Vic Falls to Johannesburg tour, Southern Africa

Planet

The very ethos of our style of travel is responsible; small groups on fully escorted tours, experiencing the very best of a region, a culture and a landscape, with a friendly local hand guiding the way. Our itineraries are designed to give our travellers real life experiences without compromising the part of the world we are exploring; to travel responsibly is at the heart of our commitment as a global tour operator.

On this African adventure you’ll journey from thundering Victoria Falls, through the plains and delta of Botswana before reaching our final destination of Johannesburg. Despite taking in a variety of locales, every aspect of this trip has been designed to minimise any negative aspects of our journey and maximise the positives. Utilising the concept of low impact and positive impact tourism, you can be certain that your visit will benefit local economies by providing employment opportunities and supporting local industry and initiative, and do its utmost to protect the environment, contributing to conservation efforts as we go.

This trip takes in a number of National Parks where the fees from our admittance contributes directly to the conservation of these fragile habitats. We also visit the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, where local people have worked hard to covert a former hunting area into a conservation project; it’s a fascinating visit which benefits both the local communities who operate it and contributes to the protection of highly endangered white rhinos

There are some projects which claim to act towards conservation efforts that we do not support that you may encounter. During our trip to the Victoria Falls area you will notice businesses offering an optional 'Walk with the Lions' experience. We recommend our travellers’ bypass this activity as it is contrary to our responsible travel guidelines that state we 'actively discourage the participation by our groups in activities which exploit animals - wild or domestic.' Professional wildlife conservation organisations, including Born Free and the World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA), advise that habituating lions to humans can shorten their life and may result in lion-human conflict issues. While there is some merit in the argument that the money that you pay for the activity goes towards lion research, we feel that the negative impacts on the lions' rehabilitation far outweigh this.

Assisting the conservation of these fragile environments isn’t just achieved through financial contributions. We believe it is the responsibility of every traveller to the region, and as such we encourage all our groups to journey considerately and with care. Your group leader will also be on hand to assist with the appropriate disposal of rubbish en route and at our campsites, recycling wherever possible, and we encourage all our travellers to use refillable water bottles whilst on tour.

The sale of bottled water contributes to an enormous environmental problem around the world. In addition to the water in bottles, the production of a 1 litre plastic bottle takes 2 litres of water and 200ml of oil. A large proportion end up in limited landfill or discarded in waterways and natural environments. By bringing your own bottle, you’ll be able to using the chemically sterilized water stored in the purpose-built storage tank or in water jerry cans in your overland vehicle. You're free to refill your bottle as many times a day as you like.

People

This is a camping trip, and the sites we use will be operated either by the National Parks or by local individuals, putting the financial benefits of our journey immediately back into the local economy and the parks we are visiting. All food purchased en route will be fresh and sourced locally using small suppliers and vendors in the towns we are passing through. On the occasions that there is a chance to dine in a restaurant, we tend to prefer smaller, traditional restaurants again which are owned by local operators.

You will be accompanied throughout by two crew members, a group leader and driver, both of whom will be recruited from the regions through which we are travelling and professionally trained to our own high standards. Their inside knowledge of Botswana will prove invaluable, from your drivers’ knowledge of the roads to your leader’s local insights from wildlife facts, to the best places to purchase authentic local handicrafts to the best places to find favourite regional specialities!