All week I've been trying to write this blog, ever since the release of the UN IPBES' report.  In case you missed the story, in between the birth of Harry an Meghan's baby Archie or the Australian Prime Minister Sco-Mo getting egged, it's really quite a big deal.  So big a deal in fact, that it's given me writer's block.  One million species are now at risk of extinction.  One. Million. Species.  (Take a look at The Guardian's summary if you'd like a good run down).   That's not just tigers and polar bears and rhinos.  We're talking across the board.  In short, two in every five amphibians are at risk of extinction, a third of corals and populations of key crop pollinators are crashing.  There's been a whopping 82% decline in mammalian biomass across the planet.  We've done an almighty job of destroying the health of the ecosystems on which we (as a fellow species) depend.  As a conservationist and as a parent, I find this sickening.

Decades ago when I was dreaming of a future life in Africa after my first safari in Zimbabwe, books about Africa were my saving grace.  Classics like Jane Goodall's "In the Shadow of Man" and Dian Fossey's "Gorillas in the Mist", Iain Douglas-Hamilton's "Among the Elephants" and Mark and Delia Owens' "Cry of the Kalahari" all made what seemed like an impossible dream within my reach - and I have these authors to thank for helping on the path to becoming a zoologist working in Africa and a published author of my own books on Africa (signed copies of 'Dry Water', 'Elephant Dance' and 'Planet Elephant' are all available on my website).  Their stories made me see what was possible and swept me away into the magic and raw beauty of Africa's wild landscapes.

Every first-time traveller to Africa asks the same question:  Which country offers the best African safari?

RWANDA

Being a roving zoologist is the best job in the world but it's not all bush glamour.  Sometimes it's hard office grind too.  2019 kicked off with a whole lot of time spent at my desk entering the data from last year's Akagera Elephant Project, Rwanda, painstakingly analysing photos and videos, trying to work out who was who in Akagera's elephant population.  We have now identified 40 of Akagera's approximately 100 elephants with clear photos showing ears, tusks etc, and the process will continue this December as another group joins me in the field.  I'll be running a workshop for Akagera's community guides to enable them to fully participate in the research as part of their day jobs guiding tourists in the park, and if all goes to plan, I'll also be taking on a Rwandan student from the University of Rwanda.  Guides in the park are already contributing to the project and have access to the existing elephant database.  If you would like to participate in the Akagera Elephant Project this year, there is only one spot left for a single person so you need to claim it now.  To register your interest in next December's field season (2020), please drop me an email.

It's that time of year again; time to announce my 2020 safaris!  Yes, I know we've only just started 2019, but the best accommodation in the best safari destinations books out over a year in advance, and we don't want to risk missing out!  So if you're thinking of going on the journey of a lifetime next year, now's the time to book.

Waking up in Akagera National Park is a lot of things but one thing it's not is quiet.  Oh yes - it's a wilderness experience, the likes of which you're not likely to find in many safari countries these days, because as yet the vast crowds of tourists of the rest of East Africa have yet to discover this little gem.  But quiet it is not.  You won't hear planes flying over or cars and buses roaring past.  You won't have that pulsing, omnipresent background noise of the city.  You wake up to the sound of hundreds, perhaps thousands of native bees! 

When it comes to conservation issues, the challenge is always to get people across mainstream society interested and acting on the issues.  As my husband Andy has always said, there's the 5% who care (who are already converted to the cause), the 5% who'll never care, but it's the 90% in the middle that we need to reach for real change to happen.  This was the premise of Earth Hour when it first started in 2007, reaching out with a symbolic action that we could all do (turning off the lights for an hour), making it fun so kids could do it, families, couples, businesses, anyone really, and then mobilising that interest to create a movement of millions of people for change.    

If you're looking for something completely different for your holiday next year, my late 2019 Rwandan safari options might be just what you're after.  They're the perfect combination of breathtaking landscapes, incredible wildlife, history and culture, and really something special for the discerning and ethically-minded traveller.  I'll be there with you all the way along, sharing all those incredible African moments!

A fith birthday is a day to celebrate for any company, especially in these days where massive multinational companies rule the world and make it incredibly difficult for the little guys to compete.  Like all entrepreneurs, there were certainly stressful moments and others of confidence crises when I wondered if I should just give up and go and get a normal job with a decent salary.  But perseverance always pays off!

Andy and I always said once our second son Shep turned four, we'd take the boys on a 4x4 journey in Namibia.  There are four years between our boys and our first born, Solo is now eight.  Solo had been to Africa three times by the time he was Shep's current age, and as much as we would have liked to give Shep the same early life experiences in Africa as his older brother, with two small kids, several country moves for our family to Asia, Europe and then back to northern Australia, plus a business that started just before Shep was born, that clearly wasn't going to happen quickly or easily.  So there had been much anticipation around Shep's first trip to Africa in June this year and when it finally happened, for both boys, it was just mind-blowing.  I don't think you can guess at what your child will get out of being in the wild until you put them out there.  Both Solo and Shep loved Namibia, but in different ways.