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Teniqua Treetops offers guests the unique experience of staying in a tented tree house on the foothills of the ancient Outeniqua mountain range in South Africa.  You can sleep, eat and shower in the tree top canopy!  To find out more about Teniqua Treetops visit their website.

The South Africa Solar Challenge 2008 is a 4,175km race in South Africa. The South Africa Solar Challenge 2008 is sanctioned by the FIA, South African Government and is a registered event with Motorsport South Africa and the International Solarcar Federation. The event winners will be issued with championship point, towards the World First World Ranking of Solar Cars.

The South African Solar Challenge 2008 is an epic, two-week race in solar-powered cars through the length and breadth of South Africa. Teams will have to build their own cars, design their own engineering systems and race those same machines through the most demanding terrain that solar cars have ever seen.

On 28 September 2008, more than 40 cars of strange shapes and designs will take off from Johannesburg and make their way to Cape Town, then drive along the coast to Durban, before climbing the steep Drakensburg Mountains on their way back to the finish line in Johannesburg two weeks later.

The Advanced Energy Foundation (AEF) is a registered Section 21 company (non-profit organization). The main objective of the foundation is to promote, initiate and run programs and initiatives that advance technological development in transportation and energy management. The primary event on the calendar of AEF is to run the South African Solar Challenge, agreements are currently in place for this to be done for 2008, 2010 and 2012. Excess funds raised will be used in the provision of Grants and Bursaries through the AEF.

After returning from working on the World Solar Challenge (www.wsc.org.za) in Australia, we now have a much better understanding of the event, the participants and also how to correctly take the technology from car, into the communities.

To find out more information visit South Africa Solar Challenge’s website.

Photos of the Jaycar Sunswift.

Transformation and sustainable development are two topical issues that have been highlighted by the South African government as matters of importance.

After many years in the lodge business, The Nature Workshop - a company specialising in lodge development, management and marketing - realised the potential of the industry to bring benefit and economic development to remote areas. It has achieved this through these two five-star lodges, now part of the Madikwe Collection, within the Madikwe Game Reserve.

The concept is unique in South Africa in that the local communities own the lodges, with substantial benefits accruing back to their people.

Buffalo Ridge Safari Lodge is the first of its kind to be wholly owned by a local community. Known as the Balete, the owners of Buffalo Ridge live in the village of Lekgophung just west of Madikwe. It took five years of hard work, but The Nature Workshop together with Mafisa Consulting, successfully completed negotiations with the local authorities and now the Balete have lease rights to this prime site in Madikwe.

Fashioned along similar lines, Thakadu River Camp is an ecotourism partnership between North-West Parks, the Molatedi Community and the operator, The Nature Workshop. The community has a 45-year lease to operate a commercial lodge with traversing rights across the reserve.

These lodges compete with the best, and the partnership with The Nature Workshop as an operating company provides the expertise the local community requires to make their new business work.

Both lodges are staffed by people from the village and the rigorous training programme has been designed to ensure that the local community develop the skills to manage their own lodge within a 15 year time frame. A fair rental from the bookings is given to the community, which is used for investment in the village and its people.

Because the local footprint has been shaped by these communities it makes logical and rightful sense to provide them with lucrative business opportunities.

To further strengthen the responsible tourism theme the Madikwe Reserve in itself is an eco / environmental story:

Madikwe is a 75 000 hectare game reserve which has a unique story since only fifteen years ago it was arid, cattle grazing land. Through the collective effort of government, communities and investors, Operation Phoenix was undertaken, game was reintroduced into the area and Madikwe was created. Now home to the Big Five, the reserve is renowned for the success of its Wild Dog population.

To find out more about the Buffalo Ridge Safari Lodge click here and to find out about Thakadu River Camp click here.