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expatpartners ag specialises in supporting corporate clients and their internationally mobile employees. However, we also offer advice to private individuals who require assistance.
From time to time, we report on extraordinary people whom we have the privilege of assisting with international insurance matters.
Stuart and Susan Danks lead a life that many people dream of. Not “out of Africa”, but “in Africa”. It’s all about wildlife and hard rock.
Safari is a Swahili word from East Africa meaning Journey. In the mid-1800s explorers to Africa popularised it to mean an expedition or trip to Africa. Today safaris in Africa are no less exciting but are a lot more comfortable and easier to do. Africa is a massive continent that is bigger than the USA, China and Europe combined. It has huge game reserves, bigger than countries in Europe, that have been preserved for wildlife and nature. However, the difficulty is choosing the best safari options and this is why a good agent is essential.
Simply Africa is a specialist Swiss Safari Agency. It is owned and run by myself and my wife Susan. We are both Swiss citizens who grew up in Africa. I am a professional safari guide with many years’ experience and Susan has a Tour Guiding licence. She has also developed leadership, service and environmental programmes for the safari industry. This gives us a huge advantage of knowing Africa and its wild places well, and knowing the people who run the safari camps and lodges, where you stay. We offer for our advice for free, on best places to visit, depending on your wish list.
Both Southern and East Africa are the safest places to enjoy your safari. The wildlife areas are well run, with very comfortable accommodation, abundant wildlife and wonderful scenery. Like most things in life, the more you are prepared to budget, the better your experience will be. This includes better private viewing of wildlife, more luxury, better food and safety. This means you can really relax and enjoy the safari because everything is arranged for you.
East Africa is known for its large migrations of antelope, particularly one and half million wildebeest in the Serengeti. It has volcanic mountains like Kilimanjaro, and the Rwenzori mountains are often referred to as the “Mountains of the Moon”, where you find the mountain gorillas. This is also the source of the Nile River. Southern Africa has the biggest elephant population in the world, with Botswana having over 130 000, and Zimbabwe nearly 100 000 elephants. The biggest rhino populations are also found in Southern Africa. Predators such as lion and leopard are common in both East and Southern Africa.
Of course, medical insurance is essential whenever you travel. In Africa all the camps we use have cover for all the people who stay and most have airstrips for any critical conditions that may occur.
https://www.simplyafrica.ch/about-us
An article in Newsweek (14.9.1987) said “Shona sculpture is perhaps the most important new art form to emerge from Africa this century”. Zimbabwean Stone Sculpture had become a phenomenon in world art and captured the imagination of art lovers everywhere.
The tradition of Zimbabwean Stone Sculpture is hundreds of years old. The famous Zimbabwe bird sculptures from Great Zimbabwe, which existed between the 13th, and 15th century were an early indication, that Zimbabweans had sculpted with stone hundreds of years ago. However, contemporary Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture has its roots in the 1950’s, when Frank McEwan, the first Director of the National Gallery and a friend of Picasso, started an art workshop. Initially, the focus was on painting, and McEwan was impressed by the exciting and uninhibited work produced by the artists. He encouraged them to try sculpting with stone, and inspired them to express themselves, while teaching them the value of artistic integrity. The results were astounding and McEwen’s reputation in the art world enabled him to organise exhibitions in the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1969 and the Rodin Museum in Paris in 1972. These exhibitions were hugely successful and sculptors such as Takawira, Munyaradzi, Mukomberanwa and Mariga earned acclaim from art critics around the world.
Stone Dynamics Gallery, started by Stuart Danks, has exhibited Zimbabwe Stone Sculptures at the gracious, world-renowned Victoria Falls Hotel for 40 years. Many guests and galleries have bought sculptures, and some have become long-term friends of the gallery, adding to their collections over time. The wonderful thing about this sculpture is, that it suits so many styles of architecture and interior design. Although sadly many of the First Generation artists are no longer with us, artists like Richard Mteki, Ernest Chiwaridzo, Zachariah Njobo and Rufaro Ngoma have found a home at the gallery and display most of their art here.
Ten years ago Stuart Danks wrote a book called Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture which is available on Amazon.
https://stonedynamicsgallery.com
