West Africa tour

Planet and people

We limit our group size to 12 passengers on this tour to two of Africa's least-known nations to limit our impact and allow us to visit and interact more intimately with remote communities.

We work with a Togolese guide and Togolese drivers and throughout the tour we hire individual local guides for all the areas and sites we visit including a local entomologist in Kloto forest in Togo. Additionally we rotate our community and village visits working closely with individual families and village Chiefs to ensure our visits do not impact negatively on the local communities and the income we bring is distributed fairly among each family.

Our relationships with community leaders allow our groups to witness and gain an insight into various tribal ceremonies and events during each tour and we may adapt night-stops to take advantage of specific events happening in the region. Most of the accommodation we use is locally owned including the unique Chez M in Benin, owned and managed by the indomitable Madame 'M', built on stilts in the same style as the local houses in the traditional fishing community of Ganvie in Lake Nokoue.

Visiting various daily and weekly local markets during the tour there is plenty of opportunity to buy produce and goods direct from the local people as well as pottery, cloth, woodwork and other artisans from the various communities we visit.

In addition to the above, we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key and so all staff, Tour Leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage. As well as this, we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of UK travel industry bodies Tourism Concern and AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.