Encounter Zambia's Wildlife and More
It’s not too late to join our very special 2018 Zambia trip: June 26-July 11 (with optional extension to Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park, Botswana July 11-15).
And this Thursday evening, March 15 is an opportunity to learn more. We’ll show pictures of past trips, talk about plans for this summer, and have a little fun.
7:30 – 9 pm, at private home in Oakland hills.
For location, rsvp to tom[at]openheartsafari[dot]com
We’re all looking for some light in dark times. Here’s an opportunity to be around some kind-hearted people.
Some of the folk who came on our Zambia trip this summer had their hearts opened and were inspired to do something in solidarity with the impoverished communities we visited. They are organizing a fundraiser to provide clean drinking water to one of those communities.
WHERE: Home of Varya Simpson, 1800 Yosemite Rd., Berkeley, 94707
WHEN: Sat., Dec. 3, 4-6pm
For more info, or to RSVP: contact tom[at]openheartsafari[dot]com
RSVP if you can, so that we can have some idea of how many folk to expect
Here’s our travelers’ invitation:
We had the good fortune of goingto southern Africa this summer with Open Heart Safari, which was a greatly moving experience that has stayed with many of us. We have been inspired to raise money to bring clean drinking water to a community we visited, and hope you can us on Dec. 3, for some drinks, appetizers, and socializing, as well as a short slideshow and a little low-key fundraising.
The people we met in Zambia were so inspirational, hardworking and desperately trying to better their own situation. The poverty we saw was heavy, and our group feels moved to do something concrete to help. We learned that access to clean water is a huge challenge for the communities we visited. Basic necessities such as water and toilets do not exist for most people in Zambia. Women will walk several miles every day to the nearest borehole to fill large buckets of water which they carry back on their heads or on the back of bicycles just to have the water their families need for the day.Our goal is to raise $5,000 for Mnkhanya, a poor rural community we visited in eastern Zambia, to construct a borehole, a drilled deep well, protected against contamination by sunken metal casing and a concrete cover. Once the borehole is completed, the community maintains it–no maintenance costs are needed from donors.
We know this can be a financially difficult time of the year for many people, but any amount you can afford will make a huge difference in making this a reality. Your contribution can help, no matter how small.If you are unable to attend, but interested in contributing, checks may be made out to Tides Foundation with ‘for Tikva Grassroots’ on the memo line of the check. Contributions are tax deductible (the EIN for Tides is 51-01985-09). You can mail checks before Dec. 20 to Carol Suveda, 1535 Sacramento Street, Berkeley, CA 94702 who will forward all checks to the Tides Foundation in San Francisco at the end of the year for proper gift acknowledgment.
For anyone who couldn’t make our January presentation in Oakland, we’re doing it again.
traveling to Africa since 1979. I have participated in field studies of African wildlife, traveled with indigenous Ethiopian tribesmen to learn about community conservancies in Kenya and Namibia, and met with numerous grassroots NGOs to establish a small grantmaking program in Zambia. (Day job: public interest attorney.) Laura has worked with environmental nonprofits for many years, and has also worked in rural development and sanitation and adult literacy; she has a degree in international development. Her warmth and skills as a certified life coach, certified yoga teacher, and trained facilitator of expressive movement help to create an intimate container for the group.I finally got around to putting up testimonials from participant’s on last summer’s trips. You can read them all here. Here are some high points:
other is one that I cherish and remember with joy and fullness…. It’s a sacred trip. You get to know people deeply quickly, and get to know things from the heart.”
“The most emotionally moving experience of my life.”
a thoughtful interaction with the environment and culture. I want you to know I had an incredible time…. How I relate to my world has changed.”We invite you to join us for pictures and sounds of African wildlife, and tales of our travels in Zambia and Botswana. Help us celebrate our amazing 2014 Open Heart Safari, and hear about our plans for 2015. Light refreshments will be served. Bring friends, and pass the word to anyone else who might be interested. All are welcome, but please let us know if you plan to attend.
Zambia offers some of the greatest density and variety of wildlife in the world, far from the crowds of tourists you’ll see on most safaris. We visit remote natural areas, accompanied by highly trained guides, with special opportunities to track lions and leopards on foot; float by hippos, crocodiles and elephants on a small boat; and get close views of animals hunting by night. In addition we get to stay in a traditional local village, help facilitate youth activities in a poor urban neighborhood, and meet inspiring activists for conservation and social change.Come celebrate with us at our first ever official annual Open Heart Safari holiday party! Bring your friends, and pass the word.
Two months after returning home from our third Open Heart Safari to Zambia, I am still – in the words of one our participants – “struggling to find words powerful and profound enough to describe the experience.”
Of course, the wildlife viewing was spectacular.
Even when we didn’t have our binoculars out, like the afternoon we came up on a gorgeous large male leopard relaxing in the shade, as we were lazily returning from a soak in a natural warm spring. Other highlights included:
No other human beings for miles. Wild dogs are rare and seldom seen – in my many visits to the African bush, this was the first time I’d ever seen them anywhere. 
And every day: elephants crossing the river right in front of us, passing through our camp, strolling by our morning meditation; thousands of hippos in the river, some of them wandering through our camp at night; herds of impala, buffalo, puku, zebra, giraffe, warthog, kudu…; regular sightings of the reclusive and beautiful bushbuck; the constant presence of baboons and vervet monkeys; more kinds of spectacular birds than I can name.
Our community visits were amazing.
From rural villages to urban squatters’ settlement, we were warmly welcomed.
principal city). We learned about African urban poverty and local people’s initiatives to empower themselves, saw new waterless public toilets (where recently there had no sanitation, leading to severe cholera outbreaks), shopped in the market, and were invited to women’s homes; there was also singing, dancing, improv games, and lots of laughter. One highlight was watching the “elder” of our group, a 78-year-old California woman bond with a local woman in her 70s – with no shared language, they wandered through the streets holding hands and laughing.
culture, and to promote community management and control of resources.The quality of the group experience was remarkable.
After three pre-trip conference calls, our fellow travelers arrived feeling that they already knew each other, and were ready to jump right in, open their hearts, and connect. Two weeks later, so many tear-filled good-byes, warm hugs, people making plans to return to Africa. Six weeks after the trip ended, they organized a reunion in Oakland – almost everyone attended.
Before the trip, our group had researched and organized gifts to bring: nondeflatable soccer balls, solar-powered calculators, bras for teenage girls…. Even more powerfully, they brought their own gifts. Songs to share and wanting to learn local songs, so our meetings with local people were filled with singing and dancing. Two acupuncturists brought their needles, and offered relaxation treatments to our group, and to community groups we met with. Another traveler brought songs to share and and the desire
to learn local songs to teach children back home. Others brought their skills at group facilitation, environmental engineering, and public speaking. And so our meetings were filled with warmth, singing and dancing, relaxation, and substantive exchanges of ideas.
Our days began with short meditations and poetry reading at dawn. We did yoga at river stops and tea breaks and with a giggling audience of village children. Our meditations were punctuated by the sounds of the bush: the whirring of birds, honks of hippos, shrieks of monkeys, and leaf munching of all too close elephants. Throughout we shared our impressions and reactions in circles that were deep, warm, teary and memorable. In the words of one participant, “this was such a powerful 
experience that it was enriched and heightened by sharing it so intimately with the group. For me, it really was too much to take in and hold just on my own.”
Oh, did I say we had fun? So much laughter, long conversations. delicious meals (believe it or not). To quote one more participant once more: “We had a lot of fun together, laughed a lot and bonded closely – all enhanced, in turn, by the magnitude of what we were experiencing together.”
For me personally, I experienced deep satisfaction at our closing circle, hearing our travelers describe the experience as life-changing, and realizing that what had manifested was so much what I envisioned six years ago when I first thought of organizing a group trip like this.
Open Heart Safari presents:
Open Heart Safari – Pt. Reyes National Seashore. Enjoy one of California’s wild and beautiful places with an open heart. Offered by Open Heart Safari leaders Tom Bennigson and Laura Paradise, the day is designed to help you slow down and touch into a place of reverence and awe in the presence of wildlife and the natural landscape. We hope the retreat-like feel of this daytrip, including time for quiet reflection, meditation, guided walks, and discussion, will deepen your experience of the land, the animals, and yourself.
Cost can be credited toward a future Africa trip with us.
Dirt roads, dusty air and gorgeous tomato red sunsets. Everywhere people are walking, often barefoot or in flip-flops. Every mode of transportation – from bicycles to cars, vans or buses, shuttling goods, from building materials to sacks of maize. Every roadside dotted with items for sale – mops, brooms, rakes, talk time, tires, hand-made bed frames and metal brassieres.
Greetings from Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. We’re getting ready to welcome participants Open Heart Safari III.
We’ve already spotted peacocks, guinea fowl and shetland ponies. And, as you will see in Laura’s post, we’ve spotted a make-believe giraffe!
Stay tuned for pictures from our African adventures!
(written by Laura while Tom busily makes phone calls to secure transport, confirm meetings and other assorted details)
We are sorry to announce that, for personal reasons, we need to postpone Open Heart Safari – Pt. Reyes, which had been scheduled for Sunday, May 18. We hope to reschedule for some time in June. Please stay tuned for updates.
