The big ‘ellie’ expediition
The main aim of the expedition is to highlight the plight of the African elephant among children, politicians and conservationists.
AN EXPEDITION with a twist in the tail, or is it in the trunk, was launched at the Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom on Thursday last week.
A group of motivated women will be leaving on Women’s Day to travel to various places of ‘jumbo significence’ under the banner ‘Elephant Ignite’.
Led by Carla Geyser, the women only team will travel an estimated 10 000km through nine African countries, finishing in Kenya.
The main aim of the expedition is to highlight the plight of the African elephant among children, politicians and conservationists.
They will also be distributing various supplies to selected elephant sanctuaries and projects along the way.
After leaving Sibaya, their first stop will be at the Thula Thula Private Game Reserve, where they will acknowledge works of the late Lawrence Anthony, author of the book ‘The Elephant Whisperer’.
The last two Zululand stops will be Digs Pascoe’s Space for Elephants Foundation at the Pongola Nature Reserve and the Tembe Elephant Park.
The expedition then travels through Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania before finishing in Kenya.
Beneficiaries identified by the team are the Elephant and Bees Project, Wildlife Connection, Ecexist Project, Game Rangers International, Kasungu Elephant Foundation and the South Luangwa Canine Unit.
The vehicles for the expedition have been sponsored by Safari Rental driven by Avis.
The expedition will be filmed for a web-series for the Earth Touch website, www.earthtouchnews.com where the public will be able to follow the group’s progress.
