Peace Parks of Southern and East Africa
Explore the Peace Parks of Southern and East Africa – Learn how these Transfrontier conservation areas protect wildlife migrations, promote sustainable safari tourism, and restore ancient ecosystem. Perfect for African Safari enthusiasts, luxury travellers, conservationists and nature lovers. What are Peace Parks? Peace Parks of Southern and east Africa, also known as Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCA) are vast protected cross-border conservation landscape between the countries of Southern and East Africa. These protected ecosystem integrate multiple countries’ protected areas, national parks, game reserves, and community lands. They are important to help promote biodiversity conservation, cultural heritage, and sustainable tourism. Not only do they intergrate national parks, but they also allow wildlife to migrate freely across borders and encourage international cooperation. The historical migratory routes of many species of mammals are slowly being restored as the country borders and man-made barriers largely established during the colonial era are being removed to restore biodiversity. Why Peace Parks Matter: Restoring Nature’s Balance Fortunately, us “clever” humans have started to realize that the natural order of things in nature plays a critical role in the well-being of the human race. This includes the seasonal migration of the large herbivores. These migrations are essential for: Nature knows balance. When wildlife moves as it should, entire landscapes thrive – benefiting both animals and people. Where are the Peace Parks? Spotlight on KAZA TFCA The Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) is the largest Peace Park in the world. It is area number 5 on the above map. This is a collaboration between Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, covering an area of 520,000 Square Kilometers (200,772 square miles). Work is in progress to further extend the area of the KAZA TFCA, when the Lower Zambezi area (number 12 on the map) can be added to the existing Peace Park. Why should this matter to You as a Global traveller? The KAZA TFCA Visiting a Peace Park: Whether you are a first-time safari goer, a luxury traveller, a wildlife biologist or a conservationist, exploring Peace Parks like KAZA TFCA offers an unparalleled opportunity to experience Africa’s raw and untamed beauty. Highlights of the KAZA TFCA; Coming Next: Deep Dive into Wildlife Migration & Community Impact In our next blog post, we will dive deeper into the incredible animal migrations, and how the Peace Parks Foundation is playing a key role in supporting local communities and preserving wildlife populations.
Lion Mauls American Tourist
Lion Mauls American Tourist – Another very sad and avoidable Incident that reflects negatively on safe Tourism in Africa The highly publicized attack- Lion mauls American Tourist – during the past week at the Lion Park near Johannesburg in South Africa again highlights the grave need for Tour and Safari Operators, and Tour Guides to know and understand the behavior patterns of Wild animals before taking clients on Safari and the need to ensure the absolute safety of our clients. I draw your attention to our blog entry dated 19th March 2015 where we discussed a young hyena being in close proximity to our tour group while on Safari at the picnic spot in Kruger National Park. Drawing on many years of experience of taking tour groups into the nature areas, we were able to provide our clients with a very special experience on the day and in total safety. In this instance where the Lion attacked Miss Kathrine Chappell through the open car window at the Lion Park, there had to be numerous signals given by the lion leading up to this incident. It would be totally unnatural behavior for a lion to simply grab at a person sitting INSIDE a vehicle. There must have been something, or some action, from within this vehicle to cause the lion to approach the vehicle and to react in a manner that it did. It is my view that the tour guide and driver of the vehicle would have been given numerous signals by the lions that should have alerted him to the fact that this lion was paying unusual attention to the vehicle. The photograph published following this attack shows the lioness apparently squatting next to the vehicle and peering in at the person sitting inside prior to the actual attack. Had the tour guide been paying full attention to the animal, as he should have been, he would have had sufficient time, in my view, to accelerate away from the lion, and/or to close the window at the same time. Understanding that this particular vehicle is fitted with electrically operated windows AND it is standard procedure to keep the motor running at all times while in close proximity to lions and other big five animals. It is very sad that an incident like this has happened but hopefully this will be a lesson to all tour operators and guides that we ARE the responsible person when we have clients with us and that it is our duty as tourism professionals to equip ourselves with the necessary skills to safeguard our clients. It must be remembered at all times that it is our clients who are on holiday, and not the tour guide!
Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal
Celebrating KwaZulu-Natal’s Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve Taking a time to visit one of the most celebrated Game Parks in South Africa known as Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve is something to experience. The Game Park is situated in the KwaZulu Natal region and it is the oldest Game Parks in Africa. This park is home to all the big five animals. It is know for its variety of Wildlife, bird life and also for its Rhino conservation. See pictures taken during our visit to this park. –Rhino’s after a muddy bath –Buffalo’s in Hluhluwe Game Reserve –Beautiful view of the accommodation in the park –Elephants after a swim in the river -A Male Lion in the Game Park By Africa Explore Safaris[/vc_column_text][vcex_image][/vc_column][/vc_row]