Talks
David Edwards presents Botswana and the Okavango Delta - Wednesday 21st April at 7pm, School 5 in St Salvator’s Quad.
Join Expand – the University of St Andrews Expedition Society for another excellent speaker. With great praise from a large number of sources, including the deputy director of the Royal Geographical society, David Edwards is a well known speaker within the expedition field.
Location: School 5, St Salvator’s Quad, North Street, St Andrews
Time: Wednesday 21st April 2010, 7:00pm
Price: £2 ExpAnd Members, £3 non-members. Tickets sold on the door.
The talk is entitled: Botswana and the Okavango Delta
Botswana is the ‘Switzerland of southern Africa’: a stable, democratic country that has avoided the tragedies and upheavals of its neighbours. In this talk David shares insights gained from living for three months in the bush as a leader on a youth expedition. Close encounters with elephants (dangerously close in fact), lions, cheetahs, giraffes, wildebeest, praying mantis, and chameleons are woven into the story of this endearing country. The struggle for survival in the harsh Kalahari is contrasted with the lushness of the Okavango Delta. But paradise is threatened and David will explain the challenges Botswana faces and the lessons to be learnt.
David will also tell the story of Sir Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana when it gained independence in 1966. He was a true statesman, and much of Botswana’s stability and welcoming character is due to him. But he was nearly prevented from leading his country by the British government who exiled him for marrying a white woman, Ruth Williams, who he met while studying law at Oxford. She became the first white first lady of an independent African state and was the patron of the expedition.
David returned to Botswana in 2009 to meet more of its people and see how much it had changed since his first visit.
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Matthew Fielding
Date - 6th October 2009
Time - 7pm
Venue - School 3, St Salvator’s Quadrangle
Price: FREE!
Join Expand – the University of St Andrews Expedition Society for a talk by
Matthew Fielding on Expedition and Fieldwork Planning using the research centre
he works for as a model.
Matthew is from CREES (Conservation, Research & Education towards Environmental
Sustainability) Expeditions, a specialised expeditions company offering a
variety of sustainable programmes and services in the Peruvian Andes and
Amazon. They offer expeditions, field courses, eco tours and a volunteer
programme.
Visit their website at http://www.crees-expeditions.com for more information on
their programmes.
The talk is in School 5 (St Salvator’s Quadrangle) on Tuesday 6th October starting at 7pm.
Entry is FREE!