It’s not that often that opportunities to visit Kenya with a best-selling novelist who knows the place (and its history) like the back of his hand, so when Frank Coates and I first got chatting a couple of months ago about him leading an Animal Works expedition I was pretty excited. And I’m even more excited today to be able to announce that Frank will be leading an Animal Works expedition to Kenya in June. Yes, this is just a couple of months away so you’ll need to get in quick for this one! We need a minimum of 6 people to fill this trip, 12 at most. 
The itinerary is mind blowing and includes visits to two hand-picked elephant conservation projects that will be supported through Animal Works (and the donation which is included in the cost of the safari) – a behind the scenes experience at Daphne Sheldrick’s famous elephant and rhino orphanage and a visit to Oria Douglas-Hamilton’s Elephant Watch Camp which is linked to Save The Elephants (founded by the ‘father’ of elephant conservation, Iain Douglas-Hamilton). The trip includes several of the places you might know from Frank’s novels, like the famous Masai Mara, Samburu and the Great Rift Valley. Just like our Zimbabwean expeditions, you will have the opportunity to ‘give back’ to local people and wildlife while on your holiday, staying in high caliber lodges and camps in some of the best wildlife areas in Africa.
You might know Frank from his best-selling novels like Tears of the Masai and Softly Calls the Serengeti. In 1989 Frank ran away to Africa and joined a UN team in Nairobi as a technical expert. It was a life-changing experience and Frank was hooked on Africa. In the following years as he consulted in countries from Kenya to Swaziland and Mozambique to Botswana and his passionate interest in the political and cultural history of East Africa grew- and his writing career began. You really couldn’t get a better person to escort you through some of Africa’s most famous game reserves.
Get in touch now if you’d like to join us on an Animal Works expedition with one of Australia’s finest African novelists for the chance to get up close and personal on two great elephant conservation projects! Contact us here for a full costing and the complete itinerary. Special thanks to The Classic Safari Company who, with 20 years experience in African safaris, are taking care of the bookings and processing for this fabulous safari.
In other news, we’re still taking bookings for our expedition to Zimbabwe in late September, following our booked out safari there in June. All the details are on our website here. I’m told there are still 10 tickets left to our Imagine Africa dinner with Frank Coates, Tony Park, Ace Bourke and me (Tammie Matson) on Wednesday 18th April, so this is your last chance to get tickets! Phone Ripples on 99603000 to book.
At the dinner we’ll draw the amazing safari prize donated by Epic Private Journeys valued at $5000 – 4 nights accommodation at Wilderness Safaris’ Little Makololo Camp in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, plus return road transfers to Victoria Falls. If you can’t make it to the dinner, you can still enter the competition now online here – tickets are just $20 each or 3 for $50.
Happy Easter from all of us at Animal Works! We hope the Easter bilby finds you….
