This exciting project, led by Carlton Ward Jr.– photographer and friend of WILD– is now on its 17th day in the field. The team has made it through some of Florida’s wildest areas, biking, hiking and kayaking roughly 10-30 miles a day. The goals of the Florida Wildlife Corridor are to:

• Protect and restore habitat and migration corridors essential for the survival of Florida’s diverse wildlife, including wide-ranging panthers, black bears and other native species
• Restore water flow to the Everglades and sustain water supply to southern Florida
• Continue to safeguard the St. Johns River and water supply for central and north Florida
• Sustain the food production, economies and cultural legacies of working ranches and farms within the corridor
• Bolster local economies through increased opportunities such as hunting, fishing, birdwatching and other forms of eco-tourism
• Give wildlife and plants room to adapt to a changing climate and sea level rise

Stay up-to-date with the expedition!

>>Follow the story on National Geographic’s Explorer’s Journal

>>Read the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition Blog

Around this time last year, my friend Joanna Nasar, and I decided to dream big on a conservation project. We also dreamed a bit silly.

“Let’s pick a species that needs help and takes us to a faraway land,” we thought. How about fishing cats? Their name is their occupation. They bark like a dog. They’re found in Thailand. And believe me this cat needs all the help it can get. Less than 10,000 remain in the world, and that’s a sketchy estimate at best.

Practicality was clearly in the back seat tied up with duct tape when we set out. We don’t have any money. Um, have you heard of this thing called Kickstarter? We don’t speak Thai. Pah! We’re good at charades. The country is flooding, and we have to go undercover as tourists to avoid constant scrutiny. Brilliant! I’ve never camera-trapped before, but we can figure that out. “We can handle this,” we thought. We’ll be working with the world expert on fishing cats, Passanan “Namfon” Cutter. Yes Namfon, we just officially gave you that title.

In some ways, our naivety was both our downfall and saving grace. Everything that could fall apart did. Namfon, who we hoped to work with for a few weeks, returned to the states after four days together because of visa issues. We had more than a month left in Thailand to work with her assistant Ruj, (who didn’t speak English), trying to document everything we could about this cat.

Equipment failed almost daily, habitat was destroyed, fishing cats killed, and we got to know the Thai healthcare system on more than one occasion. (Thailand proved to be an effective, though not fun diet program. Note for all those pending travelers to Thailand, Thai healthcare rocks!) Six weeks into the trip, signs of the fishing cat were everywhere, except in front of the camera trap.

As everything fell apart, the story also started to come together.  Our clumsiness held a certain fascination and charm with the Thai people. I think they wanted to save us from ourselves. Everyday we learned a little bit (nit noy) of Thai and Ruj learned a little English. The Thai people welcomed us into their community. We ate dinner with their families, visited kids in their schools, worked together to fix the things that were broken and continued the search for a fishing cat that seemed to move like a ghost throughout these people’s lives.

Amidst the fishing cat’s crumbling world, we heard tell of a glimmer of hope. We learned that you could rent fishing cat land for less money a year than I spend on coffee in a month. For 80 bucks you could either destroy or save a parcel of fishing cat habitat. Namfon told us that just US $1,700, could rent all the known fishing cat hotspots for a year. “Wow!” we thought. Such goals seemed attainable even for two girls who had just rationed their last packet of Oreos.

We sent this message and a few photos to The WILD Foundation, our main project sponsor, and before we’d even left Thailand, people had reached into their pockets and given enough money to rent land for the fishing cat. The purchase won’t be a permanent fix, but it buys the cats and our researcher friends some time. It shows the communities there that the rest of the world cares about the fishing cat.

Our work is far from over. Jo and I returned from Thailand with more than two terabytes of footage about the fishing cat. In the last week and half of our trip, persistence paid off and we received not one, but three, visits from a fishing cat named Rip Ear to our trap. The photos are top secret while we try to publish them in a major magazine. But we’ve got an early, almost-successful shot we can share with you now. It’s of a newly observed male in the area, and has yet to be named.

We are now editing together a film about our girlventure to a foreign land in search of this strange, endangered cat, including all the characters we met along the way who helped/saved us. We will use the film to raise money for fishing cat conservation and to build local support for the cat’s protection.

Right now, Jo and I are doing this purely out of passion. We work on other projects during the day, so we can edit the film together at night. We dream of working on this full-time, so that we can produce a film at a pace that will actually be able to help the fishing cat.

As I write this now though I can tell you that throughout CAT in WATER, the biggest lesson we learned is that saving the fishing cat depends on community, in Thailand and abroad. That’s what we want to help foster.

So we have a message for you. You’ve got the link to CAT in WATER. “The fishing cat wants to swim.”  Pass it on, tweet it, retweet it, facebook and digg it. Then pass it on again and again and again.

Like the CAT in WATER facebook page!
Follow CAT in WATER on twitter!
Subscribe to the CAT in WATER blog!

Where 24 hours ago had been a swaying green sea of tall grass and rough-edged fishponds now lies a raw, muddy pit. This land has gone to the shrimp farm. It’s hard to believe that just a few days ago, we used a machete to break a line through the wetlands of Sam Roi Yod.

Above the pit we look to what was once a shaded tree-lined ridge where Morgan captured our first glimpse of the fishing cat with her camera trap.  His cameo took only four days to appear. In the photo, he pauses, large-pupiled and paw-raised, staring down the camera as if he owns the joint. A small pink tongue licks the end of his nose.

Now, the ridge lies bared to the sun.  The trees chopped and tall grasses plowed, then burned away. Everything is caked in a rotten-smelling muck.

But that is not all that has changed.

The sound is all of a sudden deafening to the point that you feel the earth shaking. It is the rumble of a tractor widening a road, the putter of a pump sucking the pond dry . . . the fishing cat surely hears all these noises and runs … but we wonder to where? When change happens in days, it’s got to be hard to pick a new home, and there are only so many homes to choose from.

Namfon, our friend, biologist and number one fishing cat crusader, tells us that this land sells for cheap. Just U.S. $80 can rent one pond for a year, and $1,700 could rent all known fishing cat hotspots in the area for the same amount of time.

How frustrating and inspiring to know that such a small sum of money can potentially help “buy time” for the fishing cat as we endeavor for more sustainable solutions.

Seeing new tracks in the area, even as a land of fish changes to a land of shrimp, makes us hope that the fishing cat can make it. We hear fishing cats even like the freshly-drained ponds and the fish they leave behind, but we know this is a temporary advantage.

We need your help to save the elusive fishing cat! Just $80 USD can rent one pond for a year, and $1,700 could rent all known fishing cat hotspots in the area for the same amount of time!! Imagine what one whole year of research could do for this species…

>>Donate to CAT in WATER today! (specify in the note field that you’d like your donation to go to the fishing cat ponds)

>>Learn more about the CAT project

A bit of background…..

“CAT in WATER” is a multimedia expedition to track and document the elusive fishing cat, of which only about 10,000 remain in the world. This cat has been little documented in the wild, despite living close to villages. Biologists recently discovered a new population in Thailand, but these cats are mysteriously vanishing.

This fall/winter, project leaders Joanna Nasar and Morgan Heim will set off on an in-depth reporting project to highlight the untold natural history, threats and unusual conservation potential of this endangered cat. Our goal is to collect the media assets for an interactive multimedia experience to share with you the life of the fishing cat, including videos, blogs, articles and podcasts.

Here is the call-to-action from the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition and their partners:

We are asking you, on behalf of our partners, to URGENTLY make your voice heard on behalf of the spirit bear by OCTOBER 6TH.

Canadian decision makers must hear your opinion as they prepare to decide if oil tankers will be permitted to move through the waters in the home of the spirit bear.

Register today or by October 6th to be heard during the Canadian government review panel on the proposed Enbridge pipeline.

You don’t have to attend in person and you don’t have to live in Canada, but this will be the best forum to be heard on this issue. And the spirit bear needs your help.

The language on the registration page reads as if you are signing up to speak during the public consultation.  Don’t let this stop you — anyone from anywhere can sign up to voice their support!  Learn more about the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition >

Last week, Umzi graduated it’s eight class — which Geovalda was a part of.  Here are her words…

I imagined a place
Which seemed out of space,
A place we can call our own
When we look back at when we’re all grown.

I imagined a place
Where the grass is all green
And the residence spring-clean.
Where you see the birds fly,
And hear the monkey’s cry.

I imagined a place,
A place that brings change,
Teaches you to be strong
When hope has been gone for too long.

I imagined a place
Where there’s always someone you can call
Whenever you may fall.
Where you don’t have to hold back on your tears,
Where you can face your fears
Even if it took you years.

I imagined a place
It’s a place called Umzi.
Our home away from home
Where we will never be alone.

You raised me well,
From out of my shell.
That much I can tell

You taught me how to cope,
To never lose hope,
To be strong,
And never do what’s wrong.
Therefore, this poem I dedicate as a song.

Sometimes we fight,
You might lose some sight,
But end up being right.

You’ve always shown me the light,
Guided me through the most frightful night.
You were always there to hold me tight.

Nevertheless,
You will always be the best.

School Gardens in Isandlwana

The Eco-Schools Programme was launched in South Africa in 2003 and now involves over 1,000 school throughout South Africa and involves schools in 47 countries world-wide.  These schools have all made commitments to environmental learning and actions and are involved in some type of environmental project.  These projects are integrated with national curriculum and work to:

• Improve the school environment;
• Build young people’s confidence and sense of citizenship through participation;
• Increase environmental awareness;
• Involve the community;
• Reduce litter and waste;
• Reduce costs by saving water and electricity; and,
• Develop relationships with other schools throughout South Africa and worldwide.

Eco-Schools Training in Isandlwana

After joining Eco-Schools, each school begins an intensive process to develop an eco-code, select a theme and get to work!  Themes include resource use, nature and biodiversity, local and global issues, healthy living and community heritage.  Eco-Schools provides a very detailed handbook to help teachers and students achieve positive results.  Each year, schools submit a portfolio of their project and are awarded flags and/or certificates for their hard work.  These awards encourage the students and reward the school and community’s dedication to their environmental programs.   Learn more about Eco-Schools world-wide >

When wild-nature seems far away – either physically because we have not made time to find nature in our lives or psychologically because we are, for one reason or another, unable to feels a meaningful connection to the nature around us – it is art that can reconnect us. Photography, sculpture, poetry, dance and song, poetry, painting — all of these provide avenues for us to express our wild selves and connect with the inner and outer ‘wildness’ that is so vital for humanity.

We had the great honor of visiting the UNTAMED exhibit at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.  With poetry by Ian McCallum, sculpture by Dylan Lewis and architecture by Enrico Daffonchio, this exhibit is an extraordinary example of the value and necessity of art in conservation.

The emotion expressed and evoked in this exhibit reaffirmed for me that along with astute scientists, field researchers and other ‘technical’ experts, the environmental movement needs communicators and artists.

I’d like to share the poem from the exhibit that spoke most deeply to me.  The message — in order to affect real, positive and lasting change, we must sync our inner and outer wildness.  We must be true to ourselves, as human-animals, and project that truth and sincerity outwards.

HOMECOMING
You have come this far…
Keep moving…don’t turn back.
No one holds the measure
of their own undoing…no one,
the meaning of their dying.
Hold what lives
behind the masks
of your own making…
the music of your wild name
know that every tumble,
every turn on your twisting path
is a dance within a living
church of elements
sanctuary of stars
wings, breath and bone
where the mask of your making
are undone
~ Ian McCallum, UNTAMED, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town (South Africa)

The Peace Parks Foundation, based just outside of Cape Town, South Africa, is one of the leading organizations world-wide working on transboundary connectivity.  WILD serves as the US hub – Friends of the Peace Parks.  Our WILD team met with the Peace Parks leadership team to hear about their current priorities and projects.

Peace Parks Foundation has established and now manages 10 transboundary parks throughout Southern Africa.  They work with governments, both national/elected and traditional leaders, to establish parks and implement policies to assist with tourism, such as new border crossings for tourists within the parks.  They also provide management support for parks with wildlife and tourism colleges, which train individuals work within the parks.

We talked at length about their BIG project – KAZA (Kavango-zambezi).  KAZA is “situated in the Okavango and Zambezi river basins where the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe converge. It is set to become the world’s biggest conservation area and will eventually span an area of approximately 287 132 km², almost the size of Italy (300 979 km²). It will include 36 national parks, game reserves, community conservancies and game management areas.”

The Peace Parks team is currently working on community stakeholder engagement with each region within the proposed conservation area, building joint ownership and consensus between communities, tribal groups and government.

I have to say….this is  HUGE undertaking and it is very exciting.  The implementation of KAZA can provide a lot of structural/process tools for transboundary initiatives around the world and also serve as inspiration for all of us working each day to move conservation forward.  Thank you Peace Parks for being a conservation giant for connectivity!

As soon as we saw Karen, she excitedly updated us on the proposal, which was going well. There is a lot of in-country support for the World Heritage listing, but there is still a lot of hard work ahead. Karen recently received an endorsement letter from the President of Botswana – see below. Yay!

Having the Okavango declared as a World Heritage site is important because it provides international recognition for this ecologically important area. Having World Heritage status is like an extra layer of protection as well as international recognition – to help ensure the highest level protection and management for many generations to come. Other natural World Heritage sites include the Great Barrier Reef (Australia), the Nahanni National Park (Canada), Galápagos Islands (Ecuador) and many other.

Congratulations on this important milestone, Karen. You are truly a conservation giant!

I could ramble on and on about the many physical experiences we had on trail — We saw abundant wildlife and sweeping landscapes. We slept under a wide, star-lit sky and cooked over a small but strong fire. We took turns during each night keeping watch, listening to lions, hyenas, rhinos and our other neighbors in the bush and watching for visitors to our camp as the others slept.

We bathed in the river, took time to notice the big and small creatures that shared space with us and learned traditions and history of the Zulu people.

But, perhaps most importantly, we embarked on a journey – both collectively and independently – to better understand ourselves. Before going on trail, I heard many accounts of the transformative power of the Umfolozi wilderness trails but had honestly not understood the depth of the experience.

So often in our modern world, we go into the wild to prove our strength. We seek to climb the highest peak or run the fastest river. We seek to show our independence and in a way, assert ourselves over wild-nature, continuing a cycle of controlling nature for our own benefit.

What is apparent after several days living simply and quietly in the African bush, is that the human-animal is as vulnerable as all of the species we share the planet with. We need Nature and each other to survive. We need to be forgiving, trusting and benevolent to the planet, ourselves and each other. We need to use past experience to guide our current actions and consider the future impact of every decision. Often, we need to find ease with not being in control and can only survive by asking for help.

This is what I saw in the wilderness. I enjoyed seeing the landscape and the magnificent wildlife, sure, but as Ian Player instructed — the most interesting things I saw were within myself.

PS – Vance and I will post more details about the trail is more blogs to come soon!

First, I will go back to elaborate on our visit with Dr. Ian Player, founder of WILD, the World Wilderness Congress and our partners in the Wilderness Network and a legendary conservationist. After gathering at the Durban airport, we drove about 2 hours north of Durban to Ian’s house outside of Howick. I felt excited and nervous to meet Ian, who to date I knew only from books, photos and stories.

As we approached the farm, the beautiful scenery and mid-afternoon light set the scene. Prior to meeting Ian, we had a quick tour of the office where Ian’s work is being archived. I’m so thankful that this project is underway; it will serve as an encyclopedia of knowledge for many generations to come.

We were then greeted at the kitchen door by Ian and his wife Anne. They graciously welcomed us into their home for tea. We talked at length about the current rhino poaching situation and other conservation endeavors, both past and present. I just sat, soaked it all in and felt a bit shy and awe struck in the company of a man who shaped so much of conservation is Southern African and worldwide.

As we prepared to leave, I realized it was now or never for me to have a moment with Ian. I sat next to him, so he could hear me clearly, and said thank you. I meant this on multiple levels – from simply having us for tea to saving the white rhino from near extinction to his visionary leadership in creating the organizations within The Wilderness Network. I can only hope that he understood the many levels for which I am thankful!

We then talked about the Umfolozi. He told me that the first time he went there was 1952 and it was then when he saw the white rhino for the first time. He saw two rhinos, walking through the mist, and he knew at that moment that it would be his life’s work to protect them. He chuckled thinking that he once believed this would be a short and simple project.

I asked him what I should look for while I was there. He told me to look for myself. My eyes welled up with tears and I nodded. He told me to not only look outwards at the wilderness and wildlife and take in the landscape that calls to our ancestral selves, but to take the opportunity to look within. The wilderness trail, while it appears as an outward journey with Nature, at the heart is an inward journey with our own human nature.

“I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to each and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Henry David Thoreau.

More soon…..

We arrived at the Wilderness Leadership School just after dark and met our guide for the next 5 days.  After dinner, we heard instructions on packing of ‘kits’ and then got to work!  We have just finished packing and are enjoying nice conversation and the quiet countryside.  We’ll be up very early tomorrow, leaving the school by 6:30am to drive to the Umfolozi Game Reserve, one of the oldest game reserves in South Africa and a very important place for the history of WILD and South African conservation. 

I won’t post blogs while on trail – we’re not allowed to have phones or even watches.  Will post photos and stories when we return on Wednesday night here!  Wish me luck in the wilderness…….

We drove to the coast, and stopped in Donkin, a neighborhood in the historic area of Port Elizabeth right on the coast.  The old lighthouse for the port is now a visitors center with an adjoining coffee shop.  Within the next few months, the Wilderness Foundation will begin operations in the coffee shop, employing graduates from the Umzi Wethu program and serving food from the Umzi Wethu catering team.

The goal is for this shop to be the pilot for a micro-enterprise social program.  It’s a very cool building and a very innovative program.

We then went to the Foundation’s office and had a series of very inspiring and engaging discussions about their current programs in conservation, leadership & education, social intervention, advocacy & awareness and the green leaf eco-standard.  We also talked at length about the current rhino poaching issue, their campaign work on the issue and possible long-term strategies.   Talks on the next World Wilderness Congress, communications and Nature Needs Half rounded out the afternoon.

Before dinner, we had the opportunity to talk with two of the first graduates of Umzi Wethu.  The program, which now has two academies and  is on its 9th in-take of students, has graduated over 100 students from the program with an 89% success rate of graduates who are still employed within the field they received training. Talking with the two graduates, it was so apparent that the many wilderness trails that are an integral part of the program were really important to their development as leaders and to their personal development.  I shared with them that I was a bit nervous about sleeping among the big African wildlife…and they laughed and reassured me that it would be amazing.

No matter how many times I hear about the Umzi program, I am continually amazed by how successful this model is.  Seeing the graduates in action reaffirmed this!  Many thanks to everyone at the Wilderness Foundation for making today a great day and for all of the hard work you do!

After breakfast, we took a drive to the orchard and talked about how to re-invigorate the program after the recent fire.  As we walked through the orchard, three young boys walked by, curiously watching us.  Elizabeth said that they are members of the soccer team and watch over the orchard.  Once they saw we were with ‘Ms. D’ (as Elizabeth is called), they waived and continued walking!

Next, we drove through the village – which stretches for a few miles in each direction – to visit one of the successful gardens.  Elizabeth said that because of recent rains, many of the gardens were too wet but this one was growing well.  After our quick tour, we said good-bye to Elizabeth, Pat and others at the Lodge and drove toward the coast.

We stopped at Salt Rock to have lunch with Paul Dutton and his partner Jane.  Paul is one of the great conservation legends — good friends with Ian Player and a very well respected and accomplished conservationist throughout Southern Africa.  His current projects include a conservation management plan for a small island off of the western coast of Africa and the resurrection of an old ‘cub’ airplane that he flew for many years on various conservation projects.

After lunch, we continued on to the Durban airport, where we met with Samantha Terblanche who works on programming for Isandlwana and a colleague of hers who works with Africa Ignite. We discussed some wonderful ideas to generate sustainable income for the village through craft-work.  Good ideas, even though the meeting was quick!

A short flight to Port Elizabeth and then a great dinner with Vance — continuing to learn from his seemingly infinite knowledge about South Africa, conservation and…well, life.   Tomorrow we meet with Andrew Muir and the staff at the Wilderness Foundation.  G’nite!

We stopped for lunch at the infamous Wimpy’s restaurant. Vance insisted that we eat here – a South African ‘institution’, to fully enjoy the trip to the village. It was a fun break from the road…and the neon blue milk shakes and lime green fountain sodas are something to remember

As we turned off of the highways towards the country roads, I began to see my first taste of rural South Africa. I finally felt like I was in a different country! Somehow, despite the many hours of travel, I had not yet felt the distance, both physically and culturally, that we had traveled, until now. My eyes were wide open.

We turned onto the dirt road to Isandlwana just before sunset. Each hilltop was illuminated and we could see storms moving in from the west. I saw many landmarks that I knew from memory – but only from photographs. The school, the battlefield, and, at last, the Isandlwana lodge. Nestled into the hilltop, overlooking the battlefield and village, the lodge was barely noticeable from a far. Vance asked “have you seen the lodge yet?” I could only spot it by picking up his clues.

We turned up the dirt road, toward the lodge, and Vance pointed out the many landmarks. The church, the building we are looking to renovate for craft sales, the WILD office and Elizabeth’s house, the ‘WILD’ house etc. Everyone waved as we drove past.

We arrived to the lodge, with a very warm welcome from Pat (co-owner of the lodge). Before the storm came in, we took a short walk around the village. Then the highlight of the day – a performance by the dance group. They smiled and danced…it was wonderful.

This last photo is my favorite. It was taken just after Vance announced to the troupe that WILD would make a contribution to support their hard work – learning and performing traditional dances. Their smiles will stay with me for many days to come.

Tomorrow we tour the village with Elizabeth, then drive to coast to have tea with Paul Dutton and then to Durban airport to fly to our final destination for the day, Port Elizabeth.

We also talked at great length about the current rhino poaching situation, which is growing more extreme by the day. Lamenting on the state of affairs, we discussed how the issue is tied to a much larger one of commercializing and commodification of South Africa’s wildlife. While the concept started in a good place – raising awareness and appreciation for wildlife as well as funding conservation efforts – it is now reaching a tipping point where the conservation benefit is (in certain areas/scenarios) nominal and general concern for the welfare of wildlife is declining. There is certainly a need to remain vigilant to keep the well-being of African wildlife and wild-places balanced with the intense human desire to see, experience, and in the worst case-scenarios, own and/or use wildlife (ie the illegal poaching and trading/selling of rhino horns).

The conversation also meandered through some history of conservation work, WILD partnerships and conservation legends. Sven’s mother Nora Kreher, who passed away nearly three years ago,  founded a very successful organization – The Bateleurs. Bateluers, which operates out of their home in Johannesburg (in fact – I am sitting The Bateleurs office right now!), works with volunteer pilots to run conservation missions such as surveillance flights, wildlife counts and other research  and surveys mission. See their missions in 2010 >

It was a lovely evening – I spent most of it listening, absorbing and acclimating. Tomorrow morning, Vance and I head to Isandlwana village.

I could tell this was going to be a good story the second I asked. Vance seemed a bit surprised  by the question and then smiled thinking back. He said he hadn’t thought about his first trip to Africa in a while.

It was the early 80’s, and Ian Player asked Vance to come to Africa. Ian and his wife Ann, picked Vance and his family up at the airport. Vance’s kids were very young then – he recalls 3 or 4 years old. He said they used to travel a lot when the kids were young – back to the US from Scotland, and to Africa, Australia and around Europe.

Ian had planned a trip to introduce Vance to Africa – much like Vance has planned this trip for me. Obviously, Ian had something in mind for Vance when he asked him to visit!

Vance recalls that a generous supporter of the Wilderness Leadership School sponsored his trip. Likely, Ian had a very close relationship with this donor, Rita who was known as ‘the matriarch,’ and they worked together to plan a trip that would bring Vance closer into their world of conservation and Africa.

I find a lot of similarities in this story to my current situation (!). I guess that’s how things work – conservation and leadership that is. Vance commented on this, “Things go the way they are supposed to go.” Opportunities like this arise and you take them. Chances are, they will change who you are and in fact, change how you see the world and what you do about it. You pass that on however you can. These short blog entries are my first attempt to ‘pass it on.’ I can only hope that I find meaningful avenues to ‘pass it on,’ both professionally within the conservation world and personally, long after the trip concludes.

Today, I head out on a great adventure.  I’m sitting at the Denver airport with WILD’s President Vance Martin, about to embark on an amazing journey.  Over the next few weeks, we’ll visit with partners and programs in South Africa and Botswana — my first on-the-ground introduction to our history and work in Southern Africa.  I’m overwhelmed, excited and extremely humbled.

Just a few of the places we’ll visit are:

• The Wilderness Leadership School, 
• The Wilderness Foundation,
• Isandlwana Village Project,
• Edu-Peg classroom program,
• the Umfolozi Game Reserve, and
• the Okavango Delta.

We’ll meet with some amazing conservation leaders along the way.  Following the lead of our “In the Tracks of Giants” program, I plan to feature on WILD’s digital platform each of the conservation “giants” that I meet during my journey so you can learn more about some of the people who lead and inform WILD’s work.  

Please “join” me on my trip!  Subscribe to our blog feed, fan WILD on Facebook, follow WILD on Twitter or just stay tuned to your email.

Can’t wait to send you some photos from the trail! Away we go…..(sorry no hyperlinks on this post, will try to add them later!)

Cycling Silk 2011 Trailer from Kate Harris on Vimeo.