Nature

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El Aribabi Conservation Ranch, Sonora, Mexico

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Click image to download El Aribabi's brochure.

This privately owned 10,000-acre ranch is only 2 hours from the U.S. border, and is an important linkage connecting the vast wilderness of the Sierra Madre Occidental to the southern wildlands of the United States.

The ranch is a federally designated Natural Protected Area, home to jaguars, ocelots, & over 30 endangered/threatened species. It is also a haven for recreation & solitude, with facilities and services provided by Carlos Robles and his family and staff. Please read further to see listings of tour companies leading trips to El Aribabi.

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Lal'enok Resource Centre, South Rift Valley, Kenya

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Researcher Paul Schuette and Resource Centre staff coordinator Albert Kuseyo training resource assessors in GPS.Kenya's 850,000-hectare South Rift Valley stretches from the Maasai Mara to Amboseli. Ecologically, the area is one of the most diverse in Africa, home to some 65% of the region’s famous wildlife, as well as Maasai who are nomadic.

ConserVentures has been working with the all-Maasai South Rift Association to help them establish tourism opportunities, including a new community science centre, owned and managed by the women of the village of Olkiramatian. If you would like to visit the region, there are several safari camps. Please read further for links to these companies. 

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Whistling Thorn Conservation Camp, Tanzania

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Whistling Thorn Conservation Camp is a private project, owned by Tanzanian Hagai Kissila. He owns a small, conservation-minded tourism company called Destination Africa Safaris. He has worked extensively with the small villages around the camp, which he leases from them, on the edge of Tarangire National Park. The Maasai here are exceedingly poor, and see almost no revenue from the massive tourism pouring in and out of the park. 

ConserVentures has helped build a small base of international support for Whistling Thorn Conservation Camp. By booking a safari through Destination Africa Safaris, guests not only book with one of the finest operators in northern Tanzania (and Kenya, as Mr. Kissila is licensed in both countries), they contribute greatly to community-based conservation.

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Overland Expo, annual event for adventurers

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This international event, held each April in southern Arizona, educates and inspires people to get out and explore the world, particularly by vehicle or motorcycle, but it could just as well be by bicycle or on foot; the idea is to get out and explore whether 100 miles from home or 10,000 miles. It is held in the hamlet of Amado, just a few miles from the Mexico border.

Over 3000 do-it-yourself adventurers enjoy 70 different classes, workshops, and roundtable programs, or visit 100+ exhibitors who offer four-wheel-drive and adventure motorcycles, accessories, camping gear, and adventure travel services.

Two dozen countries and five continents (and a subcontinent) were represented at the show in 2011, everyone enjoying music, food, and a film festival in the evenings, and on-site camping and services provided by the Amado community.

For more information, please see the Overland Expo website. Proceeds from the event support ConserVentures programs.