Latest / Wander the World with Pippa Hudson / Wander the World – Exploring Voluntourism as a holiday option

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Wander the World – Exploring Voluntourism as a holiday option · Wander the World with Pippa Hudson

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  Speaker 1: Three Talk WhatsApp seven two five six seven one five
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  Speaker 1: Now traveling is changing. More and more families are saying, yes,
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  Speaker 1: we want a holiday, but we'd also love it to
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  Speaker 1: have meaning. That is where volunteerism comes in. The first
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  Speaker 1: time I've heard this word, and I am so my
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  Speaker 1: curiosity is peaked and I'm ready to hear more about it.
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  Speaker 1: Travel experiences that allow you to actually give back, learn
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  Speaker 1: something new, and still actually enjoy being on holiday. So
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  Speaker 1: today in one of the world, we want to unpack
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  Speaker 1: how this works in real life and to help us,
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  Speaker 1: we're joined on the line by Shirley Anne McQuaid. She's
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  Speaker 1: the Western Cape regional manager for Flight ser and she's
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  Speaker 1: yet to help us understand what is of volunteerism, what
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  Speaker 1: does it look like, how do we get in on it,
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  Speaker 1: do it responsibly? And if it's something that ordinary families,
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  Speaker 1: ordinary South Africans like you and me can actually enjoy.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Cave Talk, Shirley Anne Good AFFNN.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me on the show today.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us. Let's start at the very beginning.
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  Speaker 1: It's the first time that I've heard about this concept
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  Speaker 1: called volunteerism. Can you just tell us a little bit
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  Speaker 1: more about what it is?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, sure. Volunteerism combines travel and community service. Travelers lend
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  Speaker 2: their time and energy into meaningful local projects while exploring
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  Speaker 2: a new destination. This all came about sort of in
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  Speaker 2: the early two thousands, where so backpack a trend, but
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  Speaker 2: it has now evolved. Today's volunteerists often families who are
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  Speaker 2: wanting to teach their children about empathy, gratitude and create
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  Speaker 2: a more global awareness. And there's a strong generational shift
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  Speaker 2: for parents who wants back to part across Asia many
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  Speaker 2: years ago, they're now taking their kids on a purposeful
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  Speaker 2: lad adventure.
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  Speaker 1: I love that. I love that because this is my
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  Speaker 1: generation of people, you see, this is our gen X people.
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  Speaker 1: I love that that they've taken this eat because it's
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  Speaker 1: a value right that you are going somewhere else and
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  Speaker 1: kind of being mindful and intentional. And obviously we've become
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  Speaker 1: a lot lot more aware of our impact as travelers.
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  Speaker 1: So when people go on holiday with a purpose? What
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  Speaker 1: do they usually imagine? What does that normally look like?
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  Speaker 2: Your family volunteerism transformed an ordinary holiday into something truly
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  Speaker 2: memorable at Forger's and deep family bonds while giving the
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  Speaker 2: children a real world learning experience. And the studies have
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  Speaker 2: shown that use volunteering boosts self esteem, empathy, and resilience.
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  Speaker 2: And it's a very powerful antidote to that screen time.
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  Speaker 2: And that's dressed that families are under these days. And
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  Speaker 2: parents that experience, you know, we love experiencing travel, service
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  Speaker 2: and education can turn the world into a living classroom.
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  Speaker 2: And it gives the children a better chance to actually
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  Speaker 2: experience the world and it's real and it's a real place,
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  Speaker 2: and it's real thing and come back and tell wonderful stories.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Shelly, and some parents are saying, oh my goodness, gracious,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, if I've got it, that just sounds like
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  Speaker 1: more work for me that I want to be on
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  Speaker 1: holiday with my kids. And you know, these kids are
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  Speaker 1: like hurting little cats. So is it going to be
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  Speaker 1: more work or less work? Because do kids then, which
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  Speaker 1: is actually my question, is it appropriate for my kids?
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  Speaker 1: Do my kids need to be a certain age and
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  Speaker 1: do they need to be able to you know, be
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  Speaker 1: able to get involved, because otherwise I can see parents
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  Speaker 1: going like, I'm not going on holiday to get to
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  Speaker 1: nag this kid to go and have this experience.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. So the thing is that you can just come
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  Speaker 2: to Flight Center. We can put you in touch with
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  Speaker 2: some great organizations that can involve a holiday as well
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  Speaker 2: as a little bit of volunteering and work, so balanced trips.
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  Speaker 2: It's not full time volunteering. Half a morning here, half
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  Speaker 2: a morning there. In between smoking, you can go and
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  Speaker 2: do a few things. Generally speaking, I would say kids
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  Speaker 2: or I wouldn't take the young young children long, but
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  Speaker 2: maybe they're from about eight, nine or ten years up.
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  Speaker 2: Definitely for teenagers, definitely can recommend it if you're looking
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  Speaker 2: at destinations that are really close to home where they
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  Speaker 2: can add value. So for example, like Mauritius, they've got
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  Speaker 2: you know, help care for rescue dogs with paws in
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  Speaker 2: between the beach strips. You know, so maybe a morning
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  Speaker 2: just of passing the dogs, petting them, feeding them, maybe
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  Speaker 2: grooming them, you know, in the same shoals. For instance,
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  Speaker 2: you can go and join the coral restoration with marine
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  Speaker 2: bologists in the Kopinski Resort. So they're really giving a
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  Speaker 2: true impact back into into nature, into the environment and
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  Speaker 2: working alongside marine bologists and maybe inspiring them to follow
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  Speaker 2: that path in maybe one day.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I think what I'm hearing you say is
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  Speaker 1: sorry to break your word. What I'm hearing you say
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  Speaker 1: is that if you if you create a holiday where
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  Speaker 1: you're kind of matching the interests of your kids with
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  Speaker 1: the interests of and I think it's such a great
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  Speaker 1: way to keep them off their devices on a holiday
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  Speaker 1: as well. How have families been responding to it from
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  Speaker 1: your clients that have taken this kind of approach to
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  Speaker 1: a more purposeful holiday experience together, because there must be
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  Speaker 1: incredible bonding that happens. How have they experienced it and
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  Speaker 1: given feedback to you?
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  Speaker 2: So it's really been great because it's inspired people to
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  Speaker 2: youngsters to really get involved in the community. And they
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  Speaker 2: come back, you know, from an overseas holiday where they've
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  Speaker 2: reached out saying Mauritius, or in the socials maybe in
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  Speaker 2: as far as Costa Rica where they've assisted with total
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  Speaker 2: hatching programs. They can get involved closer to home, you know,
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  Speaker 2: like mornings at Sangkop with Penguin Rescue Mornings feeding the penguins,
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  Speaker 2: or maybe getting involved in locally at the Garden Route
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  Speaker 2: with Green Park planting trees, maybe getting involved in the
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  Speaker 2: sand parks in our nature conservation eradicating alien vegetation from
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  Speaker 2: our parks. So it really does give the next generation
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  Speaker 2: of travelers are moving this from no leave no trace,
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  Speaker 2: but leave more to leave a positive impact. So I
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  Speaker 2: think that's where people are going nice leaving a positive impact,
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  Speaker 2: not only just no trace of where I've been making
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  Speaker 2: sure that my travel is sustainable.
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  Speaker 1: Right, let's talk a little bit more about because I
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  Speaker 1: think it's one thing. And you've mentioned some of the
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  Speaker 1: international destinations, but let's talk a little bit more about
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  Speaker 1: that now, some of the experiences, and let's start local
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  Speaker 1: in South Africa, because you did mention you in Cape
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  Speaker 1: Town the Penguin Rescue mornings at Sancob which is such
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  Speaker 1: a great initiative to be a part of. And you
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  Speaker 1: mentioned on the Garden Route about tree planting with green Pop.
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  Speaker 1: But you can also go further afield to Kruger Region
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  Speaker 1: and Addo regions. What in the day they actually.
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  Speaker 2: Look like they're obviously a little bit more physical activity.
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  Speaker 2: So if you don't you know eradicating the vegetation, so
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  Speaker 2: more of your older teens and physically able people to
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  Speaker 2: go out there and you eradicate some alien vegetation. It
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  Speaker 2: might involve a little bit of walking in the bush,
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  Speaker 2: chopping a few trees, so it does get a little
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  Speaker 2: bit more physical as opposed to maybe feeding the penguins
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  Speaker 2: at San Kop. But also, you know, beach teanups are
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  Speaker 2: also great opportunity. You know, eradicating plastics from our oceans
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  Speaker 2: is such a big, a big problem worldwide, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: a small morning activity of dedicating your time and making
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  Speaker 2: sure that we can clean up our beaches get rid
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  Speaker 2: of all the plastics, and you can just walk along
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  Speaker 2: the beach at Noburg or whatever and just pick up
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  Speaker 2: some plastic, pick up some rubbish and destroy it responsibly.
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  Speaker 2: That will also add to our you know, aid our
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  Speaker 2: environment and also just giving back to the community.
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  Speaker 1: We're talking to Shelly Anne mccoay. She is the Western
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  Speaker 1: Cape regional manager for Flight Center, and we're talking about volunteerism,
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  Speaker 1: travel experiences that allow you to give back, learn something new,
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  Speaker 1: and still actually enjoy being on holiday. Okay, let's talk
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  Speaker 1: about some of the options for for some of us
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  Speaker 1: who might be thinking about some international experiences because you
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  Speaker 1: don't have to go very very far. I know there's
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  Speaker 1: something in Namibia they do some seal rescue work.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, so do seal rescue work ye Malvaspe in that
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  Speaker 2: sort of area as well as beach Klemax. They've got
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  Speaker 2: a very big, you know, a call to clean up
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  Speaker 2: the beaches along their coastline as well. So it's just
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  Speaker 2: a simpler matter of you know, signing up to the
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  Speaker 2: Ocean Conservation days and with it's called Ocean Conservation NAMOBIA,
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  Speaker 2: which are volunteers which support trained teams and there's no
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  Speaker 2: direct handling or you know, you don't have to partake
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  Speaker 2: in high impact coastal teanaups, but there's an opportunity to
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  Speaker 2: you know aid sustainability with you know sea breeze and
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  Speaker 2: exploring the local you know environment. But at at glance,
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  Speaker 2: I mean there's only a half day sort of activity
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  Speaker 2: and that normally runs between April to October, and you
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  Speaker 2: would need a bit of staminus. So I would say
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  Speaker 2: you'd need to you know, be fit. That's what I'm saying. Teenagers,
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  Speaker 2: definitely teenagers, young kids, I would say more, maybe you
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  Speaker 2: can go to sangkobs from eight years up, we can
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  Speaker 2: go to feeding the penguins. That you know, some of
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  Speaker 2: these activities do require a little bit more physical activity
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  Speaker 2: that that is what you would find in Namibia if
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  Speaker 2: you are looking at traveling a little bit further Costa
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  Speaker 2: Rica with total hatching programs, unforgettable empathy lessons for kids.
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  Speaker 2: It really really a and that you know, the bulls
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  Speaker 2: to see the big impact that they can have in
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  Speaker 2: the in the in the city.
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  Speaker 1: And your kids can be relatively young for that, right,
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  Speaker 1: I mean.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, I would say I'm about about ten about then
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  Speaker 2: eight nineteen years old upwards. And you know they do
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  Speaker 2: night patrols. It takes about one or two hours. The
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  Speaker 2: peak time for that is between June and November, depending
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  Speaker 2: on the coast. Beach walking, you know, you use red
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  Speaker 2: light tortures only. And what child doesn't get excited about
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  Speaker 2: seeing turtle you know, turtles being hatched and moving into
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  Speaker 2: the sea. It's an adultable experience.
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  Speaker 1: What adults don't get excited You have to be a
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  Speaker 1: real kill joy if you don't get excited about turtles
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  Speaker 1: adging on the beach.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and another great one, I mean it's the safe
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  Speaker 2: shells with the corals, you know, with obviously drug or
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  Speaker 2: warming and the warming of the seas and damage that's
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  Speaker 2: been done to corals. You know, people can actually invest
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  Speaker 2: their time in between snorkeling going to go and plant
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  Speaker 2: new corals. And it's at the Kapinsk resort. You know,
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  Speaker 2: highly recommend it because they actually even take photographs and
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  Speaker 2: they can actually give you progress reports on the impact
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  Speaker 2: that you've done, so you can actually see the value
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  Speaker 2: that you've added through the environment.
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  Speaker 1: It sounds really I'm excited. I'm excited. I think before
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  Speaker 1: we wrap up with you, I think I want to
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  Speaker 1: ask you, like if a family is intrigued about us,
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  Speaker 1: but now they don't know where to start, like what's
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  Speaker 1: the what's the first step? And and and I know
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  Speaker 1: that you are worth flight center. A lot of people
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  Speaker 1: are not booking through services like yours anymore. Some feel
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  Speaker 1: like maybe they can curate this on their own. Is
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  Speaker 1: there something that you could curate on your own if
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  Speaker 1: you can just chat to us about about.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, you could create in your own, but I'll
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  Speaker 2: be very mindful of when the impact that you're making
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  Speaker 2: is it because you're coming back rich or is it
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  Speaker 2: you're actually adding value. You know, that is a very
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  Speaker 2: important part with light Center. We do have a operator
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  Speaker 2: that is has various various different trips that you can
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  Speaker 2: have to see. It's like a specialist a gy Adventures
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  Speaker 2: for instance. They are hooked up with Planetarias. So everything
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  Speaker 2: that they do adds value back to the community. So
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  Speaker 2: your impact, it's not about you paying for a photograph,
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  Speaker 2: to be doing volunteer work, or it's actually your money
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  Speaker 2: that you contribute. All the time and energy that you've
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  Speaker 2: contributed to this activity. Actually you can see the benefit
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  Speaker 2: to the local community. It doesn't take away from jobs
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  Speaker 2: from the local people. It actually adds more value to
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  Speaker 2: the environment. And think that is the important part.
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  Speaker 1: What you're saying, Sally Anne, is there's an ethical component
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  Speaker 1: actually that people need to consider. So it's probably best
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  Speaker 1: to get a conversation going with a good travel advisor
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  Speaker 1: who's an expert that can tell you that if I'm
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  Speaker 1: planting that tree, the actual impact that it's going to
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  Speaker 1: be having, as opposed to like you say, just coming
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  Speaker 1: back and there, I took a picture hatching a turtle,
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  Speaker 1: but I don't know what other biodiversity I might have
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  Speaker 1: killed along the way, and.
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  Speaker 2: The money that you've volunteered, making sure that that money
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  Speaker 2: that you've contributed, if you have contributed leading towards it
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  Speaker 2: goes to the local people. And that's not day to
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  Speaker 2: go and be for you know, children to be exploited
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  Speaker 2: or in the environment to be exploited, or animals to
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  Speaker 2: be exploited for personally personal gain. You know, it is
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  Speaker 2: about giving back to the environment and to the community
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  Speaker 2: and that's what you really want at the end of
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  Speaker 2: the day.
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  Speaker 1: Shelly Anna Quaid, thank you so much for chatting to
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  Speaker 1: us today, the Western Cave regional manager for Flight Center.
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  Speaker 1: Where can people get ahold of you? If they want
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  Speaker 1: to know more, you.
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  Speaker 2: Can come to any flights in the store we've got,
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  Speaker 2: you know, forty five stores will cross South Africa and
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  Speaker 2: you're welcome to reach out to any of our travel experts.
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  Speaker 2: They'll be able to point you in the right direction.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, and that is it for your
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