South Africa architecture tour

Environment

LIGHT STEPS
We believe in leaving only our footprints, conserving natural resources and preserving our cultural heritage.
We uphold the the philosophy of ‘Giving Back’ by making a voluntary donation to Food and Trees for Africa to offset your impact, calculated on your carbon footprint accumulated by your journey to, from and within South Africa.
FTFA is a non profit, national, greening organisation that arranges the procurement, transport, delivery, training, some short term employment and planting of trees with beneficiary communities.

We abide by the golden rule guidelines of the UK's Friends of Conservation, with local additions that in the natural environment include: - not picking flowers or removing items from the landscape,- feeding animals, - littering or deviating from paths, and in the built environment: - not wasting water, - being ostentatious with possessions or behaving disrespectfully among other cultures.

ECONOMIC STEPS
We select local initiatives such as family run hotels, owner managed restaurants and home grown suppliers, so as to unlock the economic potential of the tourism industry.
We endorse the South Africa Sustainability Seafood Initiative abiding by their approved seafood guidelines.
We support The Biodiversity & Wine Initiative that applies green guidelines to the wine industry, by preferentially choosing its members when selecting wine estates to visit.
We offer add-on travel options to extend your journey so as to mitigate the impact of long haul flights and to minimise your carbon footprint.

ECO-FRIENDLY STEPS
Administratively we undertake to lighten our impact wherever possible, by selecting low impact options, using biodegradable materials, applying recycling practices, implementing 'turn it off' policies and intentionally limiting the size of our groups.

Community

OPERATIONAL STEPS
We subscribe to Fair Trade principles, being accountable custodians and an ethical code of conduct. Our tour leaders, guides and drivers are officially accredited by South African standards. We reimburse associates commensurately for their time.

SOCIAL STEPS
We are a member of the Open Africa network of Afrikatourism, a collaborative movement linking the splendours of Africa in a network of tourism routes from Cape to Cairo, with the aim of creating jobs in synergy with conservation.
We strive to promote all that is unique to the Cape and South Africa, and to act as ”good news ambassadors.”

We seek out service providers who share our vision, such as: Mogalakwena Artist’s Retreat, as well as initiatives such as !Khwa ttu San Cultural and Educational Centre that highlight issues facing minority cultures; Solms Delta Museum for its oral history focus; Grootbos Private Nature Reserve for its dedication to the Cape Floral Kingdom and eco tourism benchmarking; Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Retreat for preserving San/Bushmen rock art.