Responsible Travelling

Responsible Traveling

African Travels is a Social Enterprise. Social Enterprises are businesses that trade to tackle social problems, improve communities, people’s life chances, or the environment. They make their money from selling goods and services in the open market, but they reinvest their profits back into the business or the local community. So when they profit, society profitsIn short, a social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than maximizing profits for external shareholders. 

Africa leaves its mark on you, not you on Africa

  • We work together with local partners
  • Our local partners reach further than just the work place
  • We make as small an impact as possible on the environment and as large an impact as possible on the development of the local employees and surrounding communities
  • We advice how to travel as environmetally friendly
  • We use fresh ingredients from the local markets or buy at local grocery stores
  • We camp
  • When we eat out, we use local restaurants
  • In Kenya you contribute to the Seedballs project. Low cost & highly efficient forest regeneration
  • We recycle all water bottles on our private safaris
Whilst travelling with African Travels we aim to allow you to experience new people and places, whilst respecting and preserving the cultural integrity of the people and the natural state of the environments we visit.

How to travel environmentaly friendly

Litter

When packing, bear in mind that relatively little commercial recycling is done in Africa. Where possible remove packaging before you go to Africa and use biodegradable products. Whilst on the road, retain your litter until you reach a town or city where it can be disposed of safely.

Water may seem plentiful at the time you are travelling on your overland trip, however many people in Africa are totally reliant on seasonal surface water that is within walking distance. They share this limited resource with both their domestic livestock and the wildlife for which Africa is famous. With this is mind, we promote conservative water usage and support the use of environmentally friendly cleaning products. We encourage clients to drink the local clean drinkable tap water wherever possible in order to minimize the amount of plastic bottle waste produced by the purchase of bottled drinking water. 

Wherever possible we support the economies of the many rural areas through which we travel. We encourage our clients to purchase local food for their lunches and we also encourage visiting in villages where souvenirs can be purchased directly from the craftsmen or women. Purchase of products produced from endangered and/or protected fauna and flora is discouraged. When buying curio at the markets, we request our clients to purchase small wooden carvings instead of large pieces. This is to conserve the forests in the area. 

Cultures & Respect

Consideration should be taken of the customs and beliefs of the people you meet on your travels. Some cultures have beliefs regarding having their photograph taken, so it is polite to ask permission first. Attitudes with regards to clothing are often quite conservative, so your dress code should take this into consideration. To ensure that you don’t offend, revealing garments like g-string bikinis should be avoided. Religious beliefs and events should always be respected. Trying to understand the customs and beliefs of the people you meet will enhance your travel experience and broaden your perspective.

Fires

Many people in Africa are reliant on woodfires for cooking. As the population has increased the impact of this is of growing concern. Whilst barbeques are an integral part of any African experience, we frequently utilize gas cookers in order to help preserve the increasingly scarce wood supply.

Flora & Fauna

You may pass through some fragile and unique ecosystems that deserve particular respect. Some immensely important concerns, such as the preservation of endangered animals like the mountain gorillas are obvious. Less obvious perhaps is the preservation of all habitats as they support a myriad of species, as is the preservation of lesser known species of fauna and flora. Take care where you walk stick to established paths, and leave things as beautiful and untouched as you find them. On all game drives, our trained and qualified guides ensure that our groups interact with wildlife in the appropriate way. Slow movements, no talking and to respect the animals “personal” boundaries. Our philosophy is that we are visitors in the amazing places that we visit, and we do not want our presence to impact the wildlife and environment in any negative way. 

All entrance fees for the National Parks in Africa are used by the local authorities to maintain the condition and infrastructure of the National Parks, and run regular anti-poaching patrols.  Read more about our Animal Welfare Policy

‘Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.’

African Experts

We have worked and lived what we sell. We give honest advise from our personal experience.

24/7 Support

Personal support from an African expert, before, during and after your trip. 

Future proof travelling

We operate in the most sustainable way

More than 30 years experience

We have selected our tours personally. We want to make sure you experience Africa in the best possible way. 

Travel Information

We consider it our duty to let you well prepared board the airplane to start your journey to Africa. Many of our tours come with a Tour Dossier with additional information for your trip. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. Below are some guidelines to get you started with your preparations. 

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