Inspiring African Travel

Welcome back to Inspiring African Travel! In this episode, we bring you Episode 3 of our podcast relaunch, recorded in Zanzibar last year at the Divepoint Scuba Centre, situated at Sunshine Marine Lodge on the east coast of the island, directly opposite some of the best diving sites in the area.

We had the pleasure of meeting up with Frank Mollel, also known as Frank the Masai Diver, who initiated a project in Zanzibar a few years ago called Linda Bahari.

As part of our fundraising project dedicated to Jules, we'll be contributing towards their work, which involves rehabilitating coral in their operating area, as well as providing crucial training and support to the local community in conservation efforts while creating employment opportunities.

Frank is one of Julia's closest friends, and we're so excited about spending more time with him in Africa in the future. He is a wonderful human! 

The conversation was recorded early in the morning before our last dive in the coral nursery, where we delved into Frank's friendship with Julia and discussed the legacy we aim to create in her honour.

If you're interested in learning more about Frank, you can listen to our first episode featuring Julia, Stuart, and us back in 2021. Podcast episode in features in series 3 – Guide stories or on youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfvlCiQ3HTo

Once again, everyone, thank you for the incredible momentum behind our fundraiser. We've raised nearly GBP 6,500, and a portion of these funds will be directed towards supporting the valuable work of Linda Bahari on the island.

Thank you for listening, everyone, and we hope you enjoy the episode!

Welcome, everyone, to Episode 2 of our relaunch series of Inspiring African Travel. Our main goal here is to honour the memory of our co-founder, my incredible wife, Julia.

We're also thrilled to update you on our fundraising project for the three amazing grassroots projects we're supporting. First and foremost, a massive thank you to everyone who has donated thus far.

Our target was to raise GBP 30,000 this year, and we're already approaching GBP 5,000! That's nearly US$6,000 already – an astonishing response. The feedback celebrating Julia's legacy has been incredibly generous and heart-warming. If you haven't already, do check out our relaunch episode, just before this one.

We've been sharing more details about the projects we're supporting on our social media channels and will continue to do so. If you haven't already, please follow Inspiring African Travel on Instagram, Facebook, etc.

In this episode, we're sharing a conversation recorded with Stuart, as another tribute to Julia and her influence on our lives and the inception of this podcast. Our mission is to share our passion for travel in Africa and share our unique experiences and tips from around the continent.

Julia's impact on our lives and this podcast has been immense. So, here's our tribute conversation, recorded from the beautiful Modderfontein Reserve, nestled in the heart of Johannesburg on a chilly morning.

Modderfontein Reserve is actually the second largest private park in Gauteng, South Africa.

https://modderfonteinreserve.co.za

They're on a mission to replant over 5,000 indigenous trees and create a sanctuary around the city. It offers fantastic mountain biking tracks, breathtaking trail running, and scenic hikes, which we thoroughly enjoy every time we're in Johannesburg.

There's also an incredible farmers' market on weekends, offering a variety of treats, including exceptional coffee, which Stu and I were savouring on a large rock in the valley on that misty morning.

Thank you once again, everyone. Enjoy our conversation, and we'll catch up with you for Episode 3 in a couple of weeks, featuring our good friend, Frank, the Masai diver.

But for now, here we are in Jozi, with James’ great friend Stu, who he’s known since 1997 and who has been an incredible support and integral part of this podcast. See you soon!