Responsible Tourism

Our Ethos

We’re committed to preserving the wildernesses and wildlife that we love, doing what we can both here in the UK and on the ground in Africa. As a young company we want to ensure the magical places we visit and the animals that astonish us time and again are there for future generations to enjoy as much as we do. Crucial to this is not only doing what we can to protect the wildlife and environment, but also ensuring that our friends, partners and communities on the ground benefit from tourism in a long-term, sustainable way.

In The Office

We use 100% renewable electricity in our HQ in Edinburgh, using a green energy supplier.
All of our team walk to work.
We aim to use recycled paper wherever possible.
We recycle all of our ink cartridges and all scrap paper (though we try and keep this to a minimum).
We try to minimise our resource usage by sending all of our itineraries out online, and having a detailed website rather than a brochure. Unless otherwise requested, the only paper documentation our travellers receive is the final document pack. Fortunately not everywhere we send our travellers to has easy access to the internet, so hard copies of travel documents are still very much needed!

Out in Africa

We work with some of the most environmentally friendly and socially responsible lodges and camps in Africa. Many of these view being low impact as an essential part of their operations. For example, most of the excellent seasonal camps in the Serengeti can be entirely removed in a week or so, leaving the land to regenerate with no trace they were ever there.
We try to inform our travellers and encourage them to choose sustainable accommodation options. We include ‘giving back’ sections for the camps and lodges listed on our website so you can see what they’re doing for the local community and conservation. A fantastic example of this is how the camps in the Lower Zambezi have worked hard to make this the first carbon neutral national park in the world.
We aim to promote responsible tourism and maintain partnerships with local companies in Africa who use local guides and drivers. Many of these support extended families on their salary.
Where we have found projects that we particularly admire, we’ve provided direct financial support- for example for every traveller we send to South Africa we make a donation to Uthando, an award-winning charity supporting some of the poorest communities around Cape Town.

What You Can Do

Take reusable shopping bags and water bottles with you (some lodges will provide water bottles for you). Many of the countries we work with have already banned plastic bags, and bans on single-use plastic aren’t far behind.
Leave any excess packaging in your home country.
Take environmentally friendly bath products with you- this is especially important in sensitive areas like Lake Tanganyika or Lake Malawi.
Bring back any used batteries to recycle properly if there are no facilities locally.
Reuse your towels and bedding in your accommodation rather than asking to have them changed each day (camps will often encourage you to do this anyway).
Turn off lights and electric items when not needed.
Ask us to plan your trip so that you can spend time in the community. Supporting locally-owned shops will inject some cash back into the area. Many safari camps will also stock locally made goods in the camp shops, often benefiting local women’s co-operatives, but do ask the camp manager who benefits before you buy!
We’re thrilled to see camps slowly moving towards using electric safari vehicles and even electric boats. However, you could also try a walking safari, a riding safari or a walking safari instead.
Many of the camps we work with support Pack for a Purpose, so if you have a little extra space in your luggage, consider packing school supplies or women’s sanitary products. They’re not glamorous, but they do make a huge difference.

If you have more ideas as to how we can help, please contact us!