I’ve developed the habit of listening to BBC World News in the car rather than my usually country music and last week I heard a story that I just haven’t been able to shake. Mindy Budgor’s story has been following me around and making me feel like I really need to get out and starting making waves. Mindy, a California native, recently spent some time in Kenya earning her position as the first honorary Maasai female warrior. She spent several months eating only what she could kill, drinking blood and facing life-threatening situations, but she came out the other side stronger, happier and more at peace with her life.
Mireya Mayor discovered the smallest primate species before the age of 30, she has swum with giant squids, great whites, followed in the footsteps of Henry Morton Stanley during his expedition down the Congo River, been in a plane crash, chased by elephants and trekked to the most remote corners of the globe. She is a primatologist, and more importantly she is an explorer.
Yippee! My favorite cetacean! When I was in high school I went on a dolphin studies program in Belize, and for the final project we had to chose any cetacean and give a presentation on them. I chose the narwhal and have been smitten ever since.
Biruté M. F. Galdikas was born to parents leaving Lithuania at the end of WWII for greener pastures in Canada. She was raised in Toronto in an ever-growing Baltic community. She states, “because of my mother’s tales and my parent’s fondness for nature, I became that unlikely combination of bookworm and nature lover”(39, Reflections of Eden). While growing up in Canada she often explored in the woods behind her home, envisioning herself becoming a great adventurer like the Man in the Yellow Hat from Curious George a favorite book form her childhood.
Endangered Living 