People Archives - Page 4 of 108 - Sonia Marsh

New Life,New Career,New Passion

January 28, 2018 by Sonia Marsh 15 Comments

They often say that it takes a while to get re-settled into life after returning from the Peace Corps. For me, it was all about finding a career, and I honestly had no clue what to blog about during that process.

My life back in California was the same as most of my friends, and not as eventful as my adventures in Lesotho. I needed to feel comfortable in my skin, and find a new compass to follow.

In one year, since my return from the Peace Corps in January 2017, I have done some major changes:

Career
Travel
Passion: Women Travel With a Purpose (see below)

Career

I had no idea how to write a resume, and spent hours stressing over the latest formatting options, attending “Free” classes on how to write an effective resume, and lamented over why I wasn’t getting interviews.

I started taking classes in Excel, Outlook, etc, and a grant writing course. I updated my LinkedIn profile, and thought about anything I could potentially do:

Become a flight attendant
Work at a French cafe (since they require French speakers)
Work for a non-profit
Work at a University in the international students department
Fund-raising

Strangely enough, I did not need to stress, as my career found me. In fact that’s not quite true, my hairdresser shared my blog with a Zambian guy, Jim Holden, who just happened to be looking for an international person, who had lived around the world, and who could network, and create social media content for his Safari company. He was fascinated by my childhood in Nigeria, and my recent Lesotho life. Like me, he had lived in Nigeria, attended school in the U.K., and settled in California.

My new video reflects the focus of my updated website. No longer Peace Corps, but back in Africa.

Travel

Vivienne, Jim Holden and Sonia meeting the reps from the Blue Train at Indaba conference, May 2017

Within my first month of working for Holden Safaris in Newport Beach, I was back on a plane to Johannesburg. I was thrown straight into the world of Safaris, and wildlife conservation, meeting 30-50 suppliers, lodge owners, eco-tourism reps and flight operators at the annual Indaba Conference, held in Durban, South Africa. At the end of the first day, I felt mentally numb from information overload. We ran from one end of the convention center to the other, without a lunch break, and I took notes on Botswana and the gorgeous lodges we send our clients to on the Okavango delta, absorbing as much information as I could retain from the rep in twenty minutes, before rushing over to our next meeting with another supplier.

On safari in the Okavango delta, Botswana. Elephant having a mud bath.

After a week in Durban, our team went on a site inspection of Kwazulu Natal Province. For those interested in history, the Zulus and the battlefields, and elephant and rhino conservation, we put together an exclusive safari here.

I’ve been back twice since then, in August 2017, to Zambia and Zimbabwe, and in November, I experienced gorilla trekking in Rwanda.

Passion: Special Tour I’m Leading to Kenya for Women Only who want to travel, feel good, and make a difference

I’ve put together a special tour for women only called, “Women Travel With a Purpose.” September 30^th– October 7th, 2018.

Women Travel With a Purpose. Visit the African Child Foundation schools in Kenya.

I’m leading this trip to Kenya with Roz Berry, a Newport Beach resident and Director of the African Child Foundation: a non-profit run by volunteers to meet the needs, and transform the lives, of orphaned and vulnerable children in the slums outside Nairobi, Kenya. We have openings for 10 like-minded women. You can click on the link below, and hit the enter button to view the digital itinerary.

Women Travel With a Purpose-Exclusive Itinerary Specially Prepared For Women’s Group.

I hope you join me on this amazing trip to Kenya in October 2018, and e-mail me at: SoniaM@holdensafaris.com if you would like to find out more about this trip, or have an exclusive custom safari planned for you.

Follow Me on My Next Safari to Zambia and Zimbabwe

August 15, 2017 by Sonia Marsh 6 Comments

Ruckomechi Camp in Zimbabwe where we’ll be staying (Photo credit Wilderness Safaris.)

I’m off to Zambia and Zimbabwe on a site inspection trip which involves seeing as many lodges as possible in ten days. This is an intense, but exciting program of internal flights, boat transfers, game drives, and a final-day option of floating on a luxury cruise in Victoria Falls, known as the Ra-Ikane Cruise. The itinerary states that “if you are not too tired,” you can join the boat cruise. When I read this, I thought, how could we possibly be too tired to enjoy a luxury cruise in Victoria Falls?

My First Holden Safaris Blog Post

June 4, 2017 by Sonia Marsh Leave a Comment

I’m inviting you to run over and read my first Holden Safaris blog post where I plan to share exciting stories and photos about my exploratory trips with Holden Safaris to different countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Please ask questions and leave comments. I’ve introduced you to our team of experts on Africa, and I look forward to reading your responses. I’d love to hear your thoughts and other concerns I may not have thought of.

Next week, I’ll write about my first trip to Kwazulu Natal in South Africa, where our team took an “off the beaten path” safari in order to prepare an authentic and unique safari for those looking for an educational and memorable experience. I’m so lucky that my next safari will be in Zimbabwe in August, and I will finally get to see Victoria Falls, and celebrate my 60th birthday in Africa!

Other topics I plan to write about as I’m now connected with researchers, scientists, game managers, lodge owners and non-profits helping with education, conservation and job opportunities in local villages are:

Methods being implemented to stop rhino and elephant poaching in different parts of Africa
Wildlife management in National Parks and private concessions
Village life and job opportunities being created within communities
How taking a safari gives back to sustainable community projects
The latest in gorilla trekking and why Uganda is less expensive than Rwanda
What you may not know about Africa: it’s about history. Visit the Zulu battlegrounds in Kwazulu Natal.

I hope you sign-up to follow my new adventures on the Holden Safaris blog and I promise you’ll get the latest news and discover new “off the beaten path” educational experiences such as our meeting with David Druce, in charge of the “Wild dog project and Black Rhino monitoring program” at the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi park in the heart of the Zulu Kingdom, and feeding the elephants at Bayete Zulu.

(Photo above is Jim Holden, President of Holden Safaris, and myself with Rambo at Bayete Zulu.)

Click here to read my first post on Holden Safaris.

I’m Going Back to Africa

April 10, 2017 by Sonia Marsh 13 Comments

Yes, I’m going back to Africa in May, however, this time, I’m traveling as an independent affiliate of Holden Safaris; a boutique and exclusive safari operator located in Newport Beach, California.

Our first stop is at the INDABA conference, one of the largest tourism marketing events held in Durban, South Africa. After INDABA, our team is driving along a special tour of the KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa. (The route is shown on the map below. Notice how close we are to Lesotho, where I served as a Peace Corps volunteer.)

Our route by car in KwaZulu Natal province.

Have you read The Elephant Whisperer, by Lawrence Anthony?

Anthony rescued and rehabilitated formerly violent, rogue elephants, destined to be shot. When Anthony passed away on March 2nd, 2012, the elephants sensed his death and loitered around his rural compound. In 2013 and 2014, the elephants returned on the exact same day at the same time. It seems incredible how these elephants knew what had happened.

Holden Safaris has arranged for us to visit Anthony’s lodge: Thula Thula Private Game Reserve, in KwaZulu Natal, which is now run by his French widow, Francoise Malby-Anthony. I’m excited to meet and speak French to Francoise and learn more about the rhino rehab center on the Thula Thula Private Game Reserve . This rhino center was built and run by the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization. If you watch her video below, you’ll discover how her veterinarian injects rhino horns with poison and dyes to stop poachers from killing the rhinos. There is a myth that the rhino horn is an aphrodisiac and can cure certain diseases in countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and China, where one kilo of rhino horn powder fetches $40,000. The truth is that rhino horns are made of the protein, keratin, which is the same as our finger nails, and has no medicinal value.

Francoise Malby-Anthony raises money to save the rhinos through the “Conservation Fund for the Protection and Survival of Our endangered Wildlife.”

Our next stop on the map is the Thanda Safari Private Game Reserve, which is described as:

“More than a luxury lodge, more than a dream safari destination, more than an African escape… Thanda Safari offers an authentically South African wildlife experience, matched with sincere commitment to the Zulu culture and passionate conservation of the environment. “

On the following day, we head towards the Manyoni Private Game Reserve, one of the largest privately owned reserves in Kwazulu-Natal.

Rhino River Lodge-Click on photo to go to website

“This 23,000 hectare reserve is the product of 17 dedicated landowners who dropped their fences in 2004 to create one protected area for our wildlife. The long term vision of the MPGR is to increase the conservation footprint and to re-introduce species that historically occurred in the area.”

We then continue to The White Elephant Pongola Reserve luxury tented accommodation; our next stop.

White Elephant Lodge, reception and library area-click on photo to go to website.

“Eight luxurious Safari tents, each with indulgent bathroom, out door shower, private verandah and personal bar provide a secluded retreat in an unspoilt savannah bushveld teeming with game and bird life.”

A historical stop at the Fugitive’s Drift Lodge

Fugitives’ Drift Tours-Click on photo to go to website.

“The Zulu War of 1879 is famous throughout the English-speaking world for the great battles of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift. The spectacular Fugitives’ Drift property, a 5000 acre Natural Heritage Site, overlooks both Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift, and includes the site where Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill lost their lives attempting to save the Queen’s Colour of their regiment.”

And our last stop is at the Three Trees at Spioenkop on the Northern Drakensburg.

These wonderful children remind me of the children at my school in Lesotho.

The hosts, Simon and Cheryl Blackburn (ex Singita Private Game Reserve and ex Kwando Safari Experience) are both experienced safari & mountain guides, South African-born, they have spent their time together exploring remote parts of Africa, and they believe in:

“Fair Trade Tourism (FTT) is a non-profit organisation that promotes responsible tourism in southern Africa and beyond. The aim of FTT is to make tourism more sustainable by ensuring that the people who contribute their land, resources, labour and knowledge to tourism are the ones who reap the benefits.”

I look forward to sharing my experiences with you in May when I return to South Africa. If you feel like learning more about Safaris or actually going on a Safari after reading my blog posts, contact me (sonia@soniamarsh.com) and I’ll put you in touch with Jim Holden, President of Holden Safaris. Jim was born in Zambia, and is an expert on Africa. He has been interviewed on Africa with AAA Travel and Peter Greenberg, the CBS News Travel Editor.

I hope you enjoy my next “Gutsy Adventure” in life, and that you might want to experience your own African Safari one day. Feel free to share my post with anyone you know who might be interested in reading about this amazing adventure I’m about to embark on.

Orchestrating Life

March 18, 2017 by Sonia Marsh 12 Comments

I believe in orchestrating life. I don’t wait for things to happen; I try to make them happen. Sometimes I’m all over the place, spreading seeds in many locations hoping they will germinate, and show me the “right” direction for me. Do you do that?

It doesn’t matter whether I’m in Africa, Belize or in the U.S., I take charge, plan ahead, hoping that all will fall into place, and the strange thing about this is that I put in the same amount of passion,no matter where I live in the world.

For example, after I flew from Lesotho to Europe, and then the U.S. to visit family and friends last July, I knew that I wanted to end my Peace Corps service in Lesotho. So I started visualizing how things would proceed, and that gave me the strength to make it happen. I started with the fun part: tracking cheap flights on Google flights via different destinations, to return to Paris, Copenhagen and California, for the Christmas holidays. I then worked my way backwards to July 24th, when I returned to Lesotho, and faced a severe snow storm.

I didn’t want to feel like a failure for quitting early, so I started planning my secondary project so I could feel proud of leaving my mark at the village school. I worked on the grant proposal, and scheduled visits to Maseru, to meet with a Peace Corps staff member to expedite the process. Since I started early, my grant proposal was accepted in record time, and thanks to fundraising and all the donations you sent to my village, we succeeded in raising $5,000 in one week, and completed construction seventeen days later. The timing was perfect; it was scheduled to end by November 30th, and due to the workers’ motivation to get paid right before the Christmas holidays, they were determined to finish on time.

Now, two months after returning to the U.S., I’m in full-swing taking courses in Microsoft Office suite, attending the Association of Fundraising Professional workshops and a grant writing course in April. I’ve had two job offers, and turned them down, for various reasons, however I’m presently working events for the Newport Beach Public Foundation library.

Basically, my calendar is so full, and I choose to make it that way. I like being busy, learning new skills, meeting new people, and orchestrating my life.