Festival of Wildlife 2008 Blog
Introduction from Wildlife Worldwide's Mel Kinder
Madagascar - what a destination! We have just returned from our 5th Annual Festival of Wildlife and have been totally mesmerised by this most magical of islands. With a mix of cultures incorporating African, Indian, Indonesian and European, the visual and sensory stimulation was overwhelming and that was before even getting close to the flora and fauna! Most of the wildlife can be experienced no where else on this earth and as we walked in small groups to discover it for ourselves, the whole experience became more intimate and adventurous.
For those of us from Wildlife Worldwide who are annually involved in the organisation of the Festival of Wildlife, it is sometimes easy to forget that not everyone is familiar with the Festival concept and the events aims, in terms of top wildlife sighting, knowledge sharing and wildlife conservation.
The event has now reached its 5th year, and is constantly evolving, but was primarily devised as a medium through which like-minded wildlife enthusiasts could come together to see, share and gain information about their passion during a trip to a key wildlife destination, whilst at the same time helping with the conservation of wildlife.
The Festival is a unique trip which mixes customers and experts with wildlife specific skills to enjoy a packed but fun-filled itinerary of wildlife viewing, workshops, presentations and general wildlife related discussion. We have been joined in the past by such prominent people as wildlife artist and conservationist David Shepherd, Jonathan Scott from the BBC Big Cat Diary series, and top wildlife photographers Mark Carwardine and Nick Garbutt, to name but a few.
Over the past 5 years the Festival has pitched up in the following diverse destinations; Kenya's Maasai Mara, the Galapagos Islands, Ranthambhore in India, and British Columbia in Canada and most recently this year, Madagascar. The amount raised by the Festival auction alone for wildlife conservation over this period has amounted to nearly £80,000 and has been directed predominantly towards local conservation groups in whichever country is being visited.
Working with local Madagascan conservation groups was informative and inspiring and we are really proud to announce that this years Festival auction raised a total sum of £13,391, most of which will be heading to these local initiatives, for key work in protecting the wildlife with the aid of the local communities. The groups we worked with whilst there were Association Mitsinjo and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
We will be posting participant and expert comments and pictures here over the coming weeks, so please 'watch this space' for further updates.
Now that you have some background information about the Festival as a whole, let me tell you a little about our recent adventures in Madagascar and share some pictures, before you go on to read what the experts had to say! Click here.
Blogs from the Participants:
Blogs from the Experts
- Dr. Rainer Dolch - Association Mitsinjo
- Jonathan Truss - Wildlife Artist
- Hilary Bradt - Bradt Guides
- Jonathan Scott - Television Presenter
- David Back - Wildlife Photographer
Comments
"My clients who went on the Lemurs Madagascar trip, had an amazing time, and thought your organisation of the trip was excellent." Robert (Travel Agent)
"To be honest, it's true that it's more difficult when we have a group BUT you made it easier! You make part of the few great people that I've ever worked with! So well organized and very efficient! Thanks for choosing Anjajavy and I hope that our cooperation doesn't stop there." Tiana (Anjajavy Hotel)
Auction
Click here for details of the Festival Auction which raised £13,391 for charity.
Festival of Wildlife 2009
Next year in May, we will be taking the Festival to the plains of the Serengeti in Tanzania where we will be joined by among others, photographer and TV presenter Chris Packham, zoologist and top wildlife photographer Mark Carwardine and artist and conservationist Mandy Shepherd.
Click here for further details.