Travel Tip Of The Day: Choose Places That Give Back To The Community

There are many options to choose from when booking a lodge or a safari tour in Africa, but like other places around the world, many of these are large companies that are just out to make a profit.

And while there is nothing wrong with that per se, sometimes it feels good to stay at a place that is involved with the local community.

More and more, lodges and wildlife organizations across the continent are doing their part to help out.

If you want to do your part in helping out local communities in Africa, follow these tips when choosing a trip:

Look for eco-friendly tours that find a way to co-exist with the surrounding communities.

Some offer charitable donations as well as direct assistance for projects covering subjects such as agriculture and conservation.

You can also learn what charities are supported by each tour. Some will focus on wildlife protection while others look towards community issues.

You may also want to make your own donation based on your experiences after the tour has concluded.

A great example of one of these tours is tracking gorillas at Odzala-Kokoua in the Republic of the Congo. The tour provides alternative employment to locals.

As for lodging, many green lodges are popping up allover offering lower impacts on the local communities as well as often participating in local charitable funds.

Many of these lodges also use biodegradable cleaning products or have recycling programs in place that help to keep the nature in the area clean.

Some great example of lodges that give back are Sindabezi Island in Zambia and Porini Rhino Camp in Kenya, the latter of which uses no permanent structures and gives back to the local Maasai.

Whatever you do, just spending money in the country your in will help you do your part in helping out the local economies, many of which currently rely heavily on tourism.

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