Tanzania lodge safari

Planet

Gondwana Ecotours is one of very few travel companies that are verifiably 100 percent carbon neutral. Since our founding, we’ve been focused on providing incredible travel experiences for the traveler that are also good for the local environment and planet at large. This commitment is reflected in our name — Gondwana Ecotours.

In addition to designing tours with a soft, local footprint and working with local guides and businesses, we started out by carbon offsetting flights for our guests. Over time we realized that it takes immense effort to figure out what impact carbon offsetting projects have. How much carbon is being removed in a verified way? For how long and at what cost? So we started looking for an alternative and became aware of the difference between carbon offsetting and carbon neutral programs.

In 2021, we signed up with Cooler, which neutralizes the impact of our tours’ carbon footprint by buying permits (away from polluters) in tightly-regulated pollution markets from over a dozen U.S. states. In collaboration with Cooler, we’ve footprinted the carbon use and emissions for each of our tours: what we eat, where we sleep, what we do, and our travel and transportation.

At the end of each tour, we report the number of guests on the tour and pay Cooler to purchase carbon pollution contracts from the open markets to neutralize our collective carbon footprint.

So with Cooler, we’re effectively taking away emissions from smokestacks and we’re gaining full accountability in the process, which is something not seen by the more common carbon offsets. Over time, the idea is that scarcity of permits will make it more attractive for big polluters to find more environmentally—and less expensive—ways to produce their goods.

We operate this tour with a maximum group size of 18 travelers to minimize our impact on the culture and the environment where we visit.
Our guides help guests to view the wildlife in a responsible way (i.e. keeping minimum distances, not using camera flashes and not disturbing the animals).

Local Partners:
We work with local partners who are like family to us. Our partners are stewards of the land and cultural guardians who are part of the local fabric of each location that we visit.

Our guides have spent years learning about their environment and the animals living in it. Our guides bring unparalleled passion for their land and for passing along knowledge to our guests.

We are in constant communication with our guides to ensure that our itineraries can be executed with the least amount of impact to the environment and to local wildlife.

Accommodations:
We stay in lodges that are owned and operated by locals and that specialize in minimizing their environmental footprint.

Meals:
Each guest is provided with a reusable water bottle at the beginning of their trip and we use safe water sources to fill those as needed. We avoid using bottled water unless it's absolutely necessary. We reduce, reuse and recycle whenever possible.

A portion of the money from this tour goes to support the local community and local programming.

People

Friends & Neighbors:
We only employ local guides for our safaris. Several meals on our safari are prepared in the field by local chefs who use locally sourced food that is in season, showcasing local and regional recipies.

The few souvenir opportunities that are presented throughout the trip will be stops at local and native craft studios where you can often buy directly from the artisans.


We also visit a local Masaai tribe who teach us about their housing, customs, and way of life. The funds paid for the visit are then used to dig wells and clean water to the area. Money is also contributed to local farming and educational initiatives.

Charity:
We always give back in the areas we visit, including working with local charities that support communities in need and protect the local ecosystems. We also make a donation to carbon offset each guest's trip. This money goes to support reforestation projects and other initiatives that reduce greenhouse gases.