Posts Tagged ‘volunteerism’

Join Conservation Efforts for Endangered Cheetah in Serengeti at Four Seasons Safari Lodge

March 7, 2014
The Four Seasons Safari Lodge, Serengeti, as a supporter of The Cheetah Watch Campaign run by the Serengeti Cheetah Project and the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute enables its guests to participate in this important project.

The Four Seasons Safari Lodge, Serengeti, as a supporter of The Cheetah Watch Campaign run by the Serengeti Cheetah Project and the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute enables its guests to participate in this important project.

Imagine being able to contribute to conservation efforts to track and identify endangered cheetah in the Serengeti.

The Four Seasons Safari Lodge, Serengeti, as a supporter of The Cheetah Watch Campaign run by the Serengeti Cheetah Project and the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute enables its guests to participate in this important project.

The Cheetah Watch Campaign aims to involve visitors in the monitoring and conservation of cheetahs, whose numbers are slowly declining due to poaching and loss of habitat. Visitors to the Serengeti are encouraged to submit their cheetah photos and, with the help of their guide, notes on location and behavior to the Project.

The Project’s 30-year study of these endangered cats has resulted in much of what we know today and developed our understanding of these majestic creatures.

Through its Discovery Centre, the Lodge encourages its guests to load their cheetah photos onto its iMac, which are then sent to the Cheetah Project, which uses each cheetah’s unique spot pattern to identify the individuals that were sighted and then send the guests a brief history of that cheetah.

Since starting the Campaign at the Lodge in late 2013, guests have submitted more than 30 cheetah sightings, resulting in the identification of 10 new individual cheetahs to the Project.

“At the Discovery Centre, guests are able to contribute to this essential research, as well as gaining a deeper understanding of cheetah ecology,” Discovery Centre Manager Oli Dreike says. “The Cheetah Watch Campaign plays a vital role in helping researchers to understand and conserve these beautiful cats, and it is really easy for guests to take part in if they are lucky enough to see cheetahs during their stay in the Serengeti. It’s incredible that our guests have helped to identify so many new individuals for the Project in such a short period.”

Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

The 77-room Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti opened in December 2012 and is particularly well-suited for first-time safari travelers, extended families and groups. It includes 12 suites with plunge pools, five free-standing villas with private swimming pools, a spa with six treatment pavilions, three restaurants, a Kijana Klub for kids and teens and meeting facilities. Two active watering holes on the property allow for magnificent animal viewing at peak times of day and every room has an elevated open-air sundeck providing direct views over the Serengeti. Suitable for guests of eight years and above, Four Seasons Safari Lodge is also home to its own Discovery Center featuring museum quality exhibits and a lecture hall for guests to learn about the local wildlife, environment and culture. (For more information visit: www.fourseasons.com/serengeti; follow Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.)

Founded in 1960, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has followed a targeted course of expansion, opening hotels and residences in major city centers and desirable resort destinations around the world. Currently with 90 properties in 35 countries, and more than 50 projects under development, Four Seasons continues to lead the hospitality industry with innovative enhancements, making business travel easier and leisure travel more rewarding (www.fourseasons.com).

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Volunteers to help complete Continental Divide National Scenic Trail

May 8, 2010

Want to do something important, physical, and be out in the wild over your summer vacation? Each year, the Colorado Divide Trail Alliance organizes projects allowing volunteers to help complete the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT).

Each year CDTA coordinates more than 500 volunteers on projects from Mexico to Canada. No previous experience is required and tools and training are provided.

This year, you can enjoy the majesty of the Collegiate Peaks near Leadville, Colorado and work on the Clear Creek and Winfield projects, constructing a  new trail as part of a major 50-mile relocation to create a nonmotorized route linking Mount Elbert to Monarch Pass.

You build along with professional crew leaders, have your meals prepared by award-winning volunteer crew chefs, and enjoy the region’s history, hiking, fishing and numerous other outdoor recreation opportunities.
The CDTA is recruiting for the following 2010 volunteer opportunities:

•   Project #9 Clear Creek 1 – June 19 to 20
•   Project #10 Winfield 1 – June 23 to 27
•   Project #13 Clear Creek 2 – July 2 to 4
*   Project #15 Winfield 2 – July 7 to 11
•   Project #16 Winfield 3 – July 14 to 18
•   Project #33 Clear Creek 3 – Sept. 11 to 12
•   Project #37 Clear Creek 4 – Sept. 18 to 19

Volunteers are provided with free camping for our volunteers, and for most projects this is vehicle-accessed camping with no backpacking required. There is no charge any kind of registration fee to volunteer with CDTA (you would be amazed that some volunteer programs actually charge volunteers for the privilege).

Volunteers come from across the country with a few international volunteers mixed in. (More answers to Frequently Asked Questions are at

http://www.cdtrail.org/page.php?pname=involve/building/faq).

The Continental Divide Trail was established by Congress as a National Scenic Trail in 1978. When complete, the “King of Trails” will be the most significant trail system in the world. Stretching 3,100 miles along the backbone of America from Canada to Mexico, it accesses some of the most wild and scenic places left in the world while conserving the environment and promoting personal well being.

Since 1995, the Continental Divide Trail Alliance has played a central role toward the completion, management and protection of the Trail and it is the voice for unity in the diverse story of the Trail.

For more information about the Continental Divide Trail, call (303) 278-3177 or toll-free (888) 909-CDTA (2382). Or visit http://www.cdtrail.org.

For more information and to register online, visit http://www.cdtrail.org/getinvolved.

 See also:

Sustainable Travel: Reconnect with your inner Mother Nature while giving back to Planet Earth

Families pursue the call of adventure

Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate

www.travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate