Christina and Babette’s group of 18 are now at Elsa’s Kopje and enjoyed their first safari drive where they saw elephants, common zebra, lions, giraffes and white rhinos! The children especially loved searching for animals and learning more about animal behavior in the wild. At night, it was time for unplugged play with a game of chess by lantern.
Babette and Christina’s group of 18 arrived in Kenya and are enjoying interacting with the giraffes at The Safari Collection‘s Giraffe Manor and visiting the baby elephants at David Sheldrick Wildlife Orphan Trust. The group learned about the 28 orphaned elephants the staff care for 24 hours a day.
Read more from Africa Call’s client, Ocean Dry:
‘Today we went to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and witnessed the staff feeding and play time for the 28 orphans they take care of there. Amazing and sad at the same time. The babies are fed every 3 hours 24 hours a day. The keepers stay with them 24 hours a day and even sleep in a bunk in their stall at night.”
Enjoy Babette’s firsthand account of the zebra wildebeest migration from the Masai Mara. She is currently on the Tanzania/Kenya border at Sala’s Camp and is witnessing between 100,000 to 200,000 animals crossing the sand river!
“The zebra generally come in before the wildebeest and eat the long grass. The latter then come in and crop it short. We came across a huge group of thousands of zebra crossing a small river, and it was such a sight. I understand why they are called a dazzle of zebra. The mingling and merging of masses of stripes indeed dazzles both the imagination and the mind!”
Thank you to all who attended the “Responsible Tourism in Africa Today” lecture at The Club at Las Campanas Friday January 4th. What a wonderful evening educating our guests about how tourism dollars help the animals, land and people of Africa.
Africa Calls wishes you and yours a very Happy Holiday Season and Joyous New Year filled with great adventures!
With warmest regards,
Babette & Christina Alfieri
and the Africa Calls team
Responsible Tourism in Africa Today
Lecture by Babette Alfieri of Africa Calls
Friday, January 9th ~ 5:30 p.m.
The Club at Las Campanas
Santa Fe, NM
$32++/PP, Includes Glass of Wine & Hors d’Oeuvres
Survival of Africa’s magnificent wild places and iconic species ultimately depends on the local communities living on the fringes of these designated parks and game reserves deriving a benefit from them. Throughout Southern and East Africa, camps, lodges and tour operators are increasingly engaged in ensuring this happens, by investing back into their areas with schools, clinics, clean water, and anti-poaching assistance to protect wildlife. Local communities are sharing in joint ownership of tourism enterprises thus helping to ensure the wildlife resource survives. Babette Alfieri of Africa Calls will present images and cite examples of this occurring today across Africa where some of the best success stories are found in Zambia, Kenya, Namibia, and Botswana. Call Member Services for reservations at 505.995.3500
Accommodation Spotlight: Wolvedans Dune Camp, a popular destination of our Africa Calls clients, is a tranquil and intimate camp for only 12 guests that captures the romance of a bygone era, and is set in a stunning scenic location. In fact Africa Calls Director, Christina Alfieri, was married at Wolwedans!