South Africa cycling vacation, Drakensberg and Kruger

Planet

Activity:
Few vacations have as little detrimental impact on the environment and local residents as a cycling trekking trip. Erosion on and adjacent to popular paths is a growing problem in certain places and therefore our trip leaders encourage clients to stick to advised routes in order to minimise this. We do believe in leaving no more than footprints (or tyre tracks!) although this tour actively encourages guests to talk to local people, visit local cafes and restaurants and use markets to purchase traditional handicrafts. By visiting Kruger National Park, we are supporting conservation efforts here as our entrance fees go towards environmental protection and employment of local people.

Water:
Water is a really important issue with cycling trips and whilst we must stay hydrated, it is also vital that we have a system for providing clean water without causing lots of waste with plastic bottles. Lack of recycling is already a massive problem in Africa so we suggest that instead of repeatedly buying bottled water, guests should re-fill a singular bottle. We carry a very large container of treated water in our support vehicle to facilitate this.

UK Office:
It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK Offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.

People

Accommodation & Meals:
You will spend nights most nights in lodges and 2 nights full service camping. We predominantly use small businesses for accommodation in order to keep investment local and benefit the communities we visit directly. Campsites used are either locally owned, or a percentage of their income goes towards, schooling, or nature conservation & community projects. We strive to always leave a campsite in a better condition than when we arrived and to use gas whilst cooking instead of using limited firewood resources. Almost all meals are provided and your local tour leader will endeavour to source fresh produce wherever possible. Meals might include fresh fruit, cold meats and cheese, potjies (stew) or braais (barbecue) etc.

Local Crafts and Culture:
We stop at a number of cottage industries along the route of this trip, where clients have a chance to buy locally made products directly from the vendors. These are found along the panoramic route in Mpumalanga and are endorsed by the regional council and have been provided with structures to sell their products from. Guides will be able to advise which products to avoid and which to purchase e.g. large items made from local hard wood encourage deforestation, so we discourage this. We also stop at Stellenbosch, to see the local vineyards and sample the locally produced wine which makes this area so well known. This is a good chance to support communities in this area by buying souvenirs.

A Fair Deal:
We work closely with our local operator and ensure that all of our guides are local and that in exchange for their expertise on the wildlife, environment and culture that they are paid and treated fairly. The leaders will give a briefing on Responsible Tourism issues to help you understand how you can help reduce your impact and maximise the benefits to the local community from your visit. By supporting and employing these people we are helping to ensure that their wildlife areas, scenic beauty and historical significance generate value for the community and are therefore appreciated and protected from development and exploitation. Particularly with wildlife tours, proper employment conditionals are a great way to motivate locals to be part of sustainable, ethical activity rather than illegal alternatives, like poaching.

Charity:
We 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 boat used by the people of the Okavango Delta and it is crafted traditionally out of a single mature Kigelia Africana tree (or sausage tree). Although increased tourism has had some obvious benefits to the area, this has also brought a higher demand for Mokoro boats and therefore more trees are being cut down. As a wooden Mokoro only lasts about 5 years, there are hundreds of these trees being felled per year and not enough to sustain this. We have consulted with the Okovango community, and we have agreed to pay half the price of a fibreglass Mokoro if a poler wants to purchase the other half, in order to save the trees.

Group Size:
This small group tour has a maximum of 16 participants, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. The small number also allows us to stay in unique, family-run hotels that cannot benefit from coach tours and other mass tourism due to their limited sizes.