Happy New Year 2012 to all my family and friends!
Just when I got used to writing 2011, I now have to start all over again… 2012! This is going to be another great year! It is always important to remember past events, while looking ahead and not dwell in the past. Five years ago, I was about to leave Gansbaai and South Africa, my home for over a decade. I never thought I would leave, but that is life… It was a tough decision at the time… but five years down the line, looking back at the global picture, I do realise all the great things that happened to me and where I am standing today. I am close to my family again, something that is very dear to me. I have met my better half and with Sophie I am happier than I have ever been in my life! On a professional level, I had to adapt and evolve, going through learning Biology, Maths and Physics all over again in order to teach for two years… then I was lucky to have met Mike Horn and become part of the small team and family running the Pangaea project.
This is going to be a busy year professionally speaking considering that Mike Horn's Pangaea project is already coming to term. I joined the Mike Horn team in July 2010, in the middle of this four year project (2008-2012). During the past 18 months, we have had five 10-day Selection Camps in Château-d'Oex and five Expeditions to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Magnetic North Pole, Nunavut in Canada and the Everglades in Florida. I was directly involved with the 5-week project and expedition in Borneo at the beginning of 2010, and the collaborative Geberit-Pangaea project in Kraljevo, Serbia in September 2010. I have met and spent time with so many great Young Explorers during this time and this has definitely allowed my hope for our Planet to be healed...
In November, I met two biologists, Emmanuel and George, who recently opened an eco-friendly travel agency in Vevey… we immediately connected and are now setting up two 2-week expeditions to South Africa for 2012: 'Sharks of the Cape of Storms' for the Shark enthusiasts who wish to discover, observe and learn about the Shark species of the Cape waters near Cape Town, and 'African Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Expedition' dedicated course and expedition to discover the African fauna and flora of the Greater Kruger National Park. I will soon post more information about these two expedition on the BlueXplorer web site.
