SA’s safari lodges have been impacted by Omicron.
- SA’s safari lodges have been impacted by the Omicron variant, which has caused patrons to leave.
- One lodge said international tour parties had to head back due to the emergence of the variant.
- The Omicron variant was detected first in South Africa.
Sabine Stam didn’t expect to have her feet up at this time of the year, sipping white wine on the deck of a half-empty safari lodge near South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
Her tour company was full of bookings for the December peak season. Then Omicron came.
First reported by South African scientists to the World Health Organisation on 24 November, Omicron had since unleashed global panic, as countries rushed to shut their borders, reimpose travel restrictions and ramp up vaccination programmes.
Stam, 36, scrambled to rush a dozen European tour parties already in South…