Cape Town to Victoria Falls through Namibia, Botswana and the genocide of the bushmen

Phil Cooper


Organisation:
Phil Cooper HistoricTravelTalks
Regions:
East Midlands, South Yorkshire, North East, Staffordshire, Warwickshire
Notice Period:
Short (maybe less than one month's notice)
Type:
U3A, Probus, Womens Institutes, Ladies Groups
Fee:
Expensed: Any donation is fine in line with what is normal. This will be sent over to help the Bushmen
Category:
Travel
Updated:
29th April 2024

A 3,500 mile trip and as you would expect spectacular geographical features, such as Fish River Canyon and a huge amount of African wildlife. I feature all the wildlife you would expect to find, but also there were some disturbing affects on these countries of climate change. Victoria Falls for example was operating at nowhere near its spectacular best, but it was still impressive. Its not only wildlife which has been affected by recent events, but also the local indigenous people, such as the San people (Bushmen) we encountered, which contain the oldest DNA known. Their story is tragic as to how their presence has been minimised and their culture and way of life destroyed. Its a story which needs to be told. The environments encountered range form the Kalahari desert, to the craggy mountain ranges of Brandburg, the wetlands of the Okovanga Delta, the river at Chobe, Dune 45, salt pans at Sossusvlei and the coast at Swokupmund. The animal life of course reflects how animals adapt to the sometimes extreme conditions. I think people interested in the natural world will find this of interest and will be disappointed to hear how the innocents amongst the bushmen or San have been treated over the years. Any donation will go towards helping the San people.

Views: 236 | Enquiries: 1

About Phil Cooper

I am registered on Zoom and have undertaken 5 presentations using this. One of these to a Rotary Club in Victoria Australia. This was by using screen share, as my talks revolve around photographs I have taken of various places I have visited.

I have used donations to support charities at home and in parts of the world which have experienced natural disasters. I would stress that for me it isn't a money making venture. Any donation from the Costa Rica talk will go to the reforestation project "Rainforest of the Austrians". Please google this to see details of their tremendous project. There is a PayPal reference if a group wants to support this. More details are on the website.

The accent is on the visual, with enough verbal to explain the story of where I have visited. I have accumulated what I feel are good photographs to illustrate my talks which relate to my travel experience. I had 19 speaking engagements in 2019, to various organisation. These presentations relate to places, often with a historical background and often not readily visited. These include Syria and Jordan, the Silk Road in Central Asia and Western China,, India and Cuba. Cuba and Panama. “Great presentation – I spoke to people tonight they were the cleanest photos seen at a Travel Club Presentation. Very good 9 out of 10. It must have been good, hardly anyone dropped off to sleep!” (Taradale Travel Club New Zealand).

My blog site is http://historictraveltalks.blogspot.co.uk (Copy and paste)

One trip I wish to really promote is the trip to Costa Rica. Anyone who is interested in wildlife will enjoy this. There are some excellent photos provided by a colleague on the trip and lots of video. One particular scene involving sloths was something the guide had never seen in his 18 years experience. It also features a superb reforestation project "The Rainforest of the Austrians", re establishing habitats and adding to the carbon trapping capacity. I have liaised with the inspirational Michael Schnitzler and ALL funds generated are sent to Costa Rica to continue this.

I look back at my trip in the Middle East - from Cairo to Istanbul and reflect on what I saw then and what I see currently in places like Aleppo. However the highlight for me was the crusader fortress of Krak des Chevaliers, which is shown on the photo I have included. This was described by TE Lawrence as "perhaps the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world". Indeed he associated with many places along this journey.

I research the topics thoroughly and I provide a narrative and background to illustrated talks. I operate on a voluntary basis and am prepared to travel within reasonable distances from my home in North Nottinghamshire.

 Along the Silk Road in Central Asia Talk Feedback

This part of Central Asia included in particular Kunya Urgench, Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand. The buildings are simply stunning and the area is historically very interesting. It is the arena where the Great Game was played out, the political and diplomatic confrontation between Britain and Russia in the 19th century, which was described by one of the audience as fascinating.

"Very interesting talk. I could hear every word. I knew nothing about this area and learnt a lot. Pleased I came!!"

“Your talk was extremely interesting and I do believe, if you had spoken for much longer   everyone should enjoy it, and no-one would be bored. I did like the aspect that you kept referring to the map when relating to the history this indeed helps when discussing reasons and timings when situations occurred in the distant past. I also feel that your talk appeals to almost all  age groups, and both male and female.”

I am a former graduate Biology teacher and also coached cricket for 24 seasons. mainly in New Zealand,Scotland and Amsterdam. as a professional.


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