The Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) is a large transboundary conservation initiative in southern Africa, spanning five countries: Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Angola. Established to promote wildlife conservation and sustainable development, you would be hard pressed to find a better part of Africa for an African safari holiday.
KAZA faces challenges such as poaching, human-wildlife conflict, and the impacts of climate change, but there is a very pro-active sales manager of a popular African safari company who is doing his bit to encourage conservation. I spoke with Simon Teede recently, and could tell immediately he was truly passionate about conservation.
RJZ: Why should overseas visitors and tourists come to Southern Africa?
ST: So, our part of the world is the (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area, which is currently the largest wilderness area on the planet, linking 32 national parks. It is roughly the size of France.
Now in a world where parks are congesting animals into quite a small space and tourism in Africa is growing, you end up getting a lot of congestion around animal kills, and your African safari holiday could end up feeling like you are on a highway. What this (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation area offers is exclusive safaris on private concessions.
It comes with a price tag, but honestly, to be in the wilderness and to not be surrounded by other game drive vehicles is really what I think the experience should be. The only area that has a little congestion is Chobe, but the rest of it is untouched offering an exclusive safari
RJZ: What problems does African safari company, “Bushtracks” in your mind solve for your clients?
ST: So, we are have been around for 30 years. We are Africans who have set up an African based business. We are based in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia with a vast network of people, and in Africa, it is who you know, not what you know, necessarily.
These networks help us with the logistics to move people seamlessly around the three different countries. We also have personal relationships with all the owners of the various lodges. We get to visit them all the time. This way, if you are sitting in America and you are trying to sell an African safari, you can trust us to be able to deliver the kind of itinerary that suits your client, because of that level of personalization. This is service that you would not get from anyone that was not on the ground, in the region.
RJZ: What is your favourite destination and why?
ST: Well, there is a security question from my bank, which says, what is your favourite place in the world? And I always put Mana Pools, so that is my go-to answer, and has been for many years.
I find it very difficult to choose, it is like asking what your favourite food is, but to me, Mana Pools has a special place in my heart for its romantic scenery that really, I find to be quite a spiritual experience.
RJZ: How do you see the five-start tourism sector developing in your arena?
ST: It is growing because this is our market. East Africa catches a lot of the mid-range safari. And so in terms of our area, I’d say the luxury market is growing, and most of the lodges you see popping up are in the five-star category.
I think there actually might be a growing gap in the market for mid-range, but right now, the market has developed and keeps on developing for the luxury sector. Visiting those exclusive wilderness areas do come with a price tag.
RJZ: Can you give me a particular fun fact about a personal experience that you have had, either with a guest or when you have been travelling, something that sort of stands out?
ST: Well, I was canoeing in Mana Pools and in Mana Pools, there are these really steep banks that erode next to the river, and at times that bank can be two meters high. Picture that anything on top of that bank cannot see what is below and anything below cannot really see what is on top of that bank.
In the bank itself, you get a lot of Carmine Bee-eaters. So, a friend of mine and I were canoeing on the river trying to avoid the hippos on the left and at the same time hugging the side of the bank on the right trying to get some pictures of Carmine Bee-eaters as we canoed past. Little did we know that there was a seven-foot crocodile on the top of the bank. The crocodile had obviously gotten a fright from something on the land and dive bombed off the bank and landed in the back of our canoe.
My friend screamed, “there’s a crocodile on our canoe,” and the crocodile was wailing around on the canoe, feet in the air, tail whipping around. Luckily, he did not get bitten. The canoe was sort of up facing the sky, like doing a wheelie, like you see on motor bikes. Eventually the crocodile made it into the water, but we both got a big fright.
RJZ: Simon, please tell me more about yourself and where you have come from and the position that you hold at your African safari company, “Bushtracks?“
ST: Well, I got into tourism, I guess, because I have always wanted to live in beautiful places. So that was the kind of overarching theme of my life. So, I pursued hospitality and then I pursued operations and then I finally got into sales, which I found quite a fun game because I am a very social person.
Talking about the places that I love is, you know, is a big passion of mine. I also got into it for conservation. I have started a big plastic cleanup project called Ellie Collection, which converts all seven types of plastic into a building aggregate for concrete. I am currently leveraging tourism to pay for the collection and recovery.
Tourism allows me to leverage my conservation efforts and be passionate about my destination and to try to get people to come to love the African wilderness. As David Attenborough once said, “In order to get people to conserve the natural world, they must first love it.” I hope to play my part in that.
Interested in finding out more about great deals to (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area , please feel free to email me: rael@wildsunsets.travel or check out some of our specials at www.wildsunsets.travel