BelAfrique

Placement organization

Name of organization: BelAfrique
Town/city: Paarl, Western Cape
Country: Zuid-Afrika
Website: http://www.belafrique.com

Name of student: Robin Verhof

Specialist area: MTT
Placement period: 2015-2016

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour Operator/DMC
Organization’s activities: BelAfrique is a boutique tour operator that specializes in bespoke, tailor-made itineraries to Kenya, Tanzania & Zanzibar, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho & Swaziland. They consist out of a small team of experienced travel consultants who will give the clients their African adventure of a lifetime. They work with direct clients & travel agencies, aiming at the more luxury travelers.
Target group of the organization: FIT’s, Luxury Travelers
Company culture: Informal
Number of employees: 5
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? No particular department, as BelAfrique is a small company
Brief description of your daily activities: I am mainly busy with the making of quotes and travel documents (itinerary/directions) for the clients, filing and requesting rates, updating the database and emailing clients and suppliers. I was also very lucky to go on an educational and spent a weekend at a safari camp
Brief description of your company assignment: My company assignment is to research the (social media) marketing possibilities for BelAfrique, mainly aiming at the United States as the target group.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Supervision is good, you will spend most of the time in the office with Isabelle (the owner of the company).

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, sociable, flexible
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French: Basic
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Previous students
How did you go to work every day? By bicycle

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, Exchange Visa
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: The Dutch Embassy in The Hague
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 1,5 month
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 2 months

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? No, you will learn soon enough once you get here

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 700
Accommodation (monthly): € 220
Local transport (monthly): € 50
General costs of living (monthly): € 400
Costs of visa: € 50 for the visa itself, 30 for a Certificate of Good Conduct (VOG)
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation of R2000 each month, which is about 120 euros

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I read a lot of books and blogs about South Africa
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 142141@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Do: enjoy everything this beautiful country has to offer but don’t walk alone after dark, avoid certain areas and watch your belongings.

Also, start early with applying for your visa and preparing all your documents as the Embassy in The Hague is already very ‘Africa style’! 😉 (I would start at least 2 months in advance)
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Paarl is a small town and if you like wine then this is the perfect place for you there are a lot of wine farms in the area.

In the weekends you can go to Cape Town which is only 40 minutes (or 1,5 hours by train) away. The list of things to do here is endless, but to give you an idea some of the things I did:
– Table Mountain/Lion’s Head
– Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (in summer you have really nice concerts here)
– Long Street/Kloof Street/Bree Street for shopping and nice restaurants
– The Cape Peninsula (with African penguins on Boulders Beach)
– Horse riding on Noordhoek Beach
– Mzoli’s Place in Gugulethu township for braai (barbecue) and party with the locals
– Old Biscuit Mill with the Neighbourgoods market on Saturday morning
– Other nice markets like Bay Harbour Market in Hout Bay, Blue Bird Garage in Muizenberg, Oranjezicht Farm market
etc. etc…

One of my best experiences was a long weekend to Cederberg, a mountain range +- 3 hours from Cape Town where you can go hiking and stargazing.

You won’t get bored here, I promise you 😉

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link