September 30, 2004

Friends and Family -

Leah and I are on the verge of departure for Africa! Our flight leaves Thursday (that's today!) from Los Angeles, arriving in Johannesburg on October 2nd. We plan on returning in June of 2005. Needless to say, the excitement is starting to set in.

The first part of our journey will be with Greenforce (October 5 - December 15). We will be at Greenforce's new camp in the Nsumbu National Park (Northeastern Zambia, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika), working on behalf of the Zambian Wildlife Authority.

The overall aims of Greenforce in the Nsumbu National Park are:

The production of an elephant management program.
The creation of an inventory of all vertebrate species, habitat types, critical habitats and critical species of flora and fauna within the National Park (sounds like a big job!) To assess the perceptions of local communities To develop conservation awareness programs in conjunction with the Zambian Wildlife Authority

Part of our job will be to "walk transects" to survey large mammals (any animal of larger mass than a springhare). We'll be walking just after sunrise, in groups of 5. Single file, no talking. Guess that will be our quiet time. We'll have a wildlife police officer and a Greenforce staff member with us to look after our well-being.

For more info on Greenforce, you can go to www.greenforce.org. Their current website is a bit out of date, describing the old camp in Zambia's Kafue National Park. Still, it will give you a feel.

We would love to hear from you! You can send mail to: Cindy Hicks or Leah Griffin C/o: Greenforce PO Box 29 Mpulungu Zambia Keep in mind: Don't send packages or items of value. Mail takes 10 days to 3 months (?) to arrive. Send mail early! We won't have access to e-mail in Zambia. We won't have access to phones in Zambia. Finally, thanks for your support of and interest in our adventure. We have been truly overwhelmed by your positive response! Let the adventure begin!

Best Regards,

Cindy Hicks .