Does Eco Building Decrease Energy Consumption? May 30, 2008
Posted by Lizanne in : Community, Energy , 5comments
The global environmental crisis is forcing us to take a long, hard look at our use of energy. Most of us have been guilty of firing away, using and abusing electricity and water without a second thought about it. But this kind of behaviour is simply impossible in a new era where environmental awareness and sustainability ranks among the top issues of our time.
In examining my own life, I realized that energy saving bulbs and solar powered water heating is certainly contributing to the international effort to get our act together. Still, with our terribly hot summers and icy cold winters in the Ceres Valley in South Africa, our use of energy to cool or heat our homes, simply transcends my minor efforts to act eco-conscious. And I suspect this is also felt in many places around the world. So at the beginning of a building process for a new eco mountain cottage on our farm, what can I do to lessen the need to cool or heat that home? Will the benefits to the people that will live there, add up to the benefits for the environment? With these questions on my mind, I set out on my eco search. You will see that my answers are not exclusive to any one area or climate.
The thing about African wilderness trails November 10, 2007
Posted by Ralph Pina in : Safari, ecotourism , 5comments
Walking on a wilderness trail is the only way to feel the pulse of the African “bush”. That is what I believe anyway. I have experienced my fair share of the African safari concept: vehicle-based photographic safaris, 
game drives and stays in high-end and exotic game lodges, and even canoe safaris down the wild Lower Zambezi. But none of this compares to following a game trail on foot: listening for a warning call, watching the reactions of the tracker, sniffing the breeze, or simply existing in your immediate sphere. Nothing compares - except perhaps for the canoe safari. (more…)
We reap what we sow June 1, 2007
Posted by AJK in : News , add a comment
Some ideas are nurtured long before you ever have the opportunity to taste their fruits. Change is not seen in the moment, but over a period of time and to make things worse, our current human condition loves the expression of “living for the moment”. But what about tomorrow? Do we notice the footprints we leave behind?
