In Limpopo at Swadini, A Forever Resort an undocumented Dragonfly has been found and celebrated. This is the first time that this Dragonfly has formally been documented in the country; needless to say, it is also good news for the Limpopo ecosystem.  

Earlier this year Swadini started a project with the aim of understanding the ecosystem in and around the Resort ultimately exposing guests and students to a wealth of knowledge. The project was started in partnership with Neels Snyman, Flip du Plessis as well as Dries de Vries, guests staying on the Resort documenting and monitoring this new species. The Dragonfly named Eastern Scissortail was found and photographed by Antoinette Snyman on the 20th of May 2019.    

“Dragonflies and Damselflies play a key role in both the terrestrial and aquatic habitats. They are predators as both nymphs and adults feed on a variety of prey including nuisance species such as mosquitos, ants and biting flies. Dragonflies are also able to consume their own body weight in as little as half an hour. Dragonflies’ are nature’s way of pest control – natural alternative”, said Nols van der Berg, General Manager at Swadini. van der Berg added some fun facts about these interesting little creatures:

• Dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, some 300 million years ago.
• There are more than 5,000 known species of dragonflies
• In their larval stage, which can last up to two years, dragonflies are aquatic and eat just about anything—tadpoles, mosquitoes, fish, other insect larvae and even each other. Dragonflies are expert fliers. They can fly straight up and down, hover like a helicopter and even mate mid-air. If they can’t fly, they’ll starve because they only eat prey they catch while flying.
• Dragonflies, which eat insects as adults, are a great control on the mosquito population. A single dragonfly can eat 30 to hundreds of mosquitoes per day.
• Some adult dragonflies live for only a few weeks while others live up to a year. 

The Resort is not only home to the newly documented Eastern Scissortail Dragonfly, but also home to other unique Dragonflies such as Painted Sprite, Great Sprite, Lined Claspertail and Spined Fairytail. 

Unique trees located at Swadini include Lebombo clusterleaf, Carrot-tree, Mitzeeri, Forest fever tree and Matumi. Unique birds can also be found in Swadini and include Crowned Eagle, African Black Duck, African Finfoot, Half-collared Kingfisher as well as the Trumpeter Hornbill.  Wild animals that can be found in, and around the Resort include Leopard, Kudu, Hippo, Crocodiles, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Meerkat, Duiker, Mongoose and Impala.

 “Overall, our vision is to leave behind a wealth of knowledge, understanding and awareness for the unique Fauna and Flora in and around Swadini and the Blyde River Nature Reserve for future generations”, van der Berg concluded.

Journey with Vencasa for blissful sleep, anywhere  Long drives or flights can place a strain on your body and interrupt your sleep patterns – with a negative knock-on effect on your emotional, mental and physical health. While on holiday, the vacation mattress and airplane play the same havoc!   Quality sleep will enhance the relaxation of your holiday.  

Below are some tips, for more comfortable travelling:  

Driving

Position your seat so that you can easily reach the wheel and get your feet on the pedals

Adjust the seat to have your knees slightly higher than your hips

Change the seat position occasionally by tilting slightly forward or slightly backwards

Avoid slumping forward or sitting in a twisted position

Invest in a Tempur lumbar support or a seat pad for additional support and comfort

Frequently reposition your hands on the wheel to take strain off your upper back and neck muscles

Stop every few hours and stretch or walk around

Keep hydrated to avoid build-up of lactic acid in overworked muscles, which can cause stiffness

Passengers should adopt a similar approach to posture 

Flying

Position your feet hip-width apart on the floor, avoid sitting cross-legged and twisting

Change the seat back position frequently, slightly forward or backwards

If you travel with your own pillow – cover it with a towel (or take a spare pillowcase) and put your feet on it – this relieves lower leg ache (a pressure relieving pillow works best)

The Malouf travel pillow is light-weight and ideal for flights 

Hotels Bring your own pillow. Invest in a Tempur travel pillow which is ideal for travelling long and short distances

The Tempur Mattress Topper, part of the kit, is a great travel partner  Travel, work and sleep in comfort. 

The Vencasa range of travel products are compact enough to pack and designed to make your journey more enjoyable – and created to give your body vital support all along the way.   Vencasa, The World Leaders in Sleep, know that your body, mind and soul deserve quality sleep, and provide a range of exceptional sleep solutions to ensure it.   Visit www.vencasa.co.za or call 0861 60 60 60 for more information or for your nearest stockist.  

Afritrip, the holding company for the luxury online tour operators faced legal action from South African National Parks who own Kruger National Park. This was due to Afritrip owning the Krugerpark.com domain which SANParks had a legal claim to as it was the name of their business. Losing the Krugerpark.com domain would cost Afritrip nearly 80% of their business.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place , Afritrip had to search for an alternative domain,when  then CEO Ric Meulemans came across Safari.com. COO Alexis Boshoff said: “It was just this dormant placeholder website with a few safari listings. Nothing had changed on the site since the ’90s."

Afritrip decided to buy the domain but was now faced with the challenge of finding the owner of the domain and harder yet convincing the owner to sell.The domain first registered in 1992,  has since then turned down offers from Apple - whose web browser is called Safari - and Ralph Lauren, which makes Safari cologne for men.

Afritrip enlisted US private investigator Dan Hurley to conduct a further investigation, to track down the owner and start negotiations for Safari.com. Negotiations went on until March with an improved offer of R5-and R10-million and a fully paid safari holiday sealing the deal. The sale took effect in June.“We took ownership of the Safari.com domain about a week before we had to give up Krugerpark.com,” said Boshoff

“The purchase of the Safari.com domain will allow extensive operations to all parts of Africa and is no longer focused primarily in South Africa; this allows customers who are arranging trips to book any and all African Safaris with Safari.com.”

The company has grown from bringing visitors to the Kruger National Park and South African National Parks properties to bringing visitors to all national parks in Africa in 2017.

Webtours, Durban, South Africa Webtours, which assists South African travellers book affordable travel packages across the globe, have recently revamped its www.justski.co.za website to better represent special packages from the top ski operators around South Africa. Webtours, an online travel agency, has been in operation since 2007 with a group of niche travel websites serving the different international destinations and packages which are favoured by South African overseas holiday and honeymoon options.

Justski was launched today (17th of August 2017) and now offers a more diverse range of ski holidays featuring France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, China and even Dubai. The Webtours Group and Justski have partnered with the leading South African ski operators and the old website was no longer a clear representation of all the packages and holidays that they had on offer.The new website offers a more uncluttered design with better functionality which enables visitors to find the best ski package suited to their needs and make more informed decisions. The old website was also outdated and was difficult to keep up-to-date.

The new Justski website will allow us to make quick edits. Currently we are experimenting with an API integration which some of our other websites enjoy and hope to add this to Juskski in the upcoming months.

We are very excited to revamp our Justski website as we achieved top growth for Club Med ski holidays last season and with the new website we can now expand our services offerings across the board and continue the growth of the business.  - Edwina Fletcher

About Webtours

Webtours is not simply a group of travel-passionate individuals, but a dedicated, dynamic team of Destination Specialists committed to providing the very best experience for both current and future clients.With a never-ending focus on attention to detail, personalised service and an insatiable taste for adventure, Webtours is, and will continue to strive to be one of the top online travel agencies to both South African travellers and everyday travellers, adventure-seekers or nomads interested in visiting one of the magnificent countries on our beautiful planet! Large does not simply refer to the hearts of the consultants that form a part of our close-knit family, but their passports too! With a long list of experience under their travel belts, each are invariably thrilled to share their very own experiences, knowledge and expertise with clients.

Connect with us

• https://www.facebook.com/justskisa
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/10059103
• https://twitter.com/webtours
• This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Contact: Matt Davison | Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  | Tel: +27 (0)31 539 4311

Ah, December! The year is coming to an end, and the New Year is around the corner along with new opportunities. Hopefully you’ll be taking a well-deserved break from work.   Whether you are travelling or staying at home, always keep your trusted GLAD products handy to make your life simpler.  

Taking a road trip?

• GLAD Zip Seal bags are great for storing boredom-busters like snacks, toys or pens and pencils. The large Zip Seal Freezer Bags can hold A4 paper and colouring-in books. Keeps kids happy, and the car neat.
• If you’re planning on hosting play dates, use GLAD Zip Seal Snack Bags for kids' treats and party bags to make the day go smoother.
• GLAD Press‘n Seal makes for a wonderful placemat when the kids are fiddling with arts and crafts, to keep surfaces clean.
• Keep the cardboard tubes from empty GLAD Wrap, GLAD Bake & Cooking Paper or GLAD Press‘n Seal rolls for the kids to transform into great hand-made puppets with a little glue and imagination!
• Store all your old clothes and handbags in a GLAD Refuse Bag with Forceflex Bags, then bring them out for kids' 'Dress Up' days. Use GLAD Zip Seal Snack Bags to hide and protect special treats for a back-yard treasure hunt – keeps the ants out and the treats clean.

Get the kids outdoors by planning a picnic in the garden.

• Use the GLAD Zip Seal Range to store all food items – remember to keep wet and dry food groups separate.
• Take GLAD Forceflex Refuse Bags with to pack away any dirty cups or dishes so the picnic basket stays clean.

Please visit www.glad.co.za for more information and follow ‘GLAD SOUTH AFRICA’ on Facebook; Available in the GLAD aisle of most supermarkets. 

The Koekemoers on the Telly

The Koekemoers, a brand new miniseries from the ATKV which will be broadcasting on Wednesday mornings at 07:00 (staring on the 18th of May 2016) on the popular Die Groot Ontbyt on Kyknet, will have households ready to burst into laughter within three minutes before they hit the road to work. 

Family holiday shenanigans will be depicted with this tongue-in-cheek show which many viewers will be able to identify with."We would like to offer the Afrikaans viewer and our holiday goers content that will draw attention to typical family holiday events that most of us may have experienced. Some of the scenes are slightly dramatized, but the "tongue-in-cheek tone" will ensure a bit of healthy early morning humour. Think of the then short stories in the mornings just before everyone left for work like Het Jou Katvis! "Said Reinard du Plessis, General Marketing and Communications Manager at ATKV Business. 

Although the show is produced to entertain viewers, this production was a far cry from being a joke. The miniseries was carefully planned to ensure that a strong storyline developed with each episode. Each episode is only three minutes long and broadcast spans across 12 weeks - which is an indication of the sharp and explosive humour of the show. 

The main role and father, Johan Koekemoer is played by the well-known Afrikaans singer Joe F. The rest of the family includes the mother and anchor of the family, Marguerite Koekemoer (played by Lizé van der Walt), Megan "Viper" Koekemoer - the difficult teenage daughter (played by Danielle Du Plessis) and Johan Junior Koekemoer (played by TJ Day) - the apathetic boy who cannot stop playing with his electronic gadgets. 

But the series is not built merely to provide viewers with a weekly shot healthy humour. There are also valuable holiday suggestions and tips each week on the ATKV resort's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ATKVOORDE) that link onto that week's episode. Viewers should also be on the lookout for attractive prizes from May to August 2016 as part of the ATKV resort's Winter Promotions, because the goal is to pull each viewer into the show making it a real ATKV friendly experience, Du Plessis added. 

ATKV

For more information about the ATKV Resorts, feel free to visit their website: www.atkvoorde.co.za

Summary: South Africa has been flying direct to Mauritius for 50 years. Read about the history on how this half-a-century flight route began.  

Johannesburg, 22 January 2015: This year, South African Airways (SAA)celebrates a half-century of direct flights between Johannesburg and Mauritius. The airline presently operates daily flights on the route with a recent 9% increase in frequency resulting in twice-daily operations on Thursdays with double flights on Saturdays and Sundays. The route was one of SAA’s first Indian Ocean island destinations and has shown sustained growth over the past fifty years.  

The airline first introduced flights between Johannesburg and the Indian Ocean Island in 1957 as a refuelling stop en-route to Perth, with direct end-point flights commencing eight years later.  “Mauritius has remained an important destination for SAA throughout its history,” says SAA Acting CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout. “Recent frequency additions on several key African routes, including Mauritius, hold strategic commercial value for the business and forms part of the impetus of the LTTS (Long-Term Turnaround Strategy). Mauritius remains one of the fastest growing economies on the continent with consistent demand-side growth in both business and leisure travel.”  

Load factors on the route continue to perform positively, with growing trade and economic development driving business travel outside of seasonal leisure trips. Mauritius has enjoyed consistent GDP growth at an aggregate of 5,9% since 1995. “There has been a marked increase in inbound directional travel from the island to Johannesburg, too,” says Bezuidenhout, “with Johannesburg serving as hub and entry point into other African, American and European destinations.” SAA serves as patron to the South African Chamber of Commerce in Mauritius to further advance its business community engagement.  

It all started on 25 November 1957 when SAA, in partnership with Qantas, introduced a fortnightly DC-7B service across the Indian Ocean from Johannesburg to Perth; stopping at Mauritius and the Cocos Islands. This flight took 25 hours and was known as the “Wallaby Service”. On 7 May 1965, the SAA DC-7B service to Australia via Mauritius was increased to a weekly service. The DC aircraft was retired from the SAA fleet in 1967 and Mauritius became an online station as from 1965.  

On 29 March 1967, SAA started operating the B707 to Australia via Mauritius only. The Cocos Islands stop was removed and on 17 May 1967, the Boeing 707 aircraft set up a new record for the flight between Mauritius and Perth, covering 3,740 miles in just 5 hours and 32 minutes.   The Mauritius route is now served by the Airbus A320, the latest arrival in the SAA fleet.    

About South African Airways (SAA)
South African Airways (SAA) is the leading carrier in Africa, serving 57 destinations, in partnership with SA Express, SA Airlink and its low cost carrier, Mango, within South Africa and across the continent, and ten intercontinental routes from its Johannesburg hub. It is a member of the largest international airline network, Star Alliance. SAA’s core business is the provision of passenger airline and cargo transport services together with related services, which are provided through SAA and its wholly owned subsidiaries: SAA Technical; Mango its low cost carrier; and Air Chefs, the catering entity of SAA. SAA is the winner of the 'Best Airline in Africa’ Award in the regional category for twelve consecutive years and the winner of ‘Service Excellence Africa’ for three years. Mango and SAA hold the number one and number two successive spots as South Africa’s most on - time airlines.  

Issued by SAA Communications  
For more information contact: Tlali Tlali This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. +27 82 333 3880  

The new reciprocal agreement betweenSouth African Airways and Virgin Australia bring new benefits to frequent flyers on both airlines.  

Johannesburg, South Africa - 21 November 2014, South African Airways and Virgin Australia have today announced a reciprocal frequent flyer agreement giving Velocity Frequent Flyer and SAA Voyager members the ability to earn and redeem Points and be recognized across both airlines’ networks.

From early next year, Velocity members will be eligible to earn Velocity Points and Status Credits on all South African Airways flights and operated services, including Airlink and SA Express. In addition to this, SAA Voyager members will be able to earn Miles on all Virgin Australia operated services, including all domestic, short-haul and long-haul international flight routes. This means that Velocity members purchasing flight tickets for travel within Australia or to any of SAA’s route network’s destinations on an SAA flight will earn Velocity Points and Status Credits while SAA Voyager members will earn Points when purchasing airline tickets on any Virgin Australia flight.

Velocity members will be able to use their Points to purchase Reward Seats on all South African Airways operated services in either Economy or Business Class, while Voyager members can do the same across the entire Virgin Australia operated network in Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class. This applies to domestic, regional or international flights on each carrier.

Velocity Frequent Flyer Chief Executive Officer, Neil Thompson said: “This is an exciting extension of the bilateral codeshare agreement Virgin Australia launched with South African Airways in October this year.

“Having the ability to earn and redeem Points as well as enjoy a number of premium services like priority check-in, priority boarding and lounge access with South African Airways is an important benefit for our members.

“We continue to find innovative ways to reward our members and extending the ability to utilise Points on our growing international network is important to our most valued customers,” Mr Thompson said.

Executive SAA Customer Loyalty, Ms Suretha Cruse said: “South African Airways is delighted to build upon the strong relationship we have with Virgin Australia. We have had very positive feedback since code-sharing on Virgin Australia’s domestic network and this will only further enhance our customers’ experience.”

“We are very pleased to be able to offer our valued Voyager members with new mileage earning and redeeming opportunities when they fly on the Virgin Australia network, and look forward to welcome Velocity members on the award-winning services of SAA,” Ms Cruse said.

For more information, visit www.velocityfrequentflyer.com or www.flysaa.com.  

About  SAA

South African Airways is a Star Alliance member that offers flights to 38 destinations worldwide. Domestically, SAA operates 544 flights a week between Johannesburg – Cape Town, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth. Regionally SAA offers 24 destinations across the African continent and its international network creates links to all major continents from South Africa through 10 direct routes. In the regional category, SAA has received the Skytrax ‘Best Airline in Africa’ Award for 11 consecutive years.   

Woman of today have realized that getting their period every month is, well I guess, just the way life goes. In 1996, Instead, Inc. pioneered a new alternative to tampons and pads with the development and release of its innovative Softcup.

Now in 2014, Maybe MOM is proud to announce that they have made this product tagged ‘The Next Generation of Period Protection' available to the South African market. Maybe MOM Instead Softcup gives you 12-hour wear time, comfort and convenience during your period allowing ladies to live life without interruptions.

Softcup is a flexible cup that is worn internally, around your cervix. It collects, rather than absorbs menstrual flow. It's hypo-allergenic, latex-free and completely safe when used as directed. Softcup has gained popularity for its many advantages over traditional methods of feminine protection including greater safety, longer wear-time, and clean sex during “that time of the month. Softcup can be worn during any activity including sports, swimming and sleeping.  Use one reusable Softcup for up to three cycles, which makes it Easy on the Earth and Easy on the wallet retailing in stores for only R49.99.

More than 200 million Softcups have been sold since the product’s introduction in America in 1996, and there has never been a reported incidence of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS). In extensive laboratory testing Softcup did not promote the growth of the bacteria that causes TSS. Softcup does not change the body’s natural environment nor does it alter the body’s pH levels, natural bacteria levels or absorb the body’s moisture. “It allows me to use the softcup until the last day of my period, even when my flow may be little to none, it’s comfortable and does not cause dryness or irritation” says Amanda, owner of Maybe MOM South Africa.

“Because the Softcup was uniquely designed for the modern-day woman, it has grown tremendously and developed staying power in the American market, proving an excellent alternative to tampons and pads,” said Joseph Pike, CEO of Instead. Women have embraced the concept of the Softcup because of the greater flexibility and control it gives them over their lives.  In fact, when the Softcup is not offered somewhere, women seek it out rather than buy the alternatives.

The Softcup is an FDA-approved, reusable menstrual product made from a non-absorbent, non irritating polymeric material that has been used for over 20 years in health care products such as catheters and baby bottle nipples and contains no latex. It has undergone extensive toxicology, bio-compatibility and microbiological tests as well as human clinical testing, and contains no drying chemicals or fibers. 

12-Hour Period Protection, Instead Softcup is a proven advancement in period protection. Try it and you'll see how it fits into your busy life.  

For more information and to purchase contact (Wholesale enquiries welcome)  Facebook: www.facebook/maybe mom.com / Website:  www.aeadistribution.co.za /Your nearest Checkers and Checkers Hyper stores as well as Medi Rite Pharmacy’s    For Interviews: Amanda or Elie Kouaiky /Tel:   +2783 2928292 / +2782 8881816 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

City Lodge Hotel Group has announced that two of its General Managers (GMs) were recently announced as being among the 55 finalists in South Africa’s 2014 Rising Star Awards within the Tourism and Hospitality category! Abia Rakoma, GM at Road Lodge Carnival City, and Marvin Theron, GM at Road Lodge Rustenburg, will now undergo a vigorous judging process before winners are announced at an awards ceremony to take place on Monday, 28 July.

The Rising Star Awards

 The Rising Star Awards are held every year and were established in order to recognise and celebrate young business people under the age of 40 who have great talent and deliver above and beyond expectations. In the words of CEB’s SHL Talent Measurement Solutions, “A Rising Star is an individual who displays promising potential and pursues every opportunity to achieve great heights.”

Hundreds of entries are received every year – 310 were received this year alone – but only five finalists are selected for each of the 11 business sector categories. Laura Barker, MD of BlackBark Productions (organiser of the Rising Star programme), says that the Rising Star programme is far more than just an awards ceremony; "The programme will establish a living community of young South African talent that will be developed, mentored and provided with necessary platforms for development and communication. This will enable them to become role models, opinion leaders and the inspiration for other future South African talent.” 

Marvin Theron

Marvin first gained experience in the hospitality industry when he joined the City Lodge Hotel Group in July 2009 as a Front Office Coordinator at the Courtyard Hotel in Sandton, after graduating with a higher diploma in Hospitality Management from The International Hotel School. In February 2010 he was promoted to Junior Assistant GM. Last year his name was put forward for the Management Development Programme offered by City Lodge Hotel Group and while engaged in the programme Marvin went on to complete his training at Senior Assistant General Manager Level. He then progressed to General Manager Level. This year Marvin successfully completed both management programmes and in doing so was appointed to the position of GM of Road Lodge Rustenburg, effective from July.

Abia Rakoma

Abia currently holds three formal qualifications, which include a National Diploma in Hospitality Management, a B-Tech Degree in Hospitality Management, and a Certificate in Labour Relations Management. Abia first joined the City Lodge Hotel Group in 2007 as a Junior Assistant Manager and worked his way up to being the current GM of Road Lodge Carnival City. At the 2012 City Lodge Hotel Group Leadership Conference in Turkey, Abia was awarded the Chairman’s Award for being a Rising Star. Abia has always been very passionate about mentorship and personnel career development as it was the very same guidance and mentorship that led him to where he is today.

City Lodge Hotel Group is proud to have such talent in their team, and wish Marvin and Abia all the best during the next couple of weeks! For more info check out the City Lodge Hotel Group blog here: blog.clhg.com