JMS alumnus, Andrew Wassung together with Nicola Rushmere will soon be travelling to Kenya and back, through 11 Southern and East African countries, on a drive that aims to generate awareness about Open Africa, an NGO under the patronage of Nelson Mandela.
This promotional drive aims to stimulate the self-drive travel market so that, ultimately, jobs in rural areas will be sustained and the custodians of Africa’s natural and cultural treasures will be rewarded for sharing their riches with travellers.
Wassung and Rushmere will be visiting a third of the Open Africa routes first-hand, showcasing what self-drive travel is all about. They hope to meet fellow travellers and lovers of Africa on the way.
On top of all this, they will meet with representatives in the six countries in which Open Africa operates. They will be documenting their drive through photographs, videos, writing, blogging, Facebook and podcasts on various websites. They will also be contributing to some of South Africa’s top magazines.
Their trip takes them through South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia and will include highlights such as The Drakensburg, Serengeti/Maasai Mara, Lake Malawi, Mount Kilimanjaro, Lake Naivasha, Okavango Delta and the Namib Desert.
Open Africa is a social enterprise that was started in 1995 with a vision to sustain livelihoods across rural Africa by offering authentic life enriching journeys to all involved: communities, travellers, partners and the Earth.
Open Africa works with communities to establish off-the-beaten-track, self-drive travel routes in a network supported by local enterprises, linking and protecting the splendours and knowledge of rural Africa. The routes they will be travelling are available on www.openafrica.org
Rushmere completed her BA in History and English and graduated last year while Wassung will graduate in 2011, with a Bachelor of Journalism.