South Africa & Vic Falls active safari vacation

Planet

This journey makes use of only accredited accommodation suppliers to ensure optimium ethicality and sustainability. Parker Cottage and Rhino Post are accredited by Fair Trade in Tourism and Bayete Lodge by Greenline Africa. We as the travel agent are also accredited members of Fair Trade in Tourism.

Parker Cottage makes use of borehole water so is off grid for water. It also uses heat pumps rather than elements to heat hot water which is three times more efficient than using elements alone. The guesthouse also recycles 90% of its waste privately.

Bayete has the following commitments:
1. Training and educating staff in raising awareness of sustainability and our environmental impacts, at each of the lodges, and in all areas of the business.
2 Managing waste efficiently and ensuring as much waste is recycled as possible.
3 Operating a ‘switch off’ policy throughout the company. Office staff will be encouraged to turn off computer equipment when not in use, the same applies throughout the lodges where appliances and lights will need to be turned off when not in use.
4 Sourcing sustainable and eco-friendly cleaning alternatives.
5 Implementing green gardening practices, by planting native plants, introducing bee friendly species, as well as bird baths and feeders.
6. Four rooms are already totally solar powered.
7. Water from a stream that runs through the property is being used over municipal water.

People

This journey makes use of only accredited accommodation suppliers to ensure optimium ethicality and sustainability. Parker Cottage and Rhino Post are accredited by Fair Trade in Tourism and Bayete Lodge by Greenline Africa. Under the rules of Fair Trade in Tourism, lodges must pass an independent audit to prove that they comply with the following:

1 fair share - all participants involved in a tourism activity should get their fair share of the income, in direct proportion to their contribution to the activity

2 fair say - all participants involved in a tourism activity should have the right and opportunity to participate in decisions that concern them

3 respect - both host and visitor should have respect for human rights, culture and environment; this includes

safe working conditions and practices
protection of young workers?
promoting gender equality
understanding and tolerance of socio-cultural norms
reducing consumption of water and energy, as well as reducing, reusing and recycling waste
conservation of biodiversity and natural resources
HIV/AIDS awareness

4 reliability - services delivered to tourists should be reliable and consistent; basic safety and security for both host and visitor should be ensured

5 transparency - tourism businesses should establish mechanisms of accountability; these include:

ownership of tourism businesses must be clearly defined
employees and other participants should be able to access information that concerns them
sharing of profits, benefits and losses must be transparent

6 sustainability - the tourism businesses should strive to be sustainable; this includes

increased knowledge through capacity-building
improved use of available resources through networking and partnerships
economic viability through responsible use of resources
reduction of leakage through local purchasing and employment
support to historically disadvantaged entrepreneurs

Rhino Post through its parent company Seolo Africa has set up a transport and touring business where a local entrepreneur has been assisted to set up a company transporting staff and school children in the local area. They have also built direct business support links with their cleaning materials supplier and a local orphanage to reuse items from the lodge that aren't any longer fit for purpose at the 4 star level.

In terms of transport suppliers, the South African transport on this trip is carried out by a black-owned company, Hannival's Tours who we personally mentor and support with business development, administration and marketing.

As the travel agent, we recycle over 80% of our waste from our offices and make sure to pay our staff at least 50% more than the minimum wage for the travel industry. We also pay for housing for our lowest earning employee and are actively engaged in working with the homeless charity U-turn in our local area to end the cycles of trauma and dependency that lead to homelessness.