Zambia has closed the gates to the Victoria Falls!

Zambia has closed the gates to the Victoria Falls, the world's largest waterfall, on 01 April 2020 until further notice as a measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The Victoria Falls, which is located on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe on the Zambezi River, is one of Seven Wonders of the World and one of Zambia's most visited tourist destinations. Zimbabwe has also closed gates to the Falls in line with the 21-day lockdown in the country.

Western Cape: CapeNature to re-open its Nature Reserves on 24 April 2020!

All 25 Nature Reserves in South Africa's Western Cape managed by CapeNature are closed to the public since 25 March 2020. They will remain closed during the country-wide lockdown (26 March 2020 - 16 April 2020) and are set to re-open on 24 April 2020. Visitors who confirmed bookings with CapeNature for the period between 25 March 2020 and 24 April 2020 will have their bookings moved to a later date of their choice, outside of the closure period, or have the option to be reimbursed. Please contact CapeNature for further informations regarding bookings or booking amendments.

South Africa: Follow live-streamed game drives through the African bush from your living room!

In light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, travel bans, lockdowns and quarantines, luxury travel company &Beyond and wildlife broadcaster WildEarth have teamed up to broadcast two live-streamed personalised game drives through the African bush per day during the month of April 2020. Each excursion is around three hours and is getting streamed in real-time on Youtube and Facebook. The game drives are taking place in the &Beyond Ngala Private Game Reserve, which shares unfenced borders with the Kruger National Park, as well as in the Djuma Private Game Reserve, which forms part of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve. You can view the safaris between 06:00am – 09:00am CAT (sunrise dependent) and between 15:30pm – 18:30pm CAT (sunset dependent). Viewers can interact with the guides by asking questions on YouTube or using #wildearth on Twitter. Awesome! Kudos &Beyond & WildEarth!

South African Tourism: "Don’t Travel Now So You Can Travel Later"! (video)

South Africa's national tourism board, South African Tourism, has unveiled a the new campaign "Don’t Travel Now So You Can Travel Later" to promote social/physical distancing and self-isolation to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. The campaign's two 90-second videos are both showing beautiful scenes of empty tourist attractions, places and streets in South Africa combined with a touching message of positivity for the future. Kudos South African Tourism!

"We will travel again, and we will gather again. For us to all to travel tomorrow, we have to stay home today."

Zimbabwe: Victoria Falls National Park is temporarily closed!

According to Zimbabwean state-owned daily newspaper The Herald (online edition, 01 April 2020), the gates to the famous Victoria Falls have been closed to the public in line with the 21-day lockdown in Zimbabwe to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The Victoria Falls National Park, which includes the Victoria Falls Rainforest and the Victoria Falls, closed on 30 March 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of visitors to the Victoria Falls Rainforest drastically dropped to less than 10 per day from between 500 and 1 000 during the previous week.

Coronavirus pandemic: Mozambique has declared a State of Emergency for 30 days!

The President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, has declared the State of Emergency for 30 days from 01 April 2020 on midnight due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. During the period, the movement of individuals in Mozambique will be limited and all kinds of public and private meetings, such as sports, cultural activities and religious ceremonies, will be prohibited. The President also declared mandatory 14-day quarantine for all people who have travelled outside Mozambique during the past month. President Nyusi did not mention how e.g. the restrictions on people's movement will be enforced, but referred to the country's Cabinet, which will announce further details of Mozambique's measures to curb the spread the coronavirus during the State of Emergency.

Coronavirus pandemic: Botswana has declared a State of Emergency for 28 days!

The President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, has declared a State of Emergency for 28 days starting from the 02 April 2020 at midnight due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. During this period, all individuals in Botswana will be expected to adhere to a more severe form of social distancing*. Movement out of the home is only restricted to those performing essential services and transporting essential goods. Those involved will be permitted to travel using the COVID-19 TRAVEL PERMIT that will be issued by Government. According to President Masisi, the measures are taken to limit the spread of the diseases that are transmitted among humans.

*By social distancing Botswana's Government refers to any public measure taken to reduce interaction and contact between persons.