Mozambique safari and beach holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places.
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
In Kosi Bay we are introduced to this amazing area by local guides who take us on a canoe trip at the lakes, walks in the mangrove forests and into the local Zulu Village. All of the guides used in Kosi Bay, are local and live in the area. Their employment in the area ensures that the community values tourism and are thereby committed to preserving the area.
Our walk in Hlane Game Reserve is lead by a trained game ranger. Not only do these game walks provide much needed employment, but it also helps the local community value the wildlife in the area. The game rangers also have a duty to protect the animals from poachers.
Inhambane is a sleepy town on the Mozambique coast. In the past it was bustling port, but as trading practices have changed, the economy has changed and the focus is now on agriculture and tourism. Travellers who visit this area bring much needed trade, as well as creating jobs in restaurants, food production and guiding on the many activities that are on offer.
Food: All food and drinks on tour are bought in local grocery stores and fresh produce markets which creates economic activity directly from tourism. In Mozambique, there are very few grocery stores, so the majority of food bought on tour is from local markets which are the only place for the subsistence farms to sell their excess produce. When eating at local restaurants we always try to take them to locally owned and run establishments – no large restaurant chains.
Local crafts and produce: At all local markets where fresh produce and crafts are sold and produced, we encourage the clients to barter with the local people. This not only allows the clients to get involved with the local way of life, and interact directly with the local people, but also provides them a platform to experience local life first hand. Having said that, we explain to the clients by bartering too hard for a good deal might seem like a lot of money at the time, but if the amount being haggled over is converted to either US$, Euro or GBP, it amounts to very little. This is the local livelihood and we advise them to keep this in mind at all times.
Accommodation: All accommodation (with the exception of National Parks) used along the way is locally owned, and only employ local people. This provides direct benefits to local people through employment, and also the provision of food and services in the local accommodation.
Charities: In Maun we support Sibandas Fine Art & Fabrics. This is a local community initiative to employ local women who produce hand crafted fabrics. This is a non-profit organisation, and all visits from our groups generate some revenue for the charity and if any clients buy some of the products, it ensures that the charity remains self sufficient.
Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre: We assist a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Springs, outside Johannesburg. Judy Davidson runs a licensed rehab centre from a small holding. She is an amazing person, dedicating her life to the welfare of animals and makes enormous personal sacrifices to live on this plot and care for sick and injured birds. A variety of birds are cared for, from injured barbets, doves, and crows to a brown snake eagle, a gymnogene, and a spotted eagle owl.
All birds are treated in a small makeshift clinic, and then kept in aviaries until they have recovered. Once able to fly, or care for themselves again, they are moved to a 'flight' aviary, for a period until they have regained strength. They are then released back into the wild. Those birds which are unable to be released are kept in large aviaries and fed through various donations. We assist the project with donations of practical equipment including shade netting, paint, etc. These are used to repair and maintain several of the existing aviaries.
Community
We visit wildlife areas in Zululand, Swaziland and the Kruger. The continued support of the reserves in Zululand and Swaziland ensure that these lesser known game reserves remain a viable source of income for the local community. Income generated from visitors goes directly back into the parks so that anti-poaching patrols can function, parks fences and road networks can be maintained, and the management of the reserve's wildlife assets can be correctly controlled and monitored.
In Kosi Bay, the age old tradition of using traditional fish traps is still in use, and this sustainable method of fishing is a practice that is not only interesting to see, but also shows us how using resources in a sustainable way can be very successful.
Wildlife interaction: In all wilderness areas (Mkuzi, Hlane & Kruger National Park) we educate our clients of the proper way to behave when we near wild animals. While some of the instructions might seem like common sense, but in the excitement of the moment they are often forgotten. Keep still in the vehicles or when on foot, keep quiet, no sudden movements, and most of all never create a situation where the animal feels threatened. We gauge how close we can get to the animal by how they react to the group's presence. In many instances, the best option is to keep still, and quite often the animal will approach the vehicle or group to satisfy their own curiosity. On the game walk in Hlane, our local ranger has an intimate knowledge of the wildlife in the reserve, and even knows the individual animal’s characters. This allows us to get close to the wildlife when on foot. A full briefing is given by the local ranger on the etiquette of bush walking.
Scuba Diving: On this tour, we have 3 chances along the way to enjoy scuba diving and snorkeling at Lake Malawi, Vilanculos & Inhambane. While most people who scuba dive have a healthy respect for the under-water environment, the tour leaders and local dive masters always remind divers not to touch any of the coral as it can cause irreparable damage, not to take anything from the ocean, and not to interfere with the aquatic life. We also follow a strict policy of not allowing anyone to dive who does not have the correct qualifications, and proof thereof to dive. Snorkelers are given the same instructions of how to behave with the aquatic life.
Low Impact tourism:
- Maximum group size of 12 clients & minimum of 4, means that at all destinations visited, we do not 'over run' the place that large groups can. Smaller groups create an intimate safari experience, and means that when we interact with local cultures and stay in environmentally sensitive areas, we do not leave a large footprint.
- Cooking on gas when feasible so that we don’t have to burn firewood which depletes limited resources.
- Requesting clients to purchase small wooden carvings curio instead of large pieces, again to conserve the forests around the carving markets.
- Ensuring that we take all of our rubbish out of wilderness areas and use proper waste disposal facilities on all tours (and in the workshop). Bottled Water: We encourage clients to drink the local clean drinkable tap water wherever possible in order to minimize the amount of plastic bottle waste produced by the purchase of bottled drinking water.
1of6
