Kruger2Canyons.com

NELSPRUIT - Premier South African safari brand Singita Game Reserves will be making international news this week when National Geographic Wild Channel broadcasts twice-daily game drives live from Singita Kruger National Park, to 166 countries worldwide.

The programme, called ‘Caught on Safari: Live’, will be presented by John Varty and Andy Coetzee, and will feature morning and afternoon game drives that will be broadcast live (on DSTV Channel 261 in South Africa) over a period of seven days (from Sunday 9 November to Saturday 15 November 2008) from 06h00-08h00 (SAST), and again 17h00-19h00 daily.



The programme will be hosted by UK wildlife presenter Michaela Strachan and will be broadcast on National Geographic Wild, as well as online at www.natgeotv.com. Game rangers and wildlife trackers from Singita, along with veterinarians and ecologists, will also share insight into Africa’s conservation issues, as well as specific initiatives taking place in the Kruger National Park.

The ‘virtual safari’ will cover the length and breadth of the 15,000 Hectare (33,000 acre) Singita Kruger National Park concession, situated along South Africa’s border with Mozambique on the far eastern reaches of the Kruger National Park. The concession boasts two award-winning Relais & Chateaux accredited lodges, Singita Lebombo and Singita Sweni, both located at the confluence of the Nwanetsi and Sweni Rivers with the spectacular Lebombo Mountains as backdrop.



Produced by South African wildlife production company Aquavision TV Productions, ‘Caught on Safari: Live’ will capture the internationally renowned Kruger landscape where large prides of lions thrive along with other Big 5 animals (buffalo, leopard, elephant, white and black rhinos), as well as many other species of birds, plants and animals such as the rare sable antelope.

In line with Singita’s conservation-friendly approach, all filming techniques employed will be carefully applied to capture animals non-invasively at home in their natural environment, presenting armchair travellers with an unrivalled Singita wilderness experience in the comfort of their own homes.

"Witnessing the bond between mother and cub in the first few moments after birth, is indescribably tender, and is rivalled only by the sheer thrill of following a lion pride on the hunt. Caught on Safari: Live! will enable viewers the immediacy of experiencing encounters like these unfolding on camera, and this is what makes this such an extraordinary and gratifying experience."

"Our partnership with National Geographic Channels International and Aquavision TV Productions is based on a common approach to the safeguarding of this precious land and the wildlife that we are custodians of, which is the very bedrock on which the Singita philosophy is built. We are proud to be part of this significant occasion in television history" says Singita COO, Mark Witney.

Viewers may interact with John Varty by emailing questions and comments to National Geographic, email: questions@ngceurope.com, or visit www.natgeowild.co.uk.

There is a microsite on the series here.

Kruger2Canyons offers its own podcast recorded at Singita Kruger Park: '24 Hours in the Life of a Luxury Lodge'.

Amongst a range of tailor made packages featuring Singita, we offer a spectacular Classic Two Night Fly-In Safari to Singita Kruger Park.

Labels: game drive, national geographic, singita, streaming, tv

(IAFRICA) - South Africa's premier safari brand, Singita, scooped no less than three major international travel awards when it was named Best Hotel in the World, Best Small Hotel in the World and Best Hotel in Africa and the Middle East in the US Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2008. The result of an extensive reader's survey, the Travel + Leisure winners were announced in the USA on NBC's Today Show.

Singita is the first South African property to have won these prestigious accolades three times (2004, 2006 and 2008), since the Travel + Leisure awards were introduced 13 years ago.

Kruger2Canyons recorded a podcast, "24 Hours in the Life of a Luxury Lodge" at Singita Kruger. Why not listen?

Luke Bailes, CEO of Singita Game Reserves said that it was a rare honour and an extraordinary tribute for Singita to be voted their guests' number one hotel experience world-wide. "At Singita, which means 'place of miracles' in Shangaan, we set out to create an unforgettable safari experience for our guests in a world-class eco-environment of luxury and high design. Winning 3 of the world's leading travel awards for the third time, serves as a true inspiration for us to continue doing so."

In South Africa Singita Game Reserves comprises five low-impact, high-end lodges: Singita Boulders, Singita Ebony and Singita Castleton Camp in the game-rich Sabi Sand Reserve bordering the Kruger National Park, as well as Singita Lebombo and Singita Sweni lodges, situated on a private concession in the Kruger National Park.



Singita has also expanded its ecological footprint in Southern Africa with the recent re-opening of Singita Pamushana Lodge in the Malilangwe Private Wildlife Reserve in south-eastern Zimbabwe.

In addition, Singita Grumeti Reserves' award-winning operation in East Africa includes three spectacular lodges in Tanzania: Singita Sasakwa Lodge, Singita Faru Faru Lodge and Singita Sabora Tented Camp, situated on the famous migratory route in the Serengeti.

Singita Ebony and Boulders; Singita Lebombo and Sweni; Singita Grumeti Reserves Sasakwa Lodge and Singita Pamushana are members of Relais & Chateaux. The Travel + Leisure winners were selected via a questionnaire developed by the editors of Travel + Leisure magazine, in association with Harris Interactive, which was made available to Travel + Leisure subscribers during the first quarter of this year.

Respondents reported where they had travelled worldwide, and rated only the destinations, properties, and companies that were relevant to their recent travel experiences. The Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards can be viewed online at www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest.

Winners will be honoured at a Travel + Leisure awards ceremony in New York City on July 24th.

Labels: awards, podcasts, singita