The ruin of the Namibian coast from Walvis Bay to the Skeleton Coast National Park has been called an ecological disaster – and it was inflicted by tourists.
The trouble with tipping
The waiter, the porter, the tour guide and the taxi driver. Even the old man whose photograph you take. When you travel, everyone expects a tip, whether the service was good, ordinary or completely unacceptable. Worse, tourists may be creating this expectation in places it never existed before.
Elephant culling: Victims of their own success
The decision to allow elephant culling after a 13-year ban is one of the most controversial in South Africa's conservation history. While animal rights activists think it will lead to an elephant genocide, conservationists believe there is reason to be optimistic.
Will land claims mean the end of Kruger?
The Kruger National Park belongs to all South Africans, but possibly not for very much longer. At least 25 percent of the park is under land claim, and rumours put the figure much higher than that. What will it mean for one of South Africa's most beloved wildernesses when the ownership of these areas is restored to their former inhabitants?
Travel insurance: So much for peace of mind
There are horror stories about travel insurance leaving people in the lurch. If you don't have time to read the fine print, make sure you read this.
Captive elephants: A grey issue
The use of captive elephants in the tourism industry is often debated in black-and-white terms, but the realities are far from simple.
How green is your golf course?
Pinnacle Point was voted one of the world's top 10 new golf courses and South Africa's Real Estate Project of the Year 2008. But its fairways and mansions came at a shocking price to South Africa's natural heritage and archaeological resources.
Goodbye trout?
South Africa’s proposed legislation for alien and invasive species laims to minimise damage to biodiversity by all alien species. But the trout fishing industry believes it’s being unfairly targeted.
Voluntourism: Warm fuzzies or cold, hard cash?
It's an idea South Africans react to with astonishment. Tourists are paying top dollar, pound or euro to work for charitable projects in other countries. The idea of voluntourism, as it's known, was pioneered in South Africa and has mushroomed into an international industry worth millions. The question is: does voluntourism do more harm than good?
Alison Westwood 