THIS TOURISM WEEK Number 57 - Tuesday, 10 October 2006
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One of the most exciting adventures of my life was creating and running a bird-watching tour in the Wilderness National Park.
I found an open oyster boat, called it The Kingfisher Ferry and launched the business - with a huge salute to Knysna’s Featherbed Nature Reserve, where I learned the craft of tourism - in September of ’94. And I closed it in ’96, when floods, exacerbated by bush fires which had raged across the area a few months earlier, dumped tons of silt into the river bed.
The Kingfisher Ferry was a remarkable venture because it was true edu-tourism. I carried 6,500 people on that little 18-seater boat: 500 members of the tourism industry (my marketing strategy? - bums on seats sell seats), 1,000 school children and people who might not have been able to afford the trip (and whom I carried free of charge) and 5,000 paying passengers (who subsidised those who couldn’t afford it).
Most of those people came for the ride - many left as committed birders. And that’s why it worked as edu-tourism.
But it worked as a pure tourism attraction for many reasons. My schedule included guaranteed departure, 4-hour-long tours in the morning - with two hours on board the boat and two hours strolling through the indigenous forests of the Park - and, depending on the time of year, one or two 2-hour-long boat rides after lunch.
The Wilderness National Park is great birding country because the Touw River - my river - runs past reed beds and grassy fields and into a forested gorge. We often saw 50 species in a morning and everyone marked their sightings on a souvenir bird list which I supplied. I had field guides, binoculars and pencils on board - and when Spatz Sperling of Delheim wines came on the tour, he complained bitterly that I had nothing for him to press on when he marked his list. And then a week later, arrived in the post a dozen Delheim-branded clipboards.
I remain a devoted Delheim fan.
One of the most useful tools I had on board was my hardback copy of Sasol’s Birds of Southern Africa (Struik). Illustrated with perfect paintings by Peter Hayman and Norman Arlott, it taught me almost all I knew about birds - because, in typical Martin-Hatchuel-The-Duracell-Bunny style, I never thought about learning anything about birds before I took my first visitors on board - although I must have known something about people because they gave me a R50.00 tip (on top of a bill - for two - of R30.00).
I still have that book, and I still use it - often. But it is beginning to want replacing. So I was happy to read this week that Struik is now planning a photographic field guide to the birds of Southern Africa - and they’re asking you to get involved: they want your good quality bird photos.
According to Pippa Parker, Publishing Manager for Natural History at Struik, “we have already sourced quite a number of photos but our shortlist remains extensive, and a lot longer than I would like it to be. We are very eager to get more submissions from whomever we can to fill in the gaps. Details of the project are covered on our websites, www.birdofsa.com and www.birdsofsa.co.za, as is the shortlist of bird images we require.”
Now if only I’d had a camera in my old Kingfisher Ferry days…
Land Rover G4 Spirit of Adventure
I’m off to Durban this week for the last two days of competition in the Land Rover G4 Spirit of Adventure - after Sunday, we’ll announce the four teams that’ll go into the finals at Sun City in November.
To Follow the G4 Spirit of Adventure, go to www.thistourismweek.co.za and click on the link under the G4 Spirit of Adventure logo.
Statistics - as far as my readers are concerned, the more stats I quote, the better. So for your convenience This Tourism Week now carries a link to SA Tourism’s stats page - just go to www.thistourismweek.co.za and click on “Links” whenever you’re looking for numbers to crunch.
A reminder that you can still see Now Media’s web cast of SATSA’s annual conference - visit http://www.nowmediawebcasting.co.za/clients/satsa_agm/index.asp.
Gibela specialises in scheduled departure, tailor-made, and self-drive safaris and tours to suit every budget and their site showcases their emphasis on South Africa’s natural beauty and warm hospitality.
Their tours include visits to far-flung camps in the African wilderness, Kruger National Park and Hluhluwe-uMfolozi Park, trips to the World Heritage sites of KwaZulu-Natal - the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Mountains - and adventures like hiking in the Tugela Gorge. The also offer backpacker’s accommodation (just off Argyle Road in Durban) and car hire.
And, of course, www.gibela.co.za was designed and is hosted by ChakariNet.
…Have a Great Tourism Week!
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ABOUT THIS TOURISM WEEK
Telephone +27(0)44 384 1810 | Cell +27(0)84 951 0574 | martin@thistourismweek.co.za
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