Gualala Arts Lecture Series presents:
Botswana Safari Adventure

with Steve Gadol

Monday, May 14, 2007, 7:00 p.m.
$5 donation requested

The vast Kalahari Desert stretches across much of the southern African landscape. It is a harsh environment. In dramatic contrast, the Okavango Delta in Botswana floods the heart of the thirsty Kalahari with life-giving water. Here the Okavango River fans out into a maze of channels that meander between forested islands. The waters wind through dense beds of papyrus into marshes and lagoons that are covered with water lilies. The delta creates a haven for exotic African wildlife.

Huge herds of buffalo and wildebeast travel the grasslands. Families of elephants wander through the forest and savannah. Lions, leopard, hyena, and cheetah stalk through the tall grass in search of prey. North Botswana is now one of the last remaining major strongholds for the big cats that sit at the top of the carnivore pecking order. The Delta is also home to a myriad of beautiful and colorful birds. Ibis, heron, egrets, and storks populate the marshes in large numbers.

Steve Gadol and his wife Jeanne traveled to Botswana in the fall of 2005 to experience this wonderful environment. Mr. Gadol's presentation in May 2007 will feature video he shot on their safari. You will see scenes including prides of lions with young cubs playing, groups of elephants swimming in the river, a leopard in a tree right above its observers, and dancing saddle bill storks during their mating ritual.

After retiring from the computer industry in 2001, Mr. Gadol has traveled to a number of the remote regions of the world to photograph and make videos of the wildlife. His trip to Botswana was his second to Africa. His 2003 safari to Kenya was presented at Gualala Arts in May 2004. Last spring he did a program on his tour of the Svalbard Archipelago to photograph the polar bears.

A $5 donation is requested.

Photographs are the property of their owner and may not be used without permission.

Located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, California,
the Gualala Arts Center is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.,
and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information.