Category Archives: Travel News

Video Interview with Monkeyland and Birds of Eden at Indaba 2012

Monkeyland and Birds of Eden South Africa The very passionate and endearing Lara Mostert chats to us about Monkeyland – the worlds first free roaming multi-specie primate sanctuary. Lara also invites her neighbour Henko Kleingeld from the Elephant Sanctuary to join her and they perform a fantastic rendition of a monkey mating call – not to be missed! Everyone in the vicinity, including restaurant staff, stopped to see what was happening!

Lara also let’s us on a little secret … that King Julian, the Ringtail lemur in the movie Madagascar, cannot be king because in Madagascar all female Lemurs are boss!

View the video below:

Monkeyland is based near Plettenberg Bay along the Garden Route, South Africa. It is hugely popular, receiving up to 1000 visitors a day at Monkeyland and Birds of Eden in the peak season.

Lara’s knowledge and passion are infectious – there is no stopping her once you get her talking about monkeys! CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO and take a look here for further information about Monkeyland, Birds of Eden and Elephant Sanctuary

… and please share the amazing work they are doing!

3D Virtual Tours of the World’s Great Sites

If you are looking to whet your appetite for travel and need some visual inspiration, then you have to take a look at this 3D virtual tour site showcasing some fantastic high definition photography and 360 degree views of some of the greatest places on our planet.

AirPano is a non-commercial project set up by a group of russian photographers and panorama enthusiasts who focus on taking high resolution 3D aerial panoramas of the most interesting places of our planet.

Normally they shoot from a helicopter but they also use light jets, hot air balloons and radio-controlled helicopter models. They have already have created more than 250 panoramas showing about 70 places around the world and have amassed an amazing photogallery of images.

The panoramas can be opened in two different resolutions – high resolution panorama with the best quality is about 7 Mb large and it is suitable for fast internet connections and modern computers and low resolution panorama which is no more than 2 Mb. They are also available in Ipad and Phone format.

They have also included some history and facts into each location and various view points on different locations they have chosen.

Here is a small selection we have chosen to show you just to whet your appetite!

3D / 360 Degree View of Victoria Falls – Zimbabwe / Zambia

3D / 360 Degree View of Bryce Canyon – USA

3D / 360 Degree View of Cape Town – South Africa

3D / 360 Degree View of Machu Picchu – Peru

3D / 360 Degree View of Pyramids of Giza – Egypt

3D / 360 Degree View of Bagan – Myanmar

Check out the fill list of panoramic virtual tours here.

About the Author: Karen Black is the Co-founder and Director of Mamba Media – a Creative Agency that specialises in Websites, Design and Digital Marketing for the Travel and Tourism Industry.

Increasing Trade between South Africa and the UK

Robin from Mamba Media attends the South Africa Trade Event in London, UK.

Photograph courtesy of Keith Hern Photography www.keithhern.com

The drive up through Surrey was a bit stickier than it should have been at 6.30 am, but once I got onto the A3 it was all go. After a short wiggle through Wimbledon Village, I arrived on the south eastern side of the common and Cannizaro House Hotel. What a gem! A great big imposing, 300 year old building overlooking the park.

The speedy registration was the only barrier to a cup of Joe and a bacon and egg roll. Two of those did the job! I always secretly find it kind of amusing that all the delegates are trying to shake hands, drink coffee, read the welcome pack, eat and network all at the same time, at 8am. After all that we headed off to the conference room to begin the day.

Ian Smith kicked things off with Chris Trott being beamed in from Cape Town – what a wonderful tool Skype is. Ian and Chris both highlighted the expanding trade relations between the UK and South Africa and that there were plenty of opportunities out there for intrepid entrepreneurs.

This was further highlighted by Avi Lasarow of Trimega Laboratories. He has a very successful company with offices in Manchester, Cape Town and Germany. Some of his success can be accredited to his relationship with UKTI and the advice and support that the organization offers to people who want to do business between South Africa and the United Kingdom. His direct advice was:

Leverage the South Africa media
Spend time on your company setup and legal agreements
Protect your intellectual property
Invest in some PR
Do a big product launch
Have a vision and keep it alive by moving forward every day

Yusuf Timol, from the South African High Commission had a tough job as the purveyor of good news and spent some time going through the cold hard facts and figures related to the South African economy and its trade with the United Kingdom. South Africa’s inclusion in the BRICS group should give investors a much needed boost in morale, as should the general state of South Africa economy and its excellent and well regulated financial sector.

Companies wanting to do business in South Africa should also figure the SADC region into their sales and marketing plans. This 13 member group has 200 million consumers. By 2015 there will be a FTA (Free Trade Agreement) that will stretch from Libya to South Africa and have 600 million consumers. This represents huge potential and there will be exciting opportunities in:

Creative Industries
Global sporting events
Leisure
Environment
Education
Employment
Transport
Airports
Security

At question and answer time Yusuf had to deal with a difficult question on security of visitors. He looked a little tired when he answered as I am sure he has had to respond to this same questions many times before. He said that yes, South Africa does have crime issues, but most of those crimes are in areas of social and economic depravity and would not normally affect the normal visitor. He also mentioned the fact that “bad news sells”. This is spot on, as it is easier for foreign papers to report on the bad rather than the good. What are they doing to counteract the bad press? They seem fairly busy on the social media scene and are currently running an ad campaign to “Leave the Ordinary Behind” so are these issues being addressed enough?

After the half time oranges, we went into a presentation from Robert Walker. He went on to highlight two companies that have done very well in the world of sports. One in broadcasting and one in branding and mascots. What did come out during his session was the need for better digital exposure – websites in particular. He said that in his experience most companies needed to up their game plan with regards their websites, which I agree.

After the formal part of the morning there was a sports-oriented ending, with the arrival of the Olympic Torch (a replica). The design is fascinating. Three-sided, multi-holed and very light. The 8,000 holes represent each of the people that will carry it on the relay … and the triangular-shape was inspired by a series of ‘threes’ that are found in the history of the Olympic Games and the vision for the Olympic Movement:

The three Olympic values of respect, excellence and friendship;
The three words that make the Olympic motto – faster, higher, stronger;
The fact that the UK has hosted the Olympic Games in 1908, 1948 and will host them for the third time in 2012; and
The vision for the London 2012 Olympic Games to combine three bodies of work – sport, education and culture.

Hey, we even got to hold the torch, just sorry for the double chin. Anyway we plan to light up 2012, go for gold, make the nation proud …..

About the Author: Robin Cormack is the Co-founder and Director of Mamba Media – a Creative Agency that specialises in Websites, Design and Digital Marketing for the Travel and Tourism Industry.

Mamba Media at World Travel Market

WTM Appointments with Mamba Media

The Mamba Media team will be attending World Travel Market and would love to meet up with travel companies and discuss how they can help with any design, web, print, digital marketing and social media needs.

Mamba Media is a Creative Agency based in the UK that specialises in providing Graphic Design and Digital Media services to the Travel and Tourism Industry.

Their clients include Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, Seychelles Tourism, Air Namibia, Umkhumbi Lodge, Boutique Travel Marketing and Destination Representation to name a few, and they are the preferred partner for all design and email-marketing services for SATOA – a UK-based organisation that promotes travel to Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Robin and Karen will be attending WTM from Monday – Wednesday. To find out more about their services or to meet up and find out how they can help promote your travel business and travel events, please email them to BOOK AN APPOINTMENT.

SATOA Networking Event

Catch up with Mamba Media over a beer at the SATOA WTM 2011 Networking Function on Tuesday the 8th of November at the Fox Bar Excel from 6.30pm!

One for the ladies – some great travel uses for pantyhose!

Last week we did 10 uses for dental floss on your travels and now we bring you another “must have item” to take on your travels… ladies pantyhose!

Here we give you 10 ways to use pantyhose on your travels:

Blister stopper - Cut the feet off of a pair of pantyhose at the ankles and wear them under your socks. They’ll help cut down on the friction between your shoe and your foot, thus reducing the risk of blisters.

Clothes line – Tie each toe of your pantyhose to something in your hotel room and use them as a clothes line.

Camera lens filter – Stretch pantyhose over the end of your camera lens to create a blurred, “dreamy” effect.

Washing – use a soap filled stocking as a gentle scrubber for your skin or to wash your pots and pans when camping

Sieve - ever broken a bottle while trying to open it and scared you may drink glass – just place stocking over another container and pour in liquid to sieve out the bits of glass. Likewise it can be great for sieving pasta, rice and so forth

Fan belt - Replace a broken fan belt in your car’s engine – ok it does not work on all cars especially the newer ones and is not highly recommended!

Hold up baggy trousers – Replace the drawstrings in your favourite travel trousers or as a belt to hold them up (especially if travelling to place you are likely to lose weight…you know what I mean)

Clean sunglasses - Pantyhose are lint free and have enough of an abrasive surface to clean without scratching

Tie things - as a tourniquet, hair scrunchie or headband…the uses are endless!

Fishing net – ok you need then to have something like an old tennis racquet (not likely you will be travelling with this but you never know) or perhaps a piece of wood with a coat hanger (you get the picture…)

Ah we did forget one! Most important – you may want to actually wear pantyhose when your lovely travel partner takes you out on a special dinner date!

Please let me know if you have any other great innovative ways to use pantyhose whilst travelling!

About the Author: Karen Black is the Co-founder and Director of Mamba Media – a Creative Agency that specialises in Websites, Design and Digital Marketing for the Travel and Tourism Industry.

10 Reasons You Should Take Dental Floss On Your Travels

fishing with dental floss

I remember seeing many many years ago, a tip in the travel section of TNT Magazine in London, about a few great uses for dental floss when you go travelling.

So I decided to test it out and off I went to Egypt, India and Nepal with my pack of Dental Floss. Here are some travel tips and ways that you can use dental floss when you go travelling:

1. Dental floss can be used to cut many food items from cheese to boiled eggs to fruit – ah so no need to carry a knife! (and with today’s airport security issues it is probably likely if you did take a knife you might forget to pack it into your main bag and it will end up in the mountainous pile of “hazardous” objects at airport security.)

2. Keep your drinks and beers cool while travelling down the Nile River in a felucca boat (or for that matter, while on a river or lake in the heat of the day when you are in a small boat without refrigeration). Tie your bottle securely to the boat and let it trail in the water to keep cool.

3. Use the floss as a makeshift washing line or emergency fishing line.

4. Once you have all your washing hanging on the dental floss, you can use it as a badminton net (well you may tire of walking around the travel sites). You can use your shoes as bats and make a ball out of floss.

5. Use the dental floss as sewing thread to sew up any holes in your bag or rucksack, sew a button back on OR to repair a hole in your mosquito net AND you can use the floss cutter on the container to cut of bits of random hanging threads from clothes and bags – therefore there is no need to carry scissors! (again avoiding extra luggage and airport security issues).

6. Use it as a replacement for a broken shoelace – ok it is not going to look so cool but if you are REALLY worried about the look then temporarily replace the lace in the other shoe as well!

7. Travelling with kids? Use the dental floss as a lead to tie yourself to your kids so that you don’t lose them!

8. Use it as a replacement hair band to tie up or tie black your hair if it’s hot or windy or your hair is just annoying you and getting in your face – or you could just go and get your hair cut off..

9. Get creative and use the floss to create jewellery or garlands (string a few beads, seeds, pods or flowers … use your imagination… and create a pretty anklet, bracelet, necklace and so forth – to add a bit of colour or fit in with the locals or to even give to someone as a gift!)

10. Of course the most obvious use for dental floss .. you can actually use it for what it was intended to clean out the bits that get stuck between your teeth!

Ok I have not tested them ALL out but most of them… the rest I made up or read about! As you can see though it is quite a useful piece of kit to have when travelling and by acting as a temporary or emergency replacement for many things, you can cut down on the amount of luggage you take with you …especially if you are backpacking or hiking and you are prone to taking everything but the kitchen sink when you go away!

Let me know if you have any other great innovative ways to use Dental Floss whilst travelling!

About the Author: Karen Black is the Co-founder and Director of Mamba Media – a Creative Agency that specialises in Websites, Design and Digital Marketing for the Travel and Tourism Industry.

Big Cat Conservation

It used to be that humans were grouped together into islands that existed in a sea of wilderness. We were surrounded by wilderness and had to carve out our existence from it. Our civilization was contained and restricted by the forests and wide savannahs, hemmed in by raging rivers and guarded by mountain ranges. Industrious and intelligent as we are, we overcame these obstacles and found that we could expand our borders and grow our islands. We travelled further and explored more, using the land and its resources to grow. This human growth has been phenomenal and to fuel it we have had to sacrifice some things. One of these is our wilderness. We are no longer the islands, instead the animals live as islands in a sea of humanity that seems, for the most part, bent on destroying what is left of our wilderness.

So who cares about the environment and our wilderness? There are all sorts of bodies and organizations, trusts, charities and government departments that deal with all aspects of this but there are also environmental warriors that have dedicated their lives to learning, recording and teaching. Two of these warriors are Beverly and Dereck Joubert. They have seen the writing on the wall and are on a mission to make sure that they deliver the message and, more importantly, to make sure that we, the humans, understand it. If we do not act, then our islands of wilderness with their animals will sink. The end!

I attended the discussion and photo exhibition in National Geographic’s store in London on Tues and got to see Beverly’s wonderful collection of black and whites and listen to them speak passionately about the plight of the big cats in Southern Africa. The video footage that was playing in the background was exceptional and graphic. I also got to hang out with a couple of industry mates and have a couple of glasses of wine. It was a great evening but I did come away wanting to know more so off I went to the internet. A good starting point is the National Geographic site, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/big-cats/ , and Derek and Beverly’s website http://www.wildlifeconservationfilms.com/ . Drop by http://www.greatplainsconservation.com/ as it is all tied in.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/could-big-cats-be-facing-extinction-2308722.html

The Last Lions – Official Trailer

About the Author: Robin Cormack is the Co-founder and Director of Mamba Media – a Creative Agency that specialises in Websites, Design and Digital Marketing for the Travel and Tourism Industry.