Allan Blanchard
Founder and Managing Director
Born and brought up in the Lake District and north of England,
Allan obtained a Biology Honours Degree in 1991 before
travelling across the United States at the age of 21. His
fascination with conservation management and how National Parks
are run led him to visit many of America’s finest parks.
Five years later Allan embarked on a 2 year round the world trip
which would take in countries as diverse as India, Nepal,
Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and
Australia. However it was the first 3 months of his trip,
visiting many of the National Parks in northern India and
falling in love with the country, which was to have a profound
effect on his future.
|
|
On returning to the UK in 1999, Allan and
his wife Kirsty launched Tiger Trails and the company’s passion
for unrushed private tailor-made tours with the focus on the
client’s needs and aspirations was an instant success. After
completing many successful and exciting ‘recce’ trips; Bear
Trails, Gorilla Trails and Wolf Trails followed in the next 5
years and the companies name was changed to ‘Wildlife Trails’ in
2006 to reflect the broad range of exciting wildlife tours now
on offer.
Allan is also a Director of the Tiger Trails Foundation (TTF)
which Kirsty and himself set up as a way of distributing 10% of
Wildlife Trails profits to projects in both India and Canada.
TTF recently set up a wireless computer network in a village
close to Ranthambhore Tiger Sanctuary and is now working with
several villages located close to this wildlife park on projects
such as tree planting, water harvesting and children’s
education. |
| |
|
Kirsty Blanchard
Director and South Asia Specialist
Kirsty has always held her parents responsible for her itchy
feet and appetite for travel tales. Even at five or six she
never tired of her Dad’s slide shows, always requesting the
elephants taking their bath in ‘Ceylon’. The same enthusiasm is
undiminished when planning trips for Wildlife Trails; the
closest thing to actually travelling is talking about and
planning it, even if it’s for someone else!
Growing up amongst the South Downs, then the rugged Anglesey
coastline the Cumbrian fells have been home for the last fifteen
years. After tantalising glimpses of travel in New Zealand,
Malaysia, India and Canada, opportunity truly came knocking on
her front door in the shape of Allan Blanchard fresh from his
world trip and keen to make a real difference and give something
back by starting Tiger Trails. |
|
Having been involved from the start in
defining our path, Kirsty has been able to help ensure that we
have kept true to our early goals and maintained the same
standards of respect, honesty, attention to detail, enthusiasm
and loyalty to our guests and hosts, and to the wild areas that
we visit.
Now with reccie trips in Nepal and numerous visits to India
under her belt, Kirsty is still just as enthralled every time
she tracks a tiger, as she is to encounter a new species or to
visit a new location. Although her own tiger cubs have kept her
closer to home more recently, Eliane had already visited
Rajasthan at aged two and Avani will I’m sure be just as excited
about a 2007 visit, just as soon as we’re back from our family
trip to Australia of course. |
| |
|
James Manson
Canadian Operations Manager
The son of a RAF pilot, James began travelling before he could
walk. Having narrowly avoided being born in Yemen, he was soon
finding his feet on an overseas posting to Bahrain. After
attending schools in Oxfordshire, Sussex and North Wales he
embarked on a successful 13 year career in the IT industry which
took him as far afield as Mexico and the Czech Republic before
settling in Canada in 1997.
A passionate wildlife enthusiast and photographer, James has a
unique perspective on Canada having lived there for many years,
exploring its vast wilderness areas at every opportunity.
|
|
He joined Bear Trails in 2003 and was soon
exploring the Canadian wilderness on a 6 week recce trip around
British Columbia, Manitoba and Nunavut (Arctic); gaining first
hand experience of the locations and operators that have become
the backbone of our tours. A longer 3 month scouting trip
followed in 2004 which expended our portfolio of destinations
and James’ in-depth knowledge of the vast wildlife potential in
Canada. He has just returned from Quebec and fulfilled a
lifetime ambition of viewing Blue Whales in the St Lawrence
River.
James is also an avid scuba diver with a keen interest in marine
biology having worked as a volunteer on whale shark and stingray
research projects in Honduras and the Cayman Islands. He also
spent 4 months in Borneo scuba diving; working on a voluntary
reef conservation project, and scouting locations for Tiger
Trails. |
| |
|
Nick Fewtrell-Smith
Wildlife Travel Consultant
Originally brought up in the South of England, Nick’s interests
involved a mixture of core science subjects and outdoor
pursuits, which was a passion passed on from his father from an
early age. A year out after sixth form, in which he travelled to
India on a charity trek to the source of the river Ganges,
helped Nick to gain perspective; instead of following
Environmental Science as he originally intended, he went to
Birmingham to study Adventure Tourism Management.
During his time at University Nick had the chance to travel
extensively, both with his course and during the holiday
periods. |
|
3 months spent travelling through South Africa, during
the summer break after his first year of university, combined
Nick’s love for surfing with his interest in different cultures,
really opening his eyes to the world of travel.
Nick then went on to organise expeditions to Spain including a 3
week expedition exploring the inland watercourses and the
crossing of the Gibraltar strait in sea kayaks; more recently he
organised and led a cultural tour around Europe.
Nick has recently joined Wildlife Trails and is responsible for
designing and organising tailor-made tours to India, Nepal and
Sri Lanka. Earlier this year he travelled to India on a one
month ‘recce’ trip visiting all the major national parks in the
north and central areas of the country. As well as viewing
wildlife Nick was particularly interested in seeing how tourism
can benefit the local communities living around the National
Parks. As a result of his trip Wildlife Trails incorporated some
new and exciting day trips which have helped to reduce the
pressures in the core areas of the National Parks. The trip also
gave him the unique up-to-date picture of the park situation
which as regular visitors to the region will know is ever
changing.
|
|
|
