Spring Academic Travel
We all have been back from Academic Travel for about two and a half weeks now, so reality has finally sunk in! As much as I wish I was still in Africa on a Safari, I also can't complain too much. Lugano is beautiful, I am enjoying my classes, the springtime sun is shining and we have so many fun April activities on campus!
Before I tell you all about those though, let me recap my travel a bit.
We flew into South Africa and basically spent over a week driving and camping our way from Southern to Northern Botswana! We stopped to see the rare white African lion, a rhino conservatory, lots of safari parks, the salt pans, a bird sanctuary and more!
We even spent three nights in the wildest of wild places.. the African bush. Literally we camped in the savannah hundreds of kilometers away from any sign of civilization. It was AWESOME.
I had the best of best times! And after 10 days of camping we made it to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe (one of the 7 natural wonders of the world!) and stayed there for two days, exploring the falls, enjoying our lodge accommodation, and adventuring!
The focus of our travel was a field study in environmental conservation. It was so amazing to talk with local game park rangers, tribes people, tour guides, etc. Botswana is very unique for many reasons, but one of which is that they have very serious anti-poaching laws, which means that a lot of "refugee" animals will flee their home countries and seek haven in Botswana. For instance, in Northern Botswana we saw 35+ elephants just on the side of the road as we were driving by! Totally normal.
I learned so much about all the different animals native to this region of Africa, and the complex problems that surround their protection and environmental conservation in Southern Africa.
I could talk about my travel for hours on end, but in the name of efficiency I will let the pictures do the talking instead.
Also, just as an additional note, you don't have to go to Africa to have an incredible Academic Travel experience. I had many friends who were on the Southern Italy, Scotland, Eastern Europe, and Ireland travels (just to name a few) and they had incredible times as well! But don't just take my word for it, feel free to check out the Facebook albums of a few travels by clicking the link below! And follow Franklin on Facebook as we will keep adding more albums for all the Spring travels!
Before I tell you all about those though, let me recap my travel a bit.
We flew into South Africa and basically spent over a week driving and camping our way from Southern to Northern Botswana! We stopped to see the rare white African lion, a rhino conservatory, lots of safari parks, the salt pans, a bird sanctuary and more!
We even spent three nights in the wildest of wild places.. the African bush. Literally we camped in the savannah hundreds of kilometers away from any sign of civilization. It was AWESOME.
I had the best of best times! And after 10 days of camping we made it to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe (one of the 7 natural wonders of the world!) and stayed there for two days, exploring the falls, enjoying our lodge accommodation, and adventuring!
The focus of our travel was a field study in environmental conservation. It was so amazing to talk with local game park rangers, tribes people, tour guides, etc. Botswana is very unique for many reasons, but one of which is that they have very serious anti-poaching laws, which means that a lot of "refugee" animals will flee their home countries and seek haven in Botswana. For instance, in Northern Botswana we saw 35+ elephants just on the side of the road as we were driving by! Totally normal.
I learned so much about all the different animals native to this region of Africa, and the complex problems that surround their protection and environmental conservation in Southern Africa.
I could talk about my travel for hours on end, but in the name of efficiency I will let the pictures do the talking instead.
Also, just as an additional note, you don't have to go to Africa to have an incredible Academic Travel experience. I had many friends who were on the Southern Italy, Scotland, Eastern Europe, and Ireland travels (just to name a few) and they had incredible times as well! But don't just take my word for it, feel free to check out the Facebook albums of a few travels by clicking the link below! And follow Franklin on Facebook as we will keep adding more albums for all the Spring travels!
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