WHAT TO PACK - HALEY - BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION INTERN

What’s your best travel experience?

It involved a cage, bloody water, a murky shadow and a girl being sick next me. We heard the call “shark!” and I was the first one to jump in the rickety cage and wait to see a great white. Unfortunately, the shark had other ideas and didn’t make an appearance for half an hour, leaving us in the cold South African waters until another shark was spotted. The great white that perused the cage measured 6 feet long and moved very gracefully.  When staring into its eye as it swam by I remember feeling incredibly relaxed and calm - the opposite to what you may think! It was amazing to see something so incredibly powerful chose to give us the once over and then return to check out the bait.

Another wildlife highlight from my travels occurred in Ranthambore, India. One of my lecturers from university took several of my friends and I on bird, deer and tiger surveys led by the nature reserves president. We were incredibly lucky to be shown around the reserve by him and we saw a tiger everyday - a testament to his tracking skills! Just seeing the tiger from a distance was enough excitement for us all, but one day the female tiger came right up to our canter (a big open top minibus) until she was no more than 2 feet away from me. Hearing her breathe and purr and noticing the size of her feet and teeth from this distance certainly made my heart race and is something I will never forget!

What did you take?

As well as the essentials, on both trips I took a lot of stuff to keep me occupied on long journeys. I took my iPhone for music and also communal games of trivial pursuit, cards, a Rubik’s cube and some thread which I made into bracelets for friends (hippy-ish I know!) The thing I treasured most was my camera to capture some good wildlife shots and my friends antics.

What do you wish you had taken?

I wish I had taken a good camera to South Africa as a grainy shot of a ball of fluff really doesn’t cut it! I also wish I had taken a torch on all my trips, I can’t tell you how many times I nearly ended up in the wrong bed!

Which Frontier Project would you like to visit?

I would go on our Madagascar Expedition Management project as I have always wanted to visit this wonderfully diverse Island and it would also teach me new field skills.

What would you take there?

My newly acquired head torch and something to play on the beach between surveys.