Taking the Kids: Memories of South Africa

Eileen Ogintz, Tribune Content Agency on Dec 9, 2021

“This is a bucket list trip,” added Schmudde. “Our guests — many of whom had to postpone this trip already – don’t want to wait anymore and they want to take their kids and grandkids.”

In fact, Schmudde noted that Abercrombie & Kent guests who were in South Africa when the new variant was revealed were given the option to cut their trips short and return home, “But they chose to continue.” There are no additional shutdowns in popular tourist destinations like Cape Town and South Africa’s wine region and American carriers are continuing to fly.

“From our perspective, being isolated on safari is one of the best places to be now,” said Jack Ezon, founder of the luxury travel adviser Embark and Beyond. He, like others in the travel industry, believe Sub-Saharan Africa is being unfairly singled out because it is clear that this new variant will be found “basically everywhere.”

“We have seen and navigated changes with variants several times over the pandemic,” said Sherwin Banda, president of African Travel, Inc. the award-winning luxury safari operator based in the U.S. “Guests return with memories of a lifetime while their travels benefit a continent that relies heavily on tourism to help its wildlife and people.”

“We have guests calling us to say how moved they were knowing their trip meant so much,” noted Steinhilber.

I certainly felt that way.

Shyly, Esther Kawewe showed us the bike shop in a refurbished container. She and the other women had learned not only to repair and assemble donated bikes collected by A&K staff from around the world but to run a successful business which in turn supports a much-needed maternity hospital in the village of Nakatindi, where kids gather round us laughing and giggling, looking at our cameras and notebooks. In this one village, A&K Philanthropy also supports a health clinic, maternity ward, waiting mothers' hostel, and school, as well as other projects elsewhere in Africa.

Trips like ours enable tourism companies to support efforts that make a big difference in people’s lives.

That’s a great feeling — as exciting as seeing The Big Five.

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia, the 13th in the kid’s guide series, was published in 2020, with The Kid’s Guide to Camping coming in 2021.)