Nov 14 2018
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Scuba Diving @ Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: A Advanced Open Water: Follow up certification after Open-Water Diver; allows for deeper Air: A gas mixture containing 21percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen, and 1 percent other gasses (mainly argon); compressed air is held in a tank for scuba diving. Apnea: Breath-holding; apnea diving is a type of freediving, but in scuba diving you should never hold your breath. Ascent: Rising to the surface when diving; typically at the end of a dive. Ascent Rate: How quickly a diver returns to the surface. You should never ascend faster than your bubbles as a safety precaution. Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: B Backroll: Entering the water from the side of the boat, back first. BC/BCD: Buoyancy Compensator. This is the harness divers wear that hold the air tank and connects to the regulator. Bends/Bent: The pain a diver feels when suffering from Decompression Sickness (DCS). See DCS definition below. The bends often occur from ascending too quickly. Boat Dive: Scuba diving that requires a boat ride to the dive site. Bootie: Scuba gear divers wear with open-heel fins. Booties can range from thin (1 mm or less) to thick (7 mm) neoprene and protect your feet from the cold as well as sharp rocks and other hazardous things you could step on when shore diving. Bottom Time: The length of your dive. Buddy: The person you dive with; this is the person you discuss a dive plan with and you are both responsible for keeping each other safe. Buoyancy: (Positive, Negative, Neutral) Buoyancy refers to your position in the water. Things that sink are negatively buoyant; things that float are positively buoyant; scuba divers should be neutrally buoyant (floating in the middle). Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: C C-Card: Proof of scuba certification that you receive after completing your training course. This is necessary to go diving without an instructor for open water divers and is proof of any secondary/specialty scuba training and certifications you have. Call: To “call a dive” means that you are choosing or being told to end the dive and return to the surface. Cave: A hollow place in the ground, typically of natural formation. Cave Diving: Entering a water-filled cave system either on scuba or freediving. Cave diving can extend thousands of feet into a cave system for people who are properly trained. Cavern: A semi-enclosed area (often a rock formation) where you can still see the entrance and Certified Diver: Someone who has completed scuba diving lessons through a training organization and is able to dive without an instructor. Certification Agency: An organization like PADI, NAUI or SSI that trains people to scuba dive. There are over 100 agencies that do this, but not all certifications are valid worldwide. Check-Out Dive: These are the dives completed outside of a pool (can be in a lake, ocean, spring, quarry, etc.) to prove that you’ve mastered a set of scuba skills and are necessary to complete scuba certification. Confined Water Dive: Dives conducted in a pool or other shallow, current-free underwater environment so that students can master training and skills in a safe, controlled environment before completing open-water check-out dives. Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: D DAN: Divers Alert Network DCS/Decompression Sickness: When bubbles of gas (often nitrogen) get trapped inside of the body. There are varying levels of severity, and can be caused by swimming to the surface too quickly. Depth Gauge: A piece of scuba equipment that monitors how deep you are during your dive. Most dive computers serve as a replacement for depth gauges. Dedicated Dive Resort: Accommodations that focus on scuba diving experiences. They often have a dive shop onsite, and include diving in the booking fees. Dive Computer: A piece of scuba gear that monitors depth, bottom time and a ton of other information about each dive you complete. All dive computers are different, but they are an alternative to planning dives with dive tables. Dive Instructor: This person has gone through many trainings and certifications (open-water, advanced-open water, rescue diver, divemaster and more) so that they can teach others how to scuba dive. Dive Light: A flashlight designed for use underwater. Dive Operator: A store, boat or lcoation that will take you to go diving and often can certify you as well. Dive Table: Tool that helps determine how long you can safely stay underwater at different depths. Developed by the military to keep divers safe from decompression sickness Divemaster: A professional-level scuba diver who has logged at least 60 dives and who is trained to assist instructors on dive boats and during certification courses. DPV: Diver Propulsion Vehicle. A handheld and operated scooter or motor device that allows divers to move faster underwater. Drift Dive: Diving in a current, often from a boat. Once the dive is complete, the boat picks you up at the surface. Dry Bag: A bag to keep any items dry that aren’t waterproof. Drysuit: A type of exposure suit that keeps you dry while diving; used in cold-water dive conditions. Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: E EAN: Enriched Air Nitrox. This is a form of mixed-gas scuba diving. Entry: Getting into the water either from shore, boat, etc. Equalize/Equalization: Putting air into an open area to compensate for the change in pressure. (Most commonly ear equalization for scuba divers.) Exposure Suit: A garment worn to keep divers warm and help protect them from cuts, scrapes and other elements. Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: F Fins: The scuba gear that you wear on your feet to help you swim faster/with less effort. First Stage: Part of a scuba regulator; this attaches to the air tank. Freediving: Diving deep or staying underwater for extended periods of time without an air tank. Frog Kick: A technique for kicking your fins underwater. The bottoms of your feet move at each other like you’re sitting Indian style to propel you forward. This is a helpful technique to avoid kicking up sand. FSW: Feet of Sea Water Full-Foot Fin: A fin that covers your entire foot and most often doesn’t require you to wear a bootie. Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: G, H, I, J, K, L Giant Stride: A method of getting in the water where you take a large step off…

Sep 27 2018
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Sodwana Bay Coasters – Colours and Shapes @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

So on this part of our coaster experimental project we decided to play around with Coaster colours and shapes: We have been having a lot of fun playing around with awesome new product. These coasters are all uniquely painted and none that look the same nor can be duplicated to look exactly a like. We even started cutting some of them to look like seahorses, although we haven’t gotten to lasering on the Coasters yet we have provided examples above with the laser image on plain white coasters. We are so excited to try these prints on true art pieces real soon! Stay tuned for the next step of this product! Please contact us @ 0813920467 or info@cheritree.co.za with any wood related projects which you might like us to build for you. Orders can be placed via email (with photos or examples please): info@cncit.co.za, or to check that theres a real person on the other side you can give us a call on: 081 392 0467;). All quotes will be given via Email only.

Sep 13 2018
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Sodwana Bay – Souveniers @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

Calling all Sodwana Bay lovers!!! Love Sodwana Bay? Wanna get a few souveniers without having to travel all the way to Sodwana Bay? Well we have some great news for you! CNC IT and Cheri Tree are both teaming up to bring those great Souveniers to you where ever you are in the country! The great thing about CNC IT and Cheri Tree teaming up is that you don’t need to stick to the normal things that you always see in Sodwana Bay, you can get your own great designs or ideas come to life. So get creative, send us your ideas and designs and see your dreams come to life! Here is an example of one of our great products in the making: Here we are making Sodwana Bay Coasters? Still playing around and figuring out what the best way will be to make them! NB! Shipping prices will be added to normal price of product. Please contact us @ 0813920467 or info@cheritree.co.za with any wood related projects which you might like us to build for you. Orders can be placed via email (with photos or examples please): info@flyingrocker.co.za, or to check that theres a real person on the other side you can give us a call on: 081 392 0467;). All quotes will be given via Email only. Please Note that CNC IT and Cheri Tree are both online shops only!

Dec 21 2017
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Strengthening environmental awareness @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

iSimangaliso: Strengthening environmental awareness and sustainable partnerships through sport The iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority teamed up with local SMME and environmentalist Raymond Langa on 16 December for a community youth sports event at Khula Village, which borders the southern part of the World Heritage Site. The iSimangaliso and Dukuduku Sports Tournament event was hosted at the Nyamazaneni sports ground in Khula and was the finale in a round of games played in the month of November, organised by Raymond. He felt this would be an ideal vehicle to aid the message of conservation and environmental care which is so important to him. Raymond received training through one of iSimangaliso’s capacity building programmes and is an accredited Environmental Education facilitator working in the Park with dozens of school groups each year. According to Langa, “I am always frustrated by the environmental degradation activities taking place in areas of conservation significance. My area has many wetlands with an abundance of wildlife, seasonal birds and waterfowl. I have identified one area which is very significant to the entire village, but households living next to it dump all types of filthy items into it.” “To raise awareness, I approached the local school and conducted a workshop on the sustainable use of natural resources. Learners are studying Tourism in Grade 10, but they have little background of responsible tourism in their syllabus. I further invited locals to participate and promote environmental health to curb diseases as most of the litter is hazardous to both human beings and wildlife.” Following the clean-up activities, Langa was thrilled to notice that beautiful birds which had left the area started coming back to these rehabilitated wetlands. It was his drive and initiative that drove him to request a partnership with iSimangaliso in a sports event, and he opened the event with a talk on his environmental education activities, wetlands and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. An introduction on iSimangaliso was also given by the Park’s Environmental Planner, Siboniso Mbense. He engaged with the youth by first asking questions to spectators for which he offered an iSimangaliso t-shirt or cap for the correct answer. These questions included identifying major problems faced by South African parks and the detrimental human impact on nature. iSimangaliso’s Slindile Msweli, Marketing Co-ordinator in charge of the logistics and a former bursary student supported by iSimangaliso, said that “the event gave iSimangaliso a platform to interact with the neighbouring communities, strengthen relationships and create awareness. The presentations were well received by the community present. You could see in other people’s faces the excitement of being part of this event; that made it special and it showed that even though thousands were not reached instantly an impact has been made on a few in one way or another, whether it’s a t-shirt they took away, bursary information or a few answered questions about the Park- that to me is an accomplishment.” Following the event it was gratifying to receive several letters of appreciation including from TM Mdletshe of Khula, who wrote to iSimangaliso to say: “We really appreciate what you did today at Nyamazaneni stadium. It’s given us the opportunity to learn and do something in life. I have gained more than I was expecting during today’s game. You taught me the importance of iSimangaliso and why we should protect our environment as youth.” Langa, on behalf of the Dukuduku communities and participants, said: “iSimangaliso showed a strong commitment to revive sustainable partnership with locals. Please pass my gratitude and best wishes to the entire staff, and management. From an environmental conservation perspective we need more similar gatherings, in order to achieve general support from the entire communities neighbouring the prestigious World Heritage Site.”

Sep 04 2017
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Farewell to Andrew Zaloumis @ Sibaya – Sodwana Bay

By Sodwana Bay

iSimangaliso bids farewell to Andrew Zaloumis After some 20 years of outstanding leadership and a career dedicated to people-centred conservation, Andrew Zaloumis has stepped down as CEO of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. He will pursue his studies in sustainability at Cambridge University UK and continue to contribute to Southern African conservation and development. Andrew Zaloumis on the edge of Lake St Lucia, centrepiece of the iSimangaliso World Heritage Site, in the early 2000s; Walking in the Tewate wilderness on a guided trail – one of the rare places where one is at complete peace with nature. Recognised in the international and domestic arena as a visionary in his field, Andrew has received a host of global awards for the implementation of a conservation model for protected area management that puts communities at the centre of conservation strategies. Respected by his staff and people who worked with him as a leader who translated ideas into tangible life-changing benefits to the lives of the communities he served, Andrew leaves behind a living legacy that few South African’s would have had the courage and strength to pull together. He met his mandate and proceeded to do more. Not only was he instrumental in the establishment of South Africa’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, he also transformed the region from a declining tourist economy into a flourishing and growing tourism destination capable of competing with some of the finest global attractions. Zaloumis was honoured to receive the WWF Living Planet award in 2015; Receiving an ‘Ingwazi (Legend) Award’ from the Land of Legends Association, one of many awarded to Zaloumis and iSimangaliso for outstanding work during his term of service; One of the regular payments made to the Bhangazi Land Claimants through the revenue sharing process; Handing over equipment to Thandi Masuku as part of the Park’s Rural Enterprise Programme. “Under his tenure, Mr Zaloumis pioneered and institutionalised development-focused conservation at the Park,” comments the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Edna Molewa, and during his leadership, Government has delivered significant benefits across the iSimangaliso region, both through the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority. These include the construction of the Hluhluwe to Mozambique road, upgrades to the N2, the implementation of a malaria programme that reduced malaria incidence by 96% in KwaZulu-Natal, as well as the listing of iSimangaliso on the World Heritage role and the promulgation of the World Heritage Convention Act, the consolidation of 16 parks under one banner and management system, the investment and construction of Park roads, bulk services, tourism accommodation and day-visitor facilities in the 320km long iSimangaliso. During the past 17 years iSimangaliso has embarked on an ambitious rewilding programme to reintroduce all historically existing species as well as boost current populations. Above: A rehabilitated green turtle and a rescued serval are released into the Park. In his drive to recreate the wholeness of nature and to begin the process of rewilding the Park, Andrew managed the reintroduction of historically occurring game last seen a century ago on the banks of Lake St Lucia, the removal of commercial forestry plantations from the Park, and the systematic rehabilitation of the Eastern and Western Shores sections of iSimangaliso. Well ahead of his time, however, Andrew recognised that the cornerstone of rewilding iSimangaliso involved a dimension way beyond the rehabilitation of nature. He understood that in order to recreate this wholeness, it was imperative to create a place where people and nature could reconnect and flourish. So Andrew and his management team set about to explore – and implement – every possible avenue to create opportunities for access, equity and economic empowerment of local communities. Most of the land rehabilitation work is undertaken using labour-intensive methods, creating a significant number of temporary jobs in the area, and some 8 000 permanent tourism jobs have been created. There are three community-owned tourism lodges in the Park, as well as community-owned and operated boat cruises, turtle tours, game drives, and other excursions in the Park under licence. The Higher Education Access Programme has provided 87 young people with financial and other support for their university studies. The first 50 graduates are charting a path for themselves in conservation-related fields. The Rural Enterprise Programme has mentored and supported 215 small businesses, 106 of which have been given seed capital and 3 000 odd crafters, artists, and tour guides have been trained. The work in iSimangaliso has translated into a reversal of a negative tourism trajectory. The number of establishments in the iSimangaliso region has grown some 86%. The region has outperformed other KwaZulu-Natal destinations in numbers of arrivals, both domestic and international, and average spend by tourists has increased. Last but not least, under Andrew’s inscrutable direction, iSimangaliso has achieved 15 consecutive clean audits, helped to raise millions with the establishment of the iSimangaliso Rare and Endangered Wildlife Species Fund and enlisted the financial support of the World Bank’s Global Environment Fund, for the rehabilitation of the Lake St Lucia Estuary – arguably the biggest estuary rehabilitation project in the world. Above: The opening of the Western Shores section to the public in 2012; Zaloumis participating in the Mandela Day ’67 minutes of service’ where staff removed alien trees from the Lake St Lucia Estuary. The awards given to Andrew and iSimangaliso include the SAICA 2015/16 award for Public Sector Audit Excellence, the WWF Living Planet Award, Mail and Guardian Greening the Future Award for youth leadership and job creation, the National Heritage Council Golden Shield Award for World Heritage Site of the year, and the KFW Grizmek (for people-centric conservation practices). iSimangaliso was also a finalist in the World Travel and Tourism Council Tourism for Tomorrow Awards and in 2016, Andrew was given the honour as a John P McNulty Laureate for the Rural Enterprise Programme. “He is a legend in our lifetime”, says Buyani Zwane, Chairman of the iSimangaliso Board. “Not many in our nation have demonstrated selflessness, dedication to grooming leaders, managers,…

May 17 2016
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Coastal Skippers Training

By Sodwana Bay

Coastal Skippers @ Sodwana Bay Indian Ocean Skippers You always been dreaming of becoming a “Captain” – now make your dreams come true. All our Coastal Skippers course are on location in Sodwana Bay – with a Theoretical and Practical exam. Visit our website for more information. WINTER COURSE DATES:JUNE 10-14 : Coastal Skippers @ Sodwana BayJULY 29 – 2 AUG: Coastal Skippers @ Sodwana BayJUNE 8 & 22: Inland Skippers @ Pretoria shopJULY 20 : Inland Skippers @ Pretoria shopCoastal skippers: R6860 pp. (includes course materials, lectures, practical, SAMSA registration fees, 4nights tented accommodation, 4dinners/4breakfasts)Inland skippers: R2100 pp. (course materials, lectures, practical, SAMSA registration fees) Get certified this winter!  BOOK NOW? Visit Indian Ocean Skippers website… http://twobar.co.za/training-to-become-a-skipper/ Telephone: (012) 361 2617 Telephone: (012) 348 9078 Mobile: 079 116 5084 E-mail: info@twobar.co.za