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Find out more about the trip and what the group got up to in When TTG met the world’s first all-female anti-poaching unit.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Madeleine Barber, TTG Media:

I’m in the South African bush with Intrepid Travel and 10 of our 2024 TTG Sustainable Travel Ambassadors in training. We’re here to see what responsible tourism looks like in this destination, so we have visited the world’s first all-female anti-poaching unit, we’ve been on safari, we’ve stayed in a range of accommodation from tents to lodges. So let’s hear what the agents have to say about their experiences as well as their top tips for selling South Africa with Intrepid.

Erin Neville, Trailfinders:

Staying with the Black Mambas for a night was one of the best things I have ever done. Meeting the women, they do a bush walk with you, show you local medicines, and sitting around the campfire at night listening to the stories of the animals they’ve saved was next level. They do so much to protect the wildlife but also to re-educate the communities. They said that when they first started working they’d come back each day and they’d have hundreds of snares but now the impact of just them existing and doing their work means that now if they come back with five or 10 snares that’s notable. You can camp anywhere, you can do safari anywhere, but there’s nowhere else you can meet the first all-female anti-poaching unit. It’s completely unique and once-in-a-lifetime. 

Lewis Jones, Not Just Travel:

The private game reserve was absolutely awesome, I loved it. I think what I loved most about about it was how the safari can sort of evoke such emotion from people. Being in a private game reserve as opposed to Kruger means customers definitely have a really good chance of animal sightings, given sort of the smaller size of it. We actually saw some wild dogs, they were kind of in a separate area within the private game reserve but they’re monitoring them at the moment and then when they’re ready to be reintroduced into the area they’re going to sort of set them free. Our driver and guide was actually female as well, which really helps with gender equality I think in such a male-dominated industry generally. Definitely highlight the value for money, especially as an optional add-on which I think it is for Intrepid. Highlight the incredibly knowledgeable guides we had, they made such a big difference.

Gareth Harding, Travelosophers:

My thoughts on the Kruger National Park game drive experience were that it was a truly humbling, emotional and enriching experience. It was really educational, seeing the animals in their natural habitat and learning all about the natural order of things. We saw all of the big five except the water buffalo. My favourite’s got to be probably the elephants and how they were interacting. There were lots of babies around at this time of the year in the park as well. My top tips to any agents recommending the Kruger National Park experience would be to prepare your customers first of all. It is a long day – we set off before sunrise and came back after sunset, which were two amazing experiences in themselves. It’s very cool in the mornings so they need to wrap it warm, but then it changes very quickly into into the heat of the day. Also, Mother Nature can’t be guaranteed, so prepare them for what they might or might not see. The guides on the trip were absolutely fantastic, it was just full of information and a really educational day.

Jess Morton, Fusion Holidays:

Kubu Safari Lodge is absolutely beautiful. It’s in the wild and there’s a lot to see – you’ve got the watering hole where the animals can come and have a drink, and the rooms are very spacious, they’re really nice, and the beds are very comfortable, and the toiletries in the rooms and things, they’re all local products. As far as I’m aware everyone working here is local, it’s just amazing.

Laura Winnery, Olive Lounge Travel:

I thought the tuk-tuk tour of Soweto was incredible. Getting the opportunity to speak to local people and see how they live their daily lives really did have an emotional impact on all of us I think. Spending time over in Soweto means that we are giving money back to the local economy and keeping that money in the place where it needs to be and helping everyone who lives there. It’s something Intrepid does really well, [the experience] really pulls everything all together at the end.

Learn more about the TTG Sustainable Travel Heroes agent training programme at ttgmedia.com/sustainabletravelheroes.