End of the Beginning

Phase 1 for FCF 5000 has been completed! All 31 of the FCF 5000 Kilimanjaro Marathoners completed either the 5k, 21k (running) or 21k (with 21 kg backpacks).  It was a great success and yes I ran the whole thing- thanks to my impromptu running partners (the Haynes') for keeping me going!

A huge motivation to have run and kept running was the FCF 5000 cause, which we are excited to say has raised over $12,000.  To all of you who donated - THANK YOU!!! Your support is crucial. When we began this project, we anticipated that it would it would be a singular campaign event surrounding the marathon and because we only decided to do it last minute our hopes for what we could achieve were not too high...however, the momentum and dedication from FCF (Mike Beckner & Grant Burden) has proved that Sunday was just the end of the beginning of what we hope we will be a long and successful campaign for anti-poaching awareness.  From the funds raised for this event, we are much closer to our goal of being able to fund an entire training program for all FCF scouts in 2012!

Our next goal is the Lewa Marathon at the end of June! If you are interested in joining the FCF 5000 team and running with us, let me know!  This will be a fitting event as Lewa is the home of Ian Douglas Hamilton, who as many of us know is a huge player in elephant conservation, thus providing a great platform to continue our fundraising and awareness efforts.

This post is being cut short, as Grant and I are leaving for the bush, where the wildebeest migration and their tiny baby calves will be waiting (they are so cute)! More later.

Below are a couple pics from the race.

FCF 5000...A Reason to Run

On Sunday I am running (& possibly walking...will report back later) the Kilimanjaro Half Marathon.  This is exciting for two reasons. The first is that I have actually been training and am actually going to do this...my first ever organized grown up race event! The second is the much more noble and exciting reason, which is that we are running to raise awareness for anti-poaching efforts in Tanzania.

Despite the beautiful pictures of elephants with magnificent tusks and auras that take over ones' emotions when seen in person or in spectacular photos and their adorable babies, which look like they should fit in your suitcase, there is a major elephant poaching crisis in East Africa.  So on February 26th, a team of 30 is either running or carrying 21 kgs (46.29 lbs) of sand in a backpack for 21kms (13 miles) to raise awareness and funds to support anti-poaching training for the scouts protecting Tanzania's wildlife and fighting poachers who are killing thousands of animals every year.

We need to help protect the wildlife populations which are being demolished and reverse the trend so that Tanzania's natural resources continue to be around for generations to come and that one of the Earth's biggest treasures, The Serengeti National Park (and surrounding ecosystem) stays intact.

  

The Team Name: FCF stands for the Friedkin Conservation Fund, which is a part of Ker & Downey Tanzania, which does wildlife law enforcement and community development. 5000 stands for the number of people who we are trying to get to support us in this poaching awareness campaign in 2012.  The funds raised will go to scout training for the FCF anti-poaching teams.  This is one of the best ways to combat ivory, as well as any other type of wildlife poaching in Africa.  Put plainly, if a wildlife law enforcement team has the right tools and the right training, they have the capacity to ensure the protection of the majority of animals in their designated areas.  This means that the likelihood of poachers coming in with AK 47's and firing into an entire breeding herd of ellies, killing some immediately and leaving others to die days or weeks later is lessened.  Or that the likelihood of a tuskless elephant cow that is obviously pregnant will NOT be shot in order to collect the tusks of the fetus inside her. Or that the face of a 45 year old elephant bull will not be hacked off for what is essentially two teeth.  There are horrendous images which 99% of the world does not see or probably want to see, but which a large percentage of elephants do see as their family members fall beside them.  This team and awareness campaign that will support the training of scouts, who will support the protection of elephants is something that we have just started, but which we certainly have not finished.  

 So that is where my motivation is drawn from and why for the first time in my 26 years of life, I am running because I want to and not because someone is chasing me.

Uncovering the truth of elephant poaching is not an easy task....to do it professionally and safely requires well thought out approaches to expose how, why and who is involved, what markets are driving the ivory trade, how many elephants are really being taken every year (is 5000 a ridiculous number to speculate for 2011....probably not), and how do we stop it??? Lots of unanswered and hidden questions.  However, supporting the training and implementation of anti-poaching is a fabulous first start and even after the marathon is over, the FCF 5000 campaign will continue.

Below are a handful of the other organizations involved in the protection of African elephants:

Wildlife Conservation Society: http://www.wcs.org/
The Pams Foundation: http://www.pamsfoundation.org/the-ruvuma-elephant-conservation-project
Save the Elephants: http://www.savetheelephants.org/
African Parks Network: http://www.african-parks.org/
East African Wildlife Society: http://www.eawildlife.org/swara
Friedkin Conservation Fund: http://www.friedkinfund.org/
African Elephant Specialist Group: http://www.african-elephant.org/
World Wildlife Fund: http://www.worldwildlife.org/
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust:  http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/

email me for more info or questions about FCF 5000!

Apologies South Africa

When I first really fell in love with Africa, I was 17.  My family and I went to Niassa Game Reserve in northern Mozambique.  My life seriously changed because of that trip.  Niassa is, or at least it was in 2003, the most spectacular, untouched and simply magnificent piece of bush I had seen. Still to this day, in my memory it is incomparable.  Flying over miombo woodlands, climbing and camping atop inselburgs, paddling through flowing and hippo infested rivers, seeing wildlife, walking in the bush, was unbeatable. This trip sealed the deal for me and my relationship with Africa. It also helped me get into Sewanee (as it was the basis of my college essay), and it led to trips back to Africa for the next three summers in Tanzania (Singita Grumeti), which is where in 2009 I met my husband, who in turn introduced me to Mwiba.  After my trip to Niassa I developed an obsession with only going to the “Real Africa”, which in my mind did NOT include South Africa….anyone who did a trip to Africa and chose to go to South Africa was doing “Africa Light".  Now, nine years later I am married to a South African and I stand very much corrected.

Grant and I just returned to Tanzania from South Africa, dragging our feet….solely because South Africa was fabulous.  The whole country has so much to offer beyond going on safari.  One of the best parts of the trip, second to spending time with family, was our week- long road trip from Hilton to Cape Town, all along the Eastern Coast of SA, in a Ford Figo (I am convinced it was one of five ever made).  First destination was the Transkei for a three day stopover at an intimate spot called Mbotyi.  Much to ones deception Mbotyi is one of the most exclusive and beautiful places I have been…old old shacks on the beach which have been in the family of South African farmers for generations are scattered along the breathtaking coastline.  The cottage which we were fortunate enough to stay in was 20 yards from a spectacular beach where the only other people we saw were Xhosa cattle herders moving their cows along the beach on horseback and a couple of kids on the way to school.  Beach time, combined with runs along the coast, some very good fishing attempts (sorry Grant), and a group of great people made for a solid start to our little journey.

Grant fishing along the Mbotyi Coastline.

Beach at Mbotyi- the group coming back from an afternoon run.

Next stop on the trip was outside East London, in Kwelerha Nature Reserve.  An amazing morning at Grant’s Aunt & Uncles’ Beach Cottage included watching approximately 200 dolphins swimming up the coastline.  Much like the surfers surrounding them, the dolphins were catching waves and jumping and playing in the tide.  Something about watching them leaves one with the sense that they are experiencing emotions not too far from our own (elephants have the same effect).  Bottom line was that there was no excuse for a bad day when this was our pre-breakfast activity.

From East London we drove through amazing country, full of game farms (very different than wild/vast East Africa, making me fully appreciative of our special spot), Nelson Mandela’s hometown, the start of the Garden Route, which is home to some outstanding river canyons that lead to the Indian Ocean, and quaint beach getaways where we dreamt about buying retirement cottages 50 years from now (Knysna & Wilderness to name a few).  A stop over in Wilderness at a nice little B&B and a 24 hour long re-cap of Grants days at Saasveldt made me think of Sewanee, how much I miss it and how tempting it is to go back to school! 

Next day, back in the car and off to Cape Town.   Destination for food and beverage refreshment was Hermanus….really wish we could have spent the night, especially if it had been in our budget to stay at The Birkenhead House.  A quick Caprese salad and Windhoek Lager and we were back on our way for another drive where all we could think was “Lets get a place here, or maybe here, or how about here?” 

Beach in Hermanus

This carried on all the way to our arrival in Cape Town and continued throughout our two- day stay, where Grant’s cousin Nic took us on an awesome whirlwind visit.  If staying in a hotel in Cape Town, my recommendation is The Cellars Hohenhort, where I FINALLY got my hair done- YAY, I'm blonde again!  If buying a house in Cape Town- Llandudno Beach (where we had the coldest swim of our life!), Bakoven (where we rode beach cruisers to from Sea Point…another must activity) or Constantia, amongst the forests and gardens (where Grant and Nic went for a two hour long run in the hills, while I got pampered).  

Beach Cruisers from Sea Point to Bakoven!

Other amazing CT activities, which we embarked on included paddling in the ocean amongst common dolphins, amazing health food and sushi eateries, climbing Table Mountain (tip: do it before 6:00 am and get the place completely to yourself…I wouldn’t do it any other way….although I am not sure I can do it again with three overly athletic and fit men- I did not walk for about three days!).  Our last afternoon included a drive to the penguins and to the Atlantic Ocean and then winding our way back to downtown CT, viewing seals, eating Fish and Chips in Hout Bay and seeing the Southern Right Whale from the car along Chapmans Peak.  We left wishing we had more time and if we had, the one place I would have gone to was the seafood restaurant Blues (I think it was one of the first restaurants I went to in Africa and where the Kansteiner family doesn’t miss when in town).

Table Mountain (7:00 am)

After our grand tour we headed back to charming Hilton for our last days of family and friends, acting like sponges and trying to stop planning how we are going to live our three different lives: Tanzania, the US, and South Africa…is there enough time for them all?

To finish off this long winded post about all the places I love, I would just say that if you are traveling, do not write off South Africa and if you do go, do not just go for safari AND if you have done Africa before and want to go somewhere new, try Niassa (http://www.lugenda.com/) AND if anyone has any advice on how we can live our three lives, please let me know!