Selous Game Reserve safari

The number of tourists is capped in Selous and Ruaha to limit the environmental impact of tourism. All camps are created to exist in harmony with nature and to ensure optimal enjoyment of the diverse landscapes & habitats and its teaming wildlife, whilst also conserving the environment.

Rufiji River Camp is an environmentally friendly camp, they fill their swimming pool with filtered river water and all the drinking water is ozone-filtered river water. Both Rufiji River Camp and Ruaha River Lodge use solar powered lighting and water heaters.

The owners of these lodges are founding members and continued active involvement with Friends of Ruaha & Ruaha Conservation Group and are responsible for 12 years of anti-poaching activities, including the disruption of an ivory smuggling group, that eventually lead to the banning of all hunting in Pangani District.

Since arriving in Tanzania in the 1950’s to plant tea for Brooke Bond the lodge owners have become involved with numerous projects with both the environment and community and not just in Ruaha National Park and Mufindi District but all over the country. They therefore recently took the decision to establish an Non-Government Organisation (NGO) that separates their commercial activities from their non profit making activities.

An NGO was formally registered on the 11th April 2005 as Foxes' Community and Wildlife Conservation Trust and will not just coordinate the on going conservation activities but also the community development projects such as the new AIDS orphanage, school classrooms, dispensaries, water wells etc. The NGO will focus on communities impacting wildlife and the environment.

For all of our tours we provide customers with an itinerary specific responsible travel guide aprox 4 weeks before they depart. This includes a generic travellers code of conduct which emphasises basic responsible travel advice – e.g. reduction of waste and consumption of natural resources, purchase local produce where possible etc. Our holidays are specifically designed to bring guests into direct contact with locals from a range of different tribes and cultures across Africa. We also therefore provide destination specific guidance including advice on local customs and some key phrases in certain languages (e.g. Swahili). We also offer guidance on how to barter responsibly for local curios and what curios should be avoided (e.g. certain wildlife artefacts such as coral, turtle shells etc.). As all of our guides and groundhandlers are local we also give guidance on what a fair and reasonable level of tipping would be at the end of the holiday.

We support the work of Tourism Concern both in distributing their advice to customers and as an active participant in the Ethical Tour Operators Group. Our managing director sits on this group and is a regular attendee of meetings contributing to work towards developing industry wide fair trade standards. We also distribute materials to customers and make periodic donations for the following charities: Tree Aid; International Fund for Wildlife and Survival International Trust. In Southern Africa we support the Southern Africa Sustainable Seafood Initiative and forward their guidance to all customers on which seafood is sustainable when offered a choice at restaurants.