Zimbabwe triangle safari

Planet

Everything possible is recycled and food and goods are purchased locally where possible to minimise the camps carbon footprint. When you stay at the camps, a portion of the daily rate you have paid is donated to the Painted Dog Organisation - also known as African Wild Dogs, they are unique to Africa and an incredible endangered species. The Painted Dog Organisation works to help with their conservation, rehabilitation and prevent unnecessary poaching.

Hwange was declared a national Park in 1929 and is now a safe home to a huge population of wildlife and thanks to conservation efforts; the population of elephants has increased significantly. By visiting the park with responsible local guides and camps, you are helping to maintain the natural environment for its inhabitants.

Our Zimbabwe team is proudly local, with roots that stretch from Bulawayo to Masvingo, from Victoria Falls to the Eastern Highlands. With satellite offices in Victoria Falls and Bulawayo and decades of combined experience in travel, hospitality and tourism, this team lives and breathes the country they promote. When you plan a Zimbabwe safari with us, you are working with people who grew up here, built their careers here and continue to shape the future of tourism here.

Mother Africa has assisted financially Friends of Hwange Trust in pumping water for the Parks wildlife. All waste water at the 2 lodges is recycled.
They have launched a variety of projects, including recycling, vermi-culture and tree planting at each lodge, aiming to make them more eco-friendly and minimize their environmental impact.
Mother Earth also supports the Lion researchers in Hwange, buying tranquilisers and other materials and they return the favour by giving talks to guests at Ivory Lodge about the work they are doing.

The Southern Ground Hornbill Research project is dedicated to the long-term conservation of this iconic bird in Zimbabwe, through research on the bird's breeding ecology, education about its importance and sustained action to preserve its habitat. Their key aims are:
To monitor Southern Ground Hornbill breeding and other activity over a period of time not less than five years.
To investigate variables relating to nest choice and construction, nest tenure, diet, territory size, breeding success, interaction with other bird species and human-bird interactions.
To understand how interventions to enhance population breeding success such as providing artificial nests where necessary and collecting and hand-rearing the second chick (which often dies of starvation) for later release into areas where they are currently locally extinct. This is culturally sensitive.
To reestablish woodland areas by encouraging communities to set up indigenous nurseries and managing these woodland areas for recreating nesting habitat for the birds in the long term future.

By staying at the lodges on this itinerary, you are directly contributing to this project.

In the Hwange area, Mother Earth have recently funded the electrification of Mabale Clinic while they conduct regular anti-poaching patrols. Mother Africa has also assisted financially Friends of Hwange Trust in pumping water for Parks wildlife.

We work with local suppliers in Zimbabwe and employ local guides on this itinerary.

People

Donating Time
Financial Investment in the welfare of NGOs and charitable organisations is a large part of what we do but we also give our time and lots of it.

Every year our team donates sizable woman-hours to community projects. Sometimes our involvement means supporting other community fund-raising initiatives: The Amazing Race saw our teams pitted against each other in fierce competition. More often that not, it’s about we pitching in to get things done. We have renovated buildings, put in IT infrastructure, created gardens and planted vegetable patches, sorted out libraries, even built jungle gyms.

Community is integral to Zimbabwe’s culture and our team is asked to contribute to at least one community initiative during the year. Their passion and commitment to this far exceeds our expectations. Our staff also donate time and energy to mobilising support from our community with the annual blanket and clothing drive where we call for donations of these items. At Christmas time, you will find us outside our local supermarkets, asking for food donations to go towards hampers for the elderly.

Fund Raising
Money isn’t everything but it really, really helps. Our charitable fund is managed by a specialist NGO called Travel for Impact. Working at grassroots level to understand the needs of the communities, it ensures the money that we and you donate makes a real and measurable impact in the lives of those who need it most.

The Bed Night Levy

One of our most successful initiatives has been the Bed Night Levy. Participating agents levy a minimum of 1 US$ per night booked. With hundreds of bookings a year, it soon mounts up which means our agents and their guests are genuinely changing people’s lives through travel.

It’s the holiday that makes everyone happy.

The Bed Night Bank

The fabulously generous safari operators we work with donate nights in their lodges and camps free of charge. We then sell these bed nights on and the money raised goes to help charities and NGOs.

The guests know that the cost of their stay in Zimbabwe has been donated to local charities and we understand that this makes their adventure here even more special. They love that they are making a difference to the communities they interact with while visiting.

Supporting women
Yes, our male staff complement has grown over the years (we’re all for equal employment), however we remain a majority female operated organisation. We feel strongly about woman empowerment and our SRI reflects this. The beautiful beaded bracelets travellers receive as a welcome gift when they arrive are made by a local woman’s empowerment initiative, one of several supported by us.

We focus our efforts on local projects that enable local people.

Because we invest our time as well as our money, the organisations we support are precious to us. We know the people whose lives will be made better by each dollar we raise and each hour we invest. It’s personal.