I just had a glance through our Facebook Fan page and it’s really inspiring to see all the effort that travelers are making to raise funds for the school expeditions or gap year travel with us. Recently I heard that some chap has been sitting in a tub of baked beans outside his local supermarket to raise a few extra pounds. Now that’s innovation and determination! We know its not easy but we also know that there is so much more gratification in working hard to raise money for your trip especially since it is all about helping towards a cause greater than ourselves so hat tip to all!

Meanwhile, we thought that this little fund raising story might be an inspiration to you. A group of lads who call themselves the Chuckle Brothers Football Club undertook a ‘fun run’ the other to raise funds for the various projects run by Camps International by way of a thank you as Camps had sponsored their football kits for the season. They set themselves a £500 target and shot through that it no time and as of today have raised £706!

Big thanks to these chaps and for everyone out there raising funds, good luck – you know it’s worth it. And don’t forget we are here to help you in any way we can!

A few days ago, we had some rather interesting visitors staying with us at Camp Tsavo. Dr. Munir Virani, Africa Programme Director for the Peregrine Fund is one of a handful of raptor specialists in East Africa and was in the neighborhood surveying birds of prey.  We are are now discussing some long term research on birds of prey based out of Camp Tsavo. Dr. Munir sent in a short account of his trip:

Having spent a productive full two days at Tsavo surveying birds of prey, we were quite excited to explore Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary, an 80,000 acre private piece of land just south of the Taita Hills, a world renowned biodiversity hotspot. I was particularly ecstatic because of the possibility of seeing another Taita Falcon (I saw my first ever Taita Falcon in the wild in Tsavo West a couple of days ago). For those unaware of what exactly a Taita Falcon is, it is the avian equivalent of a wild Amur Leopard. The rare Taita Falcon is a winsome, yet powerful little falcon with huge feet, and capable of attaining speeds of up to 160 miles per hour at full stoop, leaving its prey no chance of survival. The Taita Hills was where the first specimen was discovered. My colleagues on this survey – Teeku Patel and Karim Kara are avid raptorphiles and we were invited by Dipesh Pabari (Africa Programme Manager for Camps International) on the last day of our survey to Camp Tsavo to document the ranch’s raptors and look at the possibility of assisting with specialized raptor training courses.

It was extremely hot and we were sun baked (almost roasted) as we observed raptors from the rooftop of Teeku’s vintage Land Rover. Arriving at Camp Tsavo at 4.00 pm, we were warmly greeted by friendly staff and shown to our rooms. Our minds however were set on the cliffs atop Marungu Hill where we had spotted quite a lot of whitewash on our way to camp. We were introduced to Ken, the camp’s guide who meticulously explained to us about the ranch and Camp Tsavo what its aims and objectives were.

Our minds however were set at exploring the cliffs and it didn’t take long to convince Ken to drive out to the base of Marungu Hill to look for raptors. So off we went through a narrow winding path, stopping occasionally to photograph an elegant Eastern Chanting Goshawk and a Brown Snake Eagle. As we got to the bottom of the cliff, we hurriedly leapt out of the Land Rover to find fresh leopard scat and pug marks. The silence was broken by the sounds of binoculars whooshing, aimed towards the sky atop the cliff as two silhouetted predatory birds effortlessly soared the cliff ridge. “Verreaux’s”, I yelled, expecting confirmation from my colleagues. The Verreaux’s Eagle is the African equivalent of the Golden Eagle, and the second largest eagle in Africa (after the Martial). Very few outdoor experiences come close to watching one of Africa’s majestic eagles in display over a pastel orange sunset sky. We watched the eagles being dive-bombed by a falcon (too far to get a positive identification on) and could only speculate that it may have had chicks. The landscape was lush green and comprised Commiphora and Acacia shrubs, all in resplendent bloom. We headed back to camp and were treated to a sumptuous dinner and some excellent company with the camp’s ecotrainers. The lights went off promptly at ten and as I lay on my bed, my mind was abuzz with all the possible opportunities to conduct ground breaking raptor research in this Biodiversity Hotspot area. I shall certainly return.

Munir Virani
Africa Programs Director
The Peregrine Fund

Our Kate was on Radio 1 this morning, speaking to Fearne Cotton….

Listen to it here: Kate Speaks to Fearne on Radio 1…

Fearne Cotton

Kate 'Cheesemonger' Erskine

It’s taken me a while to post these shots of our Christmas Do… but seeing as the last series of shots were taken by Anna – I thought I set the record straight….

We are always really touched when we get personal letters from people who have spent time with us at our Camps and even more honoured when someone writes something about us who was part of Camps.

Thanks Rachel…this meant a lot…

With the Christmas party booked and the alcohol poised we set off with one goal…BRUSSELS!

Im going to leave the photos do most of the talking but will leave you with just one comment…

Nothing stops the Camps International crew…not snow, not strikes…not even Eurostar!

A great time was had by all and as an added bonus we even made it home in time for Christmas!

(more…)

Mel sent me this pic of the Camp Borneo office yesterday -

I designed the Camp Borneo logo in August last year… It always make’s me proud when I see my work somewhere I don’t know, or being worn by someone I don’t know.

Anyway enough boasting, this is minor contribution in comparison to what our gappers do in our African and Asia camps every day. For those of you that have travelled with us previously and are about to (I salute you) – there’s lots of pics on our Flickr accounts of past projects that are in progress and  nearing completion:

Africa: http://www.flickr.com/photos/campsinternationalafrica

Asia: http://www.flickr.com/photos/campsinternationalasia/

Check them out!

Girls and boys, please don’t try this at home!

“And if you don’t drive me to the ice cream shop, I will…”

“You know doc, I have been having terrible nightmares about gappers attacking our drivers and painting themselves with cement. I don’t know if its all the steak I have been eating at night and you know my slippers are…ooh did you watch yesterday’s news…apparently some chap in New York had a heart attack in his office, kicked the bucket and nobody noticed for five days! I think I might be going slightly mad…I am going slightly mad! Teeeheehee…”

Though I’d spent time in the Malaysian state of Sabah before, three months back in 2007, the previous seven days have brought home to me just how little of this part of Borneo I had actually seen and what I’ve been missing! Thinking of coming? Well I’ve just traversed North, South, East and West of [...]

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Until recently, I was never one to follow sports, especially motorsports. This was all to change when I find out that last year Camp Kenya hosted the first national motocross championship in our backyard and that we were going to do it again. I had never watched a motocross race on television, let alone in real life and now we were about to organise one!

As with all events, be it concerts, festivals or sports days, the success all depends on the planning and preparation. We are very fortunate to have a dedicated team of staff that are well versed in handling hundreds of students at a time so this event was a breeze for them and thankfully everyone else was a lot more relaxed than I was.

The two-day event spoke for itself where we had 22 bikes flying over hills including and a bunch of little ones on their 50cc bikes whizzing around the bend with their parents cheering them on. The race day on October 19th attracted hundreds of local spectators from surrounding villages in Muhaka which is just 12kms south of Ukunda. Personally, this was one of the greatest rewards for me in being part of such an event: that is the fact that a full day of entertainment is free for people from all walks of life, especially since the majority of the people we share the environment with don’t have the luxuries we do. It was all smiles, laughs and cheering from every side of the sand quarry which is rented from 13 different landowners for the two day occasion which again makes the event very special: so many people from the local community stand to benefit not just from the entertainment but financially to as scores of young men are hired for over a week to help prepare the track, the land is rented and so many more bring their wears and tears, samosas and soft drinks to sell on the occasion.

For those with cash to spare, a section is available which you pay an entrance fee of 500/- which gives you access to the well-stocked bar and restaurant run by Ngiri’s restaurant and a perfect view of the entire track. And of course a bouncy castle and DJ kept all ages dancing through the day. Thanks to all the sponsors and ticket sales, we were able to raise approximately Ksh 90,000/- which will all go towards the Camp Kenya Trust projects in Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary.

The humble young National Motocross Champion, Shivam Vinayak stole the day and the hearts of the spectators with his impressive jumps and speed but all racers put up a really good race. Talking to several of the riders individually made me realise we have something really special to offer motor sports in Diani. Not only do they love the challenging sand track but its also another excuse to spend some time on our golden beaches so it’s a win win for all!

A special thanks to all our supporters from across Diani, everybody that contributed to the event and the Camp Kenya volunteers who spent the day in the sun as marshals!