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With the world gradually reopening, one may feel compelled to fulfill all those postponed travel plans. While we support all trips, we urge that you use these travel resolutions to be more careful in 2022.
As frightening as the pandemic has been, stories of strangers helping others have provided some consolation. As we approach the conclusion of 2021, we must carry the sense of togetherness and empathy that we have developed over the last two years with us. To fulfill our travel goals, we must all make an effort to increase our awareness of our unique impact on the environment and fellow human beings.
Sustainable travel is unlike any other travel experience. With the help of sustainable camps, travelers are thrust into their surrounding environment and are led on a journey into an educational and incredible experience. Choosing to stay at a sustainable camp, affords you the opportunity to learn about the local people, their environment, including the wildlife and ecosystems surrounding these communities. Choosing to stay at a sustainable camp also helps to ensure that you are travelling and positively contributing to your surrounding environment.
Our lodges are all built as semi-permanent structures using sustainable materials. Our structures can be constructed and taken apart easily, showing they have low-impact on the surrounding area. Our goal is to leave a minimal environmental footprint where we operate.
Tourism can have a favorable effect on the economy’s Gross Domestic Product, employment opportunities, national income, and international trade. You can contribute to this cause by choosing to lodge at camps that employ locals. For example, all of African Bush Camps’ staff (guides, hosts, chefs) are local to the communities in which they operate.
This ensures that we are empowering communities through job creation. We’ve had many staff members climb the ladder from backhand kitchen staff or mechanics, working their way up to becoming professional guides, hosts, or managers.
If you’ve been following renewable energy trends over the past few years, solar energy is the new buzz word. Hotels, camps, and lodges can generate electricity from solar panels installed on rooftops or on the ground. If you’re planning to travel soon, consider booking with camps that use renewable energy sources.
Let go of unnecessary luggage and travel lighter in 2022. It will save you time and money and require less commitment. Travelling lighter is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint. Begin by selecting a lightweight luggage set and carefully considering the contents. Bring clothing that you can reuse and is easy to wash on the go. Leave bulkier goods such as camping equipment at home and rent them locally. Eliminate needless packaging and place toiletries in tiny, reusable containers.
Nowadays, it’s common for us to be constantly busy, racing around, and operating at a breakneck rate. Travel should be a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of daily life, but all too frequently, we plan holidays that are even more frenetic than our daily lives.
Slow down by spending more time in one location rather than cramming in trips to all of the tourist attractions. Consider taking a single long-stay vacation every year rather than several shorter vacations. This will enable you to have a more complete experience of the trip and develop stronger bonds. Slowing down also reduces the quantity of emissions generated by commuting between multiple locations. Believe us when we say that you will thank yourself when you come home revitalized, rather than feeling the need for another vacation!
Significant and immersive experiences have the potential to completely transform what may have been another holiday. The desire for such experiences has evolved over time into a new type of tourism known as voluntourism, which mixes vacations to a region with volunteer activity. While not every vacation must have an altruistic component, dedicating some of your time to assisting local communities can result in pleasant experiences. Volunteering is not only about assisting others; it also entails experiences that help you grow and expose you to realities other than your own. Although you take in the sights and enjoy yourself, you also spend time contributing to something larger than yourself.
For every guest that stays with us, we donate $10 per guest per night to our African Bush Camps Foundation, and $15 per guest per night to the Conservation and Wildlife Fund, so guests automatically make a difference to the community and conservation when they travel with us. We also encourage guests to visit our communities around camp and take part in our Foundation projects.
Visit the African Bush Camps Foundation website today to take part or donate to one of our projects.
With so many delectable and unusual food delicacies to sample, it’s difficult to avoid overindulging while on vacation. However, did you know that food production accounts for nearly a quarter of global emissions? As forests are cleared for grazing cows and crop production, the carbon stored in them is released into the atmosphere. Food also emits carbon dioxide during the processing, packaging, transportation, and refrigeration processes, and when we discard uneaten food, it emits dangerous methane as it rots in a landfill.
When sampling local cuisine, keep in mind that your eyes should not be larger than your stomach. If you’re concerned about your ability to finish a meal, request a smaller serving or split it with a friend. Additionally, you can request that a take-away return your leftovers to your room. There are numerous collapsible, portable containers available!
At African Bush Camps, we make use of compost holes in the ground (with cages to stop scavenging by wildlife) where we dispose of our compostable food waste. These get rotated as they get full. Because our camps are situated in national parks, we are careful not to introduce exotics into the park, for example, seeds. Therefore, we mix our compost with charcoal and ash.!
How often have you come home from a holiday confused about why you bought a certain souvenir? Many travelers fall for the trap of purchasing gaudy items that appear to be cool at the time, or outfits they would never wear back home. However, everything manufactured has a carbon emission, whether it’s a t-shirt, cup, keyring, or pocketbook.
Consider whether an item is something you will truly use at home before acquiring it. Are you serious about wearing that hat? Is that keyring going to end up at the back of a drawer, collecting dust? Select useful goods that you will use. Rather than mass-produced things bought from elsewhere, purchase meaningful mementos crafted by local artists. Invest in high-quality products rather than cheap imitations that you’ll have to discard after one use.
While this may not appear to be a revolutionary fix, if we’re being entirely candid, bringing your own water bottle is still a highly underappreciated practice. Along with the bottle, you’ll receive a stainless-steel straw and a flask for coffee runs. Pack reusable sanitary kits while you’re at it. We understand the temptation of convenient, disposable things. However, a toothbrush that is used for a few days and then discarded will degrade across multiple lifetimes. Bamboo toothbrushes, environmentally friendly shampoo bars are just a few examples of inventive items.
Many people reduce emissions in their homes because of high utility costs. However, when on vacation, it is the camps that bear the cost. This can result in consumers being less cautious about their energy consumption on the road than they are at home. However, regardless matter who pays the bill, our world will suffer.
The principle is straightforward. The more energy we consume, the more carbon dioxide we produce. Whether at home or on the road, we should make every effort to reduce our energy consumption. This includes shutting off lights, televisions, and any other inactive equipment. If you are not planning to use your room’s small fridge, unplug it or turn it off for the duration of your stay.
With African Bush Camps, you can rest assured in knowing that we have covered all the basis when it comes to making sure you have the ideal, eco-conscious African Safari.
