Zoo Expeditions

09/11/2020

Make sure Shamwari TV gets your wildlife questions and ideas for future episodes you would love to see! Tell Gabe sent you... that might be a good thing or a bad thing 😀

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3743432949014212&id=137374522953424

24/10/2020

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I have posted, but as you can imagine thing shave been a bit crazy. As you are all aware, the travel industry, and those of you that work in the wildlife, conservation, and education fields have been some of the hardest hit financially. Since that makes up basically 95% of our business, things have not gone in our favor.

Because of this, I have decided that for the foreseeable future we will be holding off on offering our experiences into the bush. I hope that as things pick back up there will be an opportunity to resume operation. For now though it just doesn't make sense to continue accruing the cost of keeping the business operational.

I hope you are all doing well and staying safe and healthy. I will be sure to update everyone if and when things change for Zoo Expeditions, and we have certainly had a blast with those of you who have adventured with us over the years. Thank you all so much for sharing in your passion for learning, wildlife, and stewardship of wild places. Take care and I hope we all get to travel again soon!

29/05/2020

Dolphins? Dolphins! Our marine program is up and ready to receive intrepid explorers for late January 2021.

What would you like to see?

25/05/2020

Come check out the new dates for both our safari and marine programs late January next year.

We have worked with our partners in South Africa to make sure we can be safe and still have an amazing time. Let's get back to adventuring!

https://www.zooexpeditions.org/

EXPERIENCE Experience our specially catered program for wildlife, conservation, and education professionals. Taking in the flora and fauna in their natural ecosystems, you are uniquely qualified to fully appreciate the adventure. It will stay with you for a lifetime.

25/05/2020

The southern shores of South Africa is the perfect place to learn about marine biology. Come find out why!

23/05/2020

These guys are some of my favorites to watch

22/05/2020

I miss Africa! Come with us in late January to say hello to the world again.

19/05/2020

This is a short article about mutualism and how thing may be different than first glance may suggest...

https://safariguiding.com/2020/05/18/a-simple-mutualism-not-as-simple-as-it-sounds/

Uhusiano rahisi wa kutegemezana, sio rahisi inavyo sikika… Are these Red-billed oxpeckers feeding on ticks or drinking giraffe blood?Photo courtesy (and copyright) Paul Oliver. We love talkin…

07/05/2020

Greetings everyone! I hope you are all safe and staying occupied, it's been a while since I have updated on this platform.

Recent events have obviously affected international travel and we are still working on new dates for 2021 with our partners in South Africa. As soon as those are confirmed I will send out an official communication.

Until then I will have more news soon about going forward with what Zoo Expeditions will offer. I have lots of great ideas, and I'm working with local partners in conservation to that end.

As always, please send your questions and thoughts. I have a new YouTube series starting soon that will showcase work in the conservation, wildlife, and education fields. Look for that in the next day or so. We will start small with it, but I am hoping to do a lot of fun things with it.

In Adventure,
Gabe

01/08/2019

Introducing our very first YouTube video describing some of our future plans. Check it out at https://youtu.be/2VXA5P2nYKk !

15/06/2019

2020 dates are live! Let us know if land or marine conservation is more your thing.

03/06/2019

Hey everyone! Still alive, just trying a couple new things for our 2020 dates, but I think you'll like it.

Starting with 2020, each expedition will spend the middle weekend at another Zoo Expeditions spot! Meaning if you join us on the Safari Expedition, you'll spend your weekend getting a taste of our Marine Expedition! And vice versa, so you'll get some land and sea no matter which one you choose. And it's all part of the expedition cost, so no extra fees after the fact.

I'll have the 2020 dates up shortly, so stay tuned and we can get you going to Africa in no time. Talk soon!

01/03/2019

That's right, today is the day! Zoo Expedition's official website is now live, woop woop! Please visit www.ZooExpeditions.org and let me know what you think.

We may be small at the moment, but we are mighty. Note that the new Marine Expedition still needs a date, and that is actively being scheduled as I type.

Thank you everyone who has helped me get to this point, especially Thomas Hayden for the most recent iteration of the site, and my friend Doug for helping me get my first one off the ground. Also, my friend Bethany did a fantastic job helping me design the new logo, you rock girl! All are friends that no one could ask for and so giving of their time and talent.

I hope to see you in the field soon!

27/02/2019

As we work to finalize the new website, I came across this little beauty that was taken back in 2011. I was still in ranger training, learning just how much I didn't know yet...

Story in the comments, but its a fun cultural bit that you could learn more about should you take one of our trips to South Africa. You know you want to!

22/02/2019

Greetings everyone!

We have recently sent out the first newsletter in a while. If you did not receive one and you would like to, please visit www.zooexpeditions.org and sign up there.

Even though the website isn't quite finished yet, you can at least do that in it's current state. We are ramping up efforts to let those interested in travelling with us know more very soon and would love to make you a part of it.

More to come in the weeks ahead, exciting times!

In Adventure,
Gabe

11/02/2019

Hello fellow explorers! I have been silent for a while on news, but I have been busy creating a new website! I am also busy creating the look and feel for Zoo Expeditions going forward and I am very excited to share more on that soon.

In the meantime, here is some footage of our first group back in 2016. P**p never goes out of style!

11/02/2019

So many topics close to my heart. Diversity, conservation, and Poo!

28/12/2018

From Zoo Expeditions to you all, Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a Happy New Years!

18/11/2018

It's really hard to sum up what these trips can be like in words, so here is a bit of our most recent encounter with African Elephants right off the side of the road. You don't get much closer than this!

We leave early morning tomorrow so we will see you you in public (although suffering from heavy jet lag) in the next couple of days with adventure on our toungues. Adventure has officially been had!

16/11/2018

Another great day, this one full of appreciation for some the rich culture of the people of Botswana. We visited a cultural center where they make baskets to sort sogum meal for prep to eat.

We also visited a local guy that was growing fruits and veggies using aquaponics to sell to a few local lodges. Brilliant! I'll definitely be following up with his work on some later projects.

We even took some time this morning to check out some of the local craft markets, and stopped by a humongous old Baobab tree that used to be used as the local jail... and the post office... and a recruitment center for miners. Its was the place to be back in the day! Or not to be, if you were in tree jail of course.

16/11/2018

A visit to a local wildlife rehab and education center yesterday went well, we got to meet many local species that we would probably have never seen otherwise.

The Caracal Wildlife Center brings local kids and even guides sometimes to learn about many of the fauna in the area that is either very dangerous or attached to some local beliefs that would have them killed on sight. The center tries to educate them on not only their importance to the ecosystem and that they are worth saving, but who to call to help remove them safely. This is a great center doing great work!

14/11/2018

What an incredible last few days it's been! First Vitcotira Falls when we landed in Zimbabawe, then 3 days of camping in Botswana's enormous Chobe National Park.

Lots more pics to come, but for now it's fun to have internet again :D

10/11/2018

My what a last couple of days. We went out to sea and saw Hump Back with their babies migrating down for the upcoming summer, as well as some Brights whales . We found a fairly large pod of dolphins around 200 strong which was quite a treat to be in the middle of. We also stopped by St. Croix island where the largest breeding group of African Pengiuns live.

And we did some estuary safaris with a local safari reserve and learned a lot more about this very unique ecosystem. We found a Sea Hare among other species, it was very alien to say the least!

We also did a great beach walk where we hope to do some snorkeling and ride pool activities with future groups. I hope to get some pics from my friends that accompanied me on this trip as I didn't take any myself.

As we prepare to settle in for our regrettably last evening at the lodge in South Africa, there is no doubt that we have found the future home of an upcoming regular marine focused expedition, potentially as early as November 2019.

On to Botswana in the morning, stay tuned!

07/11/2018

We had a visitor who broke out to say hi while were cleaning in a rehab area. Go buddy go!

07/11/2018

Day #3, even more amazinger! We went to SANCCOB in Port Elizabeth and met the wonderful people who devote their lives to the conservation of coastal birds (mainly African Penguins) in the area. The center was so much fun, lots of surprises everywhere. We even got to participate in the release of a juvenile Grey Heron that was being cared for there.

We ended the programming today at a local place. Lots of food, fun, and very full bellies.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will be going out on a boat to see what we can sea...

05/11/2018

What a great day 1! We saw several whales breaching in the distance, a pod of dolphins swam by, and rock climbing on the beach were all the name of the game today. What will tomorrow bring?

04/11/2018

We all made it to Johannesburg yay! In the morning our last flight will take us to Port Elizabeth where we will be picked up and whisked away to our home for the next week in the Eastern Cape.

More to come!

03/11/2018

It's that time! I am meeting a few friends in South Africa tomorrow to test a new marine life focused tour as well as an experience in Botawana the following week.

While we are out I will keep you all as up to date as possible on our adventure. Hopefully you will want to join Zoo Expeditions on one of these tripa as early as 2020.

In the meantime, we still have room on our exciting expedition to South Africa in November 2019. Check it out at www.ZooExpeditions.org/SouthAfrica.html

Wish us luck!

Gabe

South Africa A great "first timer's" expedition, experience South African wildlife, culture and conservation on an enormous 65,000 acre private game reserve in the Eastern Cape A great “first timer’s” expedition, experience South African wildlife, culture and conservation on an enormous 65,000...

06/10/2018

Hey everyone! As we gear up for a test group in a few weeks to test out elements for a future Marine focused group and another set in the Chobe National park in Botswana (dates TBA), I have been working out a few more back-end business things that should help those of you that are still on the fence about joining us in November 2019 to South Africa.

I now officially can take payment through Venmo, Cash, Zelle, and now credit cards through PayPal. I want to make it as easy and accessible as possible to join us, and if that means using a credit card vs needing to save up chunks at a time, now that is an option!

I hope everyone is doing great, and if anyone is still interested or has questions about coming with us to Shamwari Game Reserve in November of 2019 there are still plenty of spaces. And significant others are welcome as long as they know what they are getting themselves into... Talk soon!

In Adventure,
Gabe