INSPIRING INDIVIDUALS: Katia Moochooram
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Island beauty queen and Earth advocate, no matter how many times Katia Moochooram leaves her homeland of Mauritius, it will always be at her centre.
Being bitten by the travel bug has taken her all over the world - 32 countries and counting (current pandemic allowing) - and now she has her sights set on Africa!
Katia’s toes are firmly in the sand and she’ll be the first to tell you that footprints are the only things we should leave behind.
Whether scuba diving in the Red Sea or dune hopping in the Sahara Desert, Katia has made adventure travel a way of life. An entrepreneur, elephant-lover, and follower of fashion, Katia is a citizen of the world.
We sat down for a chat to find out about her nomadic life, her Wild in Africa stacking style, and where she’s off to next...
Tell us about yourself.
I am a curious girl with a wanderer soul from Mauritius who is passionate about fashion, travel and photography.
I am always chasing for new adventures, joy and all the beautiful things life has to offer and share some of the lived unique lifetime experiences with the maximum people who aspire the same.
Can you tell us a little bit about your professional background?
My main job is that I am an Influencer Marketer Consultant. And being an avid traveler since a young age, I have been working with travel and tourist agencies, hotels and recreational agencies to create content and blog about my experiences is what I do on the side. Both are pretty much linked.
What or who in your life influenced you to pursue this route?
I started my own company about three years ago after having worked in the advertising and digital field of a couple of years and I wanted to take the big step of being an entrepreneur.
I’ve got to say the amazing part of being an entrepreneur gives me more time to travel.
What is the most impactful aspect of your work?
That it takes me places most people dream of.
To share my experiences and adventures on my blog with my audience is what I am passionate about especially when I can make them enthusiastic about traveling too and to get out of their comfort zone.
Where is your favorite place you’ve traveled and why?
I have visited 32 countries up to now, all of them for a specific reason. It is hard to pick just one so I will share my top 3.
First of all was the Bahamas. It has more than 365 islands, you could literally visit a new one everyday, also because of its crystal clear water, abundant marine life and it is not that much touristic.
The second would be Jordan. I’ve crossed Jordan from top to bottom. Not only was I captivated by the old city of Petra but also swept up by the vast lunar scenery of the Wadi Rum desert and to finally scuba dive in the red sea.
The third has to be Egypt, the land of the Pharaohs. A country rich in ancient history: the pyramids, the tombs, the temples, the Nile river and the museums. I mean so much enrichment in knowledge.
Tell us about your strangest experience while traveling?
It was undoubtedly while traveling with the Covid-19 pandemic. Luckily it was before the crisis was real worldwide.
I was traveling to Egypt for my birthday, end of this January and for the first time it felt weird. People were being distant, looking over their shoulders, and acted very personal. Being very outgoing and friendly person and this fear of Covid-19 situation made me adopt another behavior that was strange to me.
Travel will definitely not be the same after this.
Why do you feel that wildlife conservation is important?
I believe in the essential role-playing of having wildlife conservation program since many wildlife species has nearly gone to the verge of extinction with our human destructive actions of hunting and poaching, loss of their natural habitat caused by deforestation and bush fire in the past decades.
The wildlife conservation programs help to reestablish the numbers of the endangered species and to restore the natural order. I encourage the conservation programs as long as the welfare of these animals is being respected.
The earth is not only ours. We should take care and respect the wildlife, nature and our surroundings.
What is your favorite Wild in Africa bracelet style and why?
Each and every bracelet has its unique feature in terms of the stones chosen, the beads arrangement, and their healing power.
When mixed up, they are fabulous and go with every outfit. I could not choose just one bracelet, so I made a stack of them.
Buying a Wild in Africa bracelet is not only fashionable but you are also supporting an important cause, wildlife conservation.
Are there any animals you feel especially passionate about?
If I had to choose one it would certainly be the elephants.
I have only been very close to the Asian elephants and I felt a connection with them. A couple of years ago, while I was volunteering in an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I even wanted to be a Mahout, an elephant protector and keeper at the end of the Program.
Last year I had to go for a work trip to South Africa and I jumped on this opportunity to do a safari and, for the very first time, I saw the African elephant.
I was captivated by its force, its aura, a true majestic animal.
Can you share your future plans and hopes for yourself?
Well, after the world reopens, there are places which have moved up in order of priority to visit and it would be the Okavango Delta in Botswana, a peaceful encounter with the Gorillas in Rwanda, walk in the alley of Baobabs in Madagascar and experience the wildlife there, plus a couple more.
My way of traveling has changed; I rather go to non-busy places where I can enjoy the peaceful beauty of nature.
I believe we should learn how to travel like humans and not like tourists. Leave our footprints and take nothing.
I hope to have more travel opportunities and that my work takes me to these wonderful places and enriches my life with no more than nature and its surroundings.