Zambia safari vacation

Planet

Operating lodges and camps in protected ecosystems in Africa alongside local indigenous communities and wildlife comes with a great deal of responsibility.

We work together with community development, wildlife conservation and responsible tourism specialists to ensure that we operate in accordance with these principles. We are guided by our Responsible Tourism Policy along with annually prepared responsible tourism plans that detail all of our activities.
In recognition of our commitment to responsible tourism, Robin Pope Safaris RPS) has won prestigious international awards including Responsible Tourism Award Joint Overall Winner in 2011, making us the ultimate winner across all 13 award categories.

RPS is over time introducing the latest green technologies into all of our properties. This includes solar energy systems for providing power, solar water heaters for guest showers and the use of green design construction principles including living grass roofs, natural air cooling and the use of non-fired bricks. The benefits are clear - our outlet of CO2 to the ozone layer is significantly reduced, along with our use of firewood and the resulting contribution to deforestation.

The conservation of water is of critical importance in the environments we operate, where many local people do not have ready access to safe, clean drinking water and droughts are commonplace. We conserve water through regular maintenance to reduce leakages, fitting flow restrictors on showerheads and taps where possible, watering our gardens and grass roofs at cooler times of the day, planting only drought resistant native plants where landscaping is necessary, and implementing a guest towel re-use and water conservation programme.

People

RPS has, for over 20 years, been committed to ensuring that our neighbouring local communities benefit from our presence through grass roots sustainable community development initiatives. We understand the interdependence between local communities and the wildlife and natural resources that tourism depends upon. As we operate in rural areas that lack other development opportunities, we are in a great position to impact positively on local people's lives. Our commitment to poverty reduction interventions has been recognised through the winning of international responsible tourism awards.
RPS believes that investing in education provision in the local community is one of the best contributions we can make to our neighbours. Education is key to ending the cycle of poverty in rural African communities. Our Kawaza School Fund has become one of the biggest success stories in the Luangwa Valley, and has inspired both guests and other safari operators in the area to work together to change lives through improved education provision. It has not only improved the standards of school buildings in the area, but also access to educational materials. This fund, amongst other things, has enabled children to benefit from smaller class sizes and more classroom time with qualified teachers.

We purchase as many locally available supplies as possible to stimulate local trade. In Malawi the majority of our rice and fish is purchased from neighbouring communities and in Zambia 80% of our vegetables from local farmers. In this way we secure the freshest ingredients for our guests and at the same time support local enterprises and producers. We also contract local craftsmen for new buildings and in the refurbishment of our existing properties and support local artisans by selling their wares in our gift shops and for furnishing our properties. We take our safari guests in Zambia for a behind-the-scenes visit to the largest employer in the area, Tribal Textiles, where they are able to purchase a variety of hand-made textile products.
In order to support us as their trade partner, photographs have been provided by Robin Pope Safaris.