Luxury Tanzania safari and Zanzibar beach vacation

Planet

Wild dogs are some of the most endangered carnivores in Africa, and Tanzania is a key country for their conservation. Few areas of Africa have more than 100 wild dogs in any one place, but the largest single population is in the Selous, and wild dogs can also be seen in the Ruaha. If you are lucky enough to see wild dogs during your stay in Tanzania, you can help prevent further decline. The Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute aims to conserve the population of wild dog in Tanzania, and by sending your photographs in to them, you can help them monitor the dog population. In return, the institute will tell you if they know of the dogs in your photographs, and fill you in on a little of the dogs’ history.

Baraza Zanzibar have taken great pains to build the hotel in an environmentally responsible way. All Villas have solar power, there is a state of the art waste disposal & recycling system, an in house garden growing local produce for use in the restaurant and there is an environmentally responsible desalination plant where all the water is produced locally and not taken from the village source. They always prioritize purchasing any materials or supplies from the local village wherever possible and regularly get visits from local fishermen who sell them their catch of the day in an effort to support the local community. The hotel was built with a local workforce.

Ethical practice is not just limited to the destinations we operate in. As a company, Responsible practice is exercised in our office with various measures put in place aimed at reducing, re-using and recycling resources where possible. We carry out dedicated responsible travel training sessions with all employees upon joining the company. We minimise our electricity consumption by switching off lights, computers, fans etc in rooms that are not in use and at night. We also monitor thermostats and keep doors and windows closed when heating is on. We recycle all office paper, encourage double-side photocopying and, where appropriate, circulate documents by email. We also exercise effective control of brochure production, distribution and disposal. We encourage car sharing amongst employees and are part of a cycle scheme.

People

Selous Riverside Camp is located near to Mwsene Village, and has tried to ensure that the local community benefit from their neighbours. The camp has built a borehole for the village, and helps to fund repairs on the local mosque. On a more day to day level, they have supplied local farmers with seeds, and buy their produce for the camp, as well as supporting the local stores. If you want to see this all in action, the lodge can organise a tour of the village.

Baraza, along with its sister hotel Breezes, work closely with the surrounding community to improve education and healthcare in the local village of Bwejuu and guests can visit to see the project first-hand and gain a fascinating insight into life on Zanzibar. The hotel charity 'Baraza for Bwejuu' has been responsible for a huge improvement in the quality of life of the village. Since its inception, the charity has built a mosque, repainted the local clinic and supplied them with fresh water and medicines. They have also donated beds and mattresses, clothes, school supplies, and books. Working closely with a charity in Sweden, the hotel most recently supported and sponsored the development of a new maternity and children's clinic in Bwejuu.

Once a year, together with another charity, the Baraza management and staff go to the village and clean the beaches and villages, paint the clinic and celebrate another year of working together with the local community. The most recent event which was done together with their sister property (Breezes for Bwejuu) was a Mchamvi vs. Bwejuu football match; they donated 40 footballs to the pitch along with a trophy for the winner. The winning team received Tanzanian Shillings 800,000 and the other team received 450,000. These moneys are going to be used by the teams respectively to buy uniforms, train, and will assist in providing the youth of the two villages with constructive activities.

As a company, we are committed to supporting a wide number of responsible and ethical initiatives, including environmental projects, community tourism projects and education programmes.

Through client-specific notes in our tailor-made itineraries, we continue to actively recommend restaurants, shops and other local businesses so that the community is directly benefited. Most of these have been discovered by our country specialists and include craft shops that ensure tourist money is fed back to the individuals who produce the crafts, and restaurants which train local street children.

We promote environmentally friendly tours and accommodation in a number of destinations. We prefer, where possible, to use smaller, locally owned ground agents. Not only does this ensure that it is the host community who are managing and benefiting from the local tourist industry, but we also believe that our clients will have a better trip as local agents have a much more intimate knowledge of the region.

For the same reasons as above, we always use local guides and drivers. This not only provides crucial employment and income for the local community, but also increases the authenticity of the client’s trip. We favour ground agents who have an awareness of responsible tourism policies and strong environmental commitment. Responsible practice is one of the principle criteria during the selection of new suppliers, and ethical initiatives form a fundamental element in our ground arrangements. Where available we recommend our clients stay in ethically responsible accommodation, such as eco-lodges that aim to preserve the beauty of natural surroundings.