Tanzania is tops
ATWO-YEAR travellers’ poll saw Tanzania emerge as Africa’s best safari destination. The survey — carried out by SafariBookings.com — asked thousands of safari clients and travellers, along with authors of leading travel guides, to submit their best travel experiences.
Tanzania scored an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars, ahead of Botswana, Kenya, Zambia and South Africa, the other countries in the top five.
Tanzania is blessed with some of the world’s best game parks, including the Serengeti. Its other major attractions include Zanzibar and Mount Kilimanjaro, which has become a major destination on the world high-altitude trekking circuit.
NEW CAMP FOR GORONGOSA
A NEW safari camp is coming to Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. Kubatana Camp will open next month, kicking off with a $280 (R2 800) per night special rate for SA residents. The camp is also offering a 2013 special in which visitors stay for five nights but pay for four. For information, visit
http://kubatana.asiliaafrica.com.
CELLPHONE REBELS IN THE AIR
UP to 15 cellphones are left on during any international flight and five on local domestic flights — compared to zero in Namibia — according to a recent Travelstart survey of 7 500 South African travellers — 3% of whom left their phones on deliberately. While opinion is divided about whether this is unsafe, one commercial pilot noted in the survey that he had had phones interrupt his radio communications on several occasions.
FINE-MINING HOTEL
THE MINING town of Kathu in the Northern Cape will be the setting for a new Urban Hotel. The slick, modern Urban Hotel Kathu marks a big change for the iron-ore town, where sophisticated accommodation has apparently been scarce.
NO SURCHARGE ON MSC BOOKINGS
THE RAND may continue to plummet but MSC Cruises says no currency surcharges will be imposed on any bookings that have been secured by deposit for the local 2013/14 cruise season. The company says a possible surcharge will only apply to new and unsecured bookings if the rand continued to weaken.
TOURISM HOPES FOR IRAN
TOUR operators hope the recent election of moderately-inclined Hassan Rouhani as Iranian president may open the way for the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office to lift its travel ban to the country. Once a stop on the famous hippie trail to Kathmandu, Tehran and much of Iran has regularly been off-limits to travellers since the shah was toppled in 1979.