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As a part of our continued commitment to responsible tourism, we operate this trip in a way that aims to reduce impacts and to give as much back as possible to the local community.
For 5 nights of the trip we will be camping and leaders ensure that we minimise impact as much as possible by clearing camping area after use and managing water usage. We stay in some campsites that are owned by the local community. For example we stay at the Aba Huab campsite near Twyfelfontein, which is owned by the Dama people so by staying here we are directly helping to support the local community. Projects like this are supported by NACOBTA (Namibia Community Based Tourism Association) – a non profit membership organisation that supports communities in developing tourism enterprises in Namibia. The campsite at Sesriem has introduced a recycling system which clients are encouraged to use.
The hotel we use in Swakopmund is locally run and guests are asked to limit water usage as they are in a desert environment where water is a scarce and valuable resource. Produce is bought locally on tour to help the local economy benefit from tourism. When we visit sites such as Twyfelfontein we employ a local Dama guide to help the local community to benefit from tourism to the area. Twenty-five percent of all park entrance fees paid are reinvested by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Namibia through the Game Products Trust Fund into essential infrastructure and services related to tourism in the country’s parks.
We have worked with our operator to help train staff in all aspects of their jobs, thereby investing in the people to help improve their knowledge and future prospects. We use local leaders on this trip and the operator runs an annual workshop with its leaders, which includes Responsible Tourism training. The leaders will give a briefing on Responsible Tourism issues to help you understand how you can help reduce you impact and maximise the benefits to the local communities from your visit. We limit the group size to 12 to reduce cultural and environmental impacts.
We have at our offices worked to reduce our carbon footprint through a reduction of energy use and energy conservation measures. We also actively try to reduce the waste produced by having active reduction and recycling policies in place. We run annual staff workshops on Responsible Tourism. Global warming is a reality and to help you make a difference by reducing the carbon dioxide that is produced when you travel we offer a chance to carbon balance your flights. We encourage all our clients to do this and do so for all our staff travel. Go on do your bit!
The sales manager of this small group operator can still remember watching his first charging elephant in Africa with his father when he was 9 years old. He believes the world is the greatest classroom. A surprising amount of the staff, as well as some customers, have met their partners on trips and many have teenagers and younger children. They actually go on the holidays they provide with their families and so know exactly what works and what doesn’t. These active holidays will broaden your children’s horizons as well as ensure they sleep at the end of the day.
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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!
