuable information with you to help you create or enrich your next journey.

These are our most popular travel blogs of 2023, and also some of our personal favorites:

• DESTINATION PROFILE | The Kruger Region
• DISCOVERING ZAMBIA | A Luxury Zambia Safari
• SAFARI PACKING | Packing For Your Adventure
• STAFF TRAVELS | Aimee’s Ecuador
• THE BEST AFRICAN SAFARI | Travel Your Way
• AFRICA’S PEOPLE | Iconic African Tribes

DESTINATION PROFILE | The Kruger Region

Perhaps the most renowned of Africa’s parks and reserves, Kruger National Park has an exceptional reputation for safari travel.

Investigating not only the 7,700-square-mile (20,000km²) national park itself but also the numerous satellite private reserves and conservancies and a handful of the luxurious properties to be found there, our Destination Profile shares a wealth of useful information for those planning to travel to the Kruger region.

The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, into which Kruger National Park and many of the surrounding reserves are incorporated, has an abundance of resident and migratory wildlife. 

Though leopard sightings are somewhat rare in Kruger National Park, they are present, making Kruger a fairly certain Big Five destination. However, rather than eagerly pursuing these five animals alone, one should take the time to appreciate all life, on the ground and in the air.

Cheetah, wildebeest, hippo, and giraffe all wander the bushland, and on rare occasions, wild dogs can be found. Though healthy in numbers, they tend to inhabit the less frequented regions, making them devilishly hard to find.

Numerous antelope species also inhabit the region, and visitors can often observe impala, greater kudu, and waterbuck, with the more elusive steenbok and common duiker also making occasional appearances.

So if you are planning to visit the Kruger Region, don’t leave home without browsing this informative and useful travel blog.

DISCOVERING ZAMBIA | A Luxury Zambia Safar

Visiting Zambia for the first time in over a decade, Leora Rothschild and her companions, Angela Pretorius and Thomas Alexander, were treated to an exceptional exploration of two of the country’s key regions: South Luangwa National Park and the Lower Zambezi.

Hosted by many of our superb Zambia-based partners, the trio explored lodges, undertook innumerable game drives, and enjoyed fine hospitality, fascinating walking safaris, and even a lunch ankle-deep in the middle of the Zambezi.

A Zambia safari is renowned for its sense of adventure; the drama of Victoria Falls, the thrill of a walking safari, and the aquatic explorations of the Zambezi.

But as Leora and her companions discovered, there is so much more to one of Africa’s emerging premier safari destinations. Though similarities exist to safaris throughout Africa, there are many aspects to a Zambia safari that are refreshingly unique. 

Our two-part, step-by-step account of Leora’s adventures is an in-depth reflection of all that a Zambia safari has to offer.

SAFARI PACKING | Packing For Your Adventure

One of our most frequently asked questions when our clients are planning for their safari is, “What should I pack?” This is entirely understandable as a safari is a significantly different experience from what the vast majority of us are familiar with.

Unlike any other vacation, a safari packing list is fairly specific, with numerous considerations to be taken into account. Fortunately, the hundreds of journeys we have undertaken have given us an expert and expansive understanding of every safari necessity.

Even if you are an experienced traveler and feel that your packing game is on point, a safari is a new realm of packing considerations. Selecting the appropriate colors, avoiding camouflage items (which are actually illegal in some regions), and packing for versatility and climate; what you take on an African safari is vastly different from the coordinated couture of a European vacation.

From clothing to accessories, and both what to pack and how to pack, this useful travel blog is a safari essential, and with several associated travel blogs covering in-flight tips, gadgets, apps, and many other aspects, your packing and preparation will be a breeze.

STAFF TRAVELS | Aimee’s Ecuador

There are more popular South American destinations than Ecuador. Peru has its celebrated Inca culture and history, Chile its vast and expansive wilderness, and Argentina is where tango meets soccer, all washed down with some superb New World wines, but few could suggest a definitive feature of Ecuador.

However, as operations coordinator Aimee Olson discovered, the true home of the Panama hat has more than enough redeeming features to make it an exceptional destination and subject for her travel blog; and that’s even before departing for the remarkable Galápagos Islands.

Exploring the capital city of Quito, Aimee discovered the multi-layered history, Hispanic conquistadors laying their influence over Incan and Valdivian roots. She also learned the influence of gravity upon the world’s hemispheres, altering dramatically in just a matter of feet when spanning the Ecuator, for which the country was named and that was first officially mapped here.

But there is far more to Ecuador than physics and history. Plunging into the Amazon, an untouched world unfolded, where fascinating creatures and traditional tribes live side by side along the banks of the mighty, foreboding river.

Ecuador also has fantastic wilderness regions and several active volcanoes, and it was here, at 12,500 feet (3,800m) above sea level, that Aimee felt the impact of altitude.

Descending from these lofty heights, Aimee boarded a luxury cruise to fulfill a lifelong dream of exploring the Galápagos. While she still enthuses about her Galápagos experience almost one year on, the mainland of Ecuador took her by surprise, and she soon realized that she had only scratched the surface of this fascinating country.

THE BEST AFRICAN SAFARI | Travel Your Way

“What’s the best African Safari?”

Whether you ask friends, travel agents, Google, Alexa, or Siri, it’s likely that this question will invoke an array of varied responses and our travel blog explores them all.

The reality is that the ‘best African safari’ doesn’t exist in a singular sense. Rather, it is dependent on what you wish to see, when you are able to go, the type of traveler you are, and myriad other variables. 

This hypothetical question is answered sixfold, expanding on the notion of what a safari means to different people.

For the traditionalists searching for an authentic ‘Out of Africa’ experience, the Quintessential Safari may appeal the most; for the photographers, a more Visual Safari.

From wildlife and food to something entirely different, we explored what defines the “best African safari”, reflecting on the experiences, destinations, lodges, and activities that might balance the equation of what the best African safari means to you.

This incredibly useful travel blog is essential reading when considering visiting Africa, not necessarily to dictate the best African safari may be for you, but to expand your perception to the myriad possibilities available.

AFRICA’S PEOPLE | Iconic African Tribes

Culture is an incredibly important aspect of our business. We firmly believe that it is through people that you truly begin to understand a country. But more than that, it is essential to discover, respect, and sustain the traditional cultures of the countries we travel to.

Investigating the smallest handful of Africa’s 3,000 tribes and their cultures, our travel blog spans the continent, from the Himba of Namibia in the west to the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania, and the Xhosa of South Africa.

When traveling through Africa, taking the time to visit villages, understand traditions and even give back to the small communities along the way can be both fascinating and infinitely rewarding. 

Tourism is serving as one of Africa’s last lines of defense in upholding the ways of its iconic tribes. Though bringing First-World influence on the one hand, tourism – when executed consciously – is also providing lasting sustainability for the continent’s traditional cultures.

For some the tide has already turned and millennia-old tribes have assimilated into a modern world, but aspects of their former tribal ways, their rituals, languages, and dress, are now being re-learned, bolstered by elders, and adopted by the youth as a matter of pride and preservation, as well as for career opportunities.

Africans of all colors, and many visiting tourists, are supporting this movement towards cultural conservation and reintegration, and many lodges and camps are doing all they can to support the traditional ways of the iconic tribes within their respective regions.

Our travel blog library is a rich treasure trove of tales from the bush, travel wisdom, intriguing facts, and valuable information. 

If you haven’t yet read our favorite travel blogs of 2023, investigate them now and they may just hold the spark that will ignite your next journey.