Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to Food for Thought with Billy and Jenny,
brought to you by the Box Center. For more than
fifteen years, this dining duo has been eating their way
through New England, mixing it up with top chefs, jumping
behind the line of the hottest restaurants and giving you
the inside scoop on where to wine, dine and spend
your time. So get ready, it's Food for Thought giving
you something to chew on.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hi, everybody, welcome into Food for Thought.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Billy COSTI here, Jenny's get the week off and I'm
sure Jenny's wishing she was with me this week because
me and my wife Michelle are in Africa.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
We are coming to you from Zimbabwe at Kawangi National
Park in Africa.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
And we've got a slew of people here. You're going
to love this show. Okay. We have a lot to
talk about.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
We're going to recap our entire week here in Africa,
and I know a lot of folks listening. Maybe most
of your lives you've thought about, You've talked about going
to Africa, and for one reason or another, you just
keep putting it off. Well, by the end of this show,
you're going to be making your plans to go to Africa.
(01:07):
And that brings me to my first guest and segment one.
I've got Donal and Emma from Atlas one Expedition. So,
first of all, welcome and thank you for bringing us
to Africa.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Dannell hid Billy, thanks very much for having us on
the show.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Now, you and I have talked a couple of times
on the Billion Lisa Morning Show on Kiss and it
was kind of a strange connection between my wife Michelle
and you, and that kind of happened by accident. But
somehow you and my wife Donell are related.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
We are related, that's true, we related very much.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
So and Atlas one Productions you're partnered with Emma.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Hello, Emma, Hi Billy. Nice to be here.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
First of all, this trip has been phenomenal and I
don't even know where to start. I guess briefly, Danell
or Emma jump in any time you want. Atlas one Productions,
how did it start and where is the exact mission
of your operation?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Definitely thanks so. At LEAs One Expeditions is our travel
company and this is based on creating curated experiences connecting
people to conservation wildlife and nature through photography experiences. And
this comes out of the production company that Emma and
I have together, which is Atlas one Productions. Now, I've
(02:25):
been doing photography workshops leading people on expeditions for about
eight years all around the world, many different places. And
a few years ago Emma and I we got together
and we formed a production company where we tell stories
of people, places, landscapes doing work in conservation. And these
stories are what connect us to these places, that connect
(02:47):
the people and the projects to everybody in the world.
And we realized that these photography workshops that I was leading,
you know, I've been talking about the people and the
projects in the place, is showing people only wildlife and
never really showing them these projects that motivated me to
connect people to nature, and m and I we came
(03:09):
up with this concept that let's bring people to the
projects and show them the wildlife, to show them the
full picture. So whereas most places you can go on safari,
you get the experience of connecting to nature, and we
wanted to bring that one step further to define it
the concept even more in depth, to get you the
context to connect you to the conservation projects. The people
(03:32):
that inspired us to continue to you know, love the
wild and love nature and care for it.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Now, Denell, you're a Massachusetts kid. It doesn't sound like
a Boston accent to me. Where did you pick it
up along the way?
Speaker 4 (03:48):
I think I picked up my you say as an accent,
my way of speaking from you know, traveling the world
for the past like fifteen years, I have spoken to
and been with many people of all different cultures that
English is not their first language. I've had to explain
and try to connect with these people, and I've done
(04:11):
so by speaking clearly in a way that just has
developed into this language that I guess I speak just
world accent.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
And Emma, I need to point out everybody listening that
we are in Kolonga National Park.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Now. We started a week ago in Victoria Falls.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
And Jnal was just mentioning a lot of the conservation
type projects that you folks are involved with, and well,
the falls are one of the seven Wonders of the world.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
And we also stayed a couple.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Of days, a couple of nights at a very very
magical place. And I want to use the right verbiage here,
but it's an elephant not so much sanctuary, but maybe
you should.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Say what it is, but it was just a magical place.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Sure.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
Yeah, So we started off our trip with two nights
at the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery. We said that what are
our friends, both humans and animals alike, and we got
to learn about the context and we got to truly
understand this place, which got to truly understand Zimbabwe. And
you're right, Billy, it's a nursery, the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery
as part of the Wild is Life organization.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
It is not a sanctuary.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
And distinction is that the elephants that live at the nursery,
they are being prepared to be released into the wild.
They are being rewilded. So whereas with the sanctuary often
houses animals that are not capable of returning to the wild.
That's the main distinction. At the nursery, the elephants are
constantly learning how to become a wild elephant again.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
And it's interesting because we knew going into this, Michelle
and I that through Danial and you Emma, we would
have access and closer experiences with the wild here in Africa.
And one of the most moving experiences we had was
we were out on Safar. We ended with campfire, and
(06:01):
in the distance came a herd of elephant, and one
of the elephant from the nursery, God, I almost want
to cry, suddenly appeared and came out on his or
her own and rejoin the herd. And isn't that the
ultimate mission of that nursery.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
It is this is the ultimate mission of the Zimbabwe
Elephant Nursery for these elephants to return to the wild,
to become a wild elephant again and to be existing
out of nature as they should be. And we were
able to see that one elephant named Matabili join a
wild herd. And as we saw, sat there and saw
the dream, and there was.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Another really cool thing, Emma.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Once or twice a day, all of the elephants at
the nursery kind of get playtime. They get to go
out into the wild, and I guess that's another way
of them reintroducing themselves to the wild.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
But when they come back.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
It's really interesting because it's almost like they're coming back
to a birthday party every afternoon with all kinds of
treats and food. And we do have to take our
first break in the show. I'm telling you, folks, you
do want to tune in. In fact, while we go
to commercials, you may even want to call your friends
and call your family and tell them to tune in
to Food for Thought on WBZ News Radio because we
(07:18):
have such beautiful information to share. It is Food for Thought.
I'm Billy Costa. We are in Africa for real. We'll
take our first break and we'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel in sweets.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Hey, guys, Billy Costa, we are back. It is Food
for Thought.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
It is a very unique episode. We're in Africa, Okay,
I've got no other way to say that, and so
excited my wife Michelle and I. The trip to Africa
has been Michelle's lifelong dream since she.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Was a little girl.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Actually, I can take it one step further. My wife
Michelle is convinced that she had a previous life here
in Africa.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I think is a tree or something.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
But anyway, we're back with Danala and Emma from Atlas
mon Expeditions.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
And right before the break.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Guys, we were talking a little bit about the elephant
nursery that we went to in what a magical place
it is. And what it means to so many animals,
and something we need to point out. The public cannot
go there, and a lot of these you know, I
don't know mass Safari outfits also do not have the
(08:31):
kind of access that you guys have. So, Emma, what
gives you guys this close and intimate access out here
in Africa?
Speaker 5 (08:40):
Yeah, So, I think what's important to understand is that
the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery it's not set up for a tourist.
It's not a touring gimmick. It's a working operation and
as we said before, the goal is to be able
to allow as many elephants, as many rescue elephants as
possible to return to the wild. So there is no
public access to the project side. And the reason why
we've able to bring you there, Billy, is because we've
(09:02):
been working with them for many years. We've been filming,
we've been documenting, we've been taking photos for them, we've
been telling the story of the work that they do.
So we've built up a relationship of trust and based
on that we're able to now offer this experience to
our guests.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Danelle.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
I mean examples of a couple of other things that
you folks, you and Emma have access to that other
expedition companies may not.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Definitely. So over the years that we've been working to
document conservation stories around the world and we don't run
these trips just here in Zimbabwe. We run them in
places like in Indonesia, Borneo and in the Pontanal We
hope to promote.
Speaker 6 (09:38):
Another trip soon.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
And in Kenya.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
You know, we're making these connections through our production company
with organizations like Tsavo Trust in Kenya who protect the
big tuskers in the Savo landscape, in Ambaseli landscape, this
landscape where there's these massive elephants. We work with them
and we form this bond and connection that we can
provide access to. We curate this experience with In Borneo,
(10:01):
it's with an organization that protects and restores the forest
in the jungle. It's called the Friends of the National
Parks Foundation. Been working with them for five years or
so documenting their stories. So it's through this connections that
we have that we can actually bring people to this
aspect of what our lives are about, and that's storytelling
and that's the goal that you come on these trips.
(10:21):
Through that access, you gain that storytelling ability, and that's
what you'll learn.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And photography is a big part of your expeditions. A
lot of the folks that take your tours take your
expeditions with you from all over the world. I mean
on this trip alone. You mentioned they're small groups.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
We've got a group of.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Maybe six maybe seven people. Emma yourself, you're from the Netherlands.
We have Alex here who's from Stockholm, Sweden. We have
Alejandro who's Mazatlain, Mexico. I think I'm correct with that.
We've got Jamil he's from Belarus, if I'm not mistaken.
But and they do have a certain advancement in photography,
(11:02):
but it's not necessary because I've witnessed the entire week
my wife, Michelle novice at best with photography, and yet
she has clearly learned a lot and that's a big part.
Even advanced photographers learn from.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Your people definitely, and all levels.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
I mean it comes from both of us having a
really strong grasp of how to teach people, and that's
something that we love to do. And from any level,
whether you're in novice or an advanced person, it's about
that personal interaction that we have and mentoring for each
individual on the trip. Because it's small and curated, we
can spend the time with you and we're not here
(11:43):
to take photographs. We're here to help you take photographs
and to learn the storytelling and the ability to communicate.
So because we have that experience, we can help anybody
from any level to engage with the context and the
conservation stories and help tell that in the ways that
makes sense to them, like you believe, okay.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
In fact, to give people a larger window into how
it all works down here. And again, you know, I'm
just blown away by this trip thanks to you folks
and the job you do. But to give you an idea,
we head out on safari five point thirty in the
morning of most days. There's an afternoon safari it well
as well, which usually ends with a couple of cocktails.
(12:22):
It's onset, never hurts anybody. But all the while we're
typically in two jeeps, for lack of a better word,
it's jeep, okay, and so Emma you're in one and
Donal you're in another, And all the while you're pointing
out all of these tiny little things you don't want
anybody to miss. And during the picture taking itself. The
(12:44):
two of you are also instantly giving direction in terms.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Of what aperture they must have.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
And I don't even know much of the terminology aperture
a good word, okay, And that's always a part of it.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Right, it is.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
It's a part of you know, like it's so automatic
for us, and we notice that we see things in
a certain way, and we want to get you to
that level to see things in that way, whether that's
the stories of the things that we point out in nature,
working with the guides who have incredible knowledge here and
the things that we've learned ourselves, but getting you to
see the way that we see things, and then translating
(13:19):
that to how you control your camera in order to
capture it, to build into the larger storytelling and communication
aspect you.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Mentioned the GUIDs where of actually we get Peter in
the room with us. He's going to be joining us
on the show in a couple of minutes. This guy
blows my mind. I mean just first of all, he's hilarious. Secondly,
he's so knowledgeable, and boy does he have a good eye.
I mean, we can be in pitch black at night
and boom stops the carf shines a flashlight and there's
a hippopotamus. I'm like, how did he see that? Going
forty miles an hour? Again Again, folks, you have to
(13:50):
keep listening to this show because there's so much cool information. Okay,
you have other trips coming up, give people a sense
of where and when and how they might want to
jump in.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
So what we have planned for next year is, first
we are going to Kenya in February, so there are
as now mentioned before we work with the Tsavo Drussel.
We're spending two days with our friends there, learning about
the Savo ecosystem, learning about community engagement, learning about how
to protect the big tuskers, before we move to Umbaseli
National Park and there we'll spend the rest of Usafari
(14:24):
and Mbaselli. It's incredible. The landscape is open, it's vast,
it offers incredible opportunities for photography, and there will really
dive deeper into that, into the storytelling. And the other
trip that we have planned for next year is to
Borneo in Indonesia. This is happening in April, and we
actually have two departures, both in April, so you have
two chances to join us there, and we go to
(14:46):
Tunjang Putting National Park which is in Central Kalimantan in
Borneo in Indonesia, where we work with the friends of
the National Park Foundation and we spend two days with
them learning about protecting the forest. These guys they you know,
these folks, they fight fight wildfires, they protect the habitat,
they protect the orangutang and the diversity of wildlife that
(15:09):
exists there. And the rest of the trip we cruise
along the river there and we spot wildlife from the boat.
We take for photographs from the boat, and we also
venture into the forest to track on food looking for orangutangs.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And is the boat your actual place of accommodation.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
That's correct. Yes, we sleep on the boat, so we live, breathe,
and sleep on the boat for a whole week. So
it's a very special experience and you're totally immersed in nature.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Wow, Denal, I have to go back to your origin
you're from. Is it Raindom Massachusetts, Random Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Or do you know somebody from random? Found work?
Speaker 3 (15:43):
But in terms of the place, how do you go
about choosing the places you bring your expectitions to.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Thanks for that question, Billy, So we go about choosing
based on what inspires us and the connections that we make. So,
as Emma mentioned before, these are this is not a
mass tourism operation. This is about connecting with the people
and the places that have inspired us, the stories that
have you know, it inspired us to communicate what matters
(16:10):
out in nature, whether it's an organization that we work
with in Borneo or here in Zimbabwe or Kenya. These
are the places that we've done storytelling ourselves, that we've
made friends with and that we're going to bring you
to meet our friends.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Now, do not you and Emma live in Iceland. No
expeditions planned.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
There not currently any expeditions planned in Iceland. We live
in Iceland because you know, Emma from Netherlands, myself from Random.
It's pretty much in the middle. So that's our base
point to go everywhere in the world.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Okay, you just said it as though that's very normal
for somebody from Iceland or from the Netherlands to meet
somebody from Rainom Massachusetts.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Yes, it's a good place to meet.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
It seems to be working out. Okay, we're gonna take
another break.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
When we come back.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
We've got two or three minutes to spend on how
people go about reaching you guys and making their plans.
How far an event should somebody plan the expedition?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
We plan expeditions, you know, sometimes a year in events,
but anywhere from six months to a year.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Okay, we're going to take the break when we come back.
I haven't mentioned Angie yet. Angie is general manager of
the proper title here at the Hide, and this is
a magical place. We've spent the last few days and
we're going to talk about that and why you.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Should book yourself here.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
But up next is going to be Peter, the Safari guy,
who is an intense individual but one of the funniest
guys I've ever met.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
And you want to talk about knowledge, Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
And he's got the best die of elder respect Emma
and now the best ie I've ever seen.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
So we'll take a break. It's Food for Thought. We're
in Africa.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Sale and Waterfront Hotel in Swedes.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Hey, guys, we're back. It's food for Thought.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
It's amazing. But yeah, this is Billy. I'm in Africa
and I've been here for a week. And I'm sitting
with Danal and Emma from Atlas one Expeditions who took
us and others from around the world on expedition here
in Africa. Standing by is Peter the Safari guy, the
walking guide who's an amazing creature. And also whether it's Angie.
(18:19):
We're staying at a place called the Hide, and I
know they say four star, five star. I think this
is like twenty stars the Hide here in Where are
we actually.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Danel, We're Inhongi National Park okay, and we're back with
Danal and Emma. Okay. A couple of quick thoughts.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
There's the short break in terms of what's your next expedition?
Is it too late to register for that one? Give
us a quick rundown of what's coming and help people
get a hold of you.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Definitely. So this expedition that you were just on Billy
is running twice next year in June in October. There's
still spaces, so you can go to our website Atlas
one Expeditions dot com to find those. At lis like
a map one the number one Expeditions dot com. You
can find all the information about the trip and how
to sign up. Would be to fill out the booking form,
(19:09):
someone from our team would reach out and schedule a
call for getting to know you, getting to see it's
a good fit for you, into ask any questions you have.
From there, you would then get an invitation to the trip,
and it's those trips running next year. Plus we have
Kenya in February.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Now, Michelle, my wife, you were looking to come back
to Africa next year and what were you looking to do? Well?
Speaker 2 (19:35):
I would definitely come back here for sure.
Speaker 7 (19:38):
And then I have a dream is to go see
the Gorilla someday with Danell and Emma.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Any chance you'll be doing the Gorilla Semma?
Speaker 5 (19:45):
Yeah, so we'll continue to develop our destinations, so probably
not next year, but who knows. Next year we'll always
be adding new trips.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
And while Danal was giving websites and all kinds of information,
you kind of had your hand in the air.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Did he screw up? Did he say something wrong? You
want to add something quickly?
Speaker 5 (20:01):
No, I did a great job. But I'd also like
to add that please follow us on Instagram at Atlas
one Expeditions because we're constantly posting on there and it
will really give you a good impression of what our
trips are like.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
And by the way, I've been getting the Atlas one
Instagram posts on my phone very impressive. So now I've
got a new source of seeing what it is I've
lived through over the past week. All right, we're going
to take a break when we come back. I promised
him earlier, but he's definitely up next to His name
is Peter.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
We're going to get to know Peter the safari guide.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
By the way, how do you become a safari guide?
It's going to be really scary when you're first entering
the industry. Anyway, we're going to take a break. Peter's
here also, Angie is here from the hide here at
Kowongi National Park. And I know you're probably listening and saying, oh,
this is a gag. There's no way Billy is in Africa.
I am, I'm in Africa.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
You're listening to Food for Thought brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel and sweets.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Hey, everybody, welcome back to Food for Thought.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
Billy Costier and again we are in Zimbabwe. We are
in Africa at Kawangi, a National Park, and we're staying
at a magnificent.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Resort is the right word everybody.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Camp lodge, it's camp lodge, It's the Hide. And you
know what, my team at the morning show on Kiss
they looked at it on the website and it just
blew their mind. So that's what we've spent the last
week or so. And now we're with Safari guy Peter,
who basically has saved my life at least five times
this week.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Peter, Nice to see you.
Speaker 8 (21:29):
Hey body, how's the guy? Well, welcome to the Hide?
Billy who told you out to weigh so much camouflage
in the bush there? I can hardly see you.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
That's my wife Michelle.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Thank you for asking, but she said no, it's got
to be all tan, it's got to be all camouflage. Peter,
how do you become a Safari guid, especially at your level?
Speaker 8 (21:48):
So here we have quite a long, rigorous system into
becoming a walking guide. So yeah, there's two livers this drive,
a guide and walking guide. So as a driver guide
you can drive it around the national park. You can
drive anyway, but you're not allowed to get out the vehicle.
Where the qualification I have is a driver as a
walking guide, So it means I can get out the car,
we can go for walks and on an expedition like
(22:09):
this we get to get closer to certain things for
photos and adjust our angles. So it's quite a long process.
Takes Jenny about five years to become a walking guide
hell in Zimbabwi. Multiple tests, so it starts out with
a learner Guide's license, which is an examle of about
four papers. There's various things, animals, scientific names, different bits
and pieces of the bush. If you pass that, you
(22:32):
get your learning Guid's license and you get a job
at a fire camp. So once you get a job
at as a fire camp, Jenny takes a bit of time.
You work your way up to where you can now
guide people, but you're still stuck in the vehicle.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
You can't get out.
Speaker 8 (22:45):
And then we have a set system where you have
to lead seventy five approaches on dangerous game, getting in,
getting out, making sure everyone's safe, sort of learn how
to read animals, spend time with animals because that gives
you an idea of how things work.
Speaker 6 (23:00):
And then once.
Speaker 8 (23:01):
You've done all that, there's a shooting test, so they
make sure we not use our rifle. I think it's
the point end, which you have to sort of make
sure it's not facing towards you.
Speaker 6 (23:09):
And then from there you go to an oral interview.
Speaker 8 (23:13):
So every single walk you do, every single game drive
goes into a logbook and there's a panel of examiners,
Zimbabwean examiners who have been guides for longer than ten
years in the field. So these guys have been men
some amount of knowledge and they bombard you with questions
for up to now. It kind of feels like what
Billy's doing to us.
Speaker 6 (23:30):
But it's all good.
Speaker 8 (23:31):
So you get through that, they look through your log
book and they either tell you try again next year
or you're invited to a proficiency examine.
Speaker 6 (23:41):
And then proficiency exam.
Speaker 8 (23:42):
It's seven days seven days of these same examiners who
have been guides for longer than tenures. They come as
your worst guest you've ever had in your life. You
tell them to sit down, their standard, you tell them
to keep quiet.
Speaker 6 (23:54):
They run away.
Speaker 8 (23:55):
So it's an intense amount of time. You've got to
work hard at it, and it's not easy, but once
you get it, it's so fulfilling because if you see
varcheres circling in the distance, you can walk in there,
you may find lions and foot bump into elephants.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Well, it's funny you say that, because we had a
moment yesterday on safari where you took us into what
seemed to be a frightening area just as we entered it.
And sure enough, at one point in my lifetime, I
would never have imagined that I would be sitting there.
But we were in the jeeps and we were surrounded
at one point by seventeen lions.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
They almost had us circled.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
How is it possible that you're that confident with that situation?
Speaker 8 (24:39):
Obviously, Billy, I have such a great photo of you
with a lion behind you.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
It made me laugh for days.
Speaker 8 (24:44):
But so over time, you spend time with the animals
and you learn to read their sort of body language
and pits and pieces. It's kind of like having your
own pet, cattle dog. You it's not that they are pets,
but you learn to read their body language. You know
when your cat is upset to you when your dog upset,
And there's certain little little bits and pieces that you
pick up on. And while we're sitting with those lions yesterday,
(25:07):
they kind of came around the car and they were contact, calling,
talking to each other, and they were completely relaxed with us,
and so there was no reason to be too afraid.
Even though your photo your eyes were about the size
of sauce splits, but it was all good.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Again, I'm a city kid, I'm not used to being
surrounded by lions.
Speaker 6 (25:25):
Yeah, it's not an everyday event.
Speaker 8 (25:26):
But yeah, when you get to be in that kind
of situation, it's fantastic because you really feel at one
with nature because everything is just completely chilled around you.
The animals are acting as if you're not there, So
you get to see the way the lions interact and
how they brush their heads when they reaffirming bonds, or
when the cubs were playing and dancing, and there was
(25:47):
good photos were taken. Michelle took some amazing shots. So yeah,
it was fantastic. It was very very cool.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
But another strength of yours and again I'm a layming
at this, but another real strength of yours. As we
go long and safari.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
You have an unbelievable keen.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Eye, like you'll spot a bird from like a mile
away and be.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Able to describe it in detail.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Any I mean, there are a lot how many species
here in the park.
Speaker 8 (26:13):
So in those park, I think there's about six hundred
and forty species of bird mammals.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
There's a lot.
Speaker 8 (26:18):
I'm not really sure in the exact number, but a lot,
and it just depends on the time of year and season.
Some animals migrate in and out, some birds migrate in
and out, so we just spend time looking at them
and learning them. And then with the keen eye, you know,
when you're in the bush, you kind of learned to
look through things instead of looking at things, so when
there's something walking through the bush, you kind of pick
(26:39):
up on the movement and that.
Speaker 6 (26:41):
And also my optomistist, he's really good.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
So if we were to have a game show between
you and Donell in terms of species and describing them,
who do you think would win?
Speaker 6 (26:52):
Donald's a really good.
Speaker 8 (26:55):
But I've obviously been into a lot of time in
the bush, yea, So get to pick on up in
small bits and but I think I think I definitely
went on the jokes though.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Yeah, give you a one liner going on why as
a zib Sorry.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
I missed that one up. Give it what's black and white?
And rad a leva?
Speaker 2 (27:12):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
Tell me Pete the sun Ben Zebra.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
We got to take a break. It's Food for Thought.
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Saling Waterfront Hotel in Swedes.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Hey, folks, welcome back to Food for Thought.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Billy Kasha Again, we're sitting here in Africa. I know
you don't believe it. I can't even believe I'm sitting
here in Africa, but I've been here for pretty much
a week on safari. If you will, we just talked
with Pete, the Safari guide here in the Zimbabwe. We
have Donnelle and Emma from Atlas one Expeditions, who, by
the way, brought us here and can bring you all
(27:48):
over the world on fabulous expeditions. We'll talk more about
how you can get in touch with them. But now
we have Angie because well our accommodations have been at
the hide here at Komonggi National Park and the boss
here so to speak for lack of a better word,
as Angie.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
So welcome to Food for Thought.
Speaker 7 (28:05):
Hi, Billy, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
How long you've been here with the camp.
Speaker 7 (28:09):
I've worked here for two years now that have been
on safari managing camp for about seven Oh.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Wow, So I was reading up on the Hide and
its origin is a very interesting story, was it Tom Preston?
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Did I get the name right?
Speaker 3 (28:27):
And this was his dream, this was his mission the
high Yes.
Speaker 7 (28:30):
So the camp itself has actually been owned by the
same family for thirty two years, which I think is
quite a testament to the family itself. Safari can be
quite challenging. So Tom Preston built the camp and it's
pretty true to its original features, only a few upgrades
as you've gone along. And sadly, mister Preston passed away
(28:52):
a few years after having built the camp.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
Wow.
Speaker 7 (28:55):
But his wife then continued with it for many many years,
and now it's down to his children to look after it.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
It's interesting because you know, I've been posting pictures all
along my trip here in Africa, and I'm trying to
show off the Hide Camp as best I can. And
I'll be perfectly honest with you. I knew I was
coming to Africa. I really didn't expect the level of
accommodations that we arrived to here at the Hide.
Speaker 7 (29:22):
Oh, thank you so much for saying so. So our
boss's wife, Pam, she's instrumental and looking often tear decorating,
keeping ahead of the times, as I'm sure you might
have seen when you were researching coming to Africa, and
Nal and Emma probably have done the same. You need
to make sure you choose the correct camps, but you
need to be competitive and make sure you're providing a
level of luxury that people would like.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
And our combinations are rooms are really elaborate, tents okay
and magnificent, and folks go to the website you'll see
what I'm talking about. We sit on a watering hole
where all day, all night through the night by the way,
elephants and zebra and reindeer and warthogs and everything come
(30:05):
in just to kind of relax and chill. But there
was one night where Michelle and I you were laughing TONI,
what did.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
I say wrong? You said reindeer? Did I say reindeer?
There are no reindeer. I meant to say giraffe.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
It was quite cold this morning, so I got out.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
So anyway, Angie, one night, my wife Michelle, and I
had the pleasure of staying in a place here at
the hide called the dove nest. And it was my
wife turned to me five minutes after we got there
and said, this is the best experience, best night of
my entire life. For folks listening back in America, can
(30:49):
you describe the dove nest for them?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (30:52):
Sure, So the dove's Nest is actually a tree house
that's been built in one of the oldest trees in
Wangy National Park. So it's actually a leadwood tree we
estimated to be about two hundred to two hundred and
fifty years old. Of course, there's no way for us
to one hundred percent say that that is what it is.
But what would happen is you arrive at the tree house,
(31:16):
you watch the sunset from a platform. There is a
running bath and shower, flashing toilet, and you are then
provided with a hot meal which is in one of
our eco friendly cooking bags I guess which keeps your
food warm. And it's a hot meal provided to you
(31:37):
and you just enjoy the evening under the stars and
in this tree and it's a very very sensory experience.
You're away from everybody else, There isn't a single member
of staff around you and you just get to enjoy
it with your You need.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
To know going in, I was terrified and my wife
was thoroughly excited. But then when it came time, I
didn't want to leave overnight. You know, you're lying in
bed in the view from your bed is almost like
a picture or an omni theater, and at the same
time you're hearing the sounds of the wildlife through the
(32:12):
night and you just look out to the open fields
and at night you can see it. You shine the
flashlight and you can see, you know, wildlife coming in
your direction, just see their eyes twinkling and you're like, okay,
what's that now? But it was so so awesome. How
often is the duvet nests used.
Speaker 7 (32:31):
So it is quite a popular feature of the height,
So you know, you do need to book in advance
if it is something that you want to do whilst here,
But if it's not booked, we will certainly try and
get to whoever wants to go to go, so almost
every night.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah, so it's highly in demand.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
So if somebody's coming here, they're probably already heard of
Dove's nest. I ran into a couple here and I
think they were from Great Britain. I could be mistaken,
and you know, they were a little older so to speak,
maybe late seventies or early eighties, and the wife was
terrorized and the husband just couldn't wait.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
And they were quick to point.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Out to say, yes, I was the wife and Michelle
was the husband because.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
She didn't want to live and that was her dream
in life.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Talk about because the food is also spectacular. He talk
about some of the favorite dishes, and Peter you can
chime in as well. People can look forward to the
pride of your kitchen, so to speak.
Speaker 7 (33:29):
Sure, so our chefs are locally trained, so I think
the food that they offer is actually quite amazing, the
way that they presented, and we try to make sure
it's homely food. I think a lot of people coming
on Safari are quite worried about what is it that
I'm going to be fed. So our chefs are trained
in being able to cater for all sorts of different
(33:51):
dietary requirements. I think this group is vegan, so that's possible.
We've got gluten free, so there are so many different
news and recipes that we can provide if we're told
in advance, and our chefs are very very skilled at
being able to do that.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
And we're talking breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Speaker 7 (34:08):
Yes, absolutely so Ordinarily you'd go out on your safari
and have a picnic breakfast, and we do that so
that you can actually have a beautiful view of animals
whilst eating your picnic breakfast, and then lunch and dinner
is held in camp. Various times you can go out
for picnic lunches if you wanted to, or bush dinners
or the dove's nest of course, which is a feature.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
I don't forget tea. That's my favorite time of day.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
There's always cake, tea and cake something else that that's
very special here, and we were able to go last night.
It's called the Hide and it's basically a tunnel that
runs under the ground and gets you even closer to
the animals who might be in the watering hole, whether
it's hippos or I know there were no reindeer. I'm
(34:55):
such an idiot, but it's a cool place. But there's
also a wine cellar down there, and you offer wine tastings.
Speaker 7 (35:02):
Yes we do, so we our staff are trained in
wine tasting. So you can go down into the cellar
and choose a bottle of wine for your dinner or
for lunchtime if you wish. A conditions so that's where
you'll find Peach and me when it's sweltering here. But yeah,
it's fantastic. Our boss came up with the idea about
ten years ago. So you can go down in there
(35:23):
by yourself see the animals. That Definitely, the wine and
whiskey seller is a huge drawer as well.
Speaker 3 (35:29):
You know, a lot of the popular hotels back in America,
especially in the big cities, you know, hard to get reservations,
hard to get rooms. You have to book a year
in advance for some of these places. How far in
advance does somebody have to make plans make a reservation
for the hide Here in.
Speaker 7 (35:45):
Africa, well, our high season runs from June to September,
so if you're wanting to go over those periods of times,
I'll probably say, book about a year in advance. There
are occasionally opportunities and vacancies, but we do get people nowadays.
We're just discussing it the other day since COVID people
decide right in two months time, I want to go
(36:05):
on Safari, and if there's availability, we'll do everything we
can to fit you in. But ordinarily it's about a
year in advance.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
I'd say, Peter, any one or two dishes you would
highly recommend here at the Hide.
Speaker 8 (36:16):
Well, I'm a bit of a meat tito, so there's
a good bride that and puts on a brie is
like a barbecue. And there's brilliant Zimbabwean steak and that
is my favorite.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
And then obviously the cake. The cakes are so good.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
And don't forget the gift shop.
Speaker 7 (36:30):
Right now, yes, please, So all of our items are
in the gift shop are through locally made people. They
everything's locally made, so yes, come and visit our gift shop.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
And if you're like me initially when you're hearing about
the accommodations, that are intents in everything, and I think,
so everything's really rough.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
These tents are really well put together.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
And I mean so safe, and the accommodations and the
amenities inside the safe there it's like you're staying well
as you are in a five star resort.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
But we're going to take a break.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
When we come back, I want to recap everybody and
have everybody here give me one line their best experience
of this past week, or as Donell and Emma would
call it, your rose for the week, your favorite moment
from the week. Here we're in Africa, and unfortunately we're
doing this show on our final night here. Michelle and
(37:27):
I and the rest of this group are going to
be boarding planes and heading home and in fact can't
wait to get home and.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Tell everybody about this place and this trip. We'll take
a break a few minutes left. Right after the break.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel in sweetes Hey.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Everybody, welcome back to Food for Thought. Billy Costa here
and again.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
I am in Africa, in Zimbabwe, actually at Kewongbi and
National Park, and we came with a group thanks to
Donal and Emma from Atlas one Expeditions, and I want
to shout out the rest of the group have been
fabulous and we're so thrilled we had a chance to
meet and spend time with him. Giordana from Barcelona, Alejandro
from Mazatland, Alex from Stockholm, Sweden, Natalia from Arizona, Jamil
(38:13):
also from Sweden, and Susan interesting story. Heard me talking
about Atlas one Expeditions with Donal back on the Billy
and Lisa Morning Show.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
She made the call.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
She got the interview and she joined us, and she's
fabulous as well, and I'm sure Michelle and I are
going to be meeting up with her when we get
back home to Boston. Okay, we're going to go round
the room, and I want everybody's favorite moment, one sentence
on your favorite moment of this past week, and we're
going to start with you.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Peter, go ahead.
Speaker 8 (38:45):
I think my favorite moment of this last week was
walking up to that elephant with you, Billy.
Speaker 6 (38:49):
That big old bull that was walking Boston.
Speaker 8 (38:51):
We woked up and he gave us a little look
and then he carried on on his way.
Speaker 6 (38:55):
I think that was fantastic.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
Oh there was another moment where I was standing there
about some radio thing and you jumped in.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
And said snake sakes sake. It totally freaked me out
and I had to jump back.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
Angie from the hide here at Colombi National Park, your
favorite memory of us this past week?
Speaker 7 (39:11):
I think being able to see the joy and wonder
of your expedition and all of you being able to
having not meet one another before just getting along. So well,
it's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Okay, and over to Emma your thought of the week.
Speaker 5 (39:24):
Yeah, my favorite experience is seeing how you all have
experienced something that you didn't expect at all, and to
see your transformations. And I gotta say, Billy, you're a
bit of a changed man because when you arrive, you know,
you seem to tat anxious and you kept hiding behind Michelle,
and now you see you about ready to move into
your tree house.
Speaker 3 (39:42):
So it's funny because you know, I've been doing a
call in back to the Billy and Lisa Morning Show
on Kiss every morning and people are sending dms, and
they're sending talkbacks, and they're calling into the show and
they've really enjoyed it. But at one point in my
final call, Lisa Donovan back home, who's my partner on
the Billy and Leaves some morning show, said Billy, you
(40:02):
sound like a different man. And you know what I
think I am, I believe it or not.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
I love just staying in the treehouse. And I love.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
Sleeping every night right in front of the animals. It
would literally and including hippopotamus walk right by your window
in the dark of night.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
And donal your thought of the week.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
My thought of the week is the favorite thing from
this trip is seeing what everybody has learned and I
want to recall a quote that is by conservationists Bubba
diam All of you have learned something on this trip,
and the quote is, in the end, we only conserve
what we love. We love only what we understand, and
we only understand what we're taught. And the fact that
(40:45):
we've had the opportunity, Emma and I to teach you
what we love is making everything worth it. So so
happy that you've learned so much and that you love
this place the way that we do.
Speaker 3 (40:55):
And one more time, all of the websites the places
they can go to get at last one expedition and
take this trip to Africa.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
Atlas one Expeditions dot com is where you can go
to see all of our trips Atlas like a map,
the number one Expeditions dot com.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
And again we want to thank our friends in Victoria Falls.
So we spent a couple of nights there. The falls
were magnificent, but so were our guides. So shout out
to Kevin Lowe and to Daniel my moment from vic Falls,
who would be seeing you scale a tree that was
about three stories high in about five seconds.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
I've never seen anything like it.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
And my wife Michelle found something in our room and
wanted me to end the show with this thought. Travel
not to find yourself, but to remember who you have
been all along. And again, Michelle more than ever believes
in her previous life she was here in Africa.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
We got to go. Thank you so much for tuning in.
Thanks to everybody.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
We'll see you back in Boston.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Everybody up next sixty minutes
You are listening to Food for Thought with Billy and Jenny,
brought to you by the Box Center. For more than
fifteen years, this dining duo has been eating their way
through New England, mixing it up with top chefs, jumping
behind the line of the hottest restaurants and giving you
the inside scoop on where to wine, dine and spend
your time. So get ready, it's Food for Thought giving
you something to chew on.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hi, everybody, welcome into Food for Thought.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Billy COSTI here, Jenny's get the week off and I'm
sure Jenny's wishing she was with me this week because
me and my wife Michelle are in Africa.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
We are coming to you from Zimbabwe at Kawangi National
Park in Africa.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
And we've got a slew of people here. You're going
to love this show. Okay. We have a lot to
talk about.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
We're going to recap our entire week here in Africa,
and I know a lot of folks listening. Maybe most
of your lives you've thought about, You've talked about going
to Africa, and for one reason or another, you just
keep putting it off. Well, by the end of this show,
you're going to be making your plans to go to Africa.
(01:07):
And that brings me to my first guest and segment one.
I've got Donal and Emma from Atlas one Expedition. So,
first of all, welcome and thank you for bringing us
to Africa.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Dannell hid Billy, thanks very much for having us on
the show.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Now, you and I have talked a couple of times
on the Billion Lisa Morning Show on Kiss and it
was kind of a strange connection between my wife Michelle
and you, and that kind of happened by accident. But
somehow you and my wife Donell are related.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
We are related, that's true, we related very much.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
So and Atlas one Productions you're partnered with Emma.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Hello, Emma, Hi Billy. Nice to be here.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
First of all, this trip has been phenomenal and I
don't even know where to start. I guess briefly, Danell
or Emma jump in any time you want. Atlas one Productions,
how did it start and where is the exact mission
of your operation?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Definitely thanks so. At LEAs One Expeditions is our travel
company and this is based on creating curated experiences connecting
people to conservation wildlife and nature through photography experiences. And
this comes out of the production company that Emma and
I have together, which is Atlas one Productions. Now, I've
(02:25):
been doing photography workshops leading people on expeditions for about
eight years all around the world, many different places. And
a few years ago Emma and I we got together
and we formed a production company where we tell stories
of people, places, landscapes doing work in conservation. And these
stories are what connect us to these places, that connect
(02:47):
the people and the projects to everybody in the world.
And we realized that these photography workshops that I was leading,
you know, I've been talking about the people and the
projects in the place, is showing people only wildlife and
never really showing them these projects that motivated me to
connect people to nature, and m and I we came
(03:09):
up with this concept that let's bring people to the
projects and show them the wildlife, to show them the
full picture. So whereas most places you can go on safari,
you get the experience of connecting to nature, and we
wanted to bring that one step further to define it
the concept even more in depth, to get you the
context to connect you to the conservation projects. The people
(03:32):
that inspired us to continue to you know, love the
wild and love nature and care for it.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Now, Denell, you're a Massachusetts kid. It doesn't sound like
a Boston accent to me. Where did you pick it
up along the way?
Speaker 4 (03:48):
I think I picked up my you say as an accent,
my way of speaking from you know, traveling the world
for the past like fifteen years, I have spoken to
and been with many people of all different cultures that
English is not their first language. I've had to explain
and try to connect with these people, and I've done
(04:11):
so by speaking clearly in a way that just has
developed into this language that I guess I speak just
world accent.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
And Emma, I need to point out everybody listening that
we are in Kolonga National Park.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Now. We started a week ago in Victoria Falls.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
And Jnal was just mentioning a lot of the conservation
type projects that you folks are involved with, and well,
the falls are one of the seven Wonders of the world.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
And we also stayed a couple.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Of days, a couple of nights at a very very
magical place. And I want to use the right verbiage here,
but it's an elephant not so much sanctuary, but maybe
you should.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Say what it is, but it was just a magical place.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Sure.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
Yeah, So we started off our trip with two nights
at the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery. We said that what are
our friends, both humans and animals alike, and we got
to learn about the context and we got to truly
understand this place, which got to truly understand Zimbabwe. And
you're right, Billy, it's a nursery, the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery
as part of the Wild is Life organization.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
It is not a sanctuary.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
And distinction is that the elephants that live at the nursery,
they are being prepared to be released into the wild.
They are being rewilded. So whereas with the sanctuary often
houses animals that are not capable of returning to the wild.
That's the main distinction. At the nursery, the elephants are
constantly learning how to become a wild elephant again.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
And it's interesting because we knew going into this, Michelle
and I that through Danial and you Emma, we would
have access and closer experiences with the wild here in Africa.
And one of the most moving experiences we had was
we were out on Safar. We ended with campfire, and
(06:01):
in the distance came a herd of elephant, and one
of the elephant from the nursery, God, I almost want
to cry, suddenly appeared and came out on his or
her own and rejoin the herd. And isn't that the
ultimate mission of that nursery.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
It is this is the ultimate mission of the Zimbabwe
Elephant Nursery for these elephants to return to the wild,
to become a wild elephant again and to be existing
out of nature as they should be. And we were
able to see that one elephant named Matabili join a
wild herd. And as we saw, sat there and saw
the dream, and there was.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Another really cool thing, Emma.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Once or twice a day, all of the elephants at
the nursery kind of get playtime. They get to go
out into the wild, and I guess that's another way
of them reintroducing themselves to the wild.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
But when they come back.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
It's really interesting because it's almost like they're coming back
to a birthday party every afternoon with all kinds of
treats and food. And we do have to take our
first break in the show. I'm telling you, folks, you
do want to tune in. In fact, while we go
to commercials, you may even want to call your friends
and call your family and tell them to tune in
to Food for Thought on WBZ News Radio because we
(07:18):
have such beautiful information to share. It is Food for Thought.
I'm Billy Costa. We are in Africa for real. We'll
take our first break and we'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel in sweets.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Hey, guys, Billy Costa, we are back. It is Food
for Thought.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
It is a very unique episode. We're in Africa, Okay,
I've got no other way to say that, and so
excited my wife Michelle and I. The trip to Africa
has been Michelle's lifelong dream since she.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Was a little girl.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Actually, I can take it one step further. My wife
Michelle is convinced that she had a previous life here
in Africa.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I think is a tree or something.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
But anyway, we're back with Danala and Emma from Atlas
mon Expeditions.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
And right before the break.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Guys, we were talking a little bit about the elephant
nursery that we went to in what a magical place
it is. And what it means to so many animals,
and something we need to point out. The public cannot
go there, and a lot of these you know, I
don't know mass Safari outfits also do not have the
(08:31):
kind of access that you guys have. So, Emma, what
gives you guys this close and intimate access out here
in Africa?
Speaker 5 (08:40):
Yeah, So, I think what's important to understand is that
the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery it's not set up for a tourist.
It's not a touring gimmick. It's a working operation and
as we said before, the goal is to be able
to allow as many elephants, as many rescue elephants as
possible to return to the wild. So there is no
public access to the project side. And the reason why
we've able to bring you there, Billy, is because we've
(09:02):
been working with them for many years. We've been filming,
we've been documenting, we've been taking photos for them, we've
been telling the story of the work that they do.
So we've built up a relationship of trust and based
on that we're able to now offer this experience to
our guests.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Danelle.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
I mean examples of a couple of other things that
you folks, you and Emma have access to that other
expedition companies may not.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
Definitely. So over the years that we've been working to
document conservation stories around the world and we don't run
these trips just here in Zimbabwe. We run them in
places like in Indonesia, Borneo and in the Pontanal We
hope to promote.
Speaker 6 (09:38):
Another trip soon.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
And in Kenya.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
You know, we're making these connections through our production company
with organizations like Tsavo Trust in Kenya who protect the
big tuskers in the Savo landscape, in Ambaseli landscape, this
landscape where there's these massive elephants. We work with them
and we form this bond and connection that we can
provide access to. We curate this experience with In Borneo,
(10:01):
it's with an organization that protects and restores the forest
in the jungle. It's called the Friends of the National
Parks Foundation. Been working with them for five years or
so documenting their stories. So it's through this connections that
we have that we can actually bring people to this
aspect of what our lives are about, and that's storytelling
and that's the goal that you come on these trips.
(10:21):
Through that access, you gain that storytelling ability, and that's
what you'll learn.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And photography is a big part of your expeditions. A
lot of the folks that take your tours take your
expeditions with you from all over the world. I mean
on this trip alone. You mentioned they're small groups.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
We've got a group of.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Maybe six maybe seven people. Emma yourself, you're from the Netherlands.
We have Alex here who's from Stockholm, Sweden. We have
Alejandro who's Mazatlain, Mexico. I think I'm correct with that.
We've got Jamil he's from Belarus, if I'm not mistaken.
But and they do have a certain advancement in photography,
(11:02):
but it's not necessary because I've witnessed the entire week
my wife, Michelle novice at best with photography, and yet
she has clearly learned a lot and that's a big part.
Even advanced photographers learn from.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Your people definitely, and all levels.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
I mean it comes from both of us having a
really strong grasp of how to teach people, and that's
something that we love to do. And from any level,
whether you're in novice or an advanced person, it's about
that personal interaction that we have and mentoring for each
individual on the trip. Because it's small and curated, we
can spend the time with you and we're not here
(11:43):
to take photographs. We're here to help you take photographs
and to learn the storytelling and the ability to communicate.
So because we have that experience, we can help anybody
from any level to engage with the context and the
conservation stories and help tell that in the ways that
makes sense to them, like you believe, okay.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
In fact, to give people a larger window into how
it all works down here. And again, you know, I'm
just blown away by this trip thanks to you folks
and the job you do. But to give you an idea,
we head out on safari five point thirty in the
morning of most days. There's an afternoon safari it well
as well, which usually ends with a couple of cocktails.
(12:22):
It's onset, never hurts anybody. But all the while we're
typically in two jeeps, for lack of a better word,
it's jeep, okay, and so Emma you're in one and
Donal you're in another, And all the while you're pointing
out all of these tiny little things you don't want
anybody to miss. And during the picture taking itself. The
(12:44):
two of you are also instantly giving direction in terms.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Of what aperture they must have.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
And I don't even know much of the terminology aperture
a good word, okay, And that's always a part of it.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Right, it is.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
It's a part of you know, like it's so automatic
for us, and we notice that we see things in
a certain way, and we want to get you to
that level to see things in that way, whether that's
the stories of the things that we point out in nature,
working with the guides who have incredible knowledge here and
the things that we've learned ourselves, but getting you to
see the way that we see things, and then translating
(13:19):
that to how you control your camera in order to
capture it, to build into the larger storytelling and communication
aspect you.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Mentioned the GUIDs where of actually we get Peter in
the room with us. He's going to be joining us
on the show in a couple of minutes. This guy
blows my mind. I mean just first of all, he's hilarious. Secondly,
he's so knowledgeable, and boy does he have a good eye.
I mean, we can be in pitch black at night
and boom stops the carf shines a flashlight and there's
a hippopotamus. I'm like, how did he see that? Going
forty miles an hour? Again Again, folks, you have to
(13:50):
keep listening to this show because there's so much cool information. Okay,
you have other trips coming up, give people a sense
of where and when and how they might want to
jump in.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
So what we have planned for next year is, first
we are going to Kenya in February, so there are
as now mentioned before we work with the Tsavo Drussel.
We're spending two days with our friends there, learning about
the Savo ecosystem, learning about community engagement, learning about how
to protect the big tuskers, before we move to Umbaseli
National Park and there we'll spend the rest of Usafari
(14:24):
and Mbaselli. It's incredible. The landscape is open, it's vast,
it offers incredible opportunities for photography, and there will really
dive deeper into that, into the storytelling. And the other
trip that we have planned for next year is to
Borneo in Indonesia. This is happening in April, and we
actually have two departures, both in April, so you have
two chances to join us there, and we go to
(14:46):
Tunjang Putting National Park which is in Central Kalimantan in
Borneo in Indonesia, where we work with the friends of
the National Park Foundation and we spend two days with
them learning about protecting the forest. These guys they you know,
these folks, they fight fight wildfires, they protect the habitat,
they protect the orangutang and the diversity of wildlife that
(15:09):
exists there. And the rest of the trip we cruise
along the river there and we spot wildlife from the boat.
We take for photographs from the boat, and we also
venture into the forest to track on food looking for orangutangs.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And is the boat your actual place of accommodation.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
That's correct. Yes, we sleep on the boat, so we live, breathe,
and sleep on the boat for a whole week. So
it's a very special experience and you're totally immersed in nature.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Wow, Denal, I have to go back to your origin
you're from. Is it Raindom Massachusetts, Random Massachusetts.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Or do you know somebody from random? Found work?
Speaker 3 (15:43):
But in terms of the place, how do you go
about choosing the places you bring your expectitions to.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Thanks for that question, Billy, So we go about choosing
based on what inspires us and the connections that we make. So,
as Emma mentioned before, these are this is not a
mass tourism operation. This is about connecting with the people
and the places that have inspired us, the stories that
have you know, it inspired us to communicate what matters
(16:10):
out in nature, whether it's an organization that we work
with in Borneo or here in Zimbabwe or Kenya. These
are the places that we've done storytelling ourselves, that we've
made friends with and that we're going to bring you
to meet our friends.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Now, do not you and Emma live in Iceland. No
expeditions planned.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
There not currently any expeditions planned in Iceland. We live
in Iceland because you know, Emma from Netherlands, myself from Random.
It's pretty much in the middle. So that's our base
point to go everywhere in the world.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Okay, you just said it as though that's very normal
for somebody from Iceland or from the Netherlands to meet
somebody from Rainom Massachusetts.
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Yes, it's a good place to meet.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
It seems to be working out. Okay, we're gonna take
another break.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
When we come back.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
We've got two or three minutes to spend on how
people go about reaching you guys and making their plans.
How far an event should somebody plan the expedition?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
We plan expeditions, you know, sometimes a year in events,
but anywhere from six months to a year.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Okay, we're going to take the break when we come back.
I haven't mentioned Angie yet. Angie is general manager of
the proper title here at the Hide, and this is
a magical place. We've spent the last few days and
we're going to talk about that and why you.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Should book yourself here.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
But up next is going to be Peter, the Safari guy,
who is an intense individual but one of the funniest
guys I've ever met.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
And you want to talk about knowledge, Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
And he's got the best die of elder respect Emma
and now the best ie I've ever seen.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
So we'll take a break. It's Food for Thought. We're
in Africa.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Sale and Waterfront Hotel in Swedes.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Hey, guys, we're back. It's food for Thought.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
It's amazing. But yeah, this is Billy. I'm in Africa
and I've been here for a week. And I'm sitting
with Danal and Emma from Atlas one Expeditions who took
us and others from around the world on expedition here
in Africa. Standing by is Peter the Safari guy, the
walking guide who's an amazing creature. And also whether it's Angie.
(18:19):
We're staying at a place called the Hide, and I
know they say four star, five star. I think this
is like twenty stars the Hide here in Where are
we actually.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Danel, We're Inhongi National Park okay, and we're back with
Danal and Emma. Okay. A couple of quick thoughts.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
There's the short break in terms of what's your next expedition?
Is it too late to register for that one? Give
us a quick rundown of what's coming and help people
get a hold of you.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Definitely. So this expedition that you were just on Billy
is running twice next year in June in October. There's
still spaces, so you can go to our website Atlas
one Expeditions dot com to find those. At lis like
a map one the number one Expeditions dot com. You
can find all the information about the trip and how
to sign up. Would be to fill out the booking form,
(19:09):
someone from our team would reach out and schedule a
call for getting to know you, getting to see it's
a good fit for you, into ask any questions you have.
From there, you would then get an invitation to the trip,
and it's those trips running next year. Plus we have
Kenya in February.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Now, Michelle, my wife, you were looking to come back
to Africa next year and what were you looking to do? Well?
Speaker 2 (19:35):
I would definitely come back here for sure.
Speaker 7 (19:38):
And then I have a dream is to go see
the Gorilla someday with Danell and Emma.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Any chance you'll be doing the Gorilla Semma?
Speaker 5 (19:45):
Yeah, so we'll continue to develop our destinations, so probably
not next year, but who knows. Next year we'll always
be adding new trips.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
And while Danal was giving websites and all kinds of information,
you kind of had your hand in the air.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Did he screw up? Did he say something wrong? You
want to add something quickly?
Speaker 5 (20:01):
No, I did a great job. But I'd also like
to add that please follow us on Instagram at Atlas
one Expeditions because we're constantly posting on there and it
will really give you a good impression of what our
trips are like.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
And by the way, I've been getting the Atlas one
Instagram posts on my phone very impressive. So now I've
got a new source of seeing what it is I've
lived through over the past week. All right, we're going
to take a break when we come back. I promised
him earlier, but he's definitely up next to His name
is Peter.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
We're going to get to know Peter the safari guide.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
By the way, how do you become a safari guide?
It's going to be really scary when you're first entering
the industry. Anyway, we're going to take a break. Peter's
here also, Angie is here from the hide here at
Kowongi National Park. And I know you're probably listening and saying, oh,
this is a gag. There's no way Billy is in Africa.
I am, I'm in Africa.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
You're listening to Food for Thought brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel and sweets.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Hey, everybody, welcome back to Food for Thought.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
Billy Costier and again we are in Zimbabwe. We are
in Africa at Kawangi, a National Park, and we're staying
at a magnificent.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Resort is the right word everybody.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Camp lodge, it's camp lodge, It's the Hide. And you
know what, my team at the morning show on Kiss
they looked at it on the website and it just
blew their mind. So that's what we've spent the last
week or so. And now we're with Safari guy Peter,
who basically has saved my life at least five times
this week.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Peter, Nice to see you.
Speaker 8 (21:29):
Hey body, how's the guy? Well, welcome to the Hide?
Billy who told you out to weigh so much camouflage
in the bush there? I can hardly see you.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
That's my wife Michelle.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Thank you for asking, but she said no, it's got
to be all tan, it's got to be all camouflage. Peter,
how do you become a Safari guid, especially at your level?
Speaker 8 (21:48):
So here we have quite a long, rigorous system into
becoming a walking guide. So yeah, there's two livers this drive,
a guide and walking guide. So as a driver guide
you can drive it around the national park. You can
drive anyway, but you're not allowed to get out the vehicle.
Where the qualification I have is a driver as a
walking guide, So it means I can get out the car,
we can go for walks and on an expedition like
(22:09):
this we get to get closer to certain things for
photos and adjust our angles. So it's quite a long process.
Takes Jenny about five years to become a walking guide
hell in Zimbabwi. Multiple tests, so it starts out with
a learner Guide's license, which is an examle of about
four papers. There's various things, animals, scientific names, different bits
and pieces of the bush. If you pass that, you
(22:32):
get your learning Guid's license and you get a job
at a fire camp. So once you get a job
at as a fire camp, Jenny takes a bit of time.
You work your way up to where you can now
guide people, but you're still stuck in the vehicle.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
You can't get out.
Speaker 8 (22:45):
And then we have a set system where you have
to lead seventy five approaches on dangerous game, getting in,
getting out, making sure everyone's safe, sort of learn how
to read animals, spend time with animals because that gives
you an idea of how things work.
Speaker 6 (23:00):
And then once.
Speaker 8 (23:01):
You've done all that, there's a shooting test, so they
make sure we not use our rifle. I think it's
the point end, which you have to sort of make
sure it's not facing towards you.
Speaker 6 (23:09):
And then from there you go to an oral interview.
Speaker 8 (23:13):
So every single walk you do, every single game drive
goes into a logbook and there's a panel of examiners,
Zimbabwean examiners who have been guides for longer than ten
years in the field. So these guys have been men
some amount of knowledge and they bombard you with questions
for up to now. It kind of feels like what
Billy's doing to us.
Speaker 6 (23:30):
But it's all good.
Speaker 8 (23:31):
So you get through that, they look through your log
book and they either tell you try again next year
or you're invited to a proficiency examine.
Speaker 6 (23:41):
And then proficiency exam.
Speaker 8 (23:42):
It's seven days seven days of these same examiners who
have been guides for longer than tenures. They come as
your worst guest you've ever had in your life. You
tell them to sit down, their standard, you tell them
to keep quiet.
Speaker 6 (23:54):
They run away.
Speaker 8 (23:55):
So it's an intense amount of time. You've got to
work hard at it, and it's not easy, but once
you get it, it's so fulfilling because if you see
varcheres circling in the distance, you can walk in there,
you may find lions and foot bump into elephants.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Well, it's funny you say that, because we had a
moment yesterday on safari where you took us into what
seemed to be a frightening area just as we entered it.
And sure enough, at one point in my lifetime, I
would never have imagined that I would be sitting there.
But we were in the jeeps and we were surrounded
at one point by seventeen lions.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
They almost had us circled.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
How is it possible that you're that confident with that situation?
Speaker 8 (24:39):
Obviously, Billy, I have such a great photo of you
with a lion behind you.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
It made me laugh for days.
Speaker 8 (24:44):
But so over time, you spend time with the animals
and you learn to read their sort of body language
and pits and pieces. It's kind of like having your
own pet, cattle dog. You it's not that they are pets,
but you learn to read their body language. You know
when your cat is upset to you when your dog upset,
And there's certain little little bits and pieces that you
pick up on. And while we're sitting with those lions yesterday,
(25:07):
they kind of came around the car and they were contact, calling,
talking to each other, and they were completely relaxed with us,
and so there was no reason to be too afraid.
Even though your photo your eyes were about the size
of sauce splits, but it was all good.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Again, I'm a city kid, I'm not used to being
surrounded by lions.
Speaker 6 (25:25):
Yeah, it's not an everyday event.
Speaker 8 (25:26):
But yeah, when you get to be in that kind
of situation, it's fantastic because you really feel at one
with nature because everything is just completely chilled around you.
The animals are acting as if you're not there, So
you get to see the way the lions interact and
how they brush their heads when they reaffirming bonds, or
when the cubs were playing and dancing, and there was
(25:47):
good photos were taken. Michelle took some amazing shots. So yeah,
it was fantastic. It was very very cool.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
But another strength of yours and again I'm a layming
at this, but another real strength of yours. As we
go long and safari.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
You have an unbelievable keen.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Eye, like you'll spot a bird from like a mile
away and be.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Able to describe it in detail.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Any I mean, there are a lot how many species
here in the park.
Speaker 8 (26:13):
So in those park, I think there's about six hundred
and forty species of bird mammals.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
There's a lot.
Speaker 8 (26:18):
I'm not really sure in the exact number, but a lot,
and it just depends on the time of year and season.
Some animals migrate in and out, some birds migrate in
and out, so we just spend time looking at them
and learning them. And then with the keen eye, you know,
when you're in the bush, you kind of learned to
look through things instead of looking at things, so when
there's something walking through the bush, you kind of pick
(26:39):
up on the movement and that.
Speaker 6 (26:41):
And also my optomistist, he's really good.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
So if we were to have a game show between
you and Donell in terms of species and describing them,
who do you think would win?
Speaker 6 (26:52):
Donald's a really good.
Speaker 8 (26:55):
But I've obviously been into a lot of time in
the bush, yea, So get to pick on up in
small bits and but I think I think I definitely
went on the jokes though.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Yeah, give you a one liner going on why as
a zib Sorry.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
I missed that one up. Give it what's black and white?
And rad a leva?
Speaker 2 (27:12):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
Tell me Pete the sun Ben Zebra.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
We got to take a break. It's Food for Thought.
We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Saling Waterfront Hotel in Swedes.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Hey, folks, welcome back to Food for Thought.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Billy Kasha Again, we're sitting here in Africa. I know
you don't believe it. I can't even believe I'm sitting
here in Africa, but I've been here for pretty much
a week on safari. If you will, we just talked
with Pete, the Safari guide here in the Zimbabwe. We
have Donnelle and Emma from Atlas one Expeditions, who, by
the way, brought us here and can bring you all
(27:48):
over the world on fabulous expeditions. We'll talk more about
how you can get in touch with them. But now
we have Angie because well our accommodations have been at
the hide here at Komonggi National Park and the boss
here so to speak for lack of a better word,
as Angie.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
So welcome to Food for Thought.
Speaker 7 (28:05):
Hi, Billy, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
How long you've been here with the camp.
Speaker 7 (28:09):
I've worked here for two years now that have been
on safari managing camp for about seven Oh.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Wow, So I was reading up on the Hide and
its origin is a very interesting story, was it Tom Preston?
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Did I get the name right?
Speaker 3 (28:27):
And this was his dream, this was his mission the
high Yes.
Speaker 7 (28:30):
So the camp itself has actually been owned by the
same family for thirty two years, which I think is
quite a testament to the family itself. Safari can be
quite challenging. So Tom Preston built the camp and it's
pretty true to its original features, only a few upgrades
as you've gone along. And sadly, mister Preston passed away
(28:52):
a few years after having built the camp.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
Wow.
Speaker 7 (28:55):
But his wife then continued with it for many many years,
and now it's down to his children to look after it.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
It's interesting because you know, I've been posting pictures all
along my trip here in Africa, and I'm trying to
show off the Hide Camp as best I can. And
I'll be perfectly honest with you. I knew I was
coming to Africa. I really didn't expect the level of
accommodations that we arrived to here at the Hide.
Speaker 7 (29:22):
Oh, thank you so much for saying so. So our
boss's wife, Pam, she's instrumental and looking often tear decorating,
keeping ahead of the times, as I'm sure you might
have seen when you were researching coming to Africa, and
Nal and Emma probably have done the same. You need
to make sure you choose the correct camps, but you
need to be competitive and make sure you're providing a
level of luxury that people would like.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
And our combinations are rooms are really elaborate, tents okay
and magnificent, and folks go to the website you'll see
what I'm talking about. We sit on a watering hole
where all day, all night through the night by the way,
elephants and zebra and reindeer and warthogs and everything come
(30:05):
in just to kind of relax and chill. But there
was one night where Michelle and I you were laughing TONI,
what did.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
I say wrong? You said reindeer? Did I say reindeer?
There are no reindeer. I meant to say giraffe.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
It was quite cold this morning, so I got out.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
So anyway, Angie, one night, my wife Michelle, and I
had the pleasure of staying in a place here at
the hide called the dove nest. And it was my
wife turned to me five minutes after we got there
and said, this is the best experience, best night of
my entire life. For folks listening back in America, can
(30:49):
you describe the dove nest for them?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (30:52):
Sure, So the dove's Nest is actually a tree house
that's been built in one of the oldest trees in
Wangy National Park. So it's actually a leadwood tree we
estimated to be about two hundred to two hundred and
fifty years old. Of course, there's no way for us
to one hundred percent say that that is what it is.
But what would happen is you arrive at the tree house,
(31:16):
you watch the sunset from a platform. There is a
running bath and shower, flashing toilet, and you are then
provided with a hot meal which is in one of
our eco friendly cooking bags I guess which keeps your
food warm. And it's a hot meal provided to you
(31:37):
and you just enjoy the evening under the stars and
in this tree and it's a very very sensory experience.
You're away from everybody else, There isn't a single member
of staff around you and you just get to enjoy
it with your You need.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
To know going in, I was terrified and my wife
was thoroughly excited. But then when it came time, I
didn't want to leave overnight. You know, you're lying in
bed in the view from your bed is almost like
a picture or an omni theater, and at the same
time you're hearing the sounds of the wildlife through the
(32:12):
night and you just look out to the open fields
and at night you can see it. You shine the
flashlight and you can see, you know, wildlife coming in
your direction, just see their eyes twinkling and you're like, okay,
what's that now? But it was so so awesome. How
often is the duvet nests used.
Speaker 7 (32:31):
So it is quite a popular feature of the height,
So you know, you do need to book in advance
if it is something that you want to do whilst here,
But if it's not booked, we will certainly try and
get to whoever wants to go to go, so almost
every night.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Yeah, so it's highly in demand.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
So if somebody's coming here, they're probably already heard of
Dove's nest. I ran into a couple here and I
think they were from Great Britain. I could be mistaken,
and you know, they were a little older so to speak,
maybe late seventies or early eighties, and the wife was
terrorized and the husband just couldn't wait.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
And they were quick to point.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Out to say, yes, I was the wife and Michelle
was the husband because.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
She didn't want to live and that was her dream
in life.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Talk about because the food is also spectacular. He talk
about some of the favorite dishes, and Peter you can
chime in as well. People can look forward to the
pride of your kitchen, so to speak.
Speaker 7 (33:29):
Sure, so our chefs are locally trained, so I think
the food that they offer is actually quite amazing, the
way that they presented, and we try to make sure
it's homely food. I think a lot of people coming
on Safari are quite worried about what is it that
I'm going to be fed. So our chefs are trained
in being able to cater for all sorts of different
(33:51):
dietary requirements. I think this group is vegan, so that's possible.
We've got gluten free, so there are so many different
news and recipes that we can provide if we're told
in advance, and our chefs are very very skilled at
being able to do that.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
And we're talking breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Speaker 7 (34:08):
Yes, absolutely so Ordinarily you'd go out on your safari
and have a picnic breakfast, and we do that so
that you can actually have a beautiful view of animals
whilst eating your picnic breakfast, and then lunch and dinner
is held in camp. Various times you can go out
for picnic lunches if you wanted to, or bush dinners
or the dove's nest of course, which is a feature.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
I don't forget tea. That's my favorite time of day.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
There's always cake, tea and cake something else that that's
very special here, and we were able to go last night.
It's called the Hide and it's basically a tunnel that
runs under the ground and gets you even closer to
the animals who might be in the watering hole, whether
it's hippos or I know there were no reindeer. I'm
(34:55):
such an idiot, but it's a cool place. But there's
also a wine cellar down there, and you offer wine tastings.
Speaker 7 (35:02):
Yes we do, so we our staff are trained in
wine tasting. So you can go down into the cellar
and choose a bottle of wine for your dinner or
for lunchtime if you wish. A conditions so that's where
you'll find Peach and me when it's sweltering here. But yeah,
it's fantastic. Our boss came up with the idea about
ten years ago. So you can go down in there
(35:23):
by yourself see the animals. That Definitely, the wine and
whiskey seller is a huge drawer as well.
Speaker 3 (35:29):
You know, a lot of the popular hotels back in America,
especially in the big cities, you know, hard to get reservations,
hard to get rooms. You have to book a year
in advance for some of these places. How far in
advance does somebody have to make plans make a reservation
for the hide Here in.
Speaker 7 (35:45):
Africa, well, our high season runs from June to September,
so if you're wanting to go over those periods of times,
I'll probably say, book about a year in advance. There
are occasionally opportunities and vacancies, but we do get people nowadays.
We're just discussing it the other day since COVID people
decide right in two months time, I want to go
(36:05):
on Safari, and if there's availability, we'll do everything we
can to fit you in. But ordinarily it's about a
year in advance.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
I'd say, Peter, any one or two dishes you would
highly recommend here at the Hide.
Speaker 8 (36:16):
Well, I'm a bit of a meat tito, so there's
a good bride that and puts on a brie is
like a barbecue. And there's brilliant Zimbabwean steak and that
is my favorite.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
And then obviously the cake. The cakes are so good.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
And don't forget the gift shop.
Speaker 7 (36:30):
Right now, yes, please, So all of our items are
in the gift shop are through locally made people. They
everything's locally made, so yes, come and visit our gift shop.
Speaker 3 (36:41):
And if you're like me initially when you're hearing about
the accommodations, that are intents in everything, and I think,
so everything's really rough.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
These tents are really well put together.
Speaker 3 (36:51):
And I mean so safe, and the accommodations and the
amenities inside the safe there it's like you're staying well
as you are in a five star resort.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
But we're going to take a break.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
When we come back, I want to recap everybody and
have everybody here give me one line their best experience
of this past week, or as Donell and Emma would
call it, your rose for the week, your favorite moment
from the week. Here we're in Africa, and unfortunately we're
doing this show on our final night here. Michelle and
(37:27):
I and the rest of this group are going to
be boarding planes and heading home and in fact can't
wait to get home and.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Tell everybody about this place and this trip. We'll take
a break a few minutes left. Right after the break.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel in sweetes Hey.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Everybody, welcome back to Food for Thought. Billy Costa here
and again.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
I am in Africa, in Zimbabwe, actually at Kewongbi and
National Park, and we came with a group thanks to
Donal and Emma from Atlas one Expeditions, and I want
to shout out the rest of the group have been
fabulous and we're so thrilled we had a chance to
meet and spend time with him. Giordana from Barcelona, Alejandro
from Mazatland, Alex from Stockholm, Sweden, Natalia from Arizona, Jamil
(38:13):
also from Sweden, and Susan interesting story. Heard me talking
about Atlas one Expeditions with Donal back on the Billy
and Lisa Morning Show.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
She made the call.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
She got the interview and she joined us, and she's
fabulous as well, and I'm sure Michelle and I are
going to be meeting up with her when we get
back home to Boston. Okay, we're going to go round
the room, and I want everybody's favorite moment, one sentence
on your favorite moment of this past week, and we're
going to start with you.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Peter, go ahead.
Speaker 8 (38:45):
I think my favorite moment of this last week was
walking up to that elephant with you, Billy.
Speaker 6 (38:49):
That big old bull that was walking Boston.
Speaker 8 (38:51):
We woked up and he gave us a little look
and then he carried on on his way.
Speaker 6 (38:55):
I think that was fantastic.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
Oh there was another moment where I was standing there
about some radio thing and you jumped in.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
And said snake sakes sake. It totally freaked me out
and I had to jump back.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
Angie from the hide here at Colombi National Park, your
favorite memory of us this past week?
Speaker 7 (39:11):
I think being able to see the joy and wonder
of your expedition and all of you being able to
having not meet one another before just getting along. So well,
it's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Okay, and over to Emma your thought of the week.
Speaker 5 (39:24):
Yeah, my favorite experience is seeing how you all have
experienced something that you didn't expect at all, and to
see your transformations. And I gotta say, Billy, you're a
bit of a changed man because when you arrive, you know,
you seem to tat anxious and you kept hiding behind Michelle,
and now you see you about ready to move into
your tree house.
Speaker 3 (39:42):
So it's funny because you know, I've been doing a
call in back to the Billy and Lisa Morning Show
on Kiss every morning and people are sending dms, and
they're sending talkbacks, and they're calling into the show and
they've really enjoyed it. But at one point in my
final call, Lisa Donovan back home, who's my partner on
the Billy and Leaves some morning show, said Billy, you
(40:02):
sound like a different man. And you know what I
think I am, I believe it or not.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
I love just staying in the treehouse. And I love.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
Sleeping every night right in front of the animals. It
would literally and including hippopotamus walk right by your window
in the dark of night.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
And donal your thought of the week.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
My thought of the week is the favorite thing from
this trip is seeing what everybody has learned and I
want to recall a quote that is by conservationists Bubba
diam All of you have learned something on this trip,
and the quote is, in the end, we only conserve
what we love. We love only what we understand, and
we only understand what we're taught. And the fact that
(40:45):
we've had the opportunity, Emma and I to teach you
what we love is making everything worth it. So so
happy that you've learned so much and that you love
this place the way that we do.
Speaker 3 (40:55):
And one more time, all of the websites the places
they can go to get at last one expedition and
take this trip to Africa.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
Atlas one Expeditions dot com is where you can go
to see all of our trips Atlas like a map,
the number one Expeditions dot com.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
And again we want to thank our friends in Victoria Falls.
So we spent a couple of nights there. The falls
were magnificent, but so were our guides. So shout out
to Kevin Lowe and to Daniel my moment from vic Falls,
who would be seeing you scale a tree that was
about three stories high in about five seconds.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
I've never seen anything like it.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
And my wife Michelle found something in our room and
wanted me to end the show with this thought. Travel
not to find yourself, but to remember who you have
been all along. And again, Michelle more than ever believes
in her previous life she was here in Africa.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
We got to go. Thank you so much for tuning in.
Thanks to everybody.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
We'll see you back in Boston.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Everybody up next sixty minutes
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