I have always been an animal lover, and a couple of years ago, I decided I wanted to take a GAP year (year out) before university, and to spend it working with wild animals. My Gran told me the story of Elsa the Lioness, how she was adopted as a cub by a couple living in Kenya , and how they raised her and released her back into the wild. I was very interested by this, and decided to find out more. I found out that the woman who adopted Elsa, Joy Adamson, had written a book about her experiences, which, in 1964, was made into a successful film staring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, who went on to found the Born Free Foundation.
While I was researching wildlife gap year placements, someone suggested I looked at the Eco Africa Experience website. When I did, I found the perfect placement for me. Four weeks at Shamwari game reserve, in South Africa , home to the world-famous Born Free Foundation Big Cat Sanctuary. Then came the challenge of raising the £2,620 that I will need. One of my friends suggested that I did a sponsored event, and, as I enjoy walking, I decided on a sponsored walk.
The people at school were very supportive, and I had a lot of offers from people wanting to walk with me, including the Head of French, the School Bus driver, and members of the Carestaff, as well as a lot of sponsorship. The route I decided on was a 12-mile (19.3 Km) trek along the towpath of the Kennet & Avon Canal between Hungerford and Newbury. The walk took place on Saturday 6th November 2004, and you can see pictures of the walk here.
In the past, I have had holiday jobs, so the money that I earned added £902.75 to my total.
So far, I am £200 over my target, So I will be giving the extra money to Born Free as a donation.
Special thanks to Newbury Building Society, Nationwide Building Society, Malcom Chick Charity, and Gloucestershire Deaf Youth Club for their generous contributions.
In the christmas holiday I sent my application off to Eco-Africa Experience. Shortly before I returned to school, I had a letter frrom them saying that I was "a very suitable applicant" and they were looking forward to seeing me. It also included my flight details. I'M GOING!!! WOOOHOOOO!
unfortunately, my site got deleted from the server while I was out there. You can still read my diary on Opendiary. Sorry about the lack of pictures, Opendairy doesn't support HTML, and the pictures also got deleted. I'm working on a picture gallery at the moment, so watch this space !