by Marsha Mowers
Last updated: 4:20 PM ET, Tue September 12, 2023
“You don’t just travel with G, it changes your life for the better.”
An insightful observation from BC based travel agent Pamela MacDonald during our recent Kruger in Depth FAM trip with G Adventures. It was part of a conversation with our CEO (Chief Experience Officer) Francois Senekal as we made our way towards South Africa’s largest game reserve.
“Travelling with G forces you to step outside your comfort zone and do things on a vacation that aren’t typical, while being fully immersed in local culture," she adds.
MacDonald should know, she’s been on more than a dozen G Adventure trips all over the world.
The multiple 5:30am departure times for packed 12+ hour days are probably not the relaxing vibe many travellers think of when booking vacations. But then again, Canadians don’t go to South Africa to be typical.
The group at Crook's Corner
The 8 Day tour begins in Johannesburg and travels north up to the very top of the country – including a stop at Crook’s Corner, the point where South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe meet, before circling back down to Johannesburg.
It does make for some long travel days, which clients should be made aware of in advance (one day in particular has 12 hours of driving). But there are multiple stops and a good portion of it is through Kruger Park itself. It’s very scenic and that long day is when we saw a family of elephants crossing the road, mere metres in front of us.
It was also an opportunity to learn more about the country from the group’s Chief Experience Officer (CEO) in our case, it was Francois Senekal who regaled our group with stories of South Africa as only a local could do.
It wasn’t long before Senekal felt more like a friend, which is something that David Green, managing director for Canada says happens often.
“Whenever I talk to people that have been on a G adventures trip, I always hear the same thing, they had the best CEO,” Green tells TravelPulse Canada.
“The reality is that’s the secret sauce at G Adventures. There are many great operators out there that take you into destinations. But the difference with us is all our CEOs are local and I think that’s important. It’s not just about being passionate about the destination and being knowledgeable about the destination. It's about being your true authentic selves.”
That sense of authenticity touches every part of G’s itinerary; from hotel owners, to safari guides to drivers and everyone in between. It’s in part due to the company’s commitment to community tourism; about making sure the dollars that are spent in the country stay with the people from those countries. For travellers that means no big-name accommodations and restaurants, and more mingling with the locals.
“The local services that we use are all small operators, which means that money goes into paying and employing people in those destinations,” says Green. “And that is a key difference for us.”
One of the stops on the tour is at the Jane Goodall Chimp Eden, a sanctuary for rescued and abused chimpanzees. It’s another eye opener in the country; 33 chimps reside at the facility where our guide explains the horrors some of the animals have escaped from in such compassionate detail, it’s hard to not shed a tear.
The Jane Goodall Institute is a strong supporter of G Adventures’ animal welfare policy.
Green says the biggest challenge for agents selling South Africa is the cost of airfare and the time required to get there. A direct flight hovers around 15 hours from Toronto, with many travellers choosing a stopover to reduce cost, but ultimately making for a very long travel experience. He advises agents booking South Africa to give the option of extending pre or post tour.
“It’s a bucket list destination, but it’s also not an overpopulated destination. We have lots of trips in Africa and we find that many travellers will tag on an additional tour since they’re travelling all that way.
There really isn’t anything like the Africa experience and when you’re on a G Adventures trip, you’re travelling with people from all over the world. They’re bringing their own different cultures and backgrounds into this dynamic and very quickly the CEO, almost by magic, brings the group together.
You leave as friends at the end of it, and most people will stay connected to the CEOs for the rest of their lives.”
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