THE all female crew of the Elephant Ignite Expedition have reached the 10 000 kilometre mark in their three-month African expedition aimed at raising awareness for the poaching crisis faced by Africa’s elephants.
The expedition departed from Sibaya Casino and Entertainment complex on Women’s Day, 9 August and has already travelled through South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Malawi. This epic journey is
focussed on community upliftment, youth education, public awareness for wildlife crime and poaching with the focus on the plight of Africa’s declining elephant populations and a fundraising drive to support the organisations that are fighting the battles on the
front line.
After 54 days and 11 000 kilometres on the road, with rough terrain and very little communications, the crew is still enthusiastic.
“We are all committed to the cause and the projects we have visited are truly amazing. It is humbling to see the dedication these people have to make a difference and protect Africa’s wildlife and it motivates us to work harder to get their message to the world,” said expedition leader, Carla Geyser.
The expedition has visited 14 projects to date with some of the highlights being an elephant collaring operation with Dr Michelle Henley from Elephants Alive. The Elephant Ignite Expedition funded the costs of the collar for one of the elephant cows in the operation. The elephant cow has since been named “Ignite” in honour of the crew of the expedition.
The explorers still have roughly 4 000 kilometres and another five weeks of travel ahead of them with numerous stops in Tanzania and Kenya. They hope to reach Nairobi by mid-November where this epic journey will draw to a close. The men were reportedly fishing off the pier when tragedy struck.
