Vivisto. Unique, once in a life time gap year and career break experiences in Africa, Australia, USA, New Zealand and Canada. http://www.vivisto.co.uk Copyright 2006 Vivisto Ltd. CHRISTMAS CHEER & HAPPY NEW YEAR! Christmas isn't just about receiving gifts, but giving them too. So, we're offering you a choice of gift from the list below;   £50 off any new bookings made in December or January 2009* 10% off Endangered Species Monitoring Programme, for travel in February March and April 2009 (Please see below for updated programme details) A survival kit, for all your travel needs when booking a Vivisto holiday in January 2009 Here's just a taster of our new and improved programmes for 2009..... Endangered Species Monitoring This wonderful project is expanding. As a volunteer, you will spend your time assisting with the close monitoring of endangered species, working within three different game reserves - Pongola, Thanda and Mkhuze in Kwa-Zulu Natal. You'll still be working with a maximum of four volunteers at any one time, to ensure an extremely hands on experience. This project is for the adventurous traveller and ideal for those studying or with an interest in wildlife or conservation management. You'll work with herds of 60+ elephant, black rhino, wild dog and lion to name but a few.   Cheetah Walking Safari's Exclusive Cheetah Walking Safari now available on a fully inclusive basis. These walks with cheetah are part of the release programme and all funds generated from these help fund the rescue and release of these wondreful big cats. Minimum stay 1 night. Maximum stay 5 nights. Included in your stay; Accommodation comprising 2x en-suite rooms, sitting/dining area, kitchen, fireplace, veranda overlooking the reserve All meals Teas/coffees Morning walks/hunts with cheetah Afternoon/evening game drive  We can also arrange your local transfers to/from the local airport. Prices £90 per person per night. Maximum of 4 people sharing. For more info, please contact us   Marine Conservation There is now a chance to upgrade your marine guiding programme, with the opportunity to upgrade to a national level programme online, prior to your practical evaluation. A new research programme on sea horse population is now being offered along with research and maintenance of Plettenburg Bay. PADI Open Water Many of you are choosing to undertake your PADI Open Water course whilst taking part in one of our volunteer projects or as part of the  Adventure Sports Programme in South Africa. In the past couple of months, we have had 9 new divers! Congratulations to you all. All volunteers on our marine course will receive a substantial discount their PADI Open Water course. We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!   For more information on our Life Breaks, please; Visit: www.vivisto.co.uk Call: 0845 603 5719 Email: info@vivisto.co.uk LIFE CHANGING TRAVEL   *For new bookings only. Not to be used in conjunction with any other offer. http://www.vivisto.co.uk/news-details.php?ID=41 http://www.vivisto.co.uk/news-details.php?ID=41 Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:05:27 EST GREAT NEWS!!! Volunteers on our Conservation and Wildlife Management Project are monitoring four newly born lion cubs and recording prey that the lionesses are hunting They are currently monitoring movement patterns of a herd of a new breed of elephant and their two calves recently born on the reserve. Our Conservation and Animal Rehabilitation Project has also seen some major developments in the past 6 months. July saw all the domestic animals removed from the reserve. We had to say a teary goodbye to Jabulani and Temba as both cheetah have been fully rehabilitated and are now ready for release back into the wild in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Two new cheetahs have arrived on the reserve and we look forward to our volunteers walking them into the bush each day, as they slowly get used to the wild A new boma is currently being erected for the arrival of more serval, to help with our breeding project. Their offspring will then be released into game reserves around South Africa in 2009 and 2010 Volunteers have now replaced all the diesel pumps at the watering holes and replaced them with solar pumps/panels to help reduce our carbon footprint A rare sighting of Aardvark took place last month Rain has finally arrived in the Karoo, after 4 months without it! Two Blue Cranes - the national bird of South Africa have been spotted on the reserve. This is great news as they are extremely rare and havent been seen in the area for a number of years Prices going down For a limited time our prices on our conservation and community projects have been reduced. Please see individual programmes for more information. A  special thanks to Danielle Hudson for her video footage and past volunteers for their photos. Due to this we have a brief glimpse video available to watch on our Kids in Africa project. Our new Game Ranger Training/Field Guide Course (FGASA level1) has just five placements now available in September 2009. Vivisto's Adventure Sports programme in South Africa has some new activities for 2009, including  abseiling Robberg and two zip wires over 180 metres in length, that stretch over gorges and waterfalls. We have had tremendous feedback from our volunteers on our conservation programmes this year, so a huge thank you for your help working alongside our wildlife management teams. These projects couldnt exist without you!     Visit: www.vivisto.co.uk Call: 0845 603 5719 Email: info@vivisto.co.uk Life Changing Travel  http://www.vivisto.co.uk/news-details.php?ID=40 http://www.vivisto.co.uk/news-details.php?ID=40 Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:40:23 EST Time to get your hands on some freebies....... Vivisto in association with Travelwithcare.com are giving you the opportunity to win some excellent travel goodies to help you on your adventures. Five lucky people will win; Pack-A-Bag  - ideal for all those toiletry items First Aid Kit   - for those accidental prone travellers Micro Travel Pillow  - to make those long train, plane and automobile rides just a little more comfortable Mosquito repellent  - to help keep those unwanted little pests at bay For your chance to win, just answer the following question. (answers can be found on at www.vivisto.co.uk) Vivisto's Conservation and Community Programme in South Africa works closely with which animal in particular? A) Elephant B) Springbok C) Cheetah Answers, along with your name, address and contact telephone number can be emailed to info@vivisto.co.uk The lucky winners will be picked at random the on the 1st December 2008. Winners will be notified by email. Competition closes at midnight on 30th November 2008. Entries limited to one per person. No age limit applies. http://www.vivisto.co.uk/news-details.php?ID=39 http://www.vivisto.co.uk/news-details.php?ID=39 Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:25:01 EDT We are offering volunteers, the opportunity to take part in an amazing research project that has already seen 15 Leopards saved from persecution in the past 4 years. Volunteers will assist with the safe captutre and collaring of any leopards that are found in farmers land, and will release them back into a safe environment in the wild. Daily activities include tracking and monitor these beautiful, elusive creatures. This is a rare opportunity to work alongside top conservationists in helping to protect these endangered species. For further information on becoming a Leopard Research volunteer click here. http://www.vivisto.co.uk/news-details.php?ID=38 http://www.vivisto.co.uk/news-details.php?ID=38 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:46:30 EDT Take a Walk on the Wild Side Two baby eli's have been born on one of our Conservation programmes in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Our volunteers are keeping a close eye on the two calves, whilst they continue to monitor the elephant herd and their impact on the local environment. Sergeant, our rehabilitated Wild Cat has been spotted after a month of disppearing back into the bush. He is now back paying regular visits to Buhle, our cheetah cub at the volunteer house. For a PDF brochure on our Conservation & Community programmes click here, and we'll send one over. Volunteers have recently had a once in a lifetime opportunity as they witnessed a giraffe being born last week on our reserve in The Karoo. For those of you who have a passion for Cheetah and can only commit a weekend whilst travelling through Africa, we'll be offering an exclusive Cheetah walking Safari in stunning area of the Karoo. Watch this space for developments of this exciting new programme.     What do you Want? Here at Vivisto, we always like to keep in touch with our customers and their needs - and what better way than to ask you what you really want? If you have any suggestions about our programmes, or there is something in particular you are looking for, then please send us an email, with the reference I WANT!!! You never know.......we may just be able to help. Weekend Winter Olympics   Planning a Winter Weekend Away? Vivisto have recently launched their weekend winter olympics in the Italian resort of Champoluc. Available for group bookings between December and April, we have put together an exciting adventure, which includes skiing, skidoo, cross country skiing race, toboganning, all meals and transfers....and much much more. Click here for further information.     TEL: 0845 603 5719 EMAIL: info@vivisto.co.uk or Contact Us VISIT: www.vivisto.co.uk http://www.vivisto.co.uk/news-details.php?ID=37 http://www.vivisto.co.uk/news-details.php?ID=37 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:38:10 EDT