From Here 2 Timbuktu

Aims
From Here 2 Timbuktu takes people on journeys across the Sahara and around west Africa. As the name suggests, the destination is remote and distant geographically, culturally, and philosophically.

From Here 2 Timbuktu aims to give its clients a perspective changing experience of modern, vibrant, progressing West Africa and to ensure that their trip has a positive impact on the amazing communities visited. From Here 2 Timbuktu believes that the best way forward for Africa is:

Fair trade

Support not aid

Education, education, education.

African solutions to African problems

These principles underpin my business practices, my advice to clients, and the nature of my support projects in destination communities. I welcome feedback and suggestions from suppliers and clients on how to best promote these principles.

Economic responsibility
All of my tours use operators local to the region of the country in which the tour is taking place. My Mali tours are operated by Mali Mystère Expeditions, a company based in Timbuktu. My northern Mali trips are run and hosted by a family from the remote region of Aguelhoc in the Adrar des Iforas mountains. My cruise trip in Senegal is operated by an established Senegalese company, La Compagnie du Fleuve, in Saint Louis in the mouth of the Senegal River. My Cameroon trips are partly hosted by the Pandrillus conservation project in Limbe and Calabar and partly by the remote community of Esu. I also have an operator from Limbe, Mukete Onyori of Ecotrek who organises my Dzangha Sanga trips.

Wherever additional guides or drivers are necessary such as when we visit villages or tribes not connected to the tour operator, they are taken from the community the tour is in at the time.

We always stay in locally owned hotels or guest houses. In the cities I have chosen one off hotels which are run and owned by people of the city and that are integrated into their immediate community. When we are in the villages we either pay local taxes or make a donation to the school as well as buying food and water and accommodation from any village in which we stay. I do not include meals in towns in my pricing to encourage clients to leave the group and go in search of local food away from the hotel.

Fruit, vegetables and meat or fish will be purchased fresh, en route, and from local suppliers. Where we have to stock up on preserved foods and staples we will buy through local retailers in the nearest town.

Environmental responsibility
In order to bring to our clients’ attention the importance of water in destination countries I suggest the following practices for my tours:

• Expect to have a bucket shower every 2 days when showers are not available.
• Communal hand wash bowls will be provided before meals.
• When possible and appropriate I encourage my clients to help fetch water once on a trip when in a village to underline the value of water in the community.
• From Here 2 Timbuktu provides back up emergency water on all tours but encourages clients to take responsibility for their own water in-take. We ask clients to buy bottled water as they go and to save the plastic bottles for the children to recycle.
• Wherever we come into contact with wildlife or marine ecosystems a conduct instruction will be given in-situ.
• Where possible From Here 2 Timbuktu tries to include a journey by public transport. This brings clients closer to African society and saves on fuel. It also introduces clients to a theme of my tours which is how the African way can at first seem unplanned and slow but often reveals itself to be the most logical, economic and resource-saving way.

In Cameroon I take people on primate conservation trips. Our host for a large part of my Cameroon tours is the Pandrillus NGO which has been instrumental in most of the conservation of the Nigeria/Cameroon border region for the past 18 years. I am looking at setting up gorilla experiences with the World Wildlife Fund and the World Conservation Society. Where clients go on treks into gorilla country here they are providing employment for guiding communities who once relied on hunting.

From Here 2 Timbuktu does not rent an office and does most of its marketing over the internet. I have no brochures and the only paper marketing that I rely on are A5 flyers. When I am in the UK I tend to use public transport or my motorbike. The only car I buy is a Toyota Landcruiser for my tours, but it is too expensive to use here!

Recycling:
There is very little refuse collection in Africa and consequently relatively little refuse. Africa has to be one of the world’s most recycled economies. Everything is reused if possible from old car doors to make roofs or plastic bottles to sell peanuts, petrol or use as funnels. I encourage my clients to observe and learn, to save scrap paper to light fires, to give plastic bottles to children and to reuse plastic bags. I discourage my clients from bringing to Africa “disposable” products, such as throw- away razors or hand wipes because in Africa they are not disposable!

Social responsibility
From Here 2 Timbuktu believes that the most equitable way to support destination communities is through education. All of my tours and bespoke trips directly support schools through consultation with their governing bodies. Together we assess where money could most effectively be spent.

From Here 2 Timbuktu commits itself to channelling 10% of net profits into education projects in the remote kingdom of Esu in the Northwest province of Cameroon, and in the nomadic community around Aguelhoc in the Sahara in northern Mali, both destination communities of my tours.

I am looking at setting up scholarships for achieving children in these two regions to help them firstly get their fees paid and then to support them in further education. I guarantee that 100% of any donation will go towards getting money to where it is intended, the only charges being banking fees. I will be providing this service free of charge on my web site but I also encourage my clients to donate a regular amount a year to support sustainable scholarships.