The Book Bus UK road show coming your way

Posted by Samantha Kirton / in Blog, Featured Posts, The Book Bus /

The Book Bus is coming to England, Scotland and Wales!

Don’t be surprised if you spot Quentin Blake’s iconic artwork driving about the roads of the UK as the Book Bus sets off on a road show this month. Wrapped in eye-catching Quentin Blake designs and sponsored by our friends at Miles Kelly Publishing, the bus will be setting off from Lands End on Monday 14 October, visiting schools, libraries, universities and workplaces across the UK on a three month road trip.

The road show is being launched to spread awareness of the charity, recruit volunteers for Book Bus projects overseas and raise funds to run mobile libraries in Africa, Asia and South America.

The Book Bus will make further regional visits during January, February and March 2014. You can follow the progress of the bus on the UK Book Bus Roadshow website, and request a visit. Get on board!

Looking for Mrs Livingstone

Posted by Samantha Kirton / in Africa, Blog /

We’re delighted to have a guest blog post from journalist and author, Julie Davidson, on her return visit to the adrenalin capital of Africa, Livingstone in Zambia, and her research in to the explorer’s remarkable wife…

“Blimey!” I mutter, as I step from the terminal building  into the brilliant light. ““They’ve put up another one.”  I pause before the new statue of David Livingstone in the little airport’s forecourt. It is flanked by the figures of Susi and Chuma, the followers who carried his preserved body 1500 miles to the Indian Ocean Coast after his death in northern Zambia in 1873. This is the fourth statue of the missionary-explorer to be raised since I was last here five years ago, when the civic authorities joined forces with the tourist industry to mark the 150th anniversary of his arrival at the Victoria Falls.

A conservation success story in Africa

Posted by Samantha Kirton / in Africa, Blog /

Marking one of Africa’s best conversation success stories in recent years, on Saturday September 28th 2013, African Parks held a ten year celebration in honour of the amazing transformation of Malawi’s Majete National Park, from desolate area devoid of wildlife into a thriving BIG Five destination.

Majete has been restocked with more than 2,500 animals including black rhino, lions and leopards. The diversity of the wildlife and birds, spectacular scenery including hills, the Shire River and the Kapichira Falls, and its reputation for allowing guests the chance to get up close with nature has meant tourism numbers continue to rise. A real conservation success story.

How to be a tour guide in Mongolia

Posted by Samantha Kirton / in Blog, Featured Posts, frontpage, South America /

Jacqueline Wigglesworth is currently in Mongolia leading our horse riding trip with the British Horse Society but can most often be found leading VentureCo tours in South America. In the past she has led our 15 week Inca & Amazon Venture through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina as well as Inca Summer Venture in Peru and the 12 week Patagonia Venture. She helped set up The Book Bus and later worked on running it in Zambia, Malawi and Ecuador.  Jackie is also the person behind our Inti World Yoga adventure trips. We caught up with her before her latest adventure to find out what life’s like on the move…

A leopard walked in to a bar…in the Okavango Delta

Posted by Samantha Kirton / in Africa, Blog, Featured Posts /

Our friends at Kwando’s Lagoon Lodge in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, shared the following with us.

In the heart of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, is the wonderful Lagoon Lodge. The Lagoon bar is a popular spot for everyone to gather and enjoy a drink or two before dinner.  When the temperature drops, as it does at this time of year, everyone normally grabs a drink and heads straight for the fireplace.

One evening, guests and their guide were sitting around the fire, leaving the bar a little quieter than normal.  Quiet enough, that a leopard decided to come into the lounge, saunter along the floor of the bar, and then head off towards room 1!

The next day, an eagle-eyed guide spotted a jackal eight metres up in a tree next to the managers’ house, not far off the main pathway to the guest rooms.  Jackals are not known for their tree climbing skills, so it had obviously required some assistance getting up there, courtesy of the bar-visiting leopard.

The evening game drive finished with a walk back to the guest rooms before dinner and a rare on-foot viewing of the leopard high up in the tree near its kill.

It is not unusual for leopards to kill other predators that they see as competition, but it is rare for them to eat them.  This leopard didn’t seem too bothered about the rule book, and dined on jackal!

A Book Bus volunteer’s story…Crocodile attack!

Posted by Samantha Kirton / in Africa, Blog, Featured Posts, Traveller's Tales /

Joseph Dax, an A Level student at Tavistock College was so inspired by our article in the last Winter Issue of Moor Links about local charity Book Bus, that he duly volunteered and headed off for two weeks this summer to Zambia to play his part in encouraging local children to get reading. On his return he kindly put this article together to tell us of his memorable experience.

Have you ever been attacked by a crocodile? My trip to Livingstone, Zambia as a Book Bus volunteer left me with a very lasting impression!  Camping in the grounds of ‘Grubby’s Grotto’, an old colonial residence, myself and the other volunteers set off early each morning, trundling down winding dusty roads and tracks in the trusty (but rather bumpy) Book Bus.

Five minutes with…Sheikh Nazir

Posted by Samantha Kirton / in Blog /

We chew the fat with our man on the ground in Delhi, India.  Trek and tour guide extraordinaire, Sheikh Nazir shares his thoughts on trekking the Himalayas, whistle-stop Delhi, fishing and Kashmir.

Morocco travel tips

Posted by Samantha Kirton / in Africa, Blog, Featured Posts /

Just back from a trip to Morocco, Mark shares his insights on kicking back like a local, from horse riding on the beach to heart-stopping quad bike adventures and the best mint tea in town.

A Morocco traveller’s tale

Posted by Samantha Kirton / in Africa, Blog, frontpage /

It might not be obvious what links The White House, Jimi Hendrix and Barb horses…but they are intimately involved. Fresh back from a horse riding adventure in Morocco, Mark shares his latest tale.

How to tackle a horse riding challenge

Posted by Samantha Kirton / in Blog, Featured Posts /

Where better to get the lowdown on challenge rides than from the horse’s mouth?? We spoke to Wendy Minor, Welfare and Challenge Rides Executive at the British Horse Society.