African Charity Christmas Gifts

October 12th 2015 | Shop, Miscellaneous | by Richard Smith

Best of both worlds – supporting a charity as well as getting something lovely to share with family and friends at Christmas!

Save The Rhino

Save The Rhino does some great work in both Africa and Asia. In Africa they have projects in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.

Many of our clients will have come across the conservation they support whether it’s the last free-roaming black rhino at Desert Rhino Camp in Namibia, or translocated rhino on the Borana Ranch in Kenya

They have a number of rhino based and Save The Rhino branded gifts in the shop on their website including these cuddly rhinos among the best sellers.

My favourite is the rather fun possibility of being the owner of a (now worthless) ten trillion Zimbabwe dollar note for just £5

Artists Against Extinction

The Artists Against Extinction website is chock full of mainly African art, including paintings and sculpture. The site is non-profit making and aims to highlight the pressures on wildlife while providing funds for conservation with 25% of the value of each sale going to a conservation charity of the artist’s choice, for example Karen Lawrence-Rowe’s limited edition print of giraffes supports Soysambu Conservancy.

My favourite, for which I suspect I’d have to be a very good boy for a number of years, is Pascal Chesneau’s rhino sculpture supporting the Tsavo Trust.

Tusk Trust

Our charitable support of Koiyaki Guide School in the Masai Mara was through Tusk Trust, a small charity with a big impact.

If you haven’t sent your Christmas cards for this year, you might like to consider some with designs by Annabel Pope, another friend of Aardvark Safaris, which are being sold in the Tusk Trust online shop in aid of their valuable work.

They’ve also got a range of t-shirts, fleeces and caps to show your support and help financially.

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Many Aardvark Safaris’ clients passing through Nairobi will visit the elephant orphanage founded by David’s widow Daphne. The orphanage, whose aim is to release elephants back into the wild, is just one of the projects run by the trust which also supports anti-poaching units, mobile vets, habitat rescue, conservation initiatives and community outreach.

Williamson Tea is a long established Kenyan tea farming business with strong affiliations to local communities. It’s promised a donation of £1 to DWST for every elephant tea caddy bought through its online shop.

World Wildlife Fund

The projects supported by WWF are wide ranging, from tackling climate change (as one of the biggest issues for people and wildlife) to stopping illegal wildlife trade (items such as rhino horn and ivory).

While Save The Rhino offer cuddly rhinos, among WWF’s cuddly toys are more African animals, this time a cheetah and an elephant.

If you’re my age you’ll remember Whimsies, whether you admit to collecting them or not. The WWF shop has some pretty pewter animal whimsies, including lions and elephants from Africa.