Travel
GAY2AFRIKA :: Go Gay on Safari! by Megan Smith
EDGE Assistant Travel EditorWednesday Nov 4, 2009
Africa is rarely thought of as a destination for gay travelers. Now, one company is setting out to change that - 2Afrika. EDGE’s Megan Smith finds out why the leading African safari company is opening up the subcontinent for the Gs and the Ls.
They are two of the communities first and hardest hit by AIDS. And they are the two communities whose recent histories are defined in part by what happened when policy makers and the broader community chose to ignore the ravishing, devastating effects of the disease.
Yet, despite this shared history and tragedy, the two communities are often seen as oil and water, two things that quite simply do not mix. Until now. Kenneth Hieber and his company 2Afrika are bringing the two together for an experience that is, cliché be damned, once in a lifetime.
Gay2Afrika, born out of the boutique safari company 2Afrika, has as its mission to show the subcontinent to gay and lesbian travelers and to begin to break down the stigma that all too often keeps them from visiting some of the most spectacular landscapes and brilliant cultures on earth.
How it all got started
Perhaps, it’s the staccato of his South African accent, perhaps it’s his passion for what he does or his absolute confidence in what he’s talking about, but Kenneth Hieber is instantly engaging when I call him to discuss Gay2Afrika.
Born in East London, South Africa and raised in the capital city of Pretoria, Kenneth started the company 2Afrika following the end of apartheid in 1994. As he tells it, "Way back when South Africa changed its policies, I came to realize that much of the world, for all the right reasons, isolated themselves from South Africa because of its policies.
"So, I started a company called 2Afrika, I relocated to the United States and became someone who very aggressively started to promote Southern Africa because by that point South Africa needed a stronger force of people coming in to the country because we had gone through dramatic changes and we needed help. That was the founding of 2Afrika, the company itself. That’s the cornerstone of it. As the company developed and grew from strength to strength, I opened up into East Africa, which I am very familiar with also."
Once the first adventurers had seen what the region held, southern Africa quickly became a destination for bold travelers seeking something beyond the normal packaged tours. Safaris to the region grew rapidly in popularity and became the focus of 2Afrika, whose reputation for boutique, custom-made services made it a leader in the field.
Top of the safari field
"I have noticed a lot of people have the load them up and get them out and on with the next one. As a result of that, we have a very particular statement of social responsibility in tourism that we stick to.
"I debrief most of our returning passengers, and if I pick up anything that is a little odd or doesn’t please me 100% relevant to keeping socially responsible with anyone of my safaris I will take someone to task immediately... I’ve worked too long and too hard to not make sure that the standards we set, the levels of service we set, the products we work really hard on, are met," declares Hieber.
This attentiveness is 2Afrika’s calling card. They put the individual traveler at the center of the experience, listening to their needs and requests and personalizing each trip.
"Anybody who takes a regular pre-packaged safari, generally will get just that - we leave today, we do this; we leave tomorrow, we do that, etc, etc... " says Hieber, but not with 2Afrika, whose decade plus of experience gives them an unrivaled knowledge of their destinations that allows them to deliver on almost any desire.
Custom-built tours and ostrich eggs
As if to prove this, Hieber starts to talk of a trip he’s currently planning for two gay men traveling to southern Africa with a group of friends to celebrate their 50th birthday.
"These guys are so unique in their approach and what they wanted to do, they actually want to send the invitations to the people who are going along on the trip in ostrich eggs. So, they have asked for 20 ostrich eggs to be shipped to them, which we are currently doing. Then they will pop invitations into an ostrich egg and send them off to the people they would like to go with. Isn’t that amazing?"
Indeed, but more amazing is the various places and experiences in store for those who accept the ostrich invitation. Hieber rattles off the tour plans, which includes the town of Darling where South Africa’s most famous drag artist Pieter Dirk-Uys performs.
"This whole group are going to have an evening there having dinner and cocktails and watching his show, which is extremely tongue-in-cheek and very good humor. The end result of that all is that Pieter Dirk-Uys has the Darling Trust Foundation which assists local communities, particularly young children who are their own parents as their parents have died as a result of HIV complications... The whole group, while it is a 50th and a celebration, there are very serious moments where they are giving back to the community as well."
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