Haywards Safari

Women on Safari

With Peter Hayward – Safari Eventsman Extraordinaire

From Arabic word: safaríya.
In its original context, it probably referred to the long distances explorers and traders would have to traverse for trade and barter purposes to and from the great forgotten citadels and empires of Africa interlinked by well worn trade routes.
1868 – Safari – the caravan and equipment of an expedition
especially in eastern or southern Africa;
1892 – Safari – man, animals, and equipment involved in an expedition.

Reading these definitions of safari it is clear that a safari is not a shopping spree into Sandton in your black gleaming Range Rover Sport! Although sometimes with all the potholes and building construction sites around it could be!

Who is Peter Hayward and why does he have a story to tell about Woman and Safaris? Grand tented expedition style safaris, that is. This is not another story about a pretty game lodge, or a boutique bush camp set on stilts around a water hole or even a simple tented camp. It doesn’t refer to even one “rough tough Camel Man unshaved and bare-chested sweating and grinding though the Kalahari dust. No, it’s simply a story about the Hayward’s Grand Tented Expedition camp – all 300 tons of it – 40,000 items packed into a convoy – headed towards the hinterland on an insane deadline in a twenty three 8 ton truck convoy stretching out over 4 kilometers. This is the story of the strategic role woman play in this grand 5 Star expeditions and event operation.

“It’s a man’s world” is such a cliché but much like a military campaign its absolute support base is run by woman….very special, highly selected woman able to make any ego based ”boytjie” cry says Peter whilst contemplating this pertinent subject on Woman’s Day.

“Ever since the very first Hayward’s safaris way back in 1993, I have been privileged to experience and enjoy the dedication and total commitment woman bring to the safari team…..from dedicated sales and production managers, housekeepers, chefs and maitre de’s to my business partner Victoria and family such as my four beautiful daughters who have each in their own turn been with me in some of the most harshest conditions…the deserts of Namibia to the windswept beaches of the Indian Ocean. They have all played most strategic roles in the delivery of some of the world’s most incredible award winning events.

“Listen, with an all male establishment crew numbering sometimes as much as fifty guys there is no way we would come home in one piece without the absolute care we get from our Executive Production Manager Celia and her female teams of event managers, health spa professionals, staff cooks, first aid matrons, dedicated scullery team, housekeeping etc….there are just certain things the blokes can’t do. After all, most of them are mummy’s boys and need “a little bit of direction and motivation” when a day suddenly turns into an 18 hour shift and the 18 hour shift lasts for 21 days, smiles Hayward.

“ At the end of the day it has never been about trying to be politically correct with our woman/male balance on safari….rather it been about “the best man for the job” and very often when the safari gets going the tough start running and it becomes pretty obvious that the best man for a particular job just so happens to be a woman. That’s a fact and our incredible success over the years in running safari events for the likes of Oprah, The Miss World’s, and even highly private and exclusive personal events for the many of the world’s leading business woman is attributed to the special dedicated and forthright quality woman automatically radiate, concludes Hayward.

Note About Doing A Safari Expediton With Hayward’s
Earliest safari expeditions recorded were primarily focused around the gold trading industry. There is an ancient history spanning more than 12,000 years of trade between Arabic and African cultures. This places safari expeditions firmly in the realm of African origin and not the colonial intervention which is a mere 250 years old.

The Gold Mines of King Solomon and the gold laden region of Ophir tell tales of traders arriving from the middle east on Monsoon winds in huge dhows or Chinese junks to then set off into the hinterland in large caravans traveling across vast landscapes to bring their wares from one city to the next in exchange for gold. According to Gemma Pitcher in Tanzania’s Safari History, European safari caravans were large-scale operations that involved a huge contingent of staff, crew and guests along with supplies and trade goods. Some of these trade routes were rather treacherous, so skillful bartering and negotiating with regional kings and queens also played a crucial role in getting from point A to point B.

Hayward’s re-enacts the era of the Golden Age of Trade. A Grand tented camp for entertaining “royalty” with chefs and kitchens preparing sumptuous 12 course dinners, whilst musicians and artists capture the romance in the African night and present it to their illustrious audiences on a starlit platter. A tented citadel that moves in-situ where most needed….near a village where a corporate can exercise a social responsibility program or a desert ideal for a 4×4 launch or on a private reserve where it is totally safe, secure and exclusive….only the wedding or special birthday party present and no one else.

Hayward’s can accommodate 180 guests in comfortable bathroom en suite canvass exploration tents, and provides a full service spa treatment centre, hair salons, conference tents and a beautifully decorated dining hall known as the Gin Tent with Adjoining Safari Club complete with pool and card tables and cigar rooms.

Is Hayward’s “opulent”?
”No, not at all. Every safari can be trimmed according to client specification and intention of use and what’s more…..every item in the camp is only there because it has a function with primary concern for guests comfort. This is not camping…. We don’t expect our guests to suffer…. It’s Safari after all….. winks Hayward…

The Women Behind Hayward’s

Celia du Preez
Production Manager at Hayward’s Grand Safaris Events & Expeditions.
“I’ve been with Hayward’s since March 2006 and I enjoy every moment.

“You are a woman but you think like a man and then convert this know-how into woman care and precision, and voila…”

Each event is so different that it feels like you are starting from ground zero every time you weave this together. Safaris from the outset are male dominated with a toughness written over them and endurance, tolerance and great determination following behind – that is the reality – but the finesse of the fluidness has the organizing, multi tasking, precision and caring nature of women transporting this concept and exploration with delicacy and feminine perseverance.

A woman comes with a lot of paraphernalia…but getting a safari organized, from safety pins to hose pipes, and building this enormous camp in dust, under exuberating conditions from rain storms, wind, heat to a lack of water … it’s best to leave your high heels at home, forget about your facials and your manicures, and learn how to blow dry your hair looking in a mirror you are balancing on the generator, or fix a plug because the guys are not around, or create your office from the back of a Land Rover … just to get the job done and the show on the road… for the love of the game…

From working eighteen hour shifts every day to sometimes a few months on the road, treating every staff member and supplier as an individual, from the fruit & veg delivery, to the guy who has sore muscles or hurt his finger and missing his mother… you need to have a heart like a lioness.

The privilege of this canvas hotel slipping into an area, introducing and establishing communication between the Land Custodian, Client, Guests, Agent, Staff, Key Suppliers and people from the nearby village, offering an incredible transportation for guests from their own comfort zone into an environment where they are taken care of in the true sense of the word.. and when you leave, its only bent grass.

Your urges towards survival as a woman, your considerations, your interests and your passion are woven into a tapestry of life. And if you look carefully, the whole universe fits into the canvas walls of a Hayward’s safari.”

Hannah Davis

Hannah is an Aroma Therapist in Hayward’s Health Team who qualified in England in 1999.

She has worked as a Body Specialist on Cruise Ships for 7 years and has been running her own practice in South Africa for the past 5 years.

“Being a therapist in Hayward’s Health Team is a privilege. I get to work with a great team of 5-10 Internationally trained therapists, treating up to 250 clients from all over the world.

Usually this is in a perfect and breathtaking environment in private parts of the Drakensberg having mountains as our back drop or when we were situated right next to a large river near the Kruger Park. Relaxing music was not necessary whilst we were massaging as we had Hippos vocalizing, Elephants drinking and Fish eagles calling! This tranquil escape is set up in our canvas Aromatherapy Centre, we open the canvas along one side letting in the fabulous views, this is simply the best way to unwind and be revitalized.”

Denese Palm
Client Liaison

“You say the word ‘safari ‘in company and most women look at you in disbelief. “Sleep in a tent” is a suggestion that conjures up the same emotion as being told to “ relinquish your credit card”.

These sentiments I shared for most of my life, until I experienced my first Safari with Hayward’s. Faced with the problem of too many guests and too few five star rooms, the solution came in the tented luxury Safari option and the wonderful, once in a lifetime experience for 87 Miss World Contestants, who stayed overnight in the luxury tents, in a Big 5 Private Game Reserve. Here began my relationship with the adventure, which has led on many occasions to introducing Celebrities and High End Business People to the unique experience of Hayward’s Luxury Safari’s.

Imagine taking a star studded group of 200 celebrities to dinner in the middle of the Pilanesburg, serving them an 8 course feast and entertaining them in African style in complete privacy, the only intrusion being a bush orchestra and a star filled African sky. An achievement in anyone’s book. Managing the client expectation is a big part of what we do. We strive to facilitate your every desire, from the time you wake to the time you close your eyes, tucked up in Egyptian cotton sheets, with your private butler a stone’s throw away. Whether you are on a business conference or attending an event, our aim does not vary, it is all about service.

It has been so rewarding to read the testament of guests who have been with us on Safari, many of whom probably came with trepidation, but all left inspired and eager to repeat the experience.

Over the years, it has become more and more difficult to find venues that are unique and that can excite the market place. I do believe we have that product as we can go anywhere and tailor make the experience to any request and when we leave, we leave the location as nature intended with no trace of our visit. In the past years I have had the privilege to move from agent to an integral part of the Hayward’s operation. Wearing this hat, has at times stretched my skills to driving 8 ton trucks through the bush and plumbing in a bath for a principle client, a far cry from my city life… but it is all part of the adventure, and what an adventure, when you arrive home after 12 days in the bush to be greeted with the comment “I thought you were working, you look as if you have been at a health spa.”

Hayward’s Grand Safari Events & Expeditions
Tel: 0861 732 583 or +27 12 808 0442
Fax to E-mail: 086 530 9427
E-mail: reservations@secluded.co.za
Web: www.haywardsafaris.com