2017 African Responsible Tourism Awards longlist revealed March 1, 2017

Good to hear

Better Tourism Africa

Longlist for the 2017 African Responsible Tourism Awards demonstrates the power of responsible tourism in Africa

The competition for the 2017 African Responsible Tourism Awards has moved into the second round, with over 30 tourism organisations competing for top spots at the awards ceremony at WTM Africa in April.

Sponsored by WESGRO and organised by Better Tourism Africa, the awards recognise African organisations that offer a shining example of how tourism can benefit the local people, the environment,  and destinations. The awards are part of a family of regional Responsible Tourism Awards which culminate each year with World Responsible Tourism Day at WTM in London.

This year, the longlist names tourism organisations from Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. Longlisted organisations compete in seven categories, among them habitat and species conservation, engaging people and culture, poverty reduction and a new category in 2017 – the…

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Rotation 4: Husbandry #2 October 21, 2016

More from Travellers Worldwide volunteer, the fearless Ms Jones at Sepolik Rehab centre in Malaysia

Jet-setter Jones

The second rotation of Husbandry. That means the FINAL rotation with my troublesome teens! Chiquita, Beryl, Kolapis, Kala, Gellison… time to say goodbye.

The week was carnage! In the 2 weeks since we had last worked with them Kala had gone from gentle and cute to the devil incarnate! He was so naughty; stealing food, grabbing the hose, biting, wriggling to get away, singling Alex out (as the only male volunteer) to come down off of the feeding platform specifically to challenge him to a fight. The rangers said that Kala views other males as a challenge and likes to exert his strength and authority over them. The explanation for this sudden change in behaviour was…. he had been hanging out with Ceria and developed bad habits! Just to refresh your memory, Ceria is the orangutan that’s so naughty even the humans scatter when he approaches!

Poor Kolapis wasn’t with…

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Wes Kus spring break October 15, 2016

My partner and I recently had the most awesome spring break to South Africa’s west coast via gorgeous Barrydale situated on the edge of the Klein Karoo on the scenic R62

The first day was also the birthday of one of our friend’s who we went on our road trip with so we celebrated it with lunch at the iconic Diesel & Cremé in Barrydale with the best milkshakes in South Africa. And my god were they good! My Red Lady (red velvet cake) shake was to die for! 

The interior of Diesel & Cremé takes you back in time

Honeycomb, red velvet, strawberry and Turkish delight double thick shakes

After a drink at the Dung Beetle Bar and a nightcap on the Karoo Art hotel’s veranda, it was back to the beautiful Inkaroo cottage-highly recommended- where we stayed overnight which overlooks the town of Barrydale and from the wisteria covered veranda.

The wisteria at Inkaroo cottage

We had an early morning start to a magnificent sunrise over the town’s church steeple and then breakfast at the well recommended Clarke of the Karoo. 

Breakfast under the grape vines of Clarke of the Karoo

Last stop as we headed out the town was a quick wine tasting at Star Hill wines at the Akker farmstall. Their delicious peach & pear chutney is also worth putting in your shopping basket.

Wheat fields in the Swartland

Getting to the west coast is fairly simple. You just follow the R62 then connect with the N1 via Robertson and Paarl where you get onto the R45 through Malmesbury, the heart of the Swartland, and up through Vredenburg and onto beautiful Paternoster with its little white houses with coloured shutters famous for its crayfish (lobster) industry. 

Paternoster from the beach

Mega milkshake September 12, 2016

So by all accounts Diesel & Crème in Barrydale on Route 62 make the most awesome milkshakes ever! And just by chance we are off on a road trip that way in October. This great blog has helped narrow my choice of milkshake down a little….Red Lady I’m coming for you….Rozanne Reid’s review of Diesel & Crème in Barrydale

Volunteer feedback from Lucy Morris May 6, 2016

Travellers Worldwide volunteers in Knysna

I am now coming to the end of 11 fantastic weeks teaching Arts and Culture, English and Life Orientation at a primary school in a South African township. Without a doubt, this has been the most rewarding, yet challenging experience of my life.

It has been wonderful, as a gap year student with no teaching qualifications, to be able to walk into a school and teach the children what I think they will benefit from learning, with no moderations, reports or curriculum to stand in the way. As the daughter of a primary school teacher, I am very aware of how much the paper work now dominates a teacher’s role in England; here, I’d say 90% of the role is teaching, and 10% lesson planning and marking work. It is more simple here and in many ways the schools are about 30 years behind English schools! Having few assessments (twice…

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Volunteer feedback from Ayesha Akre

Travellers Worldwide volunteers in Knysna

Ayesha volunteered at the youth development placement in Knysna

When I arrived in South Africa I had no idea what to expect but still managed to keep an open mind of what I would be dealing with. My project was to work with children in a youth centre located in the township. The first time I saw the township I wasn’t as emotional as I thought I would be probably because I already had a vision. I think the cultural shock kicked in when I heard the stories of the lives of the children were forced to live. It is hard to believe the struggle children as young as 5 go through every single day. At first, when meeting the children I was a little worried if they would accept me or because to them I was a stranger. The language barrier was also a little difficult to deal with in the…

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Feedback from volunteer Amy

Travellers Worldwide volunteers in Knysna

Youth Development Centre – South Africa – Volunteer Experience

To Start off with I would just like to say a MASSIVE thank you to Travellers Worldwide and Sharon Dreyer in particular, my time in South Africa would not have been as valuable without her!

My volunteering at the Youth Development Centre, located in the Nekkies township of Knysna is by far the most life changing experience I have ever done; the information and experience you gain from doing this is something you can’t begin to understand until you do it! Not only did it feel great to make a difference to a community less fortunate but the skills and view of life you gain are SO valuable; you make a real impact on the children’s life but more so the other way round; you learn so much from these amazing youngsters and see life from a totally different view point.

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First Day Jitters

Great blog post on Malaysia and the world famous Sepilok Orangutan Rehab centre

Jet-setter Jones

And suddenly it’s real. Lush greenery everywhere (Including the palm oil forestation surrounding me whilst landing which was not such a welcome sight).

I had landed in Borneo. After 18 months of waiting, I was here. This bucket list item was about to be ticked off. And I was petrified.

I hadn’t given it much thought over the past six months, travelling around it seemed so distant in the future. It didn’t seem real. Suddenly, I was on a plane, headed there and it was all I could think about.

What if I’m awful at it? What if the people judge me? What if they all hate me? What if I hate them? What if I accidentally hurt an orangutan? What if, what if, what if…

When I met my fellow volunteers, that anxiety was all gone. A mixture of all ages and everyone is awesome. We have eight weeks…

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We say goodbye to another great volunteer… September 4, 2015

Travellers Worldwide volunteers in Knysna

Happy but sad goodbyes yesterday for volunteer Annie Caffyn at the youth development volunteer placement in Knysna in South Africa

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Work trip through the Cape to Cape Town June 24, 2015

Travellers Worldwide volunteers in Knysna

So I have just returned from a CRAZY and HECTIC 5 days visiting the marine placements and care placements we work with in the Cape. i travelled through the Overberg region- absolutely magnificent- and ended with three days in Cape Town.

I was lucky enough to go on a shark boat at Kleinbaai and we got to see 8 Great Whites the largest being 3.6m long.

Incredible Great White shark

I also got to visit a newly built African Penguin and Seabird sanctuary and got to meet to of the hospital’s sickly penguins.

A poorly juvenile African penguin

We then headed back to the Stanford region to visit a sanctuary and had a private tour. Amazing animals.

Lazy male white lion

Cape Town was a crazy dash from children’s hospitals to autism and deaf school and schools for special needs. I think I am a lot more aware on what…

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