Ryan goes shadow guiding 

  • by Jana Meyer
  • 29 Aug, 2019

The wonder of Africa is that its beauty is a never ending splendor. From its majestic mountain ranges all the way to the high seas, rising with beautiful sunrises and sunsets; you can never not be satisfied with a trip to Africa!

And the perfect trip to Amazing Africa also depends on a well trained guide. So our Ryan is not only a Tour Specialist, but also a future guide.

Through our skills development program, we focus on the growth of our employees to ensure that each employee stays within their chosen field. We empower and promote the strengths of our employees and Ryan has had the passion to become a cultural guide in South Africa. So of course we gave her the opportunity to further her studies through Drumbeat Academy. After finishing the course and exams she had the opportunity to shadow one of our guides on a tour from Cape Town, spending 5 days on the Garden Route and finally ending with a trip from Pretoria to Kruger National Park for 4 days. She totally loved it. 

"Amazing Africa gave me the opportunity to find out if guiding is really my thing and if I want to continue my education in this area. I am extremely grateful that each person's strengths are highlighted and promoted. No one raises any obstacles. We are empowered to work on our selves and to find out our passion. Fortunately, everyone at AA is always on the ball and flexible." – Ryan Lependy

We are happy, when our employees are happy! :) 

Read here about her experience and feels during the days as a shadow guide and the route:

Nothing is more thrilling than the anxiety of ensuring that our guests get to experience the very best that Africa has to offer. Even though they had already experienced the Garden Route, the sole purpose as a North Guide is ensuring that upon departure from South Africa our guests leave with only the best memories.

The Panorama Route is an absolutely breathtaking drive, with a lot of scenic stops starting with the Blyde Canyon itself.

Another stop is the Three Rondavels. The word “rondavels” is a South African word, meaning a round hut with a thatch roof. The three rondavels themselves resemble Chief Maripi’s three wives, which were said to be very troublesome (Magabolle, Magoladikwe and Maseroto). Down below is the flowing triumph, the Blyde River. The Blyde River Canyon is well known for its magnificent fauna and flora. The bird life is absolutely amazing and looking around the canyon, the colors compliment each other so well. The canyon itself is known to be the third largest canyon in the world, following the Grand Canyon in the United States of America; the second being the Fish River Canyon in Namibia .

Blyde River Canyon
Three Rondavels
On the third day, our guests had the opportunity to go to the Kruger National Park. If you are lucky enough, you can see the Big Five or at least a variety of mammals and bird species. 

This time around, we were lucky to see an obstinacy of buffaloes, a herd of elephants and a pride of lions all in one place. How rare is that?

Nature is so beautiful and animals are amazing. Understanding the energy that goes around the world is as simple as understanding how animals work. At some point, the one lion that was laying down, stood up and looked in the direction of where the elephants were (covered with trees); somehow it understood that something that did not flow with its energy was coming its way and all 7 lions stood up and left . That was such a sighting! 

During the last day of the tour, our guests had the opportunity to experience Pretoria. The statues of Andries Pretorius, Marthinus Wessels Pretorius and Chief Thswane can be seen outside the grounds of the City Hall opposite the Ditsong Natural History Museum, where the Australopetecus Skull of Mrs Ples is being held.

Guests also have the opportunity to visit the Union Building, which holds various monuments within its spectacular gardens. One being the statue of Nelson Mandela. The statue has a wingspan of 8 metres from fingertip to fingertip and stands at 9 metres high.

Pretoria is also known as the Jacaranda City because of its beautiful Jacaranda trees that bloom during our spring time from September to November. It is said that there are about 40 000 - 70 000 trees in the area.

One of our beautiful lodges to stay at along the Panorama Route is the Ndhula Luxury Tented Lodge. Located at the Likweti Bushveld Residental Estate, you will definitely receive a real nature experience. Around the property, wildlife such as impalas, giraffes and nyala graze around the tents. Read more about the Lodge in our Blogpost: https://www.amazing-africa.co.za/brand-new-lodge-open-in-white-river

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