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On our Victoria Falls to Cape Town tour we make use of local guides to explore the wonders of Southern Africa. Local guides are used in Botswana where the Okavango Delta bush trip is an experience in living in the bush as many people in Africa do, and an opportunity to get to know the local culture more in depth. While the traditional cultures of Botswana have used wooden dug-out canoes (mokoro’s) in past decades made from slow growing hardwood trees the local co-operative of polers we use have invested in fibreglass mokoros thereby reducing the number of hardwood tress to be cut down.
We also endeavor to create awareness of endangered wildlife within Namibia by visiting a local cheetah conservation project that homes injured or orphaned cheetahs. Our visit to the Himba tribe in the north of Namibia provide a source of income for the local community and also provide basic food stuffs for the tribe which the group buy together in the local shop and then offer to the tribal elder on our arrival at his village.
In Damaraland, at the Brandberg Mountains clients walk to the well known White Lady rock art accompanied by locals that are now certified guides and are part of The Tsiseb Conservancy providing employment to the local population, this after a local mine closed down in the early 1990’s. On our visit to the Namib dune-fields a knowledgeable guide will introduce you to the local ecosystems and bushman culture. We encourage our passengers to purchase goods made locally, and to be aware that craft market income is the only income for many families. Food is purchased at local markets where possible.
Finally, as part of our commitment to responsible tourism, we support the Freeplay Foundation. This charity supplies wind-up radios (needing no electrical or battery power) to children in Africa who have been orphaned by Aids or genocide and who are trying to bring up their younger siblings alone and unaided. Each radio costs only £35. It provides these children with health care information and how to obtain free testing and drugs, as well as general education and help on growing their own food crops and advice on issues such as safe pesticides. We aim to donate at least one radio per overland trip to help these children. If you would like to make a contribution towards this and would find it easier to do so before departure (rather than into the collection box on the truck) please send us a cheque to our UK address made out to “Freeplay Foundation” and we will forward it on.
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