Sustainable Travel Africa

Introduction:

Responsible travel is the need of the hour. Travel companies are trying to spread how their and the tourists’ habits affect the environment. Sustainable travel means emphasizing low environmental impact and social responsibility in our travels. This type of traveling not only aims to give tourists a memorable experience but also gives something to the locals of the places we are visiting. Ecotourism and sustainable travel go hand in hand, but, the former’s goal is to offer travelers to take in the natural landscapes, the local culture, the wildlife, and other similar aspects. Sustainable travel is encouraged to conserve natural resources for future generations.

Why Is Sustainable Travel Important?

Sustainable tourism finances ecological conservation programs, to help with economic development, empower local communities, and garner respect for diverse cultures and human rights. Such a form of travel has become crucial for wildlife conservation and the goal is to make sure that future generations can experience destinations that were not disturbed by human intervention.

Exploring Africa Responsibly:

The three pillars of sustainable travel are:

• Protection of cultural heritage. The restoration of historical buildings and the protection of endangered animals can be included in this criteria. Many travel companies seek the help of tourists for the latter in several cases.
• Promotion of recycling and reusing.
• To offer observable financial and social advantages to nearby communities.

Here are some tips on how you can sustainably explore this beautiful continent:

 

Using Cheaper Means Of Transportation

You can reduce carbon emissions by taking fewer flights to Africa. Transportation takes energy, let’s be honest, but some modes are more efficient and cleaner than the other means. Train safaris can be very rewarding. With the help of luxury trains, you can explore the country in all its glory comfortably. In addition to that, train journeys give you new and unique access to the continent’s landscapes. You can stop for game drives and spot the Big 5. All in all, using cheap transportation modes such as the railway significantly helps in conserving nature.

 

Staying In A Private Conservancy Or Reserve

A conservancy is a specific type of land and wildlife conservation that involves the landowners and the travel companies entering into a lease agreement. Numerous small-scale farmers and residents who own small parcels of land combine their properties and sign contracts with safari operators in exchange for monetary compensation. The operators also offer other forms of assistance such as healthcare and educational programs, or grazing and livestock management.

Private conservancies directly contribute to conservation and incentivize the communities to protect the continent’s flora and fauna. Conservancies offer the following perks that are not usually available when it comes to national parks, such as crowd-free game-viewing, fly-camping, and off-road game drives among others.

 

Trying Walking Safaris

Any landscape takes on a new perspective when you walk to explore it, and Africa is no exception. Signing up for this type of safari can lead to a physical, mental, and spiritual rejuvenation that you may not have if you were in a safari vehicle. These experiences can be predators stalking their potential prey, hiding behind bushes, animals sizing each other up before the showdown, and more. These walking safaris can vary from a simple stroll to a journey from one camp to another that can take several days. Canoeing, horseriding, and cycling are other effective ways to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide during safaris. Many lodges offer electric safari vehicles to achieve this goal.

 

Promotion Of Sustainable Agriculture Projects

Travel companies are trying to reduce soil erosion, and deforestation, and maintain natural habitat. Sustainable tourism can come to the aid of local efforts to build healthier food systems. The aim is to help the communities adopt more sustainable agricultural practices like beekeeping, agroforestry, organic farming, and mushroom cultivation. 

Women’s programs help in the promotion of wealth and economic well-being by helping them earn money through beekeeping and honey-selling among other things.

In comparison to the rural citizens of Tanzania, the people living in the cities have more systemic inflammation. The city-dwellers have an active immune system and have a higher risk for lifestyle diseases that are associated with Western eating habits. Supporting rural and community-based sustainable agriculture projects can lead to healthier eating habits and bring about economic stability in rural communities.

 

Eco-Friendly Safari Lodges And Campsites

Many safari lodges are using renewable sources of energy such as wind turbines and solar power to reduce their carbon footprint. They try to recycle all of the wastewater, train and employ locals, and use on-site organic kitchen gardens. African safaris are trying to keep plastic use as minimal as possible and promote the use of reusable water bottles and biodegradable packaging.

The Xigera Safari Lodge in the Okavango Delta in Botswana is the largest solar plant in the country. It supplies over 95% of the lodge’s daily energy. In addition to this, many of the lodges that run on solar power use rainwater harvesting systems to reduce water consumption and use biogas plants to convert waste into cooking gas. These lodges work with the local communities to give them training, employment, and educational opportunities.

 

Taking The Less-Travelled Road

You will only get a limited experience of Africa if all you go to are the resorts. It has many unique destinations which should be visited at least in life. It’s not wrong to do the conventional but that is not all. However, there are places where the crowd is not a lot, if not completely devoid of them, but they still pack a punch. Just because something is not documented or not as documented does not mean that it should be discarded as an attraction. The decision is of course yours, though. All we want to say is if you mingle with the local community, you can learn about new places to visit that you probably haven’t seen on TV, magazines, or anywhere else. Also, the best time to avoid crowds is during the low season.

Conclusion:

Sustainable has been gaining significant traction and we hope that it will spread more in the future. It can improve your travel experience and help alleviate poverty. Tourism accounts for one in ten jobs worldwide and more than half of the extreme poor in the world live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sustainable travel can offer them employment opportunities and preserve local culture and traditions. Through sustainable travel, we can make at least some headway in combating the biodiversity crisis that is causing excessive usage of natural resources and the reduction in animal population among others.