Desert elephant safari in Namibia

Community
A visit to the Himba village in Purros will provide you with insight into the Himba community, which provides a good income for the village, both directly and by making and selling traditional crafts. The Himba women will explain how they cover their skins with a mixture of goat butter and ochre (a red-oxide powder) for use as protection against the sun. As they explain their lifestyles, you will hear the sounds of laughing children playing soccer in the nearby savannah and watch the Himba men tend to their herds in the distance. The traditional Himba village consists of a series of round huts made from bent mopane-trunks, held together with dung and clay. Thatched roofs provide both shelter and shade. The Himba village is very proud of what they have and are happy to show it to you. The women wear jewellery they made themselves and also sell bracelets, chains and rings.

Our travel partners, accommodation, service providers and ground agents are all carefully chosen to ensure their commitment to the environment, most being quality, family owned businesses, which reflect the unique character of the places, the abiding hospitality of its people and the remarkable spirit of its wilderness.

Environment
The AfriCat Foundation, which was founded in 1991, started out primarily as an animal welfare organization and has, over the years, identified the need to include a focus on education and research as being essential to its mission – the long-term conservation of large carnivores in Namibia. The AfriCat Foundation concentrates on four objectives in working towards its mission:

• To create awareness and promote the tolerance of large carnivores among the farming community by assisting farmers in effective farm management techniques, including targeting problem predators as opposed to indiscriminate removal.

• To educate youth about large carnivores and environmental awareness.

• To research large carnivores, particularly cheetahs and leopards, on farmland and in captivity.

• To provide humane housing, treatment and care for orphaned and injured animals.

The Save The Rhino Trust’s mission is to serve as a leader in conservation efforts in Namibia’s remote Kunene Region through conducting monitoring, training and research activities focused on desert-adapted Black Rhino, in order to ensure long-term security for these and other native wildlife species. They communicate knowledge to decision-makers such as national, regional and local government officials, traditional authorities and other partners. They are committed to promoting responsible tourism development and developing sustainable futures for local communities.

To mitigate the carbon dioxide released into the high atmosphere through your air travel we are giving £10 per client to Rainforest Concern. Rainforests have a central role to play in the slowing of climate change and yet we are removing forests from the planet at a faster rate than they can grow back. It is thus axiomatic to try and preserve the forests that we have rather than replanting.