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Community
All of our tours are designed to get you out into the local community and meeting the local people. However, on this tour you will experience probably the most involved cultural interaction. While in the Masai Mara there are plenty of opportunities to interact with the local people who for the most part are from the Masai tribe. We of course meet the Masaii people in towns and at some of the local markets we visit in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. But while in the Mara you have the opportunity to visit one of the traditional villages or Manyata. This is a great chance to meet local people and see firsthand how the Masai live day to day, while being welcomed into their huts and playing with the kids is great fun. Also at night while in camp there may be an opportunity to participate in some dancing (usually around a fire) where you can test your jumping skills. You can also help to support the local economy by purchasing handicrafts. There is also an included visit to a Pygmy village, where you will have the chance to meet the local people, learn about their culture and purchase locally made handicrafts.
Your tour leader will introduce you to many local eateries and bars throughout the tour, helping you discover the authentic local cuisine and put money back into the local economy.
Local guides will also lend their expertise to the journey, explaining the historical background and cultural significance of the places we visit. We choose only the best trained guides, who will help you to appreciate the importance of respecting the environment and understand the conservation efforts undertaken at various parks. Your entrance fees will help to support the conservation and protection of native animal and bird species, as well as supporting the local economy.
Environment
Transport
Africa is an extraordinary continent and deserves all the time you can give it. With spectacular scenery, amazing wildlife viewing opportunities and diverse cultures, as well as a variety of adrenaline activities to enjoy, this is the perfect place to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Taking a longer overland expedition over 70 days with only one return long-haul flight will help to significantly reduce your carbon footprint compared to taking multiple short trips over time.
Our expedition vehicles are very modern, clean, comfortable, and professionally custom-built in Cape Town to cope with the rugged road conditions of Africa. The powerful engines eat up the roads and cope easily with hill climbs, giving you shorter travelling days and emitting fewer harmful emissions into the air. Our vehicles are regularly serviced and well-maintained in order to minimise carbon emissions and limit the chance of breakdowns. It is unlikely that you will see expedition vehicles of a higher standard anywhere in East & Southern Africa. Photos are available on our website.
Interacting with wildlife
Our road crew and clients are asked to adhere a list of guidelines when visiting areas with delicate natural ecologies and interacting with wildlife, whether at national parks or reserves. The full list can be found in the responsible travel policy on our website, but includes keeping to speed limits, parking in allocated areas, following instructions of local guides, maintain legal distance from animals, not touching, feeding or following animals, approaching animals quietly and carefully, avoid using flash photography, don’t support attractions which profit from the misery of captured animals, and don’t be tempted to purchase anything made of animal parts.
Mountain gorillas
With only 700 or so mountain gorillas left in the world, seeing them in the wild is something only a few people will ever have the chance to experience. On this tour you will have the chance to meet members of a troop which have been habituated to the presence of humans in the wild. Although gorillas are endangered, an integrated programme of education, tourism and anti-poaching measures has changed people’s attitudes to gorillas and is making a positive difference to their population numbers. Due to the strict controls imposed by the Office Rwandais du Tourism et des Parcs Nationaux to protect the gorillas, only a maximum of 8 people are allowed to visit each habituated group per day with local guides. This means that while the gorillas are very well protected, permits are at a premium, particularly in the high season months of July and August. It is important to book well in advance to be sure of your place.
Camping
Africa is an amazing place to camp. We have selected well-equipped established campsites to ensure you have the most authentic experience of Africa possible with the lowest possible environmental impact. Surrounded by the sounds of the wilderness around you, you’ll sleep under vast dark skies unpolluted by city lights and have some of the best nights’ sleep of your life.
We aim to ‘take only photos and leave only footprints’ wherever we camp. Our tour leaders and drivers are expected to adhere to the following guidelines when camping:
- Use existing camping sites
- Keep campsites small and focus activity on previously cleared areas. Do not disturb vegetation
- Do not urinate near or into streams or dump chemicals into the water – use the toilet and ablution facilities provided. Avoid using soaps with phosphates and don’t wash while you’re swimming if the fresh waterway is likely to be polluted for local people downstream.
- Be considerate of other campers and keep the noise down at night-time
Learn more about our responsible travel policy
We have a full Responsible Travel policy available on our website, which our reservations team will email to you as a link when you book. It’s full of practical tips for responsible travellers and details our company’s commitment to minimising our impact on the people and the places that we visit. We also encourage all our clients to offset the carbon emissions of their international flights with international conservation charity World Land Trust. We encourage all travellers to do their share to reduce the impact of their travel on the environment.
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!
