Mad Hatters at the Samara Manor – January 2013

Celebrations at Samara



Isabelle Tompkins celebrated her 21st birthday at Samara with friends and family. 20 lucky young people flew from all over the globe to celebrate with Isabelle. Samara treated them to a cornucopia of activities: “Rage in the Stone Age” Bush dinner, “Mad Hatter’s Tea Party” on the Manor House lawns, Black Tie evening, White Mischief evening, Eco-challenge, bush walks, walk and stalk with cheetah, and a magnificent Samara special – “Dejeuner a l’eau” – picnic with your feet in the river – gentle clean Karoo water washing over your feet.
Christmas Lunch and New Years Eve



Update on Ubuntu Education Fund

Ubuntu provides world-class health and educational support to the orphaned and vulnerable children of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, ensuring they can access higher education and employment. Ubuntu’s mission is simple, all-encompassing, and radical: to help raise township children by providing what all children deserve – everything.

“Ubuntu” is a Xhosa philosophy that implies human interconnectedness: I am because you are. As our patron, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, often says of this belief system, “It speaks to the very essence of being human. My humanity is caught up, inextricably bound up, in yours. A person is a person through a person.”

After Ubuntu made initial contact with the South African College of Tourism in Graaff-Reinet in 2011, they are very proud of Noluvo Ntsaba and Nqobile Shenxani, who have been accepted as students of the College.

Noluvo Ntsaba has been an Ubuntu Scholar for many years. In 2012 she joined the Ubuntu Pathways Programme or UP programme, after final year high school examinations. Noluvo through her time in the UP programme has shown a keen interest in hospitality. Noluvo is a soft spoken and determined young lady. Her one driving force is getting a qualification so she can be able to support her mother who has raised her alone for many years.

Nqobile Shenxani is eager, a passionate communicator and mother to many of her peers. Nqobile is also a graduate of the Ubuntu After School Program. Nqobile loves experiencing new things and being in the spotlight . Her determination and courage will surely catapult her to a great many things. Her dream is to travel the world and gain even more wisdom than what she has learnt from her grandmother who has raised her ever since her parents died while she was young.

Sibella and her growing cubs

Sibella is in a fabulous condition with a lovely shiny coat. She remains an amazingly relaxed mother while her two cubs of 7 months, bound around with endless energy. The little ones are very inquisitive and are often paying much attention to any small movement in their surroundings. They too are in excellent condition and will grow up to be beautiful cheetah one day.
Aardwolf on Kondoa

Guests visiting Samara in December were delighted to spot an Aardwolf [Proteles cristata] on the grasslands of the Kondoa Mountain plateau. The name Aardwolf is the Afrikaans for ‘earth wolf’ and stems from its supposed dog-like features and its dietary habits of eating termites which it digs for in the ground and in the termite mounds. The Aardwolf has a yellowish brown coat with several vertical black stripes, a bushy, black tipped tail with a long, coarse, dark haired stripe on its back, which rises when the Aardwolf feels threatened or scared. The Aardwolf stands at 40-50 cm from the shoulder with a tail length of 20-25 cm and has a length of 65-80cm from nose to tail and weighs between 8 to 12 kg. It resembles a small striped Hyena.
This unusual species of Hyena is a termite eater. So highly adapted to eating termites, the aardwolf’s teeth, except for its canines, have dwindled to mere pegs incapable of even chewing meat. Its fangs are still well developed, and it uses them to defend its territory from other Aardwolves. The Aardwolf’s diet consists mainly of two species of termites, one of which goes dormant during the cooler winter, so the Aardwolf then switch to the other species for nourishment. This limited diet means the Aardwolf has a very restricted range and can only live where these two species of termites are abundant. On an average night an Aardwolf can consume anywhere from 200 000 to 300 000 termites. By using their acute hearing the Aardwolf is able to detect termites in the ground and then using their broad, sticky tongue they lap them up. The Aardwolf also is known to eat other animals such as mice, small birds, eggs, and carrion.
Samara Special Offers
Samara is pulling out all the romantic stops for Valentine’s Day this year. To view our exclusive Valentine’s Day deal click Here. Valid for 13, 14, 15, 16 & 17 February 2013

For further information on our services, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us – Dave @ dave@africantravelsolutions.com / Tele: + 44 (0) 1476 530927 / Mobile: + 44 (0) 7780 579306 for further details and bookings