I just heard about this awesome new safari to Africa. While I am deathly afraid of being eaten by a lion (thanks to a horror flick I watched once), this has always been something that is secretly been on my bucket list. Though this tour may be dangerous without proper guidance. That’s why it’s safe to take services from tour companies like
Encompass Africa. They have travel specialist with an experience over 20 years on Africa tours.
Tourism and taking tourists out on safari to have authentic experiences encourage Africans and African governments to practice ongoing conservation. Tourism also brings a dignified cash income to communities located near wildlife and resorts because locals can get employment or start their own micro business in tourism without leaving their community and family.
It´s no secret that much of Africa`s wildlife has been ravaged by hunting and poaching over the last century, and one of the saddest elements in the past is that local Africans had been forced to cooperate with foreign poachers and hunters out of sheer financial desperation.
Helping Africa isn’t all about charity, but rather giving them ethical business and observing Africa in the right way – as a wonderland and treasure.
Here are some African safaris that also benefit local African people and wildlife.
TAKE A SAFARI TO AFRICA
SEE THE GORILLAS IN THE MIST
One of the most soul-stirring experiences in Africa must be a Primate Safari through the mystic jungles and misty mountains of Rwanda and Uganda.
When Dian Fossey was living and working in Rwanda in the early 1980s, there were believed to be only about 300 mountain gorillas in existence. Today they say there are around 900. While Fossey advocated keeping tourists away from the gorillas in the 1980s, these days government officials and locals say tourism has turned local poachers into conservationists.
A recent CNN report interviewed a number of locals who once hunted gorilla but now advocate gorilla conservation because they see the financial benefits to their community. In fact in Rwanda and Uganda gorilla poaching has been virtually stamped out. (Some poaching still occurs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo).
What strikes most people privileged enough to observe the mountain gorillas is that despite their massive size and strength, they are so gentle and vulnerable.
HORSEBACK TOURS ACROSS MAASAI COUNTRY
Another unforgettable African safari is going horseback across the endless horizons of Kenya`s Maasai (Masai) Mara which is part of the Serengeti eco-system.
There are over two million herbivores including zebras and gazelle grazing the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem from January to March with up to 400,000 wildebeest calves being born. While poaching still occurs in pockets of the Serengeti (in fact elephant poaching is on the rise again on its fringes), it almost never happens in regions where tourists visit because live animals are worth so much more to the local population and governments than a dead carcass.
You`ll also no doubt want to meet the legendary Maasai people in this part of Africa. Tourism has changed dramatically from times when indigenous Africans were hidden from tourists or pulled out for tacky cultural shows. Today tourists are savvier and require authentic meaningful contact with indigenous Africans. Some Maasai are hired as tour guides on safaris and some Maasai villages set up their own cultural activities and business for the tourists earning their own money. There are even Masaai working with tourist organization to fun reforestation programs.
SHOOT WILDLIFE WITH YOUR CAMERA
Once they came with guns now they come with cameras. Take amazing shots of elephants as they frolic under waterfalls in Zambia or cheetahs looking cheekily down from trees in South Africa`s Kruger National park. Capture the silhouettes of giraffes crossing the Serengeti in Tanzania or snap colorful Maasai in motion in Kenya.
Whether your semi-professional or have just brought your first DSLR camera, you`ll benefit from the insider's knowledge on shutter speeds at certain daytimes and other tech stuff, as well as being taken to the prime photographic location. But nothing is predictable in Africa and it’s all about capturing that connection with the wildlife and that moment in time.
Working with professional wildlife photographers, participants push their skills and share amazing images back home so that others will appreciate the value of African wildlife and culture, and the importance of preservation. A photographic African safari spreads the word (and a picture is worth a thousand words) that Africa is open for ethical business and tourism.
Image Source: Pexels
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