Tag Archives: Conservation Global

Franklin University Students Have Fun Education in Knysna

Mike Hampton Posted on by

22 students from Franklin University Switzerland, led by Professor Armando Zanecchia, explored Knysna this week. This was part of their Academic Travel program which focuses on the challenges of economic and political development, as well as related issues of wildlife and natural resource conservation. The majority of the students were from the USA but made more worldly by those from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Most are currently studying International Relations and International Management. They stayed in the idyllic countryside of Rheenendal. Ocean Odyssey gave them the joys of … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!

Knysna to Karatara – Countryside

Mike Hampton Posted on by

I mentioned previously that Nathalie Belet from Conservation Global had introduced me to Ellie Leaning, an American student undertaking a project on food security in South Africa. I recommended that they visit the marvelous Tsiba College in Karatara. They were keen so i tagged along. I took them the long route there (almost an hour), through Rheenendal and the Karatara Pass. We took the tar road to Sedgefield on the way back. It became a perfect excuse to show you how beautiful Knysna’s countryside is 🙂 Read about our visit … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!

American Student Visits Knysna

Mike Hampton Posted on by

Conservation Global is hosting Elisabeth ‘Elly’ Leaning, a student from the countryside outside Boston USA. Elly is researching food security and is interested in places in Knysna where people are growing food for themselves. Conservation Global asked me if i knew of any such people or organisations. I took them to the grounds of the Knysna chapter of Epilepsy South Africa first. Everybody we met was so friendly! And the views of Knysna were gorgeous and contrasting, from White Location and the prison to the whole of central Knysna and … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!

The immaculate conception of Greg Vogt (Part 2)

Mike Hampton Posted on by

Part 1 can be read here. That controlled conception of Greg Vogt as CEO of Knysna Tourism (KT) was ominous. With the general public and members locked out of the CEO launch at The Director’s Club, it was an obvious move to prevent real questioning of the controversial Vogt. With taxpayers forking out more than R4million per year to Knysna Tourism (KT), and Tourism’s members supposedly having power whilst paying their fees, it was an insult to rights, transparency and democracy. Fortunately, there’s a little known video of the proceedings … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!

Were Knysna Tourism’s payments to Greg Vogt legal?

Mike Hampton Posted on by

Greg Vogt will become CEO of Knysna Tourism on 1 July 2014, despite clouds of questions hanging over him. I haven’t met a member of the Public who can understand his appointment to this important position. Only the politicians and Lauren Waring seem to be motivating their decision… and that is suspicious in itself considering their role in all that went wrong at Knysna Tourism. In the next blog about him, I will show you how he was appointed and why it doesn’t add up. But let’s start with the … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!

Tourism Truth #1: The Greg Vogt lie

Mike Hampton Posted on by

The central question is whether the spending of taxpayer’s money requires oversight? It must seem to be one of the dumbest questions of all time but remains the most relevant regarding the Knysna Tourism financial disaster that resulted in zero punishment and seemed to reward the ex-CEO, Shaun van Eck, with R270 000 and the new CEO, Greg Vogt, with a high-paying job. I’ve written so much and dealt with so many people yet the fundamentals have remained unanswered for 3 years. These have been deliberately obscured by those involved … Read the full article…

The truth may be bitter but sharing it is sweet!