Not Quite as Exciting... or is it?

Who am I?

Write, edit, format, redo, crop, cut, rewrite... that's what our team is doing this week.  Not as exciting as visiting with great people like Tony from Birds of Eden, or Karin from the Darwin Project, but...

My respect for writers and web designers, not to mention video producers, has grown ten fold as we get the official Nikela website ready to go live.  In a few days the URL http://www.nikela.org/ will no longer point to this BLOG, but rather to our website that will house the blog and oh so much more, including photos from our South African wildlife conservation tour and how you can support folks like Michele and Ian who run the amazing bush school tucked way out there in northern South Africa.  Not to forget Shannon and her flying raptors and getting more kids to enjoy that great experience of the soaring birds.

Did you guess who the eyes of the first photo belong to?  Now the one at the end is a little harder.  They belong to a predator that is highly at risk to disappearing from the wild altogether.

Back to sorting through my photos to include in our photo gallery...

Who am I?

First Sponsored Project a Big Success!



Students and Teachers from the Meholokazulu High School, Imbali, KZN, South Africa.
Photo courtesy of www.frankvanegmond.nl

 Its early afternoon on Saturday October 30th and Russ and I are on the road once again, this time headed for Salt Lake City via Cheyenne. Shannon’s flight demonstration in Pietermaritzburg has to be over. How did it all go? Russ’s phone bleeps. A text message from Thoko (Meholokazulu High School science teacher):

“…we are just back from the trip it was so so awesome kids learnt a lot and got more interested (in wildlife). The principal asked for a proposal to participate in pilot…”

Dispelling myths about owls at the Raptor flight demonstration
Photo courtesy of www.frankvanegmond.nl

Whoo! Hoo! As my son would say… we are so thrilled.  Not only did the students from the Environmental Club have the experience we hoped for, the principal is on board to conduct our wildlife conservation education pilot project in his school!  Wonderful news!

"Owls are bad luck."  "If you see an owl someone you love will die." 

Getting up close and personal with owls helps dispel these myths that get these beautiful birds killed and increasingly at risk for becoming endangered. 



Shannon dispels myths about sniffing vulture brains
Photo courtesy of www.frankvanegmond.nl



"No, sniffing the dried brains of a vulture doesn't help you win the lotto!"  The false understanding that vulture brains can make humans clairvoyant costs thousands of vultures their lives every year.  These students now know better.

This trip to visit the Raptor Sanctuary and experience Shannon’s interactive flight show is NIKELA’S very first sponsored project. Frank van Egmond (my photographer friend from the Netherlands) took the photos. He kindly donated his time and expertise to capture the moment.

Thanks to all of you who made it happen. If you didn’t get a chance to contribute your donation is welcome to assist with funding the pilot wildlife conservation education project at the Meholokazulu High School. More about this forth coming.

PS: Watch for comments from the students who were there in future postings.


Photo courtesy of http://www.frankvanegmond.nl/



Send Checks or Money Orders to:

NIKELA

100 Commons Rd Ste 7-417

Dripping Springs, TX 78620

30 Poor Students Experience Shannon's Raptors With Your Help

30 disadvantaged high school students from the Imbali settlement outside of Pietermaritzburg have the opportunity of a lifetime. As a reward for excellent performance Nikela is sponsoring the Meholokazulu's environmental club on a field trip to experience Shannon's free flying raptors this Saturday (10/30/10).

Join the fun if you like by contributing $9.75 for one child or $292.50 for the whole group. This includes transportation, reduced entry fees and lunch. Oh yes, Shannon let's the two teachers in free. 

Here's the amazing story behind this...

"A short while ago we had a bus donated to us," Boyd says almost in passing. Russ and I look at each other as I feel that tingling that comes when I know things are miraculously lining up. Boyd is a scientist with Ezemvelo, the KZN board over wildlife, biodiversity and tourism. Russ was referred to Boyd by a fella at Church.

A few days earlier at the Bird of Prey Sanctuary we'd been listening to Shannon talk about the need to reach more of the rural, lower income kids with her flight shows. They are the ones caught up in old myths that jeopardize the raptors. For example: Sniffing the powered brains of a vulture makes you clairvoyant and able to predict winning lotto numbers and such! Shannon sees how children's hearts are touched as they witness a Kite catch food in mid air or even more so when the Goshawk seeks out pieces of food strategically placed near their feet. So what is Shannon's first obstacle: Access to the kids in the settlements. Finding those teachers and officials that are interested in environmental/wildlife education.

On Sunday I'm sitting together with a group of women. A few take a minute to share a moment of success. "Passed my exam!" A women behind me states boldly. After a gently nudge from her neighbor a modestly dressed woman says, "My students placed 3rd in Sweden." I really take notice! I need to talk to this woman, she must be a marvelous teacher.

Thoko, a teacher of 17 years has taken her best science students past local, even regional level, on to National competition three times, and this last time two of them went to Sweden and took third place internationally. Yes, I'm impressed. A huge accomplishment for a low income school. Thoko is thrilled about what we're doing and wants to help. We set a time to meet with her at the school.

In a small cubby hole next to the library we chat with Thoko and her colleague Nomti. They tell us about their curriculum restraints which led to the creation of an environmental club to provide more in depth learning for those interested. They'd love to take field trips. Most of these children have never been far outside Imbali (the settlement where they live). Both Thoko and Nomti's eyes twinkle like kids at the thought of experiencing something like Shannon's raptor flight show. They too have not seen much of any wildlife themselves. So what's the biggest obstacle? Transportation. How in the world do they get 30 learners the few kilometers down the N3 to the Sanctuary? If there are school buses there's no budget and parents don't have cars.

Now you can understand why Boyd telling us about the bus was so spine tingling. All we need to do is get these three parties talking and set a date. Oh yes, and to top it all my photographer friend from the Netherlands will be in the country to capture it for us.

Now the stories not over yet?! After getting things all set up the bus falls through! Now what? Well, Thoko, ever the resourceful woman jumps into action to organize two kombis, there's no way she's going to let this opportunity slip through her fingers!

I can just see these kids sitting mesmerised in those bleachers listening to Shannon tell her stories and watching the raptors do their magic. I can see those kids going back to their community armed with truth and knowledge about raptors and how they can make a difference by their actions and words, and with ideas for careers in conservation and tourism giving them hope for the future.

You too can take part in this wonderful aligning of the stars to provide these teachers and students with a once in a life time experience. If you'd like to participate consider sponsoring a student.

For the cost of transportation, the flight show and lunch it comes to $9.75 per person (or $292.50 for the entire club).

Send Checks or Money Orders to:

NIKELA

100 Commons Rd Ste 7-417

Dripping Springs, TX 78620

Seven Minutes of Terror That Lasts Forever

"It's a pleasant day. Two rhino mothers graze peacefully along the edge of the trees. A half grown calf wallows in the mud hole. Her small beady eyes the only part of her leathery body not caked. She's just pulling herself away, bits of mud splattering when the helicopter flies over.

Not the actual baby... a photo I took

There's a commotion and she runs toward her mother. Her mother turns gives a mournful bellow and drops awkwardly. Her wild eyed calf lumbers for the bushes as four men, two with chainsaws attack the downed rhino. After a frightening few minutes all is quiet. The terrified calf moves toward her bleeding, dying mother."

[A story based on what has happened]

Just got word from my photographer friend, Frank who is in South Africa right now, that two more rhino were poached this weekend.  Will, with the Leopard Project who had one of his rhino brutalized a week before our visit, told us that it takes these savages only 7 minutes to "harvest" a rhino horn.  Seven minutes to fly in with a helicopter, dart the animal, lop off the horn with a chain saw, grab it and run while the rhino is left in pain to bleed to death.

According to the media coordinator at KZN Wildlife both these most recent poachings were again, in reserves. This brings the total this year to over 200!  An all time high!  Les with True Ways Anti-poaching says the true number is probably way past 300!  Alarming as there are only around 3,000 rhino left. So we have to hustle.  Here's what you and I can do right now...

Please pass this along... we're in the process of gathering support for Anti-poaching units likes Les'.

Case in point: On the flight home I sat next to an interior designer just back from a week long safari. She had no idea of the extent of the problem. She was horrified and asked what she could do.

Please use your favorite media below to pass the word. 

Final Mussings As We Say "Good-Bye!"

White Lion

It's our last morning. We're in a small quiet coastal village called Scarborough on the Cape Peninsula. The skies are blue, the wind is soft and the ocean a deep turquoise blue. Sea gulls and cormorant dot the rocks and beach. Tiny sea snails, limpets, mussles and other sea life hide in the tidal pools. Marine life is a whole other world that needs our tender care. That is our new friend Tina's love as she rallies her neighbors to take care of their beaches. She lives and works from a lovely cottage overlooking the Indian Ocean just north of Durban.


I'm sitting outside with my muesli, yogurt and fruit, because inside there are smelly clothes, piles of brochures, unfinished shortbread and electronic devices scattered across the cottage in preparation for the final sorting... toss or pack.

The birds are chirping... what an aray of birds there are here. Every where we go there are birds... little jittery ones, brightly colored ones, ground birds with short beaks, long curvy beaks and then of course the birds of prey. From the small Kestrels to the large eagles. This morning as I said, "good-bye" to a small yellow and black bird I've seen both mornings here I promised her that I'd do all I could to assure her survival.

Yesterday we had lunch (overlooking the ocean here in Cape Town) with Toni a true vegan and avid animal rights activist. Her mission is education, focusing on recent studies that clearly indicate (what you and I both knew in our hearts) the link between childhood animal cruelty to adult human violence.

A local dog just came to visit. A large yellow lab. Russ shared the almost empty yogurt container with him which with wagging tail he licked clean before moving on. In Swellendam where we stayed in a tiny clapboard cabin with a parafin lamp a yellow tabby wanted to curl up with us.

Right next to us Eland (largest buck) graze and Guinea Fowl forgage for food. A huge fence separates the village from the National Reserve. One Guinea flew between the top two strands ruffling her feathers a bit, the second made it right over the top, while the third started calling frantically running up and down the fence till she finally found a spot to squeeze under the wire. How many animals are separated or kept from reaching the food or water they need by fences? Many. Fencing off the natural habitat of the elephants has caused havoc in some areas.

While driving through the Western Cape we were pleasantly surprised to see Blue Crane (South Africa's national bird) along the way in the fields and by water holes. My favorite is the Crowned Crane which we saw up close so marvelously at Tony's Birds of Eden.

I'm super excited to go home to sort through the wealth of information, photos and video clips and get the support rolling for the fine people and projects we visited, but... it is so hard to leave. It has been such a gift to be here in my homeland.

Besides slipping through on a quick stop over at the airport, it has been 50 years since I was in Cape Town where I was born and enjoyed the first five years in the shadows of Table Mountain and on the white sandy beaches of the west coast. Yes, it has been quite an emotional ride.

Yesterday we took the cable car to the top of Table Mountain. What a view! Some puffy clouds that floated in an out made it all the more of a high.

Almost a much as staring into the eyes of the injured lioness who half scared me to death as I realized her amazing strength and power. Visiting with Jurg and Karen who devote their lives to saving caged wild cats was a true highlight. These beautiful cats, like the white lion and leopard are such powerful creatures hunted relentlessly for their skins. Canned hunting (the hunting of tame lions) continues to be a real money maker, and sadly enjoyed.

It's time to get packing! Stay tuned as our whole tour will be posted in much greateer detail with photos, videos and stories. Thanks for following.

Is Commercial Conservation South African Wildlife's Hope for the Future?

There on the right appears this huge net. As we get closer it only gets larger and we see the birds. The wire netting rises high over 2.1761 hectares and encloses 375.372 cubic meters and is the world's largest free flight multi-species bird aviary. Housing around 2,000 birds of over 160 different species living in a variety of different habitats. Wow! 

The photo cannot in any way capture the magnitude of this fabulous place!  Birds of Eden

 "Birds of Eden" is such an appropriate name. Lee (the manager) leads us through the special doors and we step into paradise. My camera is immediately pointed at a spectacular Golden Pheasant working hard at impressing "his lady". Before I can take that all in I see a green and red parrot and the prettiest cream colored Dove I'd ever seen.


Golden Pheasant... amazing artwork of the Creator!

 I spend the next hour in absolute awe as Lee guides Russ and I along the walk ways and bridges from one habitat to the next. Small birds, large birds, ground birds and water birds. Some endemic to South Africa and others from all over the world. Each bird is accounted for. Each bird has a story. Many rescued from pet shops or brought in by people who no longer could care for them. It really is a glimpse into what Eden must have been like!

Endemic Lourie... a spectacular bird!

 On most days 1,000 people visit Birds of Eden. Bus loades of school children, photographers, birders from around the world, and curious tourists from South Africa and abroad step into this fascinating world of free-flying birds.

Crowned Crane.  I saw these as a young girl while out horse riding in South Africa

 Immediately next door is Monkeyland. After chatting with Tony the mastermind behind both sanctuaries we move into the world of the primates as we join a walking safari. Have you ever heard a female Lemur call? It sounds like a chorus of a couple of cats, a dog and a monkey! This beautiful creature has a double tongue!



Fascinating Lemur

 Here in Monkeyland land troups of various primate species coexist on 27 hectares of indigenous forest. Walking with monkeys! A troop swings through the wet trees overhead showering down rain drops. We stop to watch a Lemur enjoy apple pieces at a feeding station. All the while we're learning why some tails curl in and other don't have tails at all (those are the apes) from our knowledgeable guide.


Monkeyland and Birds of Eden like the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Center up north are self sustaining conservation projects. Unlike the others we visited who rely on donations and grants for funding these three market themselves well and bring in money via tourism.

In the conservation realm there is great controversy around this. The purests see making money with wildlife as exploitation, while those like the three thriving projects we visited argue they reach far more people and will more readily survive long term.

In my finite wisdom I believe both have their place. The huge drawing card for commercial conservation is the sustainability and the masses of people enjoying a wildlife experience. This creates awareness in a big way.

Conventional conservation is essential to protect not only the wildlife, but the wild places needed for their survival in their natural environment. In an ideal world that means preserving harmonious ecosystems with no human interference.

My hat off to Tony and people like him who use their business savvy to do good for wildlife. And my admiration is unending for those like Karin (more about her soon), Rodger and Natasha (their story coming too) who devote their lives to the wildlife and wild places they love.

A Peek into Where we Sleep

"It's quite rustic," is a phrase we hear frequently. Which means: we built it ourselves, or it hasn't been updated in a while, or it doesn't have much of anything. It's been 25 days of touring and we've slept in eight different Backpackers or B&Bs with at least two more locations to go. 'Backpackers' are called 'hostels' in many other countries and of course 'B&B' stands for 'Bed and Breakfast'.

As a nonprofit we need to keep costs at a minimum (and because we're funding this ourselves and we are not independently wealthy). When we first planned this South African Wildlife Conservation Tour we considered camping. Our daughter in-law spent six months travelling in South America and reminded us about the hostel route.

Russ got online and started plotting out Backpackers... we have yet to stay at one of them! Our first night we deviated and stayed close to the Black Eagle Project so we could return to the beautiful gardens the projects housed in.

There in Krugersdorp we found our selves in a small room gazing up at a two story ceiling and the bathtub was surely the longest I'd ever soaked my body in.

On the road to Pietermaritzburg we called Sleepy Hollow, it was so well situated we stayed for five nights. This was our first real backpackers experience, meeting young people from France and other parts of South Africa all in town for a conference. We spent hours chatting. Avril , the owner and her husband, are international cyclists. Finding Spain the best place to tour on a bike. Actually Clyde was tripping across Australia at that very moment raising money for a local charity.

Then there was the cabin in the midst of the 'jungle' in the Umlalazi Reserve. It was a real treat sitting on the deck with birds and monkeys chattering in the trees above and the small Duiker grazing beneath. Not to mention the walks on the beach just a stones throw away.

Probably the most memorable is the bamboo hut at the backpackers near Hazyview just outside the Kruger Park. If you've ever stayed in a bamboo hut you know that you can't fart on the toilet if you're prim and proper. Waiting on dinner in the main area was not a problem. Francis is a creative decorater, with T-shirts and foreign bank notes from travelers hung and pasted on ceilings and walls. Along one hallway both sides, including the doors, are 'decorated' with thank you notes in a variety of languages.

Of course there was the rondavel near Hoedspruit where a flash of blue flew through the door while we were working (a Kingfisher). With a little careful manuevering we caught this exquiste creature with limited trauma and gently released him back outside.

Only twice so far have we needed to regroup. Once near Umtunzini, where we had quite a time finding the small white entrance gate between the bushes across from the old railway station in the middle of a forest. The tiny huts had no windows, the showers were open air and it just didn't feel safe. The other time the location was fantastic. Just outside of Knysna on a pristine white beach and the ocean almost turquoise in the late afternoon light. A grouping of jagged red rocks creating huge white spray just a few feet away from the backpackers. Talk about waking up and rolling out onto the beach for a morning jaunt! But it didn't feel right, so we made a phone call and found an inland alternative.

From spacious to tiny, from well equipped to minimal, from quiet to busy... what a ride for two 'old folks' like us!

Overall we've kept our costs manageble, though unlike some may think, South Africa ain't cheap even when you rent the tinyest of tiny cars, basically a SMART car with four doors, go the backpacker route and live on yogurt, granola cereal, fabulous fruit, peanutbutter and honey with a meal out every other day. If you feel inclined to help with the costs we'd be very appreciative.

When it's your turn to visit this beautiful country, give me a shout and I'll put you in touch with some fabulous people and some interesting places to stay.