Wandisile’s Plett
A blog by Wandisile Sebezo
Plett Tourism Educational Tour showcases what Plett is about
Phakamile Sebezo of Eden Social Network heads the Plett Tourism Educational Tour
The annual Plett Tourism Educational Tour is on its third year and has proven to be a significant event that really showcases what Plett has to offer – and what better way to do it if not through the experiences of our young people.
The project sees top performing matriculants, five from each of our three public high schools, get to experience some of the best attractions that Plett offers.
The project is headed by Phakamile Sebezo of Eden Social Network, who says the challenge he observed was that “local people do not know what the local tourism industry has to offer” and this he says “inhibits their ability to sell the town to potential tourists”, and it seems he has found a perfect solution to this, by investing in young people by way of this tour, having been part of this year’s Plett Tour myself, I can attest to a great initiative indeed.
The primary objectives of the tour is to, amongst others:
- Create awareness of the Plett tourism environment
- Establish a network of local brand ambassadors
- Create a healthy competition among learners and
- Ultimately motivate learners to value education
Perhaps critical of the above objectives, for purposes of this article, is the awareness creation of what Plett Tourism is really about; the man on the street must be able to share the Plett feeling, and live to tell about it. Local people must be brand ambassadors of the Plett Brand, hence this is a great initiative to breed a new generation of Plett citizens who understand and share the vision of the town.
Our first trip for the day was at Ocean Blue Adventures, which by the way was awarded with the Best Marine Eco Tourism Company Award for 2017, and also scooped the award for Excellence in Adventure Tourism for 2017 from the South African Business Awards. And we had to experience ourselves why they’re the best at what they do and why such recognition was befitting. Early in the morning, around 8:30, we sailed the beautiful sea towards Keurbooms, and it is there where our journey for the day started – whale watching. We were paired with a group from Germany, so my first impressions was our Guide, Mario Boesak, who spoke fluent German, and had to mix German with English to accommodate us and the German tourists, I must say we found this very much interesting, and well, amusing at times.
After at least two hours at sea, we eventually came to shore, had light breakfast and then wasted no time and headed for the Plett Game Reserve over the hills and mountains of Wittedrift. We were lucky that the Ranger allocated to us was an old timer, who has been with the reserve since its inception, which I must say, is very knowledgeable. In the yard one can spot zebras, giraffes, antelope species, and a whole range of wildlife lazing about. The highlight for the kids was when we stopped first for the rhino; Plett Game Reserve has two, male and female. They had to dehorn both in an effort to chase away poachers, which is very sad; our kids are now getting the raw end of the stick, having to enjoy dehorned rhino’s.
According to the Plett Game Reserve’s website; our primary objective is keeping the rhinos safe from poachers, with the aim that they will breed and strengthen the species, one day at a time. We went and we saw the lions, luckily for us, they were already fed, so we were no way in any danger!
I must admit this part of the game drive made me uneasy, we’re talking about lions for crying out loud, so I think I was allowed to be nervous, and scared. On our way to see the elephants, we made a pit stop at the crocodiles, and so we finally met up with the African Elephants. I must say it’s always interesting to meet these guys, Plett Game Reserve has nine of them, domesticated at Knysna Elephant Park the ranger told us. They moved them to the Reserve to reconnect them with their wild side. We also spotted a Hippo, leopard, a lone buffalo – basically the Reserve houses Africa’s big 4, right in our backyard, we really should consider ourselves the lucky ones. But generally we had fun at the Game Reserve, it was indeed worth it, I would recommend the place to all visiting tourists, the friendly receptionist… reliably informed me that they do have specials and discounts for locals from time to time, so Plett locals, you’re not left out.
As if we’re not spoiled enough, we moved to our next venture, Lawnwood Snake Park, situated on the N2 as you approach The Crags. Lawnwood Snake Park also won themselves an award; The TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. According to the plan, the Snake Park would have been our last stop for the day after we have visited Monkey Land, another household Plett attraction, which also won The TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, but we couldn’t go to Monkey Land as it was already in the afternoon, so we went to see the snakes, another scary moment for me, or so I assumed until I got educated that these reptiles are not really that bad, so long as you stay away from them and leave them be (a plan I had in mind).
That’s according to our excellent guide, James, who has an amazing sense of humour and works charmingly well with kids. All kinds of snakes are available for display here, from the ugly ones to the beautiful ones, from African Python, the Black Mamba, the Green Mamba, the Puff Adder and others, quite a variety.
We had an adventurous one, but Courtney Hartley, one of the pupils from Wittedrift High School puts it better – “The highlight of the educational tour for me was meeting the other school kids and sharing special times with them from seeing things we’ve never seen before… it was rather an eventful day adventuring around our home town and exploring places”.
Wandisile Sebezo,
Wandisile’s Plett
