Southern Africa walking vacations

Planet

For all customers who book an African tour, we advertise and encourage use of a Water-To-Go carbon filtered water bottle so you can drink the tap water which reduces the risk of getting ill by 85%. This dramatically reduces the number of single use plastic bottles. Also the overland trucks that we use have recently installed water purification systems, so clients can have access to safe drinking water straight from the vehicle throughout the tour. This is to further discourage the use of single use plastics and we hope that this will reduce the amount of plastic water bottles purchased on our tours.

Each national park that we visit in the four African countries that we feature, has its own National Parks Authority, responsible for the management of national parks. One of their key tasks is to preserve and manage the wildlife in each destination, primarily protecting and conserving the flora and fauna. The main source of revenue is sourced from tourist arrivals. Our customers pay all required park fees, thus contributing to the efforts of conservation and protection of the national parks that we visit.

We operate a ‘leave no trace’ policy in the national parks, archaeological sites, monuments and other sensitive areas; these should be treated with the upmost respect to maintain them for future generations. Our guides are trained to promote this message in Africa.

As the focus of this trip is walking, we aim to leave a minimal impact on the areas as possible. This trip actively encourages customers to reduce the carbon footprint to a minimum. This includes not deviating from designated walking areas so as not to upset ecosystems irrespective of the size. We encourage customers not to feed birds or other wildlife as they become reliant on tourists.

People

We work with local operators who share our commitment to responsible travel where possible. They take pride in employing and training only locals, to ensure money ends up in the hands of the guiding community. Our local partner continues to nurture their staff with regular and ongoing training and skills development, as well as creating as many employment opportunities internally as they can manage.

Some meals are prepared by our guide as opposed to always eating in the hotels and lodges. We purchase supplies, where possible, from the less frequently visited urban areas to help contribute to the smaller, local communities instead of the larger urban areas.

Our local partner has an ongoing initiative to provide basic human needs like food, shelter and health care which, in Africa, are all too often found wanting in the places we visit. Another focus is their drive to continue to support and help uplift rural communities, from funding projects undertaken by their beneficiaries.