A few weeks ago our president, Dick Houston, coordinated and led a group 6 persons on a trip to Africa. The group consisted of Elefence co-founder Bruce Lowe and his wife and 2 other couples. The group spent 5 days at the WAG safari lodge and visited a school, villages and saw the work being done by the rangers.

Dick carried with him a new laptop computer & case ($450) for Lynn to upgrade her system requirements to keep track of all the data, photos and charts required to keep things operating smoothly. He also brought 10 Trail Cameras, plus memory cards and rechargeable batteries for the cams ($1850). Trailcams are necessary to record animal movements and counts and in some cases provide information on illegal activities in the reserves. The cameras are equipped with removable memory cards which are brought back to the office for evaluation.

The laptop, cameras and accessories were made possible by donations by individual Elefence supporters.

The group also toured the new WAG office and storage facility. The facility was powered by a 8 kw solar system again made possible by a generous donation from a supporter at a cost of $18k. The new facility is a huge improvement over what WAG had to use for operations in the past.

While they were there the three couples stayed in the new lodge and said it was great. Dick stayed in the ranger base camp. All visitors paid their own expenses.

The group came away with a much better understanding of WAG’s efforts and especially the dedication of its manager, Lynn Clifford. Lynn has committed her life to saving the two forest reserves and improving the lives of the local people.