Enlightening Travellers for Over 40 Years
Hilary Bradt MBE is a pioneering author and publisher whose passion for niche travel led to the creation of the world famous award-winning Bradt Travel Guides.
It was Hilary’s trip to Latin America with her husband in the early 70’s that led to their first book together- Backpacking along Ancient Ways in Peru and Bolivia. They co-founded the Bradt guides and began by publishing a series of hiking guides to South America and also Africa. Later Bradt focused on unusual or off-beat destinations, such as Rwanda and Albania and have continued in this specialist approach, frequently publishing guides to countries not yet covered by any other travel publishers. Featuring contributions from writers with hands-on experience of the destinations, Bradt books include genuine insight into local culture, natural history and wildlife, topics often overlooked in other guides.
Hilary has worked extensively as a tour guide herself and her area of special natural world expertise is Madagascar about which she has written several books, including the first guide book in English. She is also patron of the charity Money for Madagascar, which has been raising funds for projects in the country since the mid 1980’s.
It wasn’t just the lemurs; it was the utter otherness of this little-known island that entranced me. So I went, and I fell in love, and I’ve been returning ever since.
A Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2008 for services to the tourist industry and charity and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Guild of Travel Writers, are deserved accolades for this exceptional individual. Hilary announced her retirement as MD of Bradt Travel Guides in 2007 after 35 years, but continues to be involved as a director, as well as writing and lecturing. In her free time she channels her exceptional creative talents into wildlife sculpture.
“In 1975 I attended a slide show in Cape Town given by a zoo collector who had just returned from a country called Madagascar. By the end of the evening I knew I had to go.”
In this safari you can experience a vast amount of wildlife in a short amount of time. Head into Andasibe National Park and Mantadia Reserve to offer you a truly unique insight into the initial fauna and flora of Madagascar.
From 6250 per person
A fantastic small group safari to Madagascar that gives you the opportunity to explore a number of destinations, in the company of just seven others.
From 4265 per person
This exhilarating adventure through some of Madagascar’s most biodiverse regions showcases the best of its wildlife and natural splendour. Lacking in the big game and fierce predators of its African relatives, Madagascar offers a unique and ‘hands on’ experience for your safari. A range of weird and wonderful insects and reptiles can be discovered and closely inspected, and the instant appeal of cuddly lemurs is magnetic for many travellers.
From 43750 per person
Why do you feel Madagascar is such an important location, in terms of ecosystems and wildlife?
Our Madagascar guide was the first ever guide in English, published in 1986. The full guide was preceded by a 12-page booklet called A Glance at Madagascar. I wrote this for my clients when I was leading trips to Madagascar for the American company Wilderness Travel, and also sold them to the handful of UK companies which had started offering Madagascar but with very little background information available. I wanted people to know something about the history, culture and, of course, wildlife before they went. I followed this with The No Frills Guide to Madagascar, to fill the gap while I wrote the proper guide that has now gone into 11 editions.
I always knew how special Madagascar was, and felt enormously privileged to be leading trips there before anyone knew much about the island. It is literally unique; of the 200,000 species of living things on the island, at least 150,000 are found nowhere else on earth. Isn’t that extraordinary? I’ve learned more at every visit (and I’ve been around 35 times now) but still feel I’ve only scratched the surface. There is so much more to see, and species to find!
What has been your most memorable natural world experience to date?
Each time I think about this question I come up with a different answer! Here’s one example. When we travelled from Cape Town to Cairo, we passed through Rwanda in 1976, thinking how nice it would be to meet Dian Fossey (I don’t think she would have been equally thrilled!). We were deflected from meeting her but did hire a guide to try to find the gorillas. No luck and the untrained guide got fed up and went home, leaving us to explore Virunga National Park on our own. We camped for the night and while descending the mountain the next day we heard distant drumming. Across a gulley, in a clearing, was a silverback gorilla, on his hind legs, beating his chest. Without binoculars we wouldn’t even have seen him he was so far away. I’ve since had the modern, thrilling, gorilla encounter in Rwanda, but the excitement of finding one for ourselves is still tops.
Crossing the Backbone of Madagascar, by Robin Hoskyns, 1 Sep 2015 As I write this I am pretty exhausted from an eleven hour journey crossing the highlands that are the backbone of Madagascar, arriving in Morondava on the west coast.
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The World Lemur Festival is celebrated every year at the end of October. The festival started in 2014 with the objective of raising awareness worldwide both of lemurs and their home, Madagascar, a country with one of the largest variety of endemic species, but also one that suffers from extreme poverty, and recently, political strife. The Malagasy people can barely sustain themselves from the crops grown on the island, forcing them to encroach further into the forests to create more farm land.
All you need to know about lemurs
Dr. Patricia Wright has been one of the leading figures in Madagascar conservation for over 30 years. Best known for her extensive study of the social and family interactions of wild lemurs, as well as discovering a new species - Hapalemur aureus, the golden bamboo lemur - Patricia also founded the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments (ICTE) at New York state's Stony Brook University. Established in 1991, the Institute is dedicated to science-based research and conservation in the tropical regions of the world.
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Mamy Razafitsalama was born in a small village on the east coast of Madagascar, and developed his love of the wild from a young age. Now an award-winning conservationist, Mamy has become a guardian for the endangered species that populate his homeland. He has dedicated his career to protecting the wildlife of Madagascar and empowering the local communities who play a vital role in safeguarding the country's natural treasures. He has also worked as a consultant in a malaria program at Population Services International.
Read more about MamyWhen did you decide to develop your passion for the natural world into a career? What would you say to people looking to do the same?
I never intended to make travel my career; it just happened. But there were some defining moments that created my determination to visit places with spectacular nature which eventually led to books. One was a lecture in 1970 by Roger Tory Peterson about the Galapagos and another was an illustrated talk that I went to while living in Cape Town. It was by a zoo collector (in those days people like David Attenborough and Gerald Durrell collected wild animals for zoos; thankfully that no longer happens) and it was about Madagascar. So when George and I travelled north through Africa I was absolutely determined to get to Madagascar. I did, and it was life-changing. My advice to others looking to do the same? Seize the day. Be open to serendipity.
Rainforest, desert, mountains – where do you feel most at home?
I like them all, really, since that’s what travel’s all about. But if I can only pick one, then rainforest.
What high priority conservation challenges do you feel the natural world is facing at the moment?
Poverty. If we can address this problem in the developing world we will help stop deforestation which is the biggest threat to rainforest wildlife.
Can we as members of the public do anything that genuinely helps preserve the natural world?
I’m surprised at how often I’m asked if it’s ethical to travel by plane. To me it’s a no-brainer. The flight will happen anyway, but the traveller’s experience in the country visited – assuming his/her visit is to see the wildlife – may be life-changing. And a person whose life has been changed by a wildlife encounter is going to spread the word. Wildlife needs visitors: they pay their park fees, boost local employment, buy local handicrafts, and make the local people aware of the value of their natural world. If they also donate to a small, local charity, then that’s the icing on the cake. Just being there is enough.
How does the natural world inspire your artistic subject matter? What are you working on at the moment?
I love sculpting wild animals because I love watching animals in the wild. It figures. I’m working on a stalking cheetah at the moment. I work in a variety of media, but because I don’t have a proper studio (just a much-abused conservatory) I don’t work with clay at home – I go on courses for that. So I’ve developed a technique with wire mesh and Jesmonite, which is a sort of slow-setting cement. It suits me very well since I’m usually too busy to spend much time sculpting, but I can do an hour here and there, wait for the Jesmonite to harden, and then do a bit more. That gives me time to really look at the creature and correct any mistakes before it’s too late. I made a cheetah in clay at one of my courses in Yorkshire (with the wonderful wildlife sculptor, Brendan Hesmondhalgh) but it’s not right and now it’s fired it’s too late to make changes. But ever since Attenborough’s latest TV series I was obsessed with the shape and elegance of a stalking cheetah, and although it may not be perfect it’s pretty much how I want it.
If you could pick any Natural World Hero, who would it be and why?
Well, David Attenborough because he’s given so many people a love of nature. But I think I would choose Gerald Durrell because his books about collecting animals in strange parts of the world were so funny, and so interesting, with the people of the countries playing as big a role as the animals, that I longed to go to those places and see those creatures – and people – for myself. And his My Family and Other Animals is the book I would take to that desert island.
Who or which organisation do you feel is doing important work ‘on-the-ground’ ?
Something that has changed during my lifetime is the recognition that you can’t just save the animals, you have to work with the whole ecosystem and that includes the people. So my vote for the most important conservation charity is Blue Ventures, led by the enormously effective and charismatic Alasdair Harris, which works on marine conservation in Madagascar.
What natural world insight would you like to leave us with?
Think global, act local.
