For Detailed Itineraries or to sign up, call, email, or visit our website! Questions? 1-800-368-2794 • [email protected] • www.wildernesstravel.com 1 Perspectives on East Africa From the vast savannas and woodlands of the Serengeti, the world’s most intact grazing ecosystem, to the austere beauty of Lake Turkana, where some of the most sigificant discoveries in human origins have been made, East Africa is breathtaking in its diversity. This is the ideal setting for our newest Special Event—an extraordinary symposium in Kenya’s beautiful Central Highlands, where much of East Africa’s groundbreaking wildlife research and community-based conservation projects are taking place. Our three-day symposium is set at the elegant and historic Mount Kenya Safari Club and features a remarkable group of world-renowned wildlife experts, conservationists, and researchers. This provides a superb chance to meet the researchers and learn about their work. Presentations by our expert Guest Speakers will be interspersed with excursions to the Ol Pejeta Sanctuary, home to the Jane Goodall Institute’s chimp sanctuary as well as the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, to Guest Speaker Laurence Frank’s project at Mpala Research Centre, and to the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, where the bongo, an endangered forest antelope, is being bred for reintroduction to Mount Kenya. Our symposium is coordinated with superb safari programs that offer the most intriguing experiences in East Africa, from tracking mountain gorillas in Uganda to meeting the fascinating tribal peoples of Ethiopia’s Omo River Valley. If you’ve ever dreamed of going on safari or wish to return to this mesmerizing continent, this unique event offers a once-in- a-lifetime wildlife and cultural experience. Join us! But call soon—space is limited! 2 For Detailed Itineraries or to sign up, call, email, or visit our website! The Guest Speakers Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, one of the world’s leading authorities on the African elephant, pioneered the first in-depth scientific study of elephant behavior in Tanzania’s Lake Manyara National Park at the age of 23. During the 1970s, he investigated the status of elephants throughout Africa and was the first to alert the world to the crisis of ivory poaching. His award-winning books include PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP-LEFT: Louise Leakey and her mother Among the Elephants, and he is the founder of Save the Elephants, Meave Leakey, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Frans Lanting, Richard Estes whose goal is to secure the elephants’ future and sustain the beauty and ecological integrity of the places they live. In 2010, he was named the recipient of the Indianapolis Prize, the world’s leading Dr. Louise Leakey, youngest of the famed Leakey fossil-hunters, is award for animal conservation. a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and heads the Koobi Fora Research Project at Lake Turkana, where she and her team are Dr. Laurence G. Frank has been a research scientist at UC working to produce new finds on our early human ancestors. She and Berkeley since 1975, first as a graduate student, then as part of the a group of scientists led by her mother, Dr. Meave Leakey, unearthed Berkeley Hyena Project, and currently affiliated with the Museum of the 3.5-million-year-old skull of Kenyanthropus platyops there in Vertebrate Zoology. After spending 20 years studying the behavioral 2001. Dr. Leakey is currently an Assistant Research Professor in the ecology and endocrinology of the spotted hyena, he turned to Department of Anthropology at New York’s Stony Brook University. conservation research and is now the Director of the Living with She sits on the Advisory Boards of Sea Shepherd, the Centre for Lions Projects, a multidisciplinary approach to the conservation Communicating Science, and The Fund for Wild Nature. and management of lions and other large African predators outside protected areas. One of the projects is Dr. Frank’s Laikipia Predator Frans Lanting is a renowned wildlife photographer whose Project, which encourages coexistence of people, lions, and livestock. images have brought attention to endangered ecological treasures throughout the world. For three decades he has documented wildlife Dr. Richard Estes, author of the acclaimed field guide The Safari from the Amazon to Antarctica to promote understanding about the Companion, has been active in the research and conservation of Earth and its natural history through images that convey a passion African ungulates since 1963. A well-known expert on the social for nature and a sense of wonder about our living planet. His work ecology of African mammals, he is a Research Associate of the is commissioned frequently by National Geographic, where he served Smithsonian Institution and former Chairman of the World as a Photographer-in-Residence. Lanting has received many awards Conservation Union’s Antelope Specialist Group. Dr. Estes has for his work, including top honors from World Press Photo and the taught courses and lectured about African mammals and led some Sierra Club’s Ansel Adams Award. 25 tours of East and South African parks. He has just published The Gnu’s World, the first book all about the wildebeest and the subject of Dr. Estes’ PhD. ermott D C M E N For Detailed Itineraries or to sign up, call, email, or visit our website! HA Questions? 1-800-368-2794 • [email protected] • www.wildernesstravel.com 3 S The Symposium The Excursions Our active symposium is set in Kenya’s central highlands, home to Our excursions explore remarkable wildlife conservancies and a remarkable range of animals and the site of the most cutting edge research centers for exciting 4WD gameviewing and a firsthand wildlife research being done in Kenya today. Presentations by our introduction to ongoing conservation work on the Laikipia Plateau. renowned speakers will be complemented by fascinating excursions and opportunities to interact with our expert researchers. OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY Lying on the western foothills of Mount SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE* Kenya, the 90,000-acre Ol Pejeta June 25, 2014 Conservancy has the highest game-to-area ratio of any park or reserve in Kenya. This is Arrive in Nairobi from home or pre-symposium safaris and transfer East Africa’s largest black rhino sanctuary, to Norfolk Hotel or Nairobi Serena Hotel for overnight. the only place in Kenya to see chimpanzees, June 26, 2014 and home to the highest predator densities in Kenya. Ol Pejeta is also a sanctuary for 8:30am Charter flight to Nanyuki and transfer to four of the eight remaining northern white Mount Kenya Safari Club rhinos in existence. 10:30am Presentation: Frans Lanting—Into Africa 11:45am Presentation: Laurence Frank—Lions of Laikipia MPALA RESEARCH CENTRE 1:00pm Lunch and check-in to guest rooms Mpala Research Centre is set on a working cattle ranch with more 2:30pm Excursion: Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy than 25 resident predator species and more endangered mammals 6:30pm Reception and Dinner than any protected area in Kenya. Supported by the Smithsonian June 27, 2014 Institution, Princeton University, and the Kenya Wildlife Service, 8:00am-5:00pm Excursion: Full day excursion to Ol Pejeta this world-class center provides unparalleled opportunities to study Conservancy and Mpala Research Centre wildlife and behavioral ecology, conservation and management, and 6:30pm Presentation: Iain Douglas-Hamilton— economic sustainability of local livelihoods. Among the Elephants MOUNT KENYA WILDLIFE CONSERVANCY 7:30pm Dinner This unique facility cares for abandoned, injured, and endangered June 28, 2014 animals for rehabilitation back to the wild. Among its diverse Early morning Optional birdwatching walk projects is the Bongo Repatriation to Mount Kenya Project, named 9:00am Pack and check out one of the three most important wildlife projects in 2006 by the 10:00am Presentation: Richard Estes— International Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Serengeti Shall Not Die 11:15am Presentation: Louise Leakey—Cradle of Mankind The Setting 12:30pm Farewell and Lunch THE LAIKIPIA PLATEAU 1:30pm Depart for Nairobi and flights home or begin post-symposium safaris. Stretching from Mount Kenya to the edge of the Great Rift Valley, the spectacular Laikipia Plateau is celebrated for its biodiversity, with its wildlife sustained entirely by private and communal landowners. All the “Big Five” are found here, including more than 5,000 elephants, and Laikipia hosts half of Kenya’s endangered black rhinos and 70% of the world’s Grevy’s zebras. People of diverse Kenyan cultures and backgrounds have come together here to undertake conservation and world-class research through the Laikipia Wildlife Forum, which supports the protection of wildlife as well as the livelihoods of local people. Y RO *Please note the symposium schedule and timing are provisional DE TUI and subject to change. 4 For Detailed Itineraries or to sign up, call, email, or visit our website! The Venue MOUNT KENYA SAFARI CLUB Nestled in the foothills of snow-capped Mount Kenya, Africa’s second- highest mountain, the Mount Kenya Safari Club is an ideal base for our symposium. With a history as rich and evocative as the surrounding landscape, it’s a snapshot of Africa from a bygone era. Originally the retreat of movie star and founder William Holden, former guests have included Winston Churchill and Bing Crosby. Set in more than 100 acres of manicured gardens, the hotel has a stately, manor house ambiance and offers 120 guest rooms, each featuring a wood-burning fireplace, en-suite bathrooms, mini-bar, tea and coffee facilities—and perfect views of Mount Kenya! The Safaris We have created an extraordinary collection of safaris, all of which incorporate the Perspectives on East Africa symposium as an integral part of the itinerary. Participants may join a safari either before or after the symposium.