After a long day of rush hour traffic encounters in Cape Town, uncomfortably jogging to catch my connecting flight, camera strap asphyxiating my air flow, laptop tucked firmly underarm, my professional dignity trying to keep up and my mentality sparingly intact, I made a dash for gate E1’s final boarding call at OR Thambo.

After trying to mill my way from arrivals to departures in a timely and professional manner I managed to get myself lost in this frustratingly complex and very fancy airport.

Needless to say, I made the flight and no sooner arrived in sunny Mpumalanga to a sweltering heat wave of 40 degrees Celsius (in the shade)! I was also understandably quite thrilled to meet up with my colleague, who was in fact on time to meet me at Kruger International. This surprised me because after all this is the ‘Slow-veld’ as it is affectionately known. (Derived from the word ‘Lowveld’ which is the South African Term for Valley.) The locals here are generally very laid back and “See you later” can mean anything from see you in an hour to 5 days later.  You have got to love it!

It is great to be back! I do adore the Valley and I love the bush. This part of South Africa is so unique in all it has to offer both local tourists and visitors from aboard.

My introduction to the  Lowveld SME’s – First Stop: Gecko Lodge, R536 Hazyview, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Situated 3km from Hazyview on the R536 to Sabie this stunning venue has all the appeal the average tourist is after. There is something about this place that calms me. Although this part of the province is quite notably an adventure junkie’s heaven, there is a distinct stillness about this place that I just crave!

With Induna Adventures just down the road, Gecko Lodge is hidden beyond a fringe of thick indigenous Lowveld forest close to the Sabie River. It is also the location of the longest aerial cable trail (or zip wires) in South Africa and possibly the Southern Hemisphere.

Thrilling adventures aside, you simply cannot help but take in the sights, sounds and smells the Gecko Lodge premises has on offer. Christmas Beetles shrilling their distinct African song in the background, the smell of an African Potato Bush and, “Oh my word, a Narina Trogon!”  A very rare and beautiful bird!

From the outside all this combines with the tranquil sound of running water coming from around the perimeter of the Lodge walls. The owners have redirected water from the Sabie River Cannel and have it flowing literally around the outside of the lodge like a mini mote. It’s very effective.

Gecko lodge with its African Moroccan slant is exotic and inviting. The staff here are forthcoming and hospitable, dressed with smiles and kind politeness. I introduce my self at the front desk to the receptionist, an older African woman with a kind face by the name of Granny, how apt I think to myself and smile.

There are 27 rooms in total. Twenty-five with twin beds and 2 double rooms, one of which is a very cozy honeymoon sweet tucked privately away above a magnificent aqua blue wall and a spectacular wrought iron spiraling staircase hand crafted by the previous owner who is apparently a renowned wrought iron artist in the area.

All the rooms are en suite with everything you need including a candles and hand crafted candle holders which are hugely convenient because this area is notorious for some of the most amazing thunderstorms and often power cuts as a result around this time of year (October/November).

On that note I now know exactly why they call this property Gecko Lodge. If you look very carefully you will notice these fascinating and harmless little creatures at night near almost every outside light in eager prey of a free and easy insect meal. The nature here is undeniably apparent during the daytime as well, from the most exquisite butterflies, to hippos and crocodiles in the Sabie River a short walk away and aparently the owner, Tom Vorster, an ex game ranger and very knowledgable man on birdlife, nature and the bush in general, spotted leopard droppings the other day!

If its trails, Panorama tours or Kruger Park game drives and microlight flights you are after, then Gecko Lodge is well connected with all the Tour Operators and will gladly arrange and book your activities for you, otherwise, guests are welcome to lounge around the pool like geckos and soak up the warm Mpumalanga sun. If you keen on a bit of a party, Gecko Lodge has a very atmospheric Bar area and Braai (barbaque facility) to keep you entertained or you can explore the local Pubs and Clubs in Hazeyview, there are definitely a few well worth a visit!

Although the lodge is primarily a bed & breakfast establishment, dinner can be booked by arrangement and is often served outside by candlelight under the stars. There is definitely a romantic African air consistent through out the lodge and it absolutely has the appeal of a unique experience.

The expectation was that one or two of the pousada owners would be willing to go on camera and talk about the TDB. As a complete surprise, every local entrepreneur approached about the video wanted to express their interest in the innovative new payment mechanism. The following is the video that WHL Consulting has loaded into their entry for the G-20 SME Competition.

(English captions available on video)

This video was originally published on the GeoSavvy Development web site.

Solar panels are placed on a lodge in Nepal by E+Co investee Lotus Energy

An online university

The Invisible Schoolhouse program aims to create an online university for professional education, primarily focused on delivering practical courses to small and medium-sized business owners.

The ultimate vision is to create multiple “campuses” that will each house SME resources for key sectors in the developing world, such as Energy, Health, Agriculture, etc.

A hospitality campus

With generous support from USAID, Accenture and Citibank Foundation,  E+Co has worked to launch an “Energy Campus” that focuses on clean energy entrepreneurship, and will now collaborate with WHL Consulting to launch a hospitality campus.

This partnership will leverage WHL’s world wide experience that has developed over the past 8 years servicing over 8,000 SME accommodation providers.

“WHL has proposed a truly innovative payment mechanism. We are experimenting to see whether that payment mechanism can be utilized by our entrepreneurs and their clients in the hospitality industry to bring renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements within reach for a wide swath of the sector. Our collaboration on e-learning naturally supports these types of transactions, providing lower-cost capacity building on both sides of the equation.”

- Phil LaRocco, Founder and Former CEO, E+Co

Continue reading this article @ GeoSavvy Development.

For a long time selling or marketing accommodation through this site was not something of interest to us.  It’s an area that is already extremely crowded, and one that is extremely difficult to be successful in, especially if you’re only seeking to promote the more ethically run establishments. Determining exactly how you benchmark those properties and what criteria you use to assess them creates all manner of problems, and then there’s the consideration that it might not actually have any influence on a consumer’s decision to purchase.

We were introduced to WHL Group last year

We were fortunate to be introduced to the WHL Group early last year, who have spent a great deal time working with the International Centre for Responsible Tourism trying to crack some of these issues,  and in a nutshell the challenges have been significant.  Generating widespread understanding amongst accommodation owners of exactly what is interesting and relevant to potential customers in this space has been one of the biggest ones.  There’s a common belief amongst accommodation owners that allowing guests to reuse bath towels shows a sustainability commitment worthy of note.  Vicky Baker’s recent article ‘Hotels just wash the towels and spare us the green rinse‘ explains quite nicely how this is not the case.

Enabling small accommodations gain access to the online world

So for listing businesses on Make Travel Fair we’ve taken a slightly different tact and teamed up with Project: Exposure.  A social enterprise that works in conjunction with whl.travel and is designed to enable small accommodation owners to gain greater access to consumers by equipping them with everything they need to get online and start selling to guests through the internet.

The barrier to entry for the little guys is often cost.  Cost to get digital photos taken, marketing copy created, a website designed and then most importantly get all this distributed and understand how it works.  Project: Exposure works in the destinations and enables even the smallest accommodation businesses to purchase all of these necessities using their empty room nights instead of cash.  The initiative also retains a long term relationship with the businesses to continue offering support, training and further services where required.

Project: Exposure has also teamed up with the fantastic 360Cities to bring all these great properties into the world of fully spherical panoramic photography, which we’re also able to utilise on Make Travel Fair.  Another point of note is that both our Managing Editor, Michelle Rodrigues and myself have been involved on recent excursions to see how Project: Exposure works in the field.

Substantial discounts on all accommodations

It’s for all these reasons that we are very excited about how and why we are listing the properties that we are.  We hope to install some booking functionality in the future because for all of the properties that you see on here we can offer substantial discounts (of up to 25%) for booking through Make Travel Fair.  In the mean time if anything takes your fancy drop us a line, or try entering our competition The Backdoor and win 7-nights at either Chestnut Country Lodge or Seaforth Country Lodge in South Africa.

Initially created and launched by WHL Consulting, Project:Exposure provides targeted assistance to locally owned and operated hotels and tour operators. Project:Exposure helps them acquire the tools and knowledge for successful online marketing through established far-reaching distribution partners.

In practical terms, the Project:Exposure program completes an audit of existing tourism products in a specific destination and then drives the development of high-quality photographs, professionally written content and authoritative marketing material essential when selling travel product in any medium. Program participants are also given the opportunity to examine firsthand the benefits and effects of Project:Exposure through WHL Consulting Market Access Training seminars on the dynamics and significance of the Internet and e-commerce in tourism.

WHL Consulting’s partnership with 360 Cities now adds the guarantee of striking cutting-edge visuals to the suite of products and services on offer to program participants and clients.

“360 Cities’ position as the leading site for immersive panoramic photography, as well as its extensive network of immersive photography, experts makes them an ideal partner for Project:Exposure,” said Zachary Rozga, CEO of WHL Consulting. “Every single property that participates in Project:Exposure will now receive a fully-spherical panoramic image distributed through the 360 Cities platform of over 3 million visitors per month.”

The partnership also aligns the two organizations’ dedication to enabling local participation. Both companies have built their businesses on platforms that allow for local partners to upload and manage content through centralized processes. The coming together of WHL Consulting and 360 Cities means that the 360 Cities photographer members – the world’s best panoramic photographers – have a new and promising paid outlet through which to apply their skills in the service of local entrepreneurs who otherwise could not afford them.

360 Founder and Photographer, Jeff Martin taking a panoramic image of writer Michelle Rodrigues participating in an ancient ceremony at Guachimontones ruins

Jeffrey S. Martin, founder and CEO of 360Cities.net, expressed optimism that “both local tourism destinations and 360 Cities’ local photographers will benefit from the cooperation on Project:Exposure.”

WHL Consulting

WHL Consulting is a professional services company with a singular focus on providing innovative, high-tech solutions to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the tourism industry. WHL Consulting aims to improve the competitiveness and long-term sustainability of MSMEs by leveraging technology and business processes to connect them to global markets through established distribution partners, like whl.travel, and then using the pull of the market to guide capacity building. WHL Consulting is a WHL Group (www.whl-group.com) company.

360 Cities

360 Cities is the Web’s largest and most breathtaking virtual tour, showcasing tens of thousands of fully spherical, high-resolution panoramas made by hundreds of photographers all over the world. “360 Cities’ mission is to bring the world closer through the utility and beauty of 360-degree interactive photography on the Web. 360 Cities is a Premium Content Provider to Google, Inc. The panoramic content is included for all 400+ million users of Google Earth.”

Contact:

Zachary Rozga

zachary@whlconsulting.com

Jeffrey Martin

jeff@360cities.net

Jan Vrsinsky at under-the-berg guesthouse

Most of the places to stay in the area are small B&Bs like these that we visited today and as a result the area has retained its country, small community feel.  Many of the owners are couples who have moved here to escape the big cities of Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria.  Safety and security issues often associated with these urban areas are nowhere to be found in the Drakensberg.  Windows and doors are frequently left open and everyone seems to know each other.

Under-the-Berg

Our first property today was Under-the-Berg which was started about five years ago by Bruce and Judy.  They used to visit the area so frequently from their home in Durban to hike the Drakensberg hills that eventually they decided to relocate and run a small three-room B&B and backpackers.

Under-The-Berg in South Africa

Albizia House

We spent our afternoon at Albizia house with Meg who moved to Himeville five years ago from Zululand.  The property has three guest bedrooms that all open out onto the large terrace shown in the image below.  Like so many guesthouses in the area Albizia House encourages nature lovers to explore the great outdoors.  Bird charts can be found on the walls and a variety of nature books are stacked neatly in the sun room.  Meg’s husband Chris is a fully accredited South Africa tourist guide and operates tours throughout KwaZulu-Natal and the whole of South Africa.

Albizia House in South Africa

Sani Manor

We finished up our day by capturing a few shots of Sani Manor in the evening sun before retiring to the Himeville Arms for the beer, food and free WiFi.

Sani Manor in South Africa

Further information:

• Swaziland, Day 1 – Planning your roadtrip with a GPS
• Swaziland Day 2 & 3 – Project preparation
• Swaziland Day 4 – A cultural day
• South Africa Day 5 – A morning stuck behind 3 rhino
• South Africa Day 6 – A long drive, Johannesburg to Himeville
• South Africa Day 7 – Project: Exposure content collection begins

Michelle Rodrigues in Mexico

• Bienvenidos a Tequila!
• Tequila, dia uno!
• Tequila, dia dos!
• Tequila, dia tres!
• Tequila, dia cuatro!
• Tequila, dia cinco!
• Tequila, dia seis!

This series of blog postings caught the attention of yourtravelchoice.org, a well-read blog from the The International Ecotourism Society (TIES). When asked about her experience working with WHL Consulting on Project:Exposure, Michelle responded by saying:

“Being a content writer for Project:Exposure has been one of the greatest experiences early in my career. It has allowed me to have even more chances to be published online and create the credentials for other writing opportunities. For aspiring travel writers everywhere – it’s a great door opener!”

See Michelle’s article on yourtravelchoice.org, Traveling Mexico’s Mountainside Like A Local.

In 2010, WHL Consulting will be continuing the process of piloting Project:Exposure in a number of destinations with an eye on major expansion in 2011. We hope to foster the exact experience Michelle had in Tequila, Mexico and to lend support to aspiring travel writers by providing them the tools and avenue to begin to be published through the process.

If you are interested in becoming a travel writer on future implementations of Project:Exposure please contact us at content@whlconsulting.com.

Wild Sky lodge, Bulwer / Photo by Stephen Chapman

In need of some internet time before starting the day, Jan and I drove a few minutes back along the road towards Underberg and picked up some WiFi at The Grind Cafe.  A great little print shop in the same complex meant that I could get all the remaining Project: Exposure documents printed out for the week which was a bit of a relief.  I made a couple of calls to confirm the scheduled times for our appointments that day and we headed off on our way.

Himeville Arms

Property number one was the Himeville Arms Hotel, a prominent establishment in Himeville.  We’d met the manager, Francis, briefly last night when Jan shot a quick pano in the bar.  All the cottages and rooms were opened for us this morning and we were allowed to wander freely through the grounds in the sunshine.  It was a nice start to our weeks work.  I made copies of some press releases and news articles that Francis had dug out about the Hotel to add to my content.  Jan and I explored the property independently, Jan shooting the photos and me writing descriptions of room types and facilities.  Many of the rooms have wood burning fireplaces which adds a fantastic smell of authenticity to compliment the smart antique, old english, country style furnishings.  We ate lunch in the popular pub that’s attached to the hotel.  Popular is an understatement, this is THE place to gather for some friendly beers in area, and the food is fantastic.  Their ‘famous deboned trout’ was my choice for lunch.

Himeville Arms in South Africa

Aard Lui

After lunch we drove the 35km back to Bulwer to visit Lauretta who runs a small 2-room B&B and takeaway in the town.  The property was built in 1895 and was home to the first school in Bulwer.  There is a fantastic dining area that Lauretta opens up occasionally as an private restaurant – a practice that has proved incredibly popular and successful just through word of mouth.  One look at the extensive vegetable patch behind the house makes it clear that good, fresh food is a central part of life at Aard Lui.  From the front of the house you can watch paragliders descending from nearby craggy peaks of the Drakensberg.

Aard Lui, Bulwer in South Africa

Wild Sky

Another of the properties on our list, Wild Sky, is just across the road from Aard Lui so we made a quick stop on our way back to Himeville to see whether we could complete some of the work today.  Wild Sky is run by national paragliding champion Hans Fokkens and is a paragliding school and lodge perched on a grassy hillside below the same craggy peaks that we’d seen from Aard Lui.  Unfortunately nobody was home and we couldn’t reach anyone on the phone so we took a few exterior shots and called it a day.

The evening was spent back at Himeville Arms sampling some more delights from the menu and consuming a few pints of the pale ale.

Further information:

• Swaziland, Day 1 – Planning your roadtrip with a GPS
• Swaziland Day 2 & 3 – Project preparation
• Swaziland Day 4 – A cultural day
• South Africa Day 5 – A morning stuck behind 3 rhino
• South Africa Day 6 – A long drive, Johannesburg to Himeville

What I love about this part of the country (and all of Mexico) is the fact that people don’t question your presence. Tequila is a small town that has only recently been recognised for its tourism potential, so occasionally we saw Canadians or Americans walking around. Still, most of the places we visited were predominantly visited by locals, and yet no one questioned why we were there or even gave us a mal-intentioned expression. If we didn’t understand something whoever was around tried their best to explain it to us.

Variable night and day temperatures

One thing I couldn’t get used to is the winter in Mexico – the desert weather. It drove me nuts how the temperature was in the 30′s at night, then during the day it was in the high 80′s! For any traveller preparing a trip to Mexico any time soon, be ready to freeze your bum off at night and morning, then get ready to layer off during the day.

More firecrackers, another parade

Before we knew it more firecrackers were being thrown. Zack counted one morning – 74 firecrackers set off in one morning. Our consensus was that they were making sure all of Tequila was awake. Just like the night before, another parade was headed down the streets of downtown Tequila. This time there was a float with a priest holding a Bible in front of children dressed up as angels. The dancers were present again, preceded by lines of people reciting the rosary as the parade made its way to the church in the town square.

Parade making it's way to the church

Mexico still struggling from Swine Flu

Later that night we went to a fairly nice restaurant a few blocks down from our hotel. Being completely empty, we got first dibs on our table. We sat around drinking our free margaritas wondering how such a nice restaurant was empty. Unfortunately, the swine flu outbreak and the recession has caused the town of Tequila, along with much of Mexico, to really suffer economically. Some of the accommodation providers we spoke to mentioned how their occupancy rates were lower than normal due to these conditions.  Thankfully, Mexicans have stayed optimistic, and the country seemed to have been getting more beautiful by the day.

Further Information:

• Bienvenidos a Tequila!
• Tequila, dia uno!
• Tequila, dia dos!
• Tequila, dia tres!
• Tequila, dia cuatro!
• Turning tourism into a social enterprise
• Tasting the Tequila trail
• WHL Consulting continues its work in World Heritage Sites  with a focus on Tequila(whl.travel Blog)

Wednesday morning was no different than Monday and Tuesday morning – a visit to our beloved tortilla lady. Same breakfast, same visit to the juice stand next door to order our “jugo de vitaminas” – a delicious mixture of anything and everything she had on the table, from carrots and beets, to orange and pineapple.

My breakfast - Huevos a Caballo

Today was a bit of a slow day for the content collection team. We had an appointment in the morning and one in the early evening. We met the owners from Posada del Agave and Hotel Tequila. Both of which didn’t take long because the owners were so nice.

The pride of Tequila

All of the properties here are so dedicated to their community. Tequila is a small town about an hour from Guadalajara (where we flew into), but everyone is proud to say they are from Tequila. Everyone is nice. Everyone says “Buenos dias” in the morning and “Buenos noches” at night. It’s obligatory in the state of Jalisco to separate the trash from ‘organic’ and ‘inorganic’, and everyone adheres. Most establishments, like Hotel Tequila, go farther in their recycling efforts to separate the inorganic waste, like glass and plastic.

A visit to Jose Cuervo distillery

Between the two appointments for the day, Zack, Jeff and I went to the Jose Cuervo distillery to see if we can talk the directors into doing an upgrade in photography, mainly a 360 degree panoramic tour of the property, and possibly the idea of co-sponsoring a photographic treasure hunt on the web. About an hour later we, after being told we need to contact someone else on the board of directors, los tres amigos de content collection went for some grub around town.

When Jodi and Laura got back from doing their assessments we all went on a hunt for dinner. It was kind of late, so finding a decent place wasn’t the easiest job of the week. Eventually we found some a fairly large restaurant. Unfortunately, the food didn’t live up to expectations and Jeff got sick from eating the frog legs (not kidding).

Further Information:

• Bienvenidos a Tequila!
• Tequila, dia uno!
• Tequila, dia dos!
• Turning tourism into a social enterprise
• Tasting the Tequila trail
• WHL Consulting continues its work in World Heritage Sites  with a focus on Tequila(whl.travel Blog)