Robert Ferguson, Trustee

Robert has worked in special interest travel and travel writing for over 30 years. His career in travel started in the Himalayas, as a mountain guide and since then he’s worked and travelled extensively in Africa and Asia.

In Asia he’s trekked coast to coast across Borneo, climbed to over 21,000 ft in the Himalaya and travelled the ancient Silk Road from China to Pakistan. He’s visited (some many times) Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. He’s the author of the Footprint Travel Guide to Nepal, published in 2017 and regularly visits the Himalayas. He even went on Honeymoon to Tibet! In 2018 he trekked in the National Parks of Sumatra in search of orangutans.

Most of his recent trips to Africa have been focused on the work of the Real World Conservation Trust. In 2019 he visited Garamba National Park in the DRC and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation in Uganda. Rob has climbed Mt. Kenya and trekked in both the Simiens and the Drakensberg.  He’s travelled widely in Africa with many visits to Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland. He’s been charged by a black rhino in Swaziland and chased out of a bar in South Africa by a warthog.

In his work for the Trust he does a fair amount of public speaking; at wildlife groups, schools and clubs. He has spoken at the Royal Geographical Society in London on several occasions and in November 2018 was the keynote speaker at the Explorers Club in New York on Conservation.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London and a Member of the Explorers Club in New York.

Sara White, Trustee

Sara has more than 25 years’ experience working in long-haul travel and conservation. In that time, she has journeyed across six continents and lived and worked in three. She’s been inspired by both the people she has met and the wildlife she has encountered.

Personal highlights include kayaking with blue whales in Baja (while pregnant with twins), snorkelling with whale sharks and manta rays on Australia’s west coast, honeymooning in the depths of the Amazon, coming face-to-face with Waved Albatross in the Galapagos, searching endlessly for wild dogs in various remote corners of Africa, trekking to see endangered mountain gorillas in the forests of Uganda and a poignant meeting in Kenya in 2016 with Sudan, the last male northern white rhino in the world.

As co-founder and trustee of  Explorers Against Extinction, Sara has collaborated with many leading NGOs and has worked with well-known individuals in the world of travel, exploration, conservation and art. She has first-hand experience of many of the projects supported by the charity including spending time in Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo with the African Parks team, and with Nature Conservation Foundation in India’s spectacular Spiti Valley.

Sara has seen how sustainable wildlife tourism, by generating investment and job opportunities in protected areas, has the power to transform the livelihoods of local people while also safeguarding biodiversity.

Sara is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Ruth Bolton

Ruth has worked for Real World Travel & Conservation for 20 years now following stints working for Hyatt Hotels, Saga Holidays and Simply Travel.

She too is pretty well travelled, having been as far west as Vancouver, as far east as Chiang Mai, as far south as Cape Town and as far north as Stockholm. She knows Europe inside out having lived and worked in Spain and France and having travelled widely across the continent for both work and pleasure.

Back in the UK she is a big fan of camping, kayaking and getting off the beaten track. Never without a pair of gloves and a rubbish bag on her walks, she is also a keen advocate of preserving and protecting the natural landscapes, both close to home and further afield.

Ruth manages Explorers Against Extinction’s online Affordable Art Gallery including liaising with customers and artists and dispatching orders. She also helps Rob & Sara with the running of the charity and with exhibition set up/breakdown and stewarding at our exhibitions, shows and events.

Izzi

University student Izzi (currently studying Arabic in Jordan) heads up our dynamic youth ambassador team while also liaising with celebrity sketchers and illustrators. During the holidays she can be found at Explorer HQ in Norfolk helping the team catalogue Sketch for Survival artwork ready for exhibition and generally helping out during what is a very busy time.

She can be contacted at izzi@realworldconservation.org.uk