Big game safari in Tanzania

Kirurumu Tented Lodge is run on strict environmental principles. The lodge is also at the forefront of an initiative to set up the Kirurumu Gorge Conservation area, to help stop the degradation of the gorge, and help local villagers with an income and sustainable wood source. All staff on this trip are paid fair wages.

For every person that travels with the company, it plants trees through The Travel Forest initiative. Depending on where they plant and the requirement of the specific area, they plant either indigenous trees or a mix of indigenous and non-native species. Planting non-native seedlings may seem counter-intuitive but doing this can often help any remaining indigenous forest from being cut down (e.g. for fuel) as some non-native trees grow much more quickly than indigenous types. They particularly aim to save ancient or older indigenous forest, through offering an alternative option for fuel requirements of local communities. In addition to this benefit, their Travel Forest initiative helps with such things as planting for water-course retention, soil erosion, shade and even food – all depending on what is planted and where. They have planted almost 100,000 trees to date in various degraded locations including the Andean mountains in Peru, northern Tanzania and Malawi. This has always been done in conjunction with the local communities who plant and then tend the seedlings. Trees are far more important to the health of this planet (and us) than many people imagine. This global Travel Forest initiative can and does make a big difference.

The company offering this safari has won an international responsible tourism award twice in the last three years. They run their office in an environmentally friendly way, donate funds and administrative help to a charity the directors set up, and try to ensure that the services they offer are run responsibly and fairly, as regards the people, wildlife and environment.