Ethiopia small group holiday

Environment

We have a strict environmental policy to make sure that the environments we visit are not damaged in any way. Our “Leave No Trace” ethic is applied to each one of our trips, and as a responsible tour operator, it is something we are careful and steadfast about promoting. Each one of our guides are trained to uphold, promote and put into practice such responsible behaviour, especially in wilderness areas or whilst traveling to UNESCO heritage sites, which many of our trips undoubtedly do. We attempt to reduce plastic bottle use wherever possible by promoting use of reusable bottles. We understand this is not always possible in countries where tap water is not safe to drink.

We attempt to reduce plastic bottle use wherever possible by promoting use of reusable and filtered water bottles. Our partnership with Water-To-Go provides a discount on filtered water bottles to our clients. We do not provide water from plastic bottles to our clients in country but always ensure there is regular access to drinking water on our tours.

By keeping the group size to a maximum of 12, we can also minimise the human impact on the fragile sites and ecosystems we visit.

Community

Life for the majority of Ethiopia’s 73 million people is harsh, even by the standards of Africa’s poorest nations. The average Ethiopian person earns less than $100 per year and will not live beyond 44 years of age. North Wollo is amongst the poorest areas of the country, depending largely on rain fed subsistence agriculture. Our guide Mark established TESFA - a local charity organisation that was set up in 2003 with the specific aim of developing community-based tourism in Ethiopia WITH communities.

By putting communities in charge of their own tourism resources, payment goes directly into the communities - 60% for the communities, 25% to a local guides service (that also transmits bookings to the communities), and 15% to cover administrative costs. After the communities have paid their staffing costs and for the consumables (food, toiletpaper, soap etc) the remainder is split between profit and a fund to allow for reinvestment and depreciation. The profit is then put into a community fund for the whole community to decide how it should be spent, such as the purchase of a community grain grinding mill.

Our foundation is proud to support Camara, an international charity and social enterprise that uses technology to deliver 21st century skills to improve education in disadvantaged communities around the world. In 2012, with £2500 initial funding from the foundation, Camara was able to install 25 recycled computers, loaded with educational software, and create a new eLearning Centre at Aba’ala Secondary School in the remote Afar region of northern Ethiopia. Teachers from the school have also been trained in basic digital literacy skills, simple hardware maintenance and how to use computers to teach other subjects.

In 2015 we sponsored our second school with a further £2500 to establish an elearning classroom at the Bruh Tesfa Primary School, in Addis Ababa. These students now have access to affordable technology and are learning new skills to improve their education and ultimately gain better future employment.

We are continuing to raise money to install more e-learning centres in other Ethiopian schools.

On each Group tour we use local ground handlers. This means that all operational costs go directly into the local economy and help improve employment opportunities in remote regions. Such support can also be seen in our incorporation of homestays, locally owned hotels, family run restaurants and the services of local guides and drivers into our itineraries, which ensures that the money you spend with us goes directly into the local economy and local community.