Want to experience luxury in its purest form? If so, then you’ll want to charter a private yacht that whisks you and your family away to remote islands off the coast of Africa. Whether you want to captain your own yacht or charter a fully-staffed yacht, the choice is up to you. But no matter what you choose, there is one thing for certain: you will experience an unforgettable getaway in pure luxury.

Image above taken from the Cape Grace Hotel website.

When you charter a fully-serviced, private yacht, your boat will come equipped with superior staff that includes a Captain / Skipper, deckhands, a gourmet chef, and, depending on the size of the yacht, a hostess and engineers. And the best part is that every crew member has all of their focus on you and your family. It is all about you. Whatever you desire, you’ll receive immediate attention.

When you charter a luxury yacht for your African family vacation, you’ll experience . . .

• Five-star, spacious living quarters. Many of the yachts have several cabins with bunks and double beds.
• Private family time. Whether you want to enjoy a relaxing breakfast on deck, partake in a snorkeling safari, or relax beneath the brilliant sun on deck, you can do it all while sharing the experience with your family and no one else.
• A flexible itinerary that enables you to stay and leave a destination whenever you wish. If you happen to visit Zanzibar and want to partake in a spice plantation tour but your itinerary doesn’t permit, you can always change it around to accommodate! Stay an extra day or leave a day early—time is in your hands.
• Gourmet cuisine where and when you’d like it, prepared to your specific preferences. Your private chef will prepare food exactly how you like it. No large groups coming and going, which means each dish is created with the utmost attention to detail, yielding pure perfection.
• Exciting water sports for the entire family to enjoy such as jet skiing, kayaking, windsurfing, waterskiing, wake boarding, snorkeling, scuba diving, and more. Your boat will be equipped with a sporting professional who will man the dingy and prepare all of your equipment. He can also take you to and from the shore for beach relaxation, nightlife, and more.

So put your mind at ease, forget about your responsibilities for a few weeks in paradise, and set sail on your very own, private yacht.

Have you ever chartered a private yacht? What was it like?

One of the most meaningful experiences you can provide for your college student or graduate is the opportunity to travel abroad to Africa and participate in a remarkable internship, that also gives back to the locals, the environment and the wildlife. During an internship, not only will your child be able to have professional experience in their area of interest like conservation, wildlife or even wine making, but they’ll also acquire new skills while discovering and exploring a unique world.

With so many places to visit for an internship as a young adult, why should my child choose Africa?

Although there are dozens upon dozens of destinations your child could visit for an internship, Africa provides them with the priceless opportunity to give back.  There are few places in this world where your child can explore unique cultures, offer a hand in conservation, and provide aid to those in need, all while exploring their life’s purpose.

Image taken from African Impact website

**Image above taken from African Impact website.

Also, if your child is looking to increase professional experience in an unconventional setting that differentiates him or her from others in the same area of interest, then Africa is the premier destination to choose.

You might remember from when you went to college that the transition from school to the real world seemed a bit overwhelming and confusing at times. It was a time when you may have been unsure about what you wanted to do and where you wanted your life to go. Imagine providing your college student or graduate with the ability to find direction and explore new cultures and experiences outside of his or her everyday environment. With an internship in Africa, your child will have the opportunity to open his or her eyes to a world that he or she has only read about in textbooks. There is nothing more enriching than immersing your child into an experience that has the power to shape views, insights, and beliefs.

What internships are offered in Africa?

African Impact is the premier company offering exceptional internships in Africa. As a leading voluntourism organization, African Impact is dedicated to inspiring travelers through voluntourism while positively impacting Africa’s environment and social structures.

Image taken from African Impact website

**Image to the left taken from the African Impact website.

With a wide range of internship areas to choose from including wine, film and photography, conservation, field guiding, children with special needs, medical, and social welfare, African Impact aims to attract individuals from all areas of interest. And, this holistic approach works to impact the overall well-being of Africa’s environment and communities.

Who would benefit from an internship in Africa?

If your child is a young adult on a quest for self discovery and to discover a new world, try new things, explore fascinating cultures, develop / enhance skills, and expand knowledge, than an African internship is perfect for him or her. In addition, young adults who benefit from these internships are motivated, compassionate, and possess an open mind.

Would you love to send your college age child to Africa for an internship?

Imagine taking a stress-free family vacation to one of the world’s most adventurous destinations where you and your children share an opportunity to expand your imaginations and explore a world untouched by technology and heavy tourism. This place is South Africa.

Here, natural surroundings span as far as the eye can see, wildlife flourishes, and cultural and historical elements penetrate the atmosphere. There is nothing more inspiring than immersing your family into a natural environment that provides new sights, smells, sounds, and experiences.

As we rely more and more heavily on technology to fuel our minds and entertain us, we lose sight of each other and the world’s most powerful stimulations, found in only one place—nature. There is no television program, video game, website, or movie that can bring you and your family closer together and to exotic wildlife, indigenous cultures, and ground-breaking history than the real Africa.

Explore the fundamentals of family bonding as you venture halfway across the world to discover a new outlook on life and family.

Below are some ways to ensure that everyone in the family has the best time possible in Africa—the stress-free way:

Create Your Itinerary Together: Each family member should have a say in the itinerary of the trip. Getting the children involved in the process is a great way to prepare them for the trip and enable them to feel a part of the decision making. It’s also a great way to ensure everyone is happy and looking forward to the trip.

Mix it Up: When you’re creating your itinerary with your safari consultant, be sure to bring some variety to the vacation. Children can sometimes get bored if they’re repeating the same activity each day. If you’re going to be in South Africa, we suggest you spend time in Kruger National Park to go on safari, then travel to the Cape to see the city, museums, Dutch-inspired villages, and end your trip with the pristine beaches of South Africa.

Use a Private Safari Guide: A private safari guide gives your family the flexibility of having all your experiences focus primarily on your interests. Children can feel a sense of comfort with the guide and ask questions during the entire safari.

Whether you want to witness lion cubs as they playful paw each other, spend the morning tracking a pack of wild dogs, or ride with a herd of zebra or elephant, you may spend as much time viewing as you’d like with a private guide. On the other hand, if you’re participating in a group safari, the other guests may have already seen these sights and want to move on quickly to other experiences. You’re also not able to interact with the guide as much as when you’re on a private safari since other group participants might be asking the guide lots of questions.

Bring Journals: Before leaving for your trip, create or purchase journals for family members who want to participate in savoring experiences through words or drawing pictures of the wildlife they see. This activity facilitates creativity and encourages sharing and conversation with the whole family.

Give everyone a camera: Another way to make the kids feel involved in the trip is to provide each one with a camera (whether it’s digital, disposable, or kid-friendly). Then, when you arrive home from your trip, you can place all of your family photos into a photo album that everyone has contributed to. Your photo album can then serve as a coffee table book that will keep your guests entertained for hours!

Create a scavenger hunt for the kids: Before leaving for your trip to Africa, design a scavenger hunt for your children to take part in while on safari. For example, you could create a booklet with photographs of various African animals on each page with a little checkbox next to each photo. When your child is on safari and spots the animal or plant depicted in the photograph, they can check the box. This is a great way to get children engaged in safari and provide them with a goal for the trip.

Would you love to take your family on a South Africa family safari?

Image from BBC Earth News

Lurking in the African bush, you may see one—rarely two—roaming the thick central Congo rainforests of Africa in search of large fruits and vegetation. This often unnoticed giant of the towering treetops is none other than the elusive forest elephant.

Characterized as a completely separate species from the African elephant, the forest elephant is usually disguised by the dense forest surroundings it lives in. The only time to have a clear sighting of these giant mammals in nature is when they visit Dzanga Bai—a nearby natural oasis—that offers the forest elephants the minerals and nutrients they need to neutralize their stomachs from the acidity found in their diet. To reach the minerals through the muddied waters, the elephants must pump through the water using their trunks.

Because this excessively high concentration of mineral resources is only found in Dzanga Bai, there is a toll for getting your share. Each elephant that visits these mineral-rich waters must make their way into the crowd, battling off the other elephant junkies. Often times, elephants can be seen pushing others out of the way for their mineral fix.

Image from BBC Earth News

Forest Elephant Questions Answered:

• Why does the forest elephant roam the African rainforests solo? Scientists don’t know for sure, but observations predict that although forest elephants are often independent from others, they do know where their relatives are within the forest and have large networks. This observation was made when a mother and child elephant both arrived to Dzanga Bai from different areas of the forest and, once at the oasis, greeted each other with low frequency growls and by touching trunks. After extensive observation, scientists believe Dzanga Bai is the rendezvous point for elephant families.

• What features make the forest elephant a completely different species than the African elephant? In the past few years, scientists have recognized the forest elephant as a completely separate species from the African elephant—it’s not even considered a subspecies. The forest elephant is actually smaller than the African elephant, and not as tall. In fact, the two species differ greatly in regards to ear shape and social groups. The ears of the forest elephant are much rounder than those of the African elephant and the forest elephant has five toes on the front feet and four toes on the back feet—same as the Asian elephant. The forest elephant also lives in much smaller groups than the African elephant, making their socialization patterns and behavior different from each other.
  

  Image from www.elephant.se

• Are forest elephants targeted by poachers? Yes, even more than the African elephant. With a pinkish hue and thick density, the ivory of forest elephants is much more prized that that of the African elephant. They are often poached and hunted for their unique and rare pink ivory, which is so valuable, that the price of two tusks is around $90,000 on the black market.

• What does the forest elephant eat? Forest elephants can often detect the location of their food based on hearing and sight. One of their favorite meals is the giant and nutrient rich omphalocarpum fruit, which is nearly-rock-hard. When this mammoth of a fruit falls from the omphalocarpum tree, it makes a huge thud and echo through the forest. Once heard, the elephants go searching for this nearly-rock-hard fruit and have the unique ability to crack it into pieces using their thick tusks.

Are you looking to experience an African safari tour? Join Hills of Africa Travel for our Soul Safari Transformation webinar this Wednesday, March 17. For more information visit our Soul Safari Transformation webinar registration page.