Southern Africa adventure tour

Planet

Carbon reduction

By travelling in a small group, we ‘tread lightly’ to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment.
Accommodation and restaurants in the itinerary use locally sourced food which has not been transported long distances.
Our local partners support the Save Our Sausage Trees initiative in Botswana, which aims to address the issue of depleting forests in the area. The mokoro is a canoe used by the people of the Okavango Delta and it is crafted traditionally from a single mature kigelia Africana tree (or sausage tree). Although increased tourism has had some obvious benefits to the area, it has also brought a higher demand for mokoros and therefore more trees are being cut down. As a wooden mokoro only lasts about five years, there are hundreds of these trees being felled per year and there are not enough trees to sustain this. We have consulted with the Okavango community and have agreed to pay half the price of a fibreglass mokoro if a poler wants to purchase the other half to save the trees.

Environment and wildlife

The payment of entrance fees to natural reserves and archaeological sites generates income used to upkeep and develop these important sites.
Our trips adhere to ABTA’s industry-leading animal welfare guidelines to ensure the best possible practices regarding working animals and wildlife viewing. We rewild 1,075sqft (100sqm) per passenger to compensate for all trip and flight emissions.

Leave no trace: We do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
Plastic waste reduction: Please bring a reusable water bottle on this trip, also consider avoiding single-use hotel toiletries, which generate a large amount of plastic waste.

People

Local economy

Local guides keep you well informed about local traditions and cultural-social sensitivities.
This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally owned hotels, restaurants, and other enterprises, and by championing locally produced food wherever possible.
We employ local site guides in Chobe National Park and several other conservation areas.
In the Okavango Delta, we work with polers from the Poler’s Trust. This is a community-based project formed to create an ecotourism business to benefit everyone in the area. By using these facilities and going on boat tours with the Poler’s Trust, we ensure we are helping the community by providing employment and supporting environmental initiatives.