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From: Delta
Date: 27 Oct 2000
Time: 16:54:13
Dear Mr. Tony B. There are several excellent groups in your area that you can join on their safaris to Africa. One is the Los Angeles Audubon Society headed by Olga Clarke, an accomplished photographer, popular lecturer and birder who often escorts the group from Los Angeles. I encourage single travelers to seek out these kind of special interest groups because it means your traveling companions are more likely to be well-educated, seasoned travelers than if you merely sign up for a departure date listed in a brochure or online or even through a travel agent. The interests of the Audubon Society are not limited to bird watching (see their excellent Audubon magazine) and the tours are well-rounded. The bad news is that as I write the Los Angeles Audubon Society group is in Africa, leaving the Mala Mala Game Reserve in South Africa and heading for Namibia - two of the premiere places in Africa! But they go to Africa often, and usually offer a tour annually. This way you will have time to get to know the people in the group and find out for yourself. Another group in your area is the Greater Los Angeles Zoological Society (GLAZA.) They had a fantastic tour this year that included a climb up Kilimanjaro and exotic Zanzibar. A third organization is the Palm Springs Desert Art Museum. They have a tour to South Africa escorted by a wonderful fellow James W. Cornett, with whom I was privileged to travel in Namibia. A sense of humor, easy going nature, professional photographer, and great traveling companion. [It is James Cornett's arm that you see being licked by the cheetah in my screensaver.] Park East Tours put together hundreds of travel programs every year for the top conservation organizations, museums, zoological societies and Audubon groups. As a service to these organizations the tours are listed on a page on the Park East web site, which I write and edit. These groups welcome anyone to join them for a small membership fee, usually under $100. For example, you could join the excellent Migration Safari to Tanzania in February 2001, even if you don't live in St. Louis. So check out the Special Interest Tours at http://www.parkeast.com/ecot2.htm The caliber of groups is outstanding, from Harvard Alumnae groups, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the San Diego Zoo.