At JKO Safaris we urge all hunters to stay calm. Let us see what the situation turns into. It has been reported that South Korea, one of the nations with the most advanced testing infrastructures, has shown the disease to be less fatal than thought. Meanwhile, China reports a dramatic drop in new infections and the world is rallying to find a permanent solution. 

South Africa has limited cases of Corona (Covid-19), and especially the wilderness areas where you will hunt has a very low chance of any virus exposure.

All this means that we are moving in the right direction at a great pace, and once travel bans are overturned, one of the best things you could do is continue on your African Safari! 

Dear Reader,

We recognize that with the constantly changing COVID-19 situation around the world, this is an unprecedented time for everyone — a time that, for many, is filled with uncertainty. Our hearts and thoughts go out to each and every one of you who have been affected. 

At the writing of this, South Africa has only 61 confirmed cases with zero casualties. We anticipate that this number will still rise but we can assure that our government has taken drastic steps to contain the spreading of the virus very early.

Here is a short summary of what the president of South Africa said last night addressing the nation:

Summary Of The Address By The President of the Republic. Declared:

• National State of Disaster:
• Travel ban on high-risk countries starting 18 March. Visas have been cancelled and existing visas will be revoked.
• SA citizens will not be allowed to travel to high-risk countries.
• SA citizens returning from high-risk countries will be placed in quarantine.
• SA has 72 ports of entry, 35 will be shut down from Monday.
• All non-essential travel outside of the country is prohibited.
• Domestic travel is not encouraged.
• Social and community gatherings are discouraged.
• Gatherings of more than 100 people will be prohibited.
• Schools will be closed from Wednesday 18th until the end of the Easter Weekend.
• Business to exercise great care to protect staff.
• There will be quarantine sites in all metros.
• There will be a tracking system to track and monitor those who have been infected with the virus.

We at JKO Hunting Safaris would encourage any clients that are booked for an African safari to keep calm and wait it out a couple of days before acting on your safari plans.

I do understand that there is a lot of uncertainty but with time we will learn more. We believe the drastic measures taken by our government is indeed necessary to stop the spread of the virus before it does much more damage over a prolonged time frame.

We will go out of our way to accommodate the reschedule of any of our clients that are affected by the Covid-19 situation. We also do understand that all of our clients have to travel internationally to get to Africa and our other destinations. We do not know at this stage how long the travel ban in South Africa would be but I would say at least 30 days. We will work tirelessly to help all our clients reschedule their safaris for a later stage and will honour all safaris booked with us, we urge clients not to cancel their safaris completely.

We pray for all the people that have been infected and drastically affected by the virus. We will do our best to keep you updated on the situation in South Africa and how it develops.

Thank you very much for your time and please do not hesitate to contact us with any requests or safari related questions.