Inspiring African Travel

We’ve reached the final episode of the series which features Katie McDonough our friend from Explore Inc in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Katie is an African Expert and sends hundreds of high-end travellers across to Africa every year. As we’re celebrating 2022 the Year of Travelling to Africa it was great to chat to Katie fresh off the plane from her trip to Tanzania. Her first trip back since the...

Are the UK travellers ready to come to Africa?  It was time to move the interview studio to a pub in the UK and James found a willing interviewee in the form of Chris Fortescue from Africa Collection.  Chris and his business partner James, have been operating Africa Collection for over 20-years and shared his thoughts on the travel sector and the challenges and opportunities for the coming years. ...

In this episode we decided to compare notes with our friends on the other side of the Indian Ocean. Speaking to two real life Australians we find out how their COVID pandemic journey in the travel industry has affected them as individuals and not just the outbound market to Africa.. but their own domestic and international industry. Rhett Lego from TCMG in Germany has been marketing Australia as w...

For our second episode of celebrating - 2022 The Year of Travelling to Africa - we’ve gathered snippets to bring you from all over Botswana and Zimbabwe. Africa’s Eden launched the first in-destination travel show post-pandemic which took place this month in Victoria Falls. So we used the opportunity of having everybody together… in person… and caught up with lodge managers, guides and tour operat...

Welcome to series 4 of Inspiring African Travel.  We have decided to dedicate this series to celebrating 2022 as the year of travelling to Africa. Yip we’ve called it!  Travel to Southern and East Africa is WELL underway and bookings for the upcoming season are exploding by the day!  For this series, every few  weeks we’ll catch up and talk about what's happening in the travel sector.  What's new...

We chat to Skinner Ndlovu – possibly the most experienced guide in the Zambezi River region of Zimbabwe. He has been guiding the thrilling rapids of the Zambezi for over 20-years and represented his country in rafting tournaments around the world. Skinner explains why the Zambezi is the safest but also the most thrilling white water rafting destination in the world and some of the different trips...

Welcome to Inspiring African Travel…! Today’s episode is Part 2 so if you haven’t listed to Part 1 where we introduce you to Grant Reed and the African Guide Academy then please jump back to the previous episode. In this second and final part of the interview we’ll discover more about how you can come to Botswana and spend anything from 7-days to a full month immersed in the Okavango Delta learnin...

Introducing you to inspiring wilderness connoisseur and professional guide trainer, Grant Reed.  For just under 20-years Grant and his family have dedicated their careers to establishing a world class training school – The African Guide Academy. We talk to Grant about the school and how international visitors can take part in compact (7-day) or thorough (1-month) guide training courses and why it...

Welcome to episode number 4 of GUIDE STORIES. This episode we’re going to explore an area of Botswana that is a little less known to many visitors to this country. Amongst thousands and thousands of square km’s of flat Kalahari desert you will find two Unesco World Heritage sites. The iconic Okavango Delta and the Tsodilo Hills. We spent the day with a local guide by the name of Lopang Mojanga. Hi...

In episode 3 of local guides in Africa we talk to a guide with a difference. A scuba diving guide and instructor from Tanzania called Frank Mollel.  He’s a proud Masai from the mountains near Arusha and discovered an absolute passion for diving 15-years ago and never looked back.  His passion has led him on a crusade to help teach the local communities of Zanzibar to swim, dive and care for the oc...

For the next 20 minutes we’re going to transport you with legendary desert guide. Super Sande to the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Northern Botswana – the worlds most expansive salt pans. In early June, James and Jules we were so lucky to go and stay at the renowned Jacks Camp . The completely newly built camp is one of a kind in Botswana. Originally an Uncharted Africa property the Jacks Camp Falls u...

In episode 1 of series 3 we interview professional guide Bihelang Kasale – known to most as “Dutch”. African Bush Camps generously invited us to their stunning new Khwai Leadwood camp in the Khwai Concession of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Just a few months old on a beautiful floodplain we spent time with this lovely man and learnt about his total love for Spotted Hyenas!

James, Jules and Stuart got together for another virtual catch-up. With James and Jules spending some time in Johannesburg we were hoping for a physical meet-up but the revised COVID-19 restrictions prevented us from getting together. In this episode we introduce you to our next podcast series – guide stories. Our intention for this series is to introduce you to local guides in the tourism industr...

The team at Inspiring African Travel have been busy at work as international arrivals to Africa are growing by the day. This is great news for us all. In this podcast episode we share some news from Botswana and surrounding countries. How are guests getting in and out of the countries? How are they getting their PCR tests in remote camps and lodges? We share with you our experience on the safari i...

In our final episode of series 2 we speak to Michael Kamerika from the Ongava Private Game Reserve in Namibia. We talk to Michael about his journey into the travel industry starting from humble beginnings on a family farm. He tells us about the impact guiding has had on his life and his passion for Rhino & conservation. The Ongava Private Game Reserve, which is located just outside the world f...

This gentleman is Musa Mbatha – a good proud Zulu man who is the reserve manager for Babanango Game Reserve in the heart of Kwa-Zulu Natal. We loved talking to him and he is brimming with passion for the new venture and his love for tourism and conservation.   From a young age, Musa took a keen interest in conservation has worked in tourism all his life. Most recently he has worked closely with th...

Meet Vincent Kokomane! Determined to be successful from a young age, Vincent has worked his way up the tourism ladder from the very beginning. As a young boy from a small village in Botswana, Vincent would spend his youth walking into expensive hotels in South Africa and dream about working in hospitality. He applied his ambition with his infectious personality and before long he was in marketing,...

Part two of our journey following the lives of this amazing pair of local heroes in tourism in Africa. Towards the end of John’s proud career working at Camp Okavango, he mentored his nephew as he began his career in tourism. We hear more from his nephew, Mc Odumetse, about his early days coming into tourism as a barman to becoming Operations Director of one of the most successful safari groups in...

For our next interview we are trying something slightly different. We’re taking you on a journey with two remarkable individuals who have made their mark on the travel industry. John Kata was born into a nomadic community living off the land in the Okavango Delta. When his family moved down to a town a few hundred kilometres away to start a new life, John remained behind to help build one of the c...

If you haven’t caught our first series – Women in Travel – please do have a listen. In this first episode of Local Heroes in tourism in Africa we wanted to bring you another amazing woman. Barbara spent her childhood helping her single mother tend the fields and walk hours and hours to school every day. Her mother sacrificed everything to help Barbara take an opportunity to get a sponsorship and h...

Our interviews meeting inspiring people in the African travel industry is back with series 2 – Local Heroes in tourism in Africa. We have spent a lot of time getting hold of some lovely people with inspiring stories about their journey in African tourism. We bring you the people who do not normally have the platform to share their story. The next series will not only take you on journeys through t...

We get together to talk about one of Botswana’s most remarkable regions. The Chobe Floodplains. Along the Chobe River, arguably the most visited safari region of the country, lie the Chobe Floodplains - a series of open grasslands that change month by month and season after season and yield some breathtaking wildlife encounters. We share our experiences, tips and love for an area in a popular wild...

For the final episode of our first series, we caught up with Zimbabwean travel writer & photographer Mana Meadows .  We interviewed her in Zambia mid-way through an epic adventure called “Walk Luangwa”. A team of adventurers walking hundreds of kilometers through some of Africa’s wildest National Parks raising funds for NGO’s involved in conservation, tourism, and local community development,...

With one episode left to go in our first series - #WomenInTravel - James, Julia, and Stuart come together for a conversation about their journey with #InspiringAfricanTravel. We’ll share with you some sneak peeks into the next series and why it is we’re doing this. Thanks to everyone who’s subscribed and been a part of the journey so far and we promise we have lots of cool stuff to come for those...

In episode six of our series Women In Travel we speak to a delightful lady called Aggie. She is the manager of a 5-star lodge called Royal Chundu set on the banks of the Zambezi River, just upriver from the incredible Victoria Falls in Zambia. Aggie talks to us about what she learnt in becoming a manager, an entrepreneur, and a leader in community-based tourism initiatives from their little piece...