Dianne Tipping-Woods

In that exquisite moment between day and night, the sky deepened into a magnetic blue—something richer and more elusive than twilight, yet softer and subtler than dusk. We had climbed through a hobbit door—a whimsical portal—emerging onto a fragrant living roof as though stepping quietly into another realm. Now, we watched as a deliberate moon climbed into view. My feet were bare, and the earth was warm. I could sense the planet’s gentle curve, hear the rivers murmuring, and almost forgot I was sitting on someone’s roof.

My admiration for Sharon Haussmann began with hyenas. New to the Lowveld, I heard about a woman obsessed with these fascinating, complex, and misunderstood creatures. We drove to the den site she’d been frequenting and watched baby hyenas wrestle. Sharon wasn’t yet the conservation powerhouse she has since become. Still, even then, it was clear that she was a woman whose intellectual curiosity combined rigorous observation with deep empathy for the natural world.

From the lapping waters of the Kafue River to the chorus in the woodlands, Kafue National Park is a deep dive into an ecosystem where birds reign supreme.

The lechwe, emerged as the sun rose over the Busanga Plains,their russet backs catching the light and shadows taking form. At first glance, I thought I saw a small group, but as I looked longer, more appeared. Without binoculars, the distant shapes blurred into the horizon once again. “How many do you think there are?” I asked Chrispin Ndlovu, our guide from Mozhi Bushcamp. “Can you count the grass?” he replied.

Flatdogs Camp leads by example in South Luangwa with Fair Trade certification.
At the gateway to South Luangwa National Park, Flatdogs Camp has long been known for offering one of the most welcoming and authentic safari experiences in the valley. Now, it has another accolade: Flatdogs is one of the first safari camps in Zambia to achieve Fair Trade Tourism certification.

Why would you want to travel alone as a woman? We think the question should be: Why wouldn’t you? There’s a wonderful, wild world out there, with no limits to where confidence and curiosity can take you as you explore Africa’s Eden.

The slaughter of millions of American bison is one of the great tragedies in US history.
In 1870, an estimated 10 million to 15 million bison (or buffalo) roamed the Great Plains, where they maintained healthy ecosystems and supported Indigenous lifeways. But as European settlers and hunters advanced west, they massacred the animals for their hides, supplying a booming trade. At the same time, the US government and military backed campaigns to eliminate the species to subju...

Nowhere is the distinct topography of the Okavango Delta more apparent than from the air. A bird’s-eye view gives shape and form to the beauty and diversity in the vast wetland wilderness in the middle of the Kalahari Desert. You get this view if you explore Botswana using air transfers, enjoying a helicopter experience, or combining the two on a once-in-a-lifetime safari.
As the Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter skimmed the grassy verge of a large lagoon and swooped up over the treeline, ther...

A deep dive into where, why, and how whales migrate – and how to protect their blue corridors.

From gray whales undertaking epic transoceanic journeys to minkes navigating shorter, seasonal shifts, whale migrations are deeply entwined with the arc of their lives and the health of the world's oceans...

Exciting new craft beers and small-batch gins are adding their distinctive flavours to southern Africa's sundowner scene. Brewed and distilled just a stone's throw from places like the world-famous Victoria Falls and Okavango Delta, these drinks are inspired by the people and flavours around them. They are fast becoming icons in their own right…

Follow some of southern Africa's most distinctive mammals as they make their annual trek from Nambia's Zambezi Region to Nxai Pans in Botswana.

Driving slowly along a two-track road through a vivid green landscape, we watched a hyena loping off into the distance. It was green season in Botswana's Nxai Pan National Park, and the landscape was a lush mosaic of fresh grasses and wildflowers, animated by bird song and, at night, the chirping of insects and frogs. We'd come for the zebras, and just a few kilometres further, we spotted hundreds of them scattered through the vast, open landscape.

"We visited Twyfelfontein, a massive, open-air art gallery and UNESCO World Heritage Site with one of Africa's largest concentrations of rock art. We hiked boot-striping terrain while tracking black rhinos in the Palmwag Concession, spent hours with desert-adapted elephants in the Huab River, and found lions near the Khowarib Schlucht, a deep canyon formed where the Hoanib River cuts through the mountains east of Khowarib. We visited an old fort-turned-hotel in Sesfontein, slept under st

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Author: Diane Tipping-Woods
When Harvey Williams Jr. started brewing distilling vodka from sweet potatoes in Phillips County, Arkansas, in 2017, he didn't know his grandfather's story. "We were setting up the distillery, and [my dad] came in and said, 'Hey, your granddad used to do moonshine, and this is one of his jugs.' Then he went on to tell the story about how we came by way of getting the farm."
It’s a story that stretches back over five generations, from the brutal era of slavery...

Resources and learning materials from the inaugural six-month Oxpeckers training course are now available to advance data journalism and environmental reporting around the globe

By Dianne Tipping-Woods

In a boost for environmental crime reporting in Southern Africa, journalists who completed the inaugural six-month Oxpeckers course on using data to report on wildlife crime have committed to using their freshly honed skills to keep pushing for access to information in their respective countrie...