Some call it Joburg, while the local Nguni people call it e'Goli, or "City of Gold." The name refers to Johannesburg's beginnings as a 19th century gold rush town, landlocked in the country’s “Highveld”. Today Johannesburg is the heart of South Africa's industrial and commercial life. Economic strength, energy, a beautiful climate, and commercial vitality make Joburg a vibrant business destination.
Johannesburg is an interesting melting-pot of race and culture. Its lively streets reflect the diversity of people populating the city - Europeans, Americans and Australians flocked here to seek their fortunes during the gold rush of the late 19th century. As the city expanded from a fledgling town to a beating heart of prosperity, traders and entrepreneurs from India, China, Japan and Eastern Europe also laid down their roots. In recent years, West, East and Central Africans have made their home here and the result of all of this is a city that mirrors the fantastic cultural mix of its inhabitants, who have managed to retain their personal identities as well as merge into a unified and unique whole.
Kwando, Selinda and Linyanti are private concessions in the northern region of Botswana, some of the most beautiful and remote destinations in the country, offering exceptional wildlife viewing, perhaps the best in the country. The area is also extremely diverse, with serpentine channels, lagoons, grass floodplains, papyrus stands, marshes, reed beds, savannah, riparian forest, mopane woodland, scrubland, palm groves and magnificent, towering trees Baobab trees.
These private concessions offer a very exclusive, authentic and remote safari experience. The camps here are small and private, isolated in the wild, with very few guests. The wildlife viewing is wonderful, but what stands out is that this is “the bush”, similar perhaps to what the early explorers may have found, the Africa one dreams of experiencing. With little connection to the outside world, visitors have the untamed wilderness, the incredible star-filled sky, and the sounds of the animals at night.
The Okavango Delta is one of Africa’s most amazing destinations. This vast inland delta, the largest in the world, is nearly 6000 sq. miles of wonderful wetlands – lagoons, sinuous channels, lakes, flooded grasslands, and thousands of islands. This incredible oasis, which lies in the middle of an enormous desert, is appropriately nicknamed the ‘jewel’ of the Kalahari.
This wetland paradise supports a staggering amount and diversity of animals, including 122 species of mammals, 71 species of fish, 444 species of birds, 64 species of reptiles and 1300 species of flowering plants. Visitors can explore the Delta on land and water – by land rover, on foot, and in “mokoros”, small traditional boats used to travel in the shallow waters. It is a very memorable, iconic activity that the Okavango is famous for – a “must do” for any visitor.
Ancient floodplains intermingle with open grasslands and tree-covered islands at the Mombo Concession, aptly dubbed "the Place of Plenty", situated within the central Okavango Delta. The remarkable terrain encompasses a rich tapestry of landscapes, including mopane woodlands, Kalahari sand belts, acacia thickets, and seasonal floodplains adorned with wild date palm islands and riverine forests. The region is teeming with game, from giraffes, zebras, and red lechwes to elephants and buffalo. Predators like lions, spotted hyenas, and leopards thrive here, and it's the exclusive home of the Okavango Delta's sole population of white and black rhinos. Across the year, diverse wildlife is on full display, and the annual flooding cycle enables nature to fully utilize the diverse landscape, alluring numerous bird species, making it a birdwatcher's paradise.
