5 What is The Good Safari Guide Directory? Who is featured? The Good Safari Guide Directory showcases only those properties that have been nominated for, or have won, a Good Safari Guide Award. How does the Good Safari Guide selection process work? 1. Tour operators/ agents/ travel journalists nominate a candidate for a Good afari Guide Award, either online, by email or by phone 2. The Good Safari Team verifies the credentials of the travel professional – the nominating agent/ operator must be wholly independent of the property 3. Nominations are counted and those scoring the highest are invited to feature in the Good Safari Guide Directory, and if scoring higher than all others in their category, will go on to win an Award. An invitation to a nominated property to feature in the Guide is offered purely and simply based on the number of Good Safari Guide Award nominations received. Properties without nominations are unable to feature in the Directory. Because it is the nominations of respected safari industry travel professionals that determine who is invited to be in the Guide, the Guide does not showcase only the most expensive or luxurious, but a blend of safari properties, all of which illustrate that certain ' wow' factor. How to use this Guide The Guide's pages are arranged into countries and then into wildlife area. • To find accommodation offered in South Africa, Sabi Sand, simply look up South Africa and then you will find the ' Sabi Sand' section under ' S'. • To find a property suitable for your client based on specific preferences, for example, price or facilities such as a swimming pool, bar or internet access, you can use the Quick Reference Guide at the back of the Directory on pages 122 – 125. Please note: This Guide is not designed to take the place of a familiarization trip. The Good Safari Guide Team recommends that travel agents/ tour operators visit the safari lodges and camps that they intend to promote to clients, and use the Guide as an aide memoire only. The information included in this directory is, to the best of the Good Safari Guide Team's knowledge, accurate at the time of going to press. However, every effort should be made by the reader to verify the information prior to booking. Finally, if there are properties that you have visited and think should be in the 2010 Good Safari Guide, or you think should win a Good Safari Guide Award, let us know! Nominate them online, or just give us a call and tell us!

6 The inaugural Good Safari Guide Awards 2008 were held at The Edward Hotel, Durban, South Africa on Friday 9th May, 2008 and were sponsored by: The Awards honoured not only the best accommodation providers in the safari industry in Africa, but also airlines, wildlife reserves and tourist boards. The winners were chosen based on the numbers of nominations from the industry, including the weighted nominations from the panel of judges ( all wholly independent and highly- regarded industry professionals with a wealth of experience in Africa). The process is fair and completely transparent; the Awards cannot be bought. The Good Safari Guide is happy to announce Singita Boulders Lodge as the winner of the prestigious ' Best Safari Property in Africa' Award. Singita Boulders also scooped the ' Best Safari Property in Southern Africa', and the Singita group won a further two awards; ' Best Safari Property Cuisine in Africa' and ' Best Safari Accommodation Group in Africa'. The Notten and Mathebula families were duly honoured in the awards for their outstanding ' Notten's Bush Camp' which won runner up in the ' Best Safari Property in Africa' award. The intimate lodge has survived at the hands of three generations of Nottens with the help of an enthusiastic team. The sophisticated ' Beho Beho' was voted winner of the ' Best Safari Property in Eastern Africa'. This is no mean feat considering the tens of thousands of lodges and camps in Eastern Africa, and is a credit to manager Sean Lues amongst others. Runners up to the Southern and Eastern ' Best Property' Awards were Londolozi and Chada Katavi respectively. Vamizi Island Lodge, located in the Quirimbas Archipelago, snatched the title of ' Best New Safari Property' in a very close competition with the other fi nalists ( Karen Blixen, Somalisa, Saadani, Mhondoro, Thadaku), with Karen Blixen camp coming a close second. The ' Best Community Safari Property' Award honours those properties which make a difference to the local community, for example through employment, education, promotion of local cultures and development of sustainable livelihoods. Winner Grootbos' ethos of conservation and development is clear and the team led by Michael Lutzeyer ensure that their vision is a reality. The ' Best Ecological Safari Property' Award honours properties which pay attention to the impact of the lodge/ camp on its natural surroundings. Ralph Bousfi eld, with his partner Catherine, has breathed life into his father's camp in the Makgadikgadi Pans, and ' Jack's Camp' has deservedly won this ' ecological' award for its attitude to and place within its surroundings. Ellis Flyte along with Marcus and Alex Lewis have toiled for over ten years to create the oasis that is Fundu Lagoon and that hard work has fi nally paid off and won them the ' Best Beach Safari Property Award'. The Good Safari Guide Awards 2008 the voice of african tourism african travel & tourism association