Preparations for the trip.

I just finished up the last enrichment program for Orangutan Caring Week here at the El Paso Zoo.  All week we have been celebrating orangs and bringing awareness to the critically endangered species.  Ibu, our resident female sumatran orang put on quite a display today as she swung through her exhibit in search of enrichment items.  Here is a video of Ibu today, from one of our guests:

Just as Antonia boarded her plane en route to Malaysia I recieved a text from her that said, "Heading to Malaysia with Ibu as my inspiration!" 

Armed with passport and airline ticket and ready to embark on her journey!

I have Antonia's itinerary and throughout her trip if you don't hear from her on this blog, hopefully you will get an update as I sit in my comfy office and she is out exploring the rainforest with her leech protecting socks! 

I am so excited about Antonia's trip to Asia and I know she had a lot of preparations to do before this trip.  We joked that once she was on the plane it would be the easy part.  Take a look at some of the items she packed in her bag!

A backpack full of goodies for the rainforest!



Antonia made her own socks out of pillow cases to try and be a deterent from leeches, backpack cover to keep everything dry, mosquito netting, flashlight, camera and of course the El Paso Zoo Palm Oil Shopping Guides.  You can download your own shopping guide right here!

Since Antonia started working at the zoo she has become very passionate about the Palm Oil Crisis.  The opportunity to discover what is happening first hand in Malaysia will be the trip of a lifetime.  If you are unfamiliar with the Palm Oil Crisis watch this excellent two minute video describing what is happening.

As I write this post right now, Antonia should be touching down in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia and getting some much needed rest.  Her journey from El Paso to Kuala Lampur will be about 24 hours!  She brought lots of reading material on the places she will be visiting so she can be sure to make the most out of this amazing trip. 

Antonia is modeling her mosquito protecting net and backpack while standing in front of her display area for orangutans inside the Asia Discovery Center at the zoo.  Here you can see what kinds of products we buy everyday that contain palm oil and make a pledge to avoid palm oil. 

I am excited to track Antonia's journey and can not wait to hear that she landed safely and is on to the next adventure.  Her next stop will be another plane ride to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo to attend the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) ninth annual international meeting.  At the meeting she will have a first hand update on projects such as reforestation, ecotourism and orangutan observation research.

Naima
Education Specialist