Serengeti walking safari in Tanzania
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
Throughout Tanzania, we are working in areas where both people, wilderness and wildlife all co exist. We recognize that for communities to protect the natural resources that surround them they must see a direct link between the resource they are custodians of and financial reward. This is the optimum model whereby environmental conservation objectives are achieved through sustainable tourism development.
The exclusive areas referred to above work through the payment of a significant annual fee to secure sole access to those areas. The annual fee is part of a larger contract, and within these contracts are agreements to work towards the protection of the local wildlife and environment through protection of certain areas and restriction of certain types of activity, such as agriculture. The communities then receive direct benefits in terms of employment of local guides, scouts, guards, as well as direct per guest per day fees, which all go towards the local community. Hence, there is a positive and ongoing relationship between non-consumptive tourism, conservation and community development.
Community
Community based tourism is now a major part of the solution in Tanzania providing the local Masai population with a viable and sustainable way of life. By joining our trips in Tanzania, you will be contributing to their ongoing growth and success. All of our in-country partners are engaged in various forms of conservation and some have entered into specific Community Based Tourism Agreements with several Maasai villages providing them with the means for them to realise the positive benefits of tourism and, at the same time, helping to secure wildlife corridors and dispersal areas.
In these areas the combination of exclusivity, wilderness, cultural interaction and game is a unique and intensive experience. For the first time visitor to Tanzania these can be a far richer experience than a 'normal' safari, and for the seasoned Africa visitor these areas can be an entire safari in their own right. Arrangements are similar in the Rift Valley Area, whereby access is being granted to core areas which are forest reserves, and these fit particularly well with more 'regular' safaris, such that a couple of days can be spent hiking and fly camping away from the normal tourist routes, being led by Maasai guides and seeing a unique perspective to Tanzania.
