Dates: December 29th, 2018 – January 7th, 2019
Cost: $4,300. This fee covers all expenses except airfare and souvenirs. A deposit of $1,000 will be due to hold your place.
African Menagerie may be gone, but you will get your chance to see those amazing animals again with Sternberg Outbound: South Africa. We will spend ten days over the 2018-19 New Years holiday with exploring wildlife and amazing landscapes in South Africa.
The trip begins with a stay on the Potberg Conservation Area visiting several sites in these high elevation (6,000 feet) grasslands. Here we find running frogs, the highly endemic sungazer lizard, rhinkals (spitting cobras) all while surrounded by mixed herds of antelope, colorful re-crowned bishops, and long-tailed widow birds. From Potberg we travel down to the low country, home to lions, elephants, and the cape buffalo. Here we have a chance to observe Nile monitor lizards, chameleons, and all manner of other native wildlife! The trip also includes stops at Kruger and Mapungubwe National Parks.
Guides Daren Riedle (Wildlife Diversity Coordinator, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism) and Willem Koch (African guide) began these one-of-a-kind adventures in 2004. Their objective: taking clients off the beaten path, allowing them the opportunity to get out of the vehicle and get boots on the ground. In the typical tourist destinations, such as the national parks, you are not allowed to leave the vehicles. On this trip, you will be joined by Sternberg Museum Zoologist, Curtis Schmidt, whose expertise in finding amphibians and reptiles will certainly add to the species richness of this trip.
The New Year’s holiday is the perfect time of year as it is late spring/early summer in South Africa. Prime time for observing wildlife, and the off season for most international travelers. This trip averages 55 species of amphibians and reptiles, 200-300 bird species, and 20- 30 species of mammals. The days are spent hiking and looking for wildlife, and the nights visiting frog choruses and spotlighting wildlife. The trip will cost $4,300 plus airfare. A deposit of $1,000 will be due to hold your place. This price includes EVERYTHING (lodging, park fees, transportation, food, drinks, etc), except souvenirs. Only 10 slots are available. If you are interested in joining the trip, contact Sternberg Museum Education Director David Levering at DALevering@FHSU.edu.
