Man and animals have always been competing for space and now more so than ever. Animals are being squeezed into smaller and smaller areas with dire consequences if they should enter mans’ space. A less obvious result of this is that animals' natural migratory paths have been distrupted which has forced "unnatural" human intervention in managing animal populations and habitats.

An initiative that can help reverse this is the creation of transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) or "Peace Parks" - cross border jointly managed natural resources. The removal of boundaries opens larger tracts of commonly managed land allowing a more natural flow of animals in a larger area.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement of 1999 defines a TFCA as "the area or component of a large ecological region that straddles the boundaries of two or more countries, encompassing one or more protected areas as well as multiple resource use areas". The good news is that SADC political leaders have recognised the importance of TFCAs and have dedicated effort to make them a reality. Just two days ago, at a ministerial meeting that took place on the banks of the Zambezi River in Katima Mulilo, five SADC ministers with the portfolios of environment and tourism in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe expressed satisfaction with the progress made on the proposed trans-frontier tourism park.

There are 7 Southern Africa Peace Park initiatives at various stages of proposal or development but as many as 15 parks proposed by the Peace Park Foundation. Have a look at this map from the foundation for a bigger picture: (click to enlarge)

Here are some of the initiatives with the greatest traction:

|Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier National Park: A vast mountain desert that is the |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld National Park, an area managed jointly by the local Nama people and the South African National Parks. straddles the borders of South Africa and Namibia. It consists of the 1 625 square kilometre Richtersveld National Park (a World Heritage Site) in South Africa and the 4 420 square kilometres /Ai–/Ais National Park in Namibia.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park: An amalgamation of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa (proclaimed in 1931)and the Gemsbok National Park in Botswana, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park comprises an area of over 3,6 million hectares – one of very few conservation areas of this magnitude left in the world.

Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park: The most well known initiative links Kruger National Park in South Africa, the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, Gonarezhou National Park, Manjinji Pan Sanctuary and Malipati Safari Area in Zimbabwe, as well as two areas between Kruger and Gonarezhou – the Sengwe communal land in Zimbabwe and the Makuleke region in South Africa. The park presently covers 35 000 square kilometres but will eventually expand to a staggering 100 000 square kilometres. Ultimately is may run to the coast- to bazaruto Archipelago in Mozambique.

Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area: The Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area straddles the borders of Swaziland, southern Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal and consists of five distinct transfrontier conservation areas (including the current Tembi Park) that are woven together by the Lubombo Mountains, a long and narrow mountain range threading across these three countries.

Maloti – Drakensburg: The Maloti Drakensberg Transfrontier Consefvation Area straddles the borders of South Africa and Lesotho and includes the Maloti and Drakensberg Mountain ranges.

Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area: The Limpopo-Shashe park straddles the international borders of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe and is situated at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers.

Kavango – Zambezi: The Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area is situated in the Okavango and Zambezi River basins where the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe converge. It spans an area of approximately 287 132 square kilometres and will include 36 national parks, game reserves, community conservancies and game management areas. KAZA was initiated on the 7th December 2006 by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the 5 countries.

Sustainable conservation is the core of the dream that man and animals can live together and that tourist dollars would assist in the upliftment of local rural communities. Unfortunately Zimbabwe’s politics and instability are a cause for concern and delay. Problems currently being addressed are border crossings, expensive visa and high vehicle taxes imposed on non Southern African residents. The dream, however, is underway with a far bigger dream to follow - imagine a trans-frontier park spanning right across Africa incorporating the above trans-frontier parks and untimately inking with the Etosha pan and the skeleton coast of Namibia - a wildlife dream that could one day materialize.

"In a world beset by conflicts and division, peace is one of the cornerstones of the future. Peace parks are a building block in this process, not only in our region, but potentially in the entire world.”Nelson Mandela

Resources:
Peace Parks Foundation:Peace Parks Foundation is a non-profit organisation that facilitates the establishment of transfrontier conservation areas (peace parks)* and develops human resources, thereby supporting sustainable economic development, the conservation of biodiversity and regional peace and stability.

Boundless Southern Africa : Launched at the 2008 Tourism Indaba in Durban, Boundless Southern Africa is the marketing brand chosen by nine Southern African countries to represent some of the best tourism products the region has to offer: the Transfrontier Conservation Areas

(TFCAs).

SANParks: Southern African national Parks

There are seven sub-species of Cheetah. Two are found in Asia (less than 200 animals) and the other five species are found in Africa - one group in Algeria, a second group spread between Nigeria to Somalia, a third group in the Ngorogoro Crater area, a fourth group on the plains of Kenya and Tanzania. These four groups total less than 3000 animals. The fifth African group belongs to Southern Africa where it is estimated that there are less than 500 animals.

The King Cheetah is the same species as the Southern African Acinonyx Jabatus Jubatus but has different colour markings. Instead of black sports on a yellow/gold coat the King Cheetah have short solid black stripes about the size of three or four spots blending together.

King Cheetah are as the result of a double recessive gene. Most Cheetah do not carry the Tabby gene as the King factor is called. Only when a male Tabby gene carrier and a female Tabby gene carrier breed may they produce one King Cheetah out of four cubs. Hence the King Cheetah is extremely rare and there maybe less than forty animals of which about 90% are in captive breeding centres, zoos or kept as pets. The last confirmed wild sighting was in Kruger National Park in 1993 where a very large male was seen.

The breeding centres of note in South Africa are, de Wildt Cheetah Park near Johannesburg. They have about a hundred Cheetahs of which seven are King Cheetahs. In1981 the first King Cheetah was born at de Wildt. The other centre is the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre which is situated near the Kruger National Park. They have thirty six Cheetah of which only three are King Cheetah.

Cheetah numbers continue to fall. Their genetic base is narrow hence survivability is low. They are continually threatened by lion and hyena that compete and steal the Cheetah’s kill. Farmers have shot Cheetah for centuries but hope is on the horizon in the form of the Anatolian sheep dog which are used to protect the farmers livestock. In addition through education, farmers are no longer culling every Cheetah in sight.

This month ROAR AFRICA is hosting Joseph Rosendo's award winning travel documentary series, Travelscope. Geoff will be taking the Travelscope team on a safari around South Africa and Mozambique visiting some of our partner lodges and some of the conservation and community projects they are involved in.

The trip starts in Johannesburg today at The Peech hotel. From Johannesburg the team will travel to the Kruger Park area where they will enjoy some of the best safari experiences in South Africa as well as visit the rescued elephants at Camp Jabulani and the Henna Pre-School, a project supported by Lion Sands. From there it's off to the spectacular Bazaruto islands in Mozambique to both Indigo Bay and Azura Lodge.

Updates will be posted on the BLOG and on our Twitter feed and we'll update you with the TV schedule for the documentary.

Last Tuesday ROAR AFRICA hosted a book launch for Douglas Rogers' "The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe" at the New York home of Henry Buhl. The party was primarily about Doug's excellent dark, comic and true-life thriller (more here), but it did have other purposes. Zimbabwe is in an awful predicament but we know how much potential Zimbabwe has in all respects. We know how much tourism to this spectacular country could help it's people pull themselves out of their current plight. It is helping in a few places. With careful planning, we are already hosting people safely in some specific and beautiful parts of the country. You can see the difference these visits make to the local population: employment, feeding programs for thousands, and a sense of hope.

Many Thanks to Henry Buhl for the use of his beautiful loft in SoHo, Durbanville Hills for the fantastic South African Wine, and Amarula for the evening's delicious signature cocktail.

We encourage you to read Doug's witty, sad and exhilarating memoir as you plan your next trip: 'The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe' published by Crown / Random House.

We hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did. There seemed to be 150 people who were not in a hurry to leave, so we're assuming that they at least did.

Photographs from the event featured on a few social pages here:
Haute Living , Guest of a Guest , and Patrick McMullan

Virtual Africa has compiled the biggest (Hi-definition) picture of Cape Town. I had some fun exploring Cape Town with it - Here's a three stage zoom from Signal Hill to The Cape Grace's Bascule Bar on the V&A Waterfront:

Construction Workers on the roof of the new stadium for the World Cup:Cable car going up (or down) Table Mountain:

Zoom away at Virtual Africa.

People tend to think predominantly of the Cape Peninsula and Hermanus as the places to watch whales. There's good reason for that -they are incredible places to observe the Southern Right Whale between June and November. However there are other whale wathcing opportunities around South Africa and Mozambique.

The St Lucia tourism board are operating frequent excursions out to see to watch the Southern Right Whales traveling through St Lucia en route to the warmer Mozambiquan waters to give birth. The tours last two hours but will take three hours of your time because the trip out and back in are a half hour each.

So don't miss out on this lovely and rare opportunity to see these majestic creatures in their natural environment.

Venue: Meet in McKenzie Street, St Lucia
Date: Offer ends Monday, 30th of November, 2009 three trips a day, 06h00; 08h00 and 10h00
Cost: R770 per person

This short video my friend Murray forwarded me is pretty amusing. A female elephant, feeling frustrated by some wild dogs, decides to give them a runaround. Video uploaded by Craig Jackson on August 28. The action happens at the Northern Tuli Predator Project.

Find more videos like this on Northern Tuli Predator Project

I had the most enriching experience last week at Camp Jabulani. 'Camp Jabulani' is the extraordinary tale of an orphaned baby elephant, and a herd of Zimbabwean elephants which once faced a grissly fate. Paul Coetze took us to visit the wild but trained 16 elephants under his charge.

This had to be another one of life’s privileges. Out in the open are elephants just eating minding their own business but with handlers around to ward off lions etc. A 28 year old bull Sebakwe (of Amarula Cream advertisement fame) allows us to slowly walk up to him and start to talk to and touch him. Touching his trunk, his tusks (he is left handed/tusked-uses his left tusk the most), then his ears front and back, feeling the blood vessels, then around his face and eye. His eye was over 7 feet off the ground. Elephants are big seen from a vehicle but from the ground they reach way up into the sky. In training these animals Paul Coetze works on the reward system. So when we had run out of adrenalin Sebakwe was given a handful of pellets, into his trunk which he then gently blew into his mouth. We were able to touch his tongue and check the wear on his second set of molars of which elephants get 6 sets in their 60 odd years of afterwhich they then wither away and die at about 65 or so.

Little Limpopo a 2 year old female came forward for a chance free handful of pellets. She was asked to lie down so as to earn her reward but was so hungry and excited that she slid along the ground half on her side and half on her stomach while reaching out with her trunk desperately for the pellets. Just as a teenager working a point would do.

Our next encounter was with Mambo, a 6 week old baby male -300 pounds in weight- he came to show us how he could carry a stick in his mouth. Then he showed how clever he was by lifting his front left foot, holding down the stick while trying to take off the bark to eat. Much laughter as he took us through his routine. Realised we were impressed by his skills he then, just like a young child started, showing off to the crowd. Walking backwards and deliberately bumping in to a handler repeatedly. Now that he had the crowds attention he started skipping about waving the stick and really just clowning around. He stayed near his mother when offered pellets, his nerve could not take him the distance to eat out of a strange bipedal hand.

All of us humans need to stop and realise how intelligent the elephants are and for us to show much more respect to all our wild life. They do not want confrontation, none of them, it is just us the greedy ape that wants it all, all of the time and some more.

*****

Camp Jabulani:

Elephant back safaris are but one of the offerings at Camp Jabulani. Home to the Big Five and a myriad of other animals and plants, the reserve offers unequalled opportunities to experience the tranquillity of the bush. The reserve incorporates the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre, which is widely known for its contribution to the conservation of wildlife. Conceptualised to support a herd of 13 orphaned and abandoned elephants, this is an operation which promises a unique and completely interactive elephant safari.

Manhattan’s oldest society magazine, and one of the first in the United States, features ROAR AFRICA on page 58 of the August 2009 edition. Click to enlarge the image below.

Yesterday I watched the first screening of Mugabe and The White African here in New York with five good friends. The movie dives straight into a very personal account of the Campbell's and Freeth's courageous struggle for their farm. There is a strong message that the right thing to do is to stay and fight for what is yours. I wondered if some Zimbabweans who emigrated might feel implied disapproval of their decision to leave. However, everyone's circumstances and resources are different and the Campbells do not judge others, just themselves against their own strong ideals and their God's - they are religious people.

This is very much a close-up view. Some prior knowledge of the Zimbabwe situation and recent history would be helpful for the viewer but it is not essential. I found it gripping because it is so personal, harrowing, and the failure of law and order is so complete. Ultimately it goes far beyond the Campbell's and Freeth's because their tenacity and legal action at the SADC court sets an example for all of us and hopefully a legal precedent as well.

Mugabe and The White African is essential viewing to validate their struggle and help to bring change to Zimbabwe. We all needed a stiff drink after the show. Fortunately, unlike Mike Campbell in a scene in the movie, we did not have to head out into the night after our drink to protect our land.

See screening info in our previous post here.

In May Roar Africa took a trip to Paradise Island. The tiny island where Bob Dylan composed his song Mozambique is one of five islands making up the Bazaruto Archipelago which at the time of writing you won't even find on GOOGLE maps. No, you'll have to switch to satellite view to see them, but they were very much on the map years ago and they will be again soon. They are glorious.

For Deborah and I it was a first visit to Paradise Island and for the Graham and Tish it was the first time back in 29 years. And that visit 29 years ago was also a first visit - they were the first intrepid "tourists" to arrive in 1980 after the Independence war (and still during the civil war).

Graham Keth tells the story:

Exploring Paradise Island.

Santa Carolina (Paradise Island), 2 miles by 0.3 miles in size, is a true rock island with deep channels, three beautiful beaches, and coral reefs close to the shore. In the 1950's Joaquim Alves, a flamboyant Portuguese businessman, controlled the coast line from Beira to Vilankulos (roughly 160 miles) and married a Mozambique local called Donna Anna. He gave her the first hotel in Vilankulos which was named after her and then focused his efforts on the tiny Santa Carolina where he built a grand 250 room hotel that was very popular with honeymooners and others for 20 years. This man was a legend in the area.

Before the air strip was built on Santa Carolina one would fly to Vilankulos and transfer to Santa Carolina by ferry - a distance of about 50 miles which took up to 4.5 hours (light Aircraft +/- 15minutes). After the air strip was built in the mid 60’s pilots would clear into the country at Beira or Lourenco Marques (Maputo) before continuing to the Island.

The very first of many trips to the island was round about 1959. The hotel was in its heyday and filled with people. However Mozambique was in the middle of an independence war and Joaquim Alves abandoned the hotel in 1973 towards the end of that war. Santa Carolina became a “no go area" occupied by FRELIMO - The Liberation Front of Mozambique. After independence in 1975 the Civil war ensued (1975 to 1992) but under the new government the FRELIMO personnel were moved to the main land. So it was that in 1980, shortly after Zimbabwe also gained independence, a colleague (also a pilot) and myself decided on a trip to the Island.

We flew from Zimbabwe in two aircraft for safety and were the first two aircraft to land on the island after Mozambique’s independence . We were unaware of the condition of the airstrip and landed after several low level inspection approaches. The friendly Mozambiquan staff, all dressed in their threadbare old uniforms, welcomed us to the island and gave us the best rooms available. Most of the rooms had been vandalised by the troops that occupied the island.

Exploring the old hotel.

Fortunately we brought our own essentials of tinned food, tea, milk and sugar. At our first meal we were offered fish which included Crayfish cooked over an open fire. Tish and I ordered one each and we could not believe their size, they weighed 11.7 lbs each! We were also given “Chicken casserole” which clearly was not a fowl at all and could only have been seagull, by the taste and the size and colour of the bones.

This is fishing paradise and so I hired one of the remaining old fishing boats (no life jackets and no radio communications) - we left at sunrise. As we were departing, I was aware of the captain’s assistant bailing water out of the boat with a 5 liter can. Initially I was not concerned as I thought it was water that had seeped in after standing overnight. We fished for about 3 hours on the high sea beyond Bazaruta island. All this time the chap never stopped bailing out water, however the fishing was good and after landing several barracuda, king fish and several sharks we returned. Other problems included blocked fuel filter stoppage of the engine and a horrible vibration of the prop shaft presumably from worn bearings or bent prop shaft.

On arrival I was met by a rather concerned Tish; unbeknown to me the other aircraft had left as one of their children had taken ill. Tish was concerned because although also the holder of a pilot's license she had no experience on the twin engine aircraft.

Another good memory of that trip was standing waist deep in the sea with a screw driver and eating oysters straight from the rocks. At the end of the trip we paid our bill with clothes and tackies (sneakers) as they insisted that money of any denomination was of no use.

The present hotel is still derelict, as is the Donna Anna in Vilankulos. The Paradise Island concession was previously owned by Ecco Delta Ltd. Rani Resorts has recently entered an agreement to purchase the concession and hopes to start building soon.

*****

Although the hotel on Santa Carolina is in ruins it makes a wonderful day trip from one of the neighboring islands where there are beautiful lodges to choose from. Our day trip to the island was taken with Indigo Bay (Rani Resorts) with wom we had a wonderful stay on the neighboring Bazaruto Island (More on that in a seperate post). Take a day trip for a picnic, snorkeling, exploration, or just for some private beach time. It's also happens to be great kiteboarding spot but I took my own kite and borrowed a board from a very accomodating Indigo Bay staff member. Until recently the piano which Bob Dylan apparently used was still in the hotel ruins. It is now safely on the neighboring island but I hear it will be returned when Rani Resorts rebuilds on the Santa Carolina.

Wind + private beach = Kiteboarding Paradise

Just two nights ago 9 lions attacked a large buffalo bull right at the lodge. This image was taken by Lee Dicks (lodge GM) from the lodge deck where I enjoyed a more peaceful cocktail just a week ago. The lions took on the largest male buffalo in the herd in an attempted kill. Their offensive lasted about an hour of wave after wave of attacks.

Battle from lodge deck, Lee Dicks, Tintswalo lodge

"Eventually the big boy managed to drag himself into the waterhole - the Lion’s obviously didn’t want an evening swim and accepted their defeat." Tintswalo

Here is a photograph of the more tranquil deck. It's a good reminder that you are not so much "on safari" as "in safari". Amazing wildlife experiences, both large and small, happen all around you.

The Tintswalo Deck looking tranquil

Tintswalo Safari Lodge is located within the Manyeleti Private Game reserve which borders Kruger National Park. With only two commercially operated lodges, a maximum of 8 safari vehicles traverse the reserve. Each vehicle therefore has the equivalent of 2937 hectares to itself. Tintswalo Safari suites and lodge are all situated along a beautiful seasonal river bed among an ancient sycamore tree grove.

In just 29 days time, on August 17th, privately owned South African airline Airlink will start connecting two sought after destinations. You will be able to fly directly from Nelspruit (which is close to Kruger National Park, South Africa) to Livingstone (which is at Victoria Falls in Zambia).

Here's the schedule (Day, Flight#, Route, Departure, Arrival)
Mon, Wed, Fri SA8870 Nelspruit to Livingstone 11h35 13h50
Mon, Wed, Fri SA8871 Livingstone to Nelspruit 14h20 16h45

Mugabe and The White African; an intimate and moving feature-length documentary, charting one family's extraordinary courage in the face of a relentless campaign of state-sanctioned terror.
Directed by Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson



WINNER of the SilverDocs documentary film festival's Sterling 'World Feature' Grand Jury Prize
This is the astonishing story of Michael and Angela Campbell and their daughter and son-in-law Laura and Ben Freeth trying to hold onto their farms in Zimbabwe. In fact the Campbells and Freeths are family friends farming right next door to where my brother and my sister-in-law used to farm (and where she grew up) before their farm was taken from them a few years ago.

Here are the screening times in New York for the film in August at IFC Doucweeks.

MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN

• Fri 8/7 4:30 PM 9:45 PM
• Sat 8/8 12:00 PM 6:10 PM
• Sun 8/9 1:40 PM 8:00 PM
• Mon 8/10 12:00 PM 9:45 PM
• Tue 8/11 12:00 PM 6:10 PM
• Wed 8/12 1:40 PM 8:00 PM
• Thu 8/13 7:40 PM 9:45 PM

ADDRESS: 323 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10014
Ph (212) 924-7771
DIRECTIONS: West 3rd & 6th Avenue
Online tickets

If you are interested and live in New York or nearby please try to attend and tell your friends. The more people who see it the better the ultimate distribution will be.

Also showing in LOS ANGELES at the Laemmle's Town Center in Encino Aug. 14th -20th

Website: Mugabe and The White African

That's tricky and very personal. Here's a short and simple take on binoculars:

Trade-offs are basically between: size, weight, magnification and light. So it depends what you want them for.

Specifications look like this: (leaving out the more technical specs)

• 7 x 30
• 8 x 42
• 10 x 40 ....

The first number is magnification.
If it's too high you'll probably have trouble with keeping the view steady. You will probably not be using a tripod - they will be hand-held in a land rover. Go for minimum 7 and max 10. For safari 8 x 42 is great. For something like boating (due to movement) you might stick with 7x magnification. Got a steady hand? Try 10x.

The second number is lens diameter.
This translates into the amount of light the lens farthest from you lets in and thus the clarity of image. For safari specifically you are best off with a larger number here because much of your game viewing is in low light conditions: early and late in the day. That means that for safari the small compact binocs are not ideal. However you don't go on safari every day so don't get too hung up on this. You might use a small pair more often because you will be more inclined to take them with you.

Lenses:
There are two systems for binocs:

1. Double lenses: first lens magnifies, second re-inverts the image.
2. Prism. lens magnifies, prisms re-inverts image. Prisms are generally better. The image quality should be preferable.

Brands of choice:
Top three: Leica, Zeiss and Swarovski. (and the prices unfortunately match!) Leica might be more robust. Nikon, Bushnell and Steiner are good as are some others though purists will tell you that there are no "good" binocs, there are only excellent ones and "bad" ones and the first three brands are certainly excellent.

Other things to consider:
Durability, waterproofing, fog-proofing, magnifying, nitrogen-filled, field of view..... don't get too hung up on this stuff unless your needs are very specific.

Conclusion:
Decide what you want them for and consider "lugability" - weight & size. I like small compact binocs and am fine with some loss of image clarity. In fact I carry a tiny 6x16 monocular. I think it cost me about $40. Great for hiking and climbing trips. Not great for safari but then I tend to have it with me 10x as often as others have their binocs so that makes up for it. :)

• Consider those top three brands first
• Magnification: 7 to 10
• Lens diameter: as large as possible. 42 is great but you'll sacrifice that if you are going for compact ones.
• Prism system. Again- a sacrifice if you go ultra-compact

And remember: you don't have to have your own binoculars. The lodges usually provide a pair to share. Roar Africa guides do as well.