Two young graduates to cycle from Joburg to Bwindi, in Uganda….and then onto Kenya

7 Feb

Murray Beaumont and Alex Antrobus leaving Joburg to cycle to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda

Two young graduates of the University of Cape Town left this morning from Joburg to cycle thousands of kilometers all the way up to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda… and then onto Nairobi in Kenya. They plan to raise awareness about Africa’s chronic water problem and in the process raise some much-needed funding to build two specialist water pumps in rural areas.
 

Alex Antrobus left and Murray Beaumont right

Alex Antrobus who graduated in applied maths and physics is an avid birder, and a grandson of G.R McLachlan who edited the second to fourth editions of the now famous and authoritative Roberts Birds of Southern Africa publication. 

Murray Beaumont who graduated as a mechanical engineer, is an avid photographer. Needless to say when the RFCG mentioned that it desperately needed some help to promote the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, with its 43 finch species which includes the threatened and elusive Shelley’s crimsonwing finch, as the world’s top destination for finch enthusiasts the two of them jumped at the opportunity, and were keen to cycle all the way to Bwindi to go and see the magnificent tropical rainforest for themselves.

Alex and Murray's bikes were specially built for the 7000 plus km Africa journey to Bwindi in Uganda. Note the guitar on the back of Murray's bike

The two when they eventually reach Bwindi in about 4 months time will be staying in Ruhija at the Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation ( ITFC ), who are the highly valued ground partners to the Rare Finch Conservation Group.

 
If you wish to find out more about Alex and Murray’s planned route through Africa and their exciting journey simply log onto www.amanziawethu.org. You will also be able to follow the two of them on facebook and twitter ( The marvels of modern day communication !!! ). We will also update our readers from time to time as their journey progresses.  The RFCG would publicly like to thank Peter Phippen , who is an honorary member of the rare finch conservation group, for supporting Alex and Murray with a donation to help kick start their vision to become a reality. 
 
 The Rare Finch Conservation Group has no full-time staff members and every member of the group volunteers their skills and services in the interests of advancing finch conservation work. The RFCG is registered in South Africa as a non-profit organisation . It is totally dependent on donations and sponsorships for its future survival . The RFCG is currently raising funds ( US$ 25,000 is needed ) to finance its planned Phase 3 field research work in Uganda.  For more information on this pioneering conservation group please contact editor@avitalk.co.za
 
 
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