[Remember to check out our give-away!] We celebrated the Nightjar Adventurer 2013 awards recently and in the audience were several folk who had embarked on equally ambitious, foolhardy and pioneering expeditions that passed completely under the radar. My friend Richmond MacIntyre, with whom I completed the Drakensberg Grand Traverse last November, is a case in point. He’s ticked most of the boxes having climbed the Seven Summits etc, but most of his adventures, usually undertaken with his brother Chris, have been more spontaneous – done simply to satisfy their curiosity, and, at the same time get in a bit of exercise. Over the last couple of years they’ve achieved world firsts like kayaking 2000km through the Okavango Delta region with minimal support; a journey that took them down the Okavango River from the Namibian border to Maun, along the Boteti River to Lake Xau on the border of the Makgadikgadi Pans, on to Seronga in the Delta and finally to Victoria Falls via the Selinda Spillway, Linyanti, Chobe and Zambezi Rivers. And they were the first to make a complete crossing of the Makgadikgadi Pans on bikes.
– Fiona McIntosh
Now you might not have heard of either of the crazy MacIntyre brothers, though you’ll certainly know of Wilderness Safaris, the company that Chris co-founded with Colin Bell.
May 2013 is Wilderness Safaris 30th birthday and the company has grown substantially from its humble beginnings - offering rustic mobile safaris to like-minded guests who were passionate about nature and exploring the Botswana’s remote wildlife areas – not only in size, but also in its ability to positively impact Africa. It was the first safari outfitter at the time to realise the need for its financial benefits to flow back to the country and its people, ultimately ensuring the sustainable protection of Botswana’s diverse wilderness. Happy Birthday Wilderness. Looking at Botswana 30 year on, we’re grateful for that vision.
More info:
Give-away:
http://www.nightjartravel.com/webform/one-only-speaker-series
