South Africa

All, Daily Blog, Rotary, Social Outreach

Skybok at The Rotary Convention 2017


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Rotary Convention 2017
My mother Gianna Doubell, District Governor of Rotary District 9370, wearing traditional hand-beaded Xhosa / Eastern Cape African collar

Skybok Films in Atlanta

Skybok produced a video showcase of the International Rotary Convention held in Atlanta, Georgia. We’ll soon be writing about our trip to the last one in Hamburg, Germany (2019).

As far as Atlanta goes, I absolutely loved the city! Especially the Margaret Mitchell House – Margaret Mitchell was the author of “Gone With The Wind”!

Fast Facts About Atlanta

1. Atlanta is one of two cities in the world to have housed two Nobel Peace Prize winners.

2. Atlanta has the second-most shopping center space in the U.S.

3. It’s the home of Coca-Cola (where Coke was first invented!)

4. It’s the home of “Margaret Mitchell House” – where author of “Gone With The Wind” Margaret Mitchell wrote the famous novel!

5. It’s the home of CNN headquarters

4. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is the busiest in the world.

5. Julia Roberts was born in Georgia – Smyrna in fact.

6. The Continental Divide out west gets all the love, but Atlanta is home to the Eastern Continental Divide, which separates water draining into the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic.

Getting There

I recommend booking with ExploreTrip.com to get your best rate for a flight – especially now for the summer as a surprise for your family or a loved one (not necessarily to Atlanta, hehe!) and Trivago to get the best deals on hotels when you are there – click to check out Trivago Home.

Grab a bargain Summer Fares to top cities nationwide. Get $15 off with promo code DEAL15. Book Now!

Going Abroad

Planning for an international trip? With ExploreTrip deep discounted International Flights you can save big on your travel. Hurry, few seats are left.

The Convention was host to 40,000 Rotarians from around the world.

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In line to the house of friendship + breakout sessions
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Photos at The Rotary Wheel // Georgia World Congress Centre
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I am in traditional African wear with Xhosa hand-beaded head piece
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With friends from India
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The line coming out of the virtual reality session at the Rotary Convention 2017
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House of Friendship
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Collecting badges
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#Rotary17
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The Social Media Lounge
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The International Ballroom
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The welcome area
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A project “Shelter Box”

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Every Ribbon is a $1 donation
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Friends at The house of Friendship
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House of friendship
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Exchanging ideas + developing rich friendships across cultures (South African Badge on the left)
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With friends from Nigeria
Daily Blog

Puma Shirt Giveaway!


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Want a chance to win a unique shirt from Puma South Africa? Go to our Instagram, and follow the instructions on our post. We want to give you a shot at winning some cute new apparel, and we also want to know where you’d like to see Skybok film next! Be sure to share this post and blog link with your friends! We love to keep our online friend circle growing. :)

Blog, Daily Blog

Exploring Egypt


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Egypt is a dreamy destination full of history, culture and mystery. Head on over to our Instagram to see our highlighted stories and feed posts from all parts of Egypt! Keep scrolling to see some of our favorites on here. Already follow us on Instagram? We appreciate you – you can see similar posts and MORE on our facebook, check us out!

Activities, Addo, Daily Blog, Nature, Pretoria

Skybok Films Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa


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The National Environmental Management Protected Areas Act mandates SANParks to create destinations for nature-based tourism in a manner that is not harmful to the environment. As SANParks is primarily a self-funding entity generating approximately 80% of its operating budget from its ecotourism business; fulfilment of its conservation mandate is heavily reliant on a thriving and sustainable tourism operations.

SANParks’ business operations are founded on three important core pillars:

  • Conservation – the primary mandate of the organisation is the conservation of South Africa’s biodiversity, landscapes and associated heritage assets through a system of national parks.
  • Responsible Tourism – the organisation has a significant role in the promotion of South Africa’s nature-based tourism, or ecotourism business targeted at both international and domestic tourism markets. The eco-tourism pillar of the business architecture provides for the organisation’s self-generated revenues from commercial operations that are necessary to supplement government funding of conservation management. A significant element of the ecotourism pillar is the Commercialisation Strategy, which (through the implementation of Public Private Partnerships) SANParks has adopted to expand tourism products and the generation of additional revenue for funding of conservation and socio-economic development.
  • Socio-Economic Development – SANParks has taken a strategic decision to expand its role in the developmental support provided to neighbouring communities as an entity of the developmental state. In addition, SANParks is required to build constituencies at international, national and local levels, in support of conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of South Africa through its corporate social investment. It has to ensure that a broad base of South Africans participate and get involved in biodiversity initiatives, and further that all its operations have a synergistic existence with neighbouring or surrounding communities for their educational and socio-economic benefit, hence enabling the broader society to be connected to national parks.

SANParks is on a positive trajectory towards making the management of its conservation and tourism estate relevant to the people of South Africa and the World, by ensuring co-operative governance and the continued flow of socio-economic benefits.

Coffee Shops, Durban, Points of Interest, Restaurants

Skybok Films Remo’s, Duran


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Remo’s is an Italian restaurant founded by Renzo and Franco Scribante, born in 2007, in memory of their late brother, Remo Giuseppe Scribante.  It is this undeniable Fratelli, or brotherhood, that fuelled the conception of this Italian restaurant chain. What was once a school boy dream, became a flourishing café and soon grew into a well-established brand with stores across the country. Remo’s has grown into a family-oriented franchise with three stores located in Mount Edgecombe (Durban), Sunninghill (Johannesburg) and Baakens Valley (Port Elizabeth).

Remos is all about celebrating and passing on a crucial family traditions, appreciating the kitchen, having family and friends gather around the table; because that’s where everything happens. It is a special place for old and new memories.

Every part of Remo’s belongs to someone. From the delicious recipes handed down from mother to son, to the one-of-a-kind Scribante paintings, to the black and white family photos adorning the walls, to the hand-picked and imported La Dolce Vita coffee served by our friendly baristas. Our Italian-inspired eatery is our home – the perfect Italian restaurant to celebrate the love of family with authentic, feel-good food inspired by traditional, Italian cuisine, made by passionate people with real, quality ingredients.

Daily Blog, Points of Interest, Port Elizabeth

Skybok Films Bedford, South Africa’s Garden Festival


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Run away from your daily routine, come to Bedford for three days of fresh air and inspiration. This year the annual Bedford Garden Festival (19-21 October 2018) – now in its 14th year – is an Eastern Cape Midlands country lifestyle adventure that attracts visitors from all over South Africa. For three days gardeners and nature-loving families will explore our country roads, discovering our magnificent farm gardens and making new friends.

Come to Bedford for more open gardens, plant nurseries, two market hubs, lots of shopping, live music, warm hospitality and the scrumptious food we are known for. Extras include history talks/walks, visits to a nationally renowned butterfly collection at Huntly Glen Farm, golf and a Sunday midday garden concert.

Blog, Daily Blog

Why Filming Coffee Shops is Great


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Filming coffee shops is great because you catch people on a caffeine high and everyone wants to be on camera!

Usually, filming in certain venues requires some sort of permission grant signed by whoever is being filmed, like a release form, so they can’t turn around and sue you when the video ends up on the internet. Luckily, I’m very diligent with getting release forms signed.

But even with that, it’s always tricky filming the people on location because they are often suspicious of your intentions and can suddenly become quite alarmed.

How most places handle this uncomfortable issue is they put up a sign notifying the patrons there is a film shoot going on. Basically, such a sign puts them at ease by informing people on their way into the venue. It also waives any responsibility legally on behalf of the venue because it means anyone who is there has been ‘told’. And by being told, they’re indirectly giving their consent to be filmed. Unless they explicitly object, the venue assumes they are happy with it. If they’re not happy with it, it’s their responsibility to get out of the shot or ask the filmmaker to exclude them from the shot.

It’s a great way to get around the problem.

Though, for some reason, coffee shops are always less likely to be fussy.

Everyone is there meeting friends or having little business meetings or church gatherings, so it’s not like a Hollywood production. Putting up signs everywhere almost never has to happen because no one ever really has an issue (at least in my experience). And, if they do, it’s easy enough for them to come up and tell you.

I think today in general, people are becoming more relaxed anyway. I’m realizing this because with all the social media going on, there are so many people besides the professionals who are raising a camera for social reasons. The atmosphere is more personal and there’s a striking kind of trust fueled with adrenaline and excitement.

Skybok has filmed dozens of coffee shops in South Africa, here are some of my favorites below. Enjoy!

 

People

Skybok: Western Province Rugby


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Skybok was recently at Canal Walk in Cape Town shooting a few members of the U20 South African Junior Rugby Squad as they received goodie bags from Cotton On + spent the evening picking out their favourite items.

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Union Sports Group

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Union Sports Group

Union Sports Group