Tailor Made South Africa Travel is being joined by a new family member! No, not a person, but another website, Tailor Made Australia Travel. We are delighted to introduce Tailor Made Australia Travel as the luxury Australia travel sister to Tailor Made South Africa.

Like our personalized South Africa itineraries, we are working closely with an Australian specialist to bring you the very best in luxury Australia travel, so don’t forget to visit and find out how we can help you have the best luxury Australia travel you can get!

Don’t forget to claim your free special report, ” 9 Sure-fire Ways To Have The Safari In South Africa You Always Wanted” – it’s jam-packed full of great tips to make sure you have a fantastic luxury safari in South Africa.

Our safari in South Africa has progressed to Port Elizabeth, the northern start to the Garden Route.  As the plane glided into the airport, the pilot announced that we were approaching the Windy City.  Unfortunately, so far it has lived up to its name!  The weather has been rather cloudy, in the main, although in the very hot sun that shone through yesterday morning, I have managed to get some sunburn and that was with sun screen on.

As I write hard driving rain is pouring down, so I guess that the best place to be is here in the internet cafe writing to you.

We are here in Port Elizabeth for our chidren’s tennis which started yesterday.   When the tennis finishes we are driving back to Cape Town down the Garden Route to show the boys wonderful places like Knysna, Brenton Beach and Noetsie. 

Bearing in mind that it is high holiday time here, it is amazingly quiet and we are enjoying our free time.  Everyone we meet is so friendly and eager to assist us. Where we are staying is lovely, clean and airy.  Our hosts, Margaret and Brian come from London, UK and are very accommodating.

When we get back to Cape Town, I’ll post some photos of our wonderful day out to Franschhoek last Monday and our first visit to the Waterfront, Cape Town.

22 months gestation for the elephant and 24 months gestation for my ebook …

Yes, I’ve finally done it! The frustrations have been considerable and far too many to mention here, you will be relieved to know, but I have now “given birth” to my “elephant”!

“An Insider’s Guide To South Africa: 101 Things You Should Know Before Visiting Cape Town” has hit the virtual “book stands” in the form of an immediately downloadable ebook in PDF format.

Find out those all important facts about a travel destination everyone has on their MUST DO list. Whet your appetite – here are just a few of the things you will discover within its pages:

• Looking for the insider secrets? Check out page 4 on where to look
• Find out why the Cape of Good Hope had an early change of name
• How the city evolved into today’s Cape Town – Castles, grand houses, luxury and magnificence
• Why Cosmopolitan Cape Town continues to thrive – how the buzz and energy seeps into your pores
• Discover the Gold of Africa – twenty carat gold chunks and glittering gold artefacts depicting the wealth and power of African kings
• District Six where you can find the history of apartheid and its devastating effects on the “ordinary” people
• The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront – a mecca for those looking for the finest restaurants, shops, entertainment, living. A must read – find it on page 25
• Day Jaunts and Overnight stays – the choice is yours
• Discover the beauties of Cape Point and swim with penguins
• Sip wine all day under spreading oak trees, with your picnic laid out beside you on the Wine Route
• Shopping, Entertainment, Sports – not just for adults, but all the best things for children to get delighted about too!
• Where To Stay, Eat and be merry … let us whet your appetite
• And much, much more … we are longing to show you how dazzling this city at the foot of Africa REALLY is …

It’s been nearly 24 months in the planning, writing, organising, uploading etc, but you can now get the book at Tailor Made South Africa Travel.

Do let me know what you think of the book! I’d love to know your comments …

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Safari in South Africa generally means to go shooting photos with animals as your models, but the word safari also means to go on a journey. I want to take you on a journey to Cape Town, to a place where you can actually “shoot” photos of animals in an area which is not generally thought of as “safari country”.

The beauty of taking a safari in the Western Cape is that it is totally malaria free, meaning that you do not have to plan for months in advance, visit doctors, take malaria tablets, but you still get to see the Big 5 (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and Cape Buffalo) plus many other plains animals such as Black Wildebeest, boks of many varieties, zebra and ostriches.

One such South Africa safari lodge is Aquila and they have a delightful video which I have added here. Take a look at it – sit back and relax for a minute while the music washes over you and the glorious pictures unfold before you. When you click on the links you might find that the low-band video produces the best results …

Now, tell me you don’t feel better for having watched! One word of caution, if you want to experience a safari anywhere in South Africa, you will have to plan ahead of time. Aquila is booked up well in advance, so the earliest you know your travel dates, the better.

Let us help you find that elusive booking though if you can’t book early. I can’t make any promises, but we can usually winkle out something …

Luxury Safaris to South Africa tend to conjure up pictures of people in 4×4 vehicles with nothing more dangerous than a digital camera in their hands.  However, we do get requests for hunting safaris where a gun is used to shoot plains animals such as bok, kudu, warthog and blue wildebeest.

What are your views on this sport?

Get your safari in South Africa through a a new blog!  Coast 2 Coast Connection brings together the two travel destinations dear to my heart and my businesses.

The name, Coast 2 Coast Connection brings together two amazing coastlines, Costa Brava, Spain and the whole of the South African coastline that stretches for more than 2500 km from the Namibian border on the Atlantic coast right up to Mozambique on the Indian Ocean.

The Costa Brava is tiny in comparison, only 160 km, but its beauty is no less.  Stunningly rugged in parts with turquoise blue seas and long sandy beaches and tiny inlets and coves.  It is a fascinating destination with history, beauty, culture and cuisine which are international icons.

Much like South Africa then!  But boy, don’t the incredible animals on a luxury safari in South Africa really have the edge!  Any safari, which is a Swahili word meaning long journey, is great though, be it a wine safari, bird safari, mountain safari …  travel is so enriching!  If you need any help defining exactly what you want from your South Africa travel, don’t hesitate to contact me.

I received the Stellenbosch Wine Route newsletter this morning, and of course, loving wine like I do, settled down to read it with a chilled glass of Delaire Sauvignon Blanc wine in hand.  Ooops, I think that was wishful thinking!  Mine was an ordinary mug of coffee … I digress.

I couldn’t help but agree with  Annareth Jacobs CEO Stellenbosch American Express® Wine Routes in her monthly newsletter.  She has been in London for two weeks and whilst she has had a wonderful time in the art galleries, shops, restaurants and general life in London, she thinks that the people of London look miserable!

On arriving back in Cape Town, South African airlines plays a video of life in the country, what you can expect to see, that sort of thing.  The marked difference between the colour, life, smiles and downright vibrancy of the people is dramatic.

Here’s what Annareth says, “ I do agree that our lives in a third-world country is unpredictable, but that is what keeps us alive, vibrant and colourful. The rest of the world is envious of our way of living, that I can ensure you!”

I for one am certainly envious!  But I am one of the lucky ones, as I get to visit frequently, so if you want to know what all the fuss is about, make sure you add South Africa to your list of places to visit – just don’t leave it too long before we see you there!

I love reading about South Africa, so even when I can’t be there in person, I like getting updates about what’s happening!

Google Alerts are fantastic at finding out what’s going on and even better at letting you know about blogs writing on your subject.

I have found a number of very good blogs and websites through these alerts and I want to share them with you, so I have created a page especially for my favourites. I will continue to add blogs I think have extra special connections with South Africa and give great information.

Take a look now at Blogs We Love and whet your appetite for a visit to South Africa!

Endangered Loggerhead turtles have finally settled down to their nesting and created records on the Northern KwaZulu Natal coastline.

With careful monitoring over the project area, morning and night to ensure the safety of these huge sea creatures, the Loggerhead and the Leatherback turtles have responded by breeding almost entirely within the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, which is a designated marine protected area and a World Heritage site.

Numbers have declined in other areas due to the consumption of tutle meat and eggs by poverty-stricken communities and fishermen’s abandoned drift nets drowning the imprisoned turtles.

One of the most facinating places to visit on your tour of South Africa is the St Lucia Wetlands. The diversity of wildlife and outdoor activies will have you wishing you could stay forever! Imagine wandering through coastal forests fringed by white, sandy beaches watching the whales and dolphins perform for you in the surf, whilst if you are incredibly lucky, in the warm summer evenings in the months of October to March, you may well find the baby turtles emerging from their nest sites on their dash to the sea. What paradise!

Take a look at South Africa – The Good News for the full article on the safe haven for sea turtles, where you’ll discover more about the WWF/Green Trust Turtle Monitoring and Community Development Project.

South Africa Travel experiences – how would you go about researching a destination that you’ve never visited before, but one that is definitely on the “hot” list? Have you ever thought about radio shows?

I’ve just come across Rick Steve’s radio show because I am doing a course with my friend, Wayne Kelly of On Air Publicity. I wanted to learn how to be the best radio show inerviewee that I could and who better to coach me than my mate Wayne.

Part of the homework for this week is to listen to radio shows, to find out how interviews are conducted, what kept you listening and what would you do to be more interesting/informative.

I chose to listen to Rick on Spain. Boy, have I learnt a lot about the country I have chosen to live in! Quite by chance Rick is doing a show on Saturday about South Africa with Carmin Arnot, who is a native of Cape Town. I urge you to listen in if you are at all interested in South Africa. It is bound to be highly informative and I am sure will whet your appetite for this facinating country.