Don’t miss the Trust’s annual Lecture and social Evening at The Royal Geographical Society in London on Tuesday 25 November 2008.

Sixty years ago, at the request of the British Government, Sir Laurens van der Post made an epic journey on foot exploring the remote Mulanje Mountain massif (the inspiration for Rider Haggard’s The People of the Mist) in the south of Nyasaland (now Malawi) and the barely accessible Nyika Plateau in the north. The success of his book, “Venture to the Interior”, launched van der Post’s career as a writer and introduced these mysterious highland areas, and Nyasaland itself, to an international readership.

The Lecture :

"Venture to the Interior" Revisited

The conservation challenge on Mount Mulanje and the Nyika Plateau

60 years after Laurens van der Post

By Carl Bruessow

Executive Director, Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust

Founder Trustee and Hon Secretary, Nyika-Vwaza Trust (Malawi)

Chairman of The Society of Malawi - Historical and Scientific

First Executive Director of The Wildlife Society of Malawi

Born and raised in Africa, for the past 20 years he has been involved with the conservation of these two montane regions, both of which are now National Parks. Thus uniquely qualified, Carl will present an account of the efforts by organizations and individuals to conserve the beauty and biodiversity of the two areas throughout the years since van der Post’s exploration.

Lecture starts at 6.45 pm.  There will be a cash bar before and after the lecture.  There will also be an exhibition and sale of paintings by Malawian artists, with proceeds from the sales of these, and other products, being invested in the conservation of the Nyika National Park and the Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve. 

Tickets are £15 per person.  To download an application form please click here.

 Please direct all enquiries to Harry Foot, Stowford Farm, Harford, Ivybridge, PL21 0JD.

Tel: 01752-892632. Email stowfoots@southdevon.org.