TANZANIA FACES MORE POWER CUTS

Tanzanians face more misery as widespread load shedding has resumed leaving them without power again for at least four hours a day.

Power was only recently restored to Zanzibar after the island had been left in the dark for at least three months after an undersea cable broke. Hotels and business owners feel the situation is likely to be costly and have a detrimental effect on their business as they now need to make use of costly generators.

The reason for the load shedding is still unclear but many believe it could be due to poor maintenance of the machinery.

WORLD CUP SOCCER - FAN SURVEY

Are you a soccer fan, do you know any soccer fans or do you have any guests who are visiting during the World Cup? Then please get them to complete CapeInfo's Fan Surveys.

With 90 responses to date, the top six source countries are:
USA 28.1%
UK 13.5%
Brazil 7.9%
Canada 6.7%
Australia 4.6%
Germany 3.4%

Eighty percent of the respondents are male and the age breakdown is:
Up to 20 9%
20–29 32%
30–39 20%
40–49 23%
50–59 12%
Over 60 4%

There is no doubt that the World Cup has raised South Africa's profile enormously and most respondents say their awareness of South Africa is due to the World Cup. Media advertising is at the bottom of the list. Is South Africa a "must-visit" destination? Around 70% think so, rating it 3/5 or higher.

http://capeinfo.com/survey/index.php?sid=96332&lang=en

For the sumary of the survey results

http://capeinfo.com/survey/statistics_user.php?sid=96332

WILDERNESS SAFARIS TO GO PUBLIC

February 2010 - Conservation tourism pioneer Wilderness Safaris today launched a public offer in Botswana and South Africa, to be followed by a primary listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange and a simultaneous secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange's Africa Board.

The company said the exercise was a strategically significant step in its evolution, designed to enable it to take full advantage of growth opportunities, to give the public an opportunity to participate in its future success, to develop a broader shareholder base and to simplify corporate structure.

Growth in this manner is designed to allow the company to fulfil its objective of using its tourism model to the fullest extent possible in contributing to conservation in Africa. "We believe that our unique positioning, iconic international brand and management's long track record of financial and operational delivery present investors with an attractive growth and performance platform," said Andy Payne, the CEO of Wilderness Holdings.

Wilderness Safaris' core philosophy is one of building sustainable conservation economies through responsible tourism, which shares the benefits of tourism with local communities and ensures that pristine wilderness areas are protected profitably. The 26-year-old business is invested in seven Southern African countries. It also operates specialist travel businesses in six countries as well as a fleet of 49 aircraft. It employs more than 2 700 people, most of whom come from remote rural communities.

MOMBO CAMP UNUSUAL SIGHTINGS MARCH 2010

Location: Mombo Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana

Date: March 2010

Observer: The Mombo Team

Photographer: Russel Friedman

The African wild dog is an endangered carnivore that is perhaps best known for its social nature. It is this aspect that is seen as being at the heart of its success as a highly efficient predator of medium-sized antelope. Essentially mixed-sex packs operate in an orchestrated and cohesive way to bring down prey at far higher success rates than predators such as lion.

So what happens when this social component is removed?

The situation at Mombo provides some fascinating insight into this. In the 1990s, Mombo was renowned as an area of unusually high wild dog density. This has all changed and the area is now well known for its very high numbers of lions. This high lion density has kept wild dog numbers very low. In fact over the past two or three years only one very small wild dog pack has managed to exist in the area. There were also visits from larger packs but these have been only of a very short duration.

The aforementioned small pack saw a gradual diminishing of its numbers until at some stage in early 2009 only one animal remained - an adult female. It was presumed that this animal would either emigrate to join dispersing animals and form a new pack or, more likely, would perish in the hostile environment, unable to hunt efficiently on her own and even less likely to protect a successful kill from large scavenging predators.

We have all been proven wrong and this single wild dog has thrived in Mombo's prey-rich environment. She has done it with help from some highly unusual and totally unexpected quarters.

For the past six months or so this single wild dog has sought out the company of black-backed jackals and spotted hyaenas in an area north of Mombo Camp and has been seen associating with both species and even touching noses with the larger hyaenas with whom she seems well integrated (she reacts differently to hyaenas of different ages and genders of the local clan for example). Even more bizarre has been her behaviour where she solicits adult black-backed jackals to follow her on the hunt and even regurgitates meat on her return for the growing jackal pups!

Unsurprisingly, this sort of behaviour does not seem to have been recorded before. This really is unusual behaviour that no-one can have predicted. And it adds a whole new dimension to game viewing at Mombo.

FLOODING IN NORTHERN KENYA

At least 17 tourists had to be rescued from parks in the northern part of Kenya after torrential rains sweeping across East Africa caused the Uaso Nyiro River levels to rise significantly and burst its banks.

Safari lodges and safari camps like Samburu Serena Lodge, Samburu Lodge, Intrepids Camp and Larson Camp, as well as shops, restaurants and public areas have all been flooded. Some bridges have also been badly damages as a result of the debris sweeping across them and repairs will need to be carried out in order to make them safe for use again.

The National Management Committee issued a statement on March 5, saying that a major rescue and operation is underway and some people have already been taken to safer areas. Relief supplies had also already been positioned in Isiolo for dispatch to the affected area.

The Samburu Airstrip is still operational, but most recent reports indicate that the Archers Post Bridge is submerged.

The Kenyan Wildlife Service and the local Red Cross are fanning out into isolated villages to assess the damage. Police are warning residents to stay away from the dangerous rushing waters, amid reports that some people are plunging past flooded riverbanks to fetch furniture and other items that washed out of the safari camps and downriver.

LIGHTS ON IN ZANZIBAR

Electricity has finally been restored to Zanzibar following a three-month blackout.

Residents and businesses have been without electricity since December when an undersea cable providing electricity to the island broke down. The blackout also affected the water supply to the island, causing one water manufacturing plant to shut down.

Many sectors need financial support and Government resources were critically depleted during the power crisis which lasted for four weeks when the isles remained in darkness. Economic sectors adversely affected by the power outage are agriculture, tourism and small scale businesses. As a result the blackout severely reduced the government's income as tax revenues and financial resources were drained in order for the government to address this most urgent issue.

Officials are now sparing no effort to make sure this does not happen again.

KING SHAKA FLIGHTS TO OPERATE FROM MAY 01

Airlines have received official confirmation that the cutover date for flights from the existing Durban airport to the new King Shaka Airport will take place on May 1.

Airlink, said to be the first airline to operate from the airport, has announced that all flights, up to and including April 30, will land at the existing Durban International Airport and all its flights will officially operate from King Shaka Airport from May 1.

Airlink says the new airport is approximately 65km from the current airport, and says it’s vital that all passengers are made aware of the cutover date.

Other airlines affected by the airport move are:

1time Airlines/Air Mauritius/Airlink/TTA/Airlink/Comair/kulula.com/Emirates/Interlink/Mango/South African Airways/South African Express

UPDATE ON CHILE TOURISM

Santiago Airport national and international flights operating:
The airport has started national and international flights again already last Wednesday and is gradually increasing its operations. Special procedures are in place at the moment and travelers are asked to report to the airport 3 hours ahead of their departure flights.
The Airport highway to Santiago as well as the roads of Santiago and surroundings are in good condition.

The country:
Chile is a Country which stretches over 4300 km. It has been divided into 15 regions and only 2 of those (region XII and region XIII) have suffered damages. These areas happen not to be any tourist destinations.

Tourist areas operating as usual:
The popular Atacama Desert in the North of Chile had not been affected by the earthquake at all and all programs are being offered as usual.
Same counts for the pristine Easter Island, which lies 2,300 miles from the coast as well as for the exciting area of the Lake region, North and South Patagonia with the famous “Torres del Paine National Park”.

Santiago back to normal:
Hotels and Restaurants have not suffered any major damage.
At times small paint jobs and repair works were needed which have either been completed already or in some cases are still underway. City tours of Santiago and to Valparaiso are being offered as usual. Santiago itself has hardly been affected as the capital is located 330km (205miles) SW of the epicenter

LUFTHANSA OFFERS BEER GARDEN AT MUNICH LOUNGE

While waiting for their flight, Lufthansa customers can now wait in a traditional beer garden
overlooking the Bavarian Alps.

In cooperation with Munich’s Franziskaner brewery, qualifying passengers can relax at traditional beer tables, enjoying draught beer tapped from the barrel with Bavarian pretzels. The beer garden is located at the refurbished Business Lounge in the Schengen departures area of Terminal 2 - Munich

FLY TO THE WORLD CUP WITH QANTAS SOCCEROOS

Qantas today announced that football fans will be able to book seats on a dedicated delivery flight carrying the Australian team to the FIFA World Cup.

Qantas will fly the ‘Qantas Socceroos’ on its specially painted Boeing 747 from Melbourne to Johannesburg on 26 May 2010.

Fans would be able to purchase seats in the First, Premium Economy and Economy cabins

MALAYSIA OFFERS KL SIGHTSEEING FOR TRANSIT PAX

Passengers in transit at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) now have the option of touring some of the city’s most famous attractions with the introduction of the Showcase KL tour.

For just MYR95 (US$28) per person, passengers with a minimum transit time of five hours to spare can take a trip on the KL Hop-On Hop-Off (KL HOHO) bus. The tour allows participants to experience up to 43 Attractions in the city.

Showcase KL tour also entitles passengers to special discounts on entrance fees and shopping including Aquaria KLCC, the KL Bird Park and Kuala Lumpur Tower

HOSPITALITY GIANTS MOVE TO EARTHCHECK

Several leaders in the sustainable travel and tourism industry, including hospitality giants IHG, Carlson Asia Pacifi c, Sandals Resorts International, Langham, Banyan Tree, Alila, Six Senses and Dusit, have signed-up to have their operations monitored by EarthCheck.

The scheme, jointly developed by the Australian government funded Sustainable Tourism
Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC) and Brisbane-based company EC3 Global, measures
companies’ environmental performance, such as waste reduction and non-renewable resource management.

LONGEST BIKE RIDE IN ASIA

Asian cycling tour operator, SpiceRoads, is planning its longest ever itinerary – an epic 3,000km, 39-day bike ride from Hanoi to Phuket.

The ride, scheduled to start mid-September, will take travellers through Vietnam,
Laos and Thailand, including a well-deserved rest in Luang Prabang