Kenya & Tanzania holiday, East Africa highlights

Planet

You stay at one of the few tented camps to be permitted within a national park - an area that is otherwise exclusively dedicated to the preservation of its wilderness and wildlife.

They work in cooperation with SENAPA (Serengeti National Parks Authority) regarding a re-afforestation tree-planting programme and also work in cooperation with SENAPA in maintaining and up-grading the roads in the park so as to keep the erosive practice of ‘off-road' driving to a minimum.

In terms of its own ecological ‘foot' print, the camp abides by a code of responsible practice in relation to: energy conservation (inverter systems have recently been installed so as to reduce the camp's use of diesel-fuelled generators), waste recycling (glass, plastics, ‘wet waste' and the distribution of food-waste to local pig-farmers), sewage disposal, air emissions, non-CFC use, pesticide-use, noise reduction and visual pollution. Wherever possible, local produce is featured on the menus.

Another camp in Tanzania has a has smoke arrestor to reduce carbon deposition in the atmosphere and a water harvester to accumulate rain water. It also uses a Soak pit sewage system to reduce waste.

People

The camps rely on the support of the human community that surrounds the wilderness areas, and rely on them for the provision of staff members, guides, dancers and entertainers.

They offer subsidized medical care to the local community - particularly in relation to maternal care and child-immunization; also in relation to HIV/AIDS sensitization. They are also presently working on supplying a dedicated healthcare clinic for the area.

They create both temporary and permanent jobs for the local community and offer training and work-exposure programmes for school leavers.

Interface between guests and the local villages is encouraged - hosting tours and promoting the sale of handicraft items. Camps are an integral part of the local Cultural Tourism Programme, which offers visits to neighbouring local communities and schools and talks on the heritage and tradition of the local Ikoma and Sikuma tribes.

In order to promote the overall health of their workforce, the camp has established an Employee Wellness Programme, which aims to address the holistic health needs of not only their staff, but also of the communities that surround the camps. In essence, the programme is devoted to reducing the incidence of accident and illness in the workplace, promoting healthy lifestyles, maximizing potential, and promoting optimum quality of life.