A few years ago it occurred to best friends Regina Fraser and Pat Johnson that their travels to exotic lands?80 so far?might make a good TV show. And so it has.
They are the “Grannies on Safari,” a PBS show airing at over Ch. 11 Saturdays at 10:30 a.m.
Each episode follows the women as they seek out cultural connections, the arts and crafts of the country and how the people make a living from them.
Possibly because of the cultural aspect of the show, and the need for positive tourism, the host country picks up the expenses for the visit.
Brave New Pictures’ Dave Monk, director/videographer and Kathy Monk, producer, writer and editor, produced a pilot from footage the travelers had taken on their South African trip which they presented to WTTW and PBS.
The pilot ran last June “and got a very good response,” said Monk. “When that happened, we were traveling to other countries amassing footage and a time frame for developing a series.”
The intrepid travelers who are in their early sixties “are terrific ladies and a lot of fun to work with,” said Monk, who formed Brave New Pictures in 1988.
Two of the first six shows have aired so far — South Africa’s Durbin, Capetown and Johannesburg, and a safari at Krueger National Park.
Upcoming are adventures in Morocco, from Casablanca to the Sahara to the Atlas Mountains, Istanbul, Turkey, Tokyo and Seoul and Pusan, South Korea.
