Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
Homestay: Hazel (a retired teacher) and 11 other multi-ethnic, well-educated ladies joined together to form this homestay opportunity. These are homes not hotels, so you get an insight into what it is like to stay with a local, non-white family, something which is not commonly possible in South Africa. These families were all discriminated against under apartheid, and it is only by Hazel's strong will that this homestay project has got off the ground at all, as the families still find that they can not compete in general with the white-owned guest houses.
Treetop canopy tour: If you decide to take a Treetop Canopy Tour you will be directly helping a great community poverty relief project. Environmental education excursions are conducted regularly and include 1000 children annually from local communities. The company recently adopted the local Primary School and makes a significant contribution to the school feeding scheme by providing meals for 140 children. A proposed community-owned Craft Centre is major project which is also receiving support. It is hoped that 200 local people will become self-employed through this initiative.
Port Elizabeth city tour: The Calabash Trust is a poverty alleviation and upliftment fund aimed at providing assistance to projects in disadvantaged areas through tourism. Funds from the city tour go directly to this trust, which in turn helps people in the townships. The help is given through training, sponsoring children's education, and bringing in equipment needed by the communities eg for schools, clinics etc.
Addo: In Addo we use the community field guides who were taken from the local township and trained up by the government. We are one of the few operators promoting this community scheme, which could have a significant impact if it was patronised more widely. The guides are well-trained and very enthusiastic.
Flights are automatically carbon offset through The Travel Forest, which plants 10 indigenous trees on your behalf (currently in northern Tanzania). Whilst the primary motivation for planting the trees is to offset carbon emissions, the project also works as a poverty alleviation and environmental improvement scheme.
Amanda set up this adventure tour operators with her husband in 1998 because she wanted to involve local people in offering authentic travel experiences. She believes in sticking closely with who you want to work with and maintains strong relationships with her staff. As a result, her holidays offer imaginative itineraries with unusual add-ons, thanks to the interesting links with grass roots companies. Amanda is passionate about green travel and has her own travel foundation which promotes sustainability. She and her staff work hard to 'keep it real' so that your holiday leaves you truly inspired.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
