I was reminded again this week of how quickly things can change and how important it is to be intentional about our daily lives and what we choose to fill them with. Just as the tourism industry was starting to be able to breathe again after being kept under by the stormy and turbulent waves of the pandemic, we were suddenly sucked back under again last week without notice, and ironically enough, because we had been honest about discovering a new variant. Who would have thought being honest could cause such chaos. The knee-jerk reaction of governments effectively isolating Southern Africa from the rest of the world in an effort to keep the new variant out of their county only serves to highlight yet again how important it is for the South African tourism industry to keep locals travelling locally.

Over the last two years we here at Wildside have certainly felt the effects of the pandemic ourselves and it hasn’t been easy to keep going. Many of our advertisers have been unable to advertise due to little or no budgets and very sadly many of them have lost everything. We have done what we can to assist in keeping the name of their lodges out there and on our readers minds and we have also tried our best to keep the hope of travel alive for our readers by offering the magazine free of charge online as well as in PDF format. I hope we have succeeded in some small way. I know our advertisers have appreciated the extra support and coverage we’ve offered them, and I hope that you our readers have enjoyed reading each edition as much as we have enjoyed producing it for you.

As in any business however we must work on a sustainable model and as much as we’d like to continue offering the magazine at no cost to our readers, this unfortunately is no longer a viable option for us. So to be able to keep bringing you #themagazinethattakesyouthere, from January 2022 we are introducing a subscription fee only R120 a year. A PDF copy of Wildside will be emailed directly to your in-box each month and all subscribers will automatically receive a free entry into all our competitions.

I do hope you will continue to journey alongside us going into 2022 and beyond so that we can continue to share the wonderful world of travel, adventure, and conservation with you.
To subscribe email liz@wildsidesa.co.za

Thank you for your support. Thank you for choosing Wildside Magazine. I wish you and your family a very blessed and happy Christmas. Take good care of one another. Cherish the precious time you have together. Be safe. Wear those masks and happy holidays!

Liz