From the very moment Alexis Chavez set foot on the African plains, she knew she was looking at her future.

At 22, the Bellevue native, via Brooklyn, Hawaii and Japan, had already lived a full and interesting life.

Having completed her Bachelors of Science degree in Environmental Conservation at The New School in New York City, and with work experience as a veterinary nurse at Tribeca Soho Animal Hospital, she knew that somewhere in the vision of her life’s ambition was work with animals.

For Chavez, now 23, travel was a big part of growing up.

“I guess you could say I was a Costco brat,” she said. “Like a navy brat, only my dad worked for Costco.”

Her family too shared Chavez’ enthusiasm for new places, and in August of 2008 traveled together to a number of African countries, including Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mozambique.

The open plains, the wild animals, and the vibrant culture struck a chord with the young woman, and after just a few months back in the U.S. she found a way to return to Africa.

Thanks to the support of her family, in January of 2009 she signed up as a paying volunteer at the Harnas Wildlife Foundation in Namibia, which works to rehabilitate injured and orphaned native animals and return them to the wild.

As well as the amazing experience of working with cheetahs, leopards, baboons, warthogs, hyenas and lions, in Namibian Chavez came across something that would have just as significant an impact on her life – like minded adults with passion and vision.

After 5 and half months, Chavez became more involved in the Harnas volunteer program, and began to see the challenges that wildlife refuges in Namibia faced – notably a lack of land on which to release rehabilitated animals.

“Releasing a pride of lions, for example, is a very complicated thing,” she said. “First there is the required space but then there needs to be the right food sources, and certain animals need their own territory, and so on.”

Further complicating the picture is the role of the Namibian government as real estate player.

“The government has first right of refusal on any land that comes up for sale,” Chavez said. “The land is very good for raising cattle – it’s flat, not forested, so often the government wants to buy it.”

Now more invested in the Harnas and the struggle to protect and rehabilitate the wild animals of Africa, Chavez joined forces with two fellow volunteers, Mikkel Legarth from Denmark and Valentin Gruener from Germany to launch the Modisa Wildlife Project.

Modisa means “guardian” or “shepherd.”

“There was a feeling in the conservation community that Harnas, although doing great work, didn’t have a lot of science and research behind it,” Chavez said. “Without that it is hard to get the community to come together and get behind their work.”

With that in mind Chavez returned to the U.S. to work on a business plan, raise awareness and support for animal conservation work in Namibia, and, the tough one, raise some money to buy land and expand the Harnas release site.

“We need about $3 million. It’s a lot of money,” she said. “$1 million will buy us about 10,000 hectares of land. The other big costs is the game fencing, which is electrified and about 8 to 10 feet high. That will costs around $800,000.”

On Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Pogacha Restaurant and Bar in Issaquah, Chavez will take her first important steps in bringing the plight of wildlife in Africa to an American audience, when she launches “On Safari,” an exhibition of photos from her travels in Africa.

Though On Safari will be her first exhibition, you wouldn’t know it from looking at the extraordinary images she has captured, benefitting from the close relationships she formed with many of the animal subjects.

Chavez has been taking photographs since she was a young girl, and her affinity with both camera and animal are clearly evident.

It is not often a photographer is allowed, or has any desire to, get that close to leopards, lions and other species.

“On Safari,” will remain in Issaquah until Oct. 3, when it will move to Pogacha of Bellevue.

In the middle of November the exhibition moves to New York.

Sales of Chavez’s photographs will support the Modisa Wildlife Project.

For more information on the Modisa Wildlife Project, and to contact Chavez, go to modisawildlifeproject.org.