Zookeepers on Tour.

Zookeepers On Tour.

Wildlife focused group tours for animal industry professionals +

wHERE OUR STORY BEGAN:

And where its going…

It was the end of 2016/ start of 2017 and I had just returned from a two month trip in East and Southern Africa. This included a return trip to Uganda, where I had first travelled for 5 weeks solo back in 2015. I returned this time with some family and friends, I organized the whole trip. This was my first time organizing travels for anyone other than for myself.

The trip was incredible! And after, I returned to my zookeeping job but I could not settle. I had this huge urge/calling to return to Uganda but it wasn’t financially possible for me to return so soon. I had many friends and industry colleagues who were amazed by my travels and would always tell me how they dreamed of doing similar but either they had no clue where to begin planning a trip like this, didn’t want to travel alone, private tours were too expensive or they just couldn’t find a group tour ticking all the right boxes.

Here came my lightbulb moment!

And thus Zookeepers on Tour was born. It all started with a Facebook post to see if there was any interest and soon led to group of 15 strangers exploring Uganda and Rwanda over 11 days together. Those 15 people took a chance on me, for that I will be eternally grateful and I could never have expected this path it would have led me down.

I never intended to leave Zookeeping. It was my dream career but life had other plans for me. And besides I get to relive my zookeeping days all over again, every time I travel with you Keepers. Because once a zookeeper, always a zookeeper, am I right?

I feel privileged to have been apart of such an incredible industry full of passionate, innovative and dedicated humans, just out there doing their best for the animals in their care.

Burnout in the animal industry is very real, I feel you, I see you and I am here to tell you… you need a holiday!

In all seriousness travel is a proven stress reliever, emotional reset button, outlook changer and all round its always a good idea.

Plus you get to travel with like minded people, us animal people are a crazy bunch, we have our quirks, our own little ways but that’s what makes these trips so much better. There’s something different about travelling on a group tour where you all have the same vibe. You are all on the same page when it comes to responsible wildlife watching practices. You never get tired of the long days or hours searching for wildlife. There are more eyes to look out for animals. Often I’ve had people on the tours who spot more animals than our guides, you’re zookeeper observation skills come in handy!

It’s for that and so many other reasons why joining one of my group tours is a good idea. But if you need more convincing?

Here’s 5 reasons to join one of my group tours:

1. Responsible wildlife watching. This is a top priority for me when designing my itineraries. I am always conscious about our actions and the long term effects they will have, so I make sure that the activities we do, places we visit and our own personal actions don’t negatively impact or disturb an animals natural behavior’s, to the best of my ability.
2. Supporting local communities. For all my tours I work with local tour operators and guides. Where possible we will stay at locally run guesthouses, eat at local restaurants, shop in small independent souvenir shops. Support community run activities. All of these are just a few ways of supporting local people and getting money straight into their pockets where its needed most.
3. Partnering with small locally run and managed conservation projects. There are many projects out there that are well supported. I seek out those where our help is needed most and I figure out how we can best support them. A big way is bringing much needed equipment, so on all my tours I provide Wishlist’s from these project’s, so you can fill your spare luggage space with things that are hard to get locally.
4. Travelling with like minded people. I already touched on this but its definitely a big reason these tours work so well. Getting to share these experience’s with others who understand how truly incredible they are, seeing animals in the wild that you have worked with for years, its a hard emotion to process but everyone around will understand and have tears in their eyes right there with you when you see your first wild lemur or gorillas or lions and so on.
5. On all my group tours I am right there with you from start to finish. From that very first email, answering all of your questions, responding literally 24/7, guiding you on how to book your flights, telling you exactly what to pack, letting you know what to expect when you land in the airport and being the first one you see as you walk through those arrival gates. Being the one letting you know what to wear the next day, knocking on your door when your late for breakfast, making sure your drinking enough water, taking your anti-malaria tablets and everything else in-between until I see you off at the airport, safely home. You show up and let me worry about the rest.

I am going to stop waffling now I just wanted to let you know how passionate I am about these tours but also to let you know I’m not perfect and with each tour I learn and strive to do better for next time. These are adventure tours and in the real world things happen but we tackle them together and it makes one hell of a story to tell someday.

Are you up for an adventure?

Because I cant wait to take you on your WILDEST Adventure yet!

Want to get in touch?

I am always open to ideas and available for side collaborations and talks worldwide. If you want to chat about one of my tours, any of my work, a tour idea you have or anything relevant at all, then don’t hesitate in reaching out.

You can reach me by any of the means below: Instagram, Email or join our Facebook group.

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