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Making a Positive Impact with Impact Safaris & Goway · GowayPro Travel Tales

• 0:03
  Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goethe and welcome to the GoethePro Travel Tale podcast.
• 0:09
  Travel far and travel often.
• 0:23
  Hey there everyone, I'm Don Forster, Professor Goa and welcome to the GoaPro Travel Tale podcast.
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  Here from expert guests, including conservationists, explorers, tourism professionals, and everyday globetrotters to discover fascinating stories in the world of travel and be
• 0:44
  inspired to travel far and to travel often.
• 0:48
  Listen and subscribe to the Go Way Pro Travel Tales podcast on your podcast app of choice and check out episodes on the Go Way Pro YouTube channel for video podcasts plus other
• 0:58
  content on the world of travel with Go Way.
• 1:01
  Inspire, motivate, educate.
• 1:04
  Now today I'd like to welcome Koinonia.
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  She is coming to us live from, you just mentioned South Africa, is that correct?
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  Cape Town, South Africa.
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  That is correct.
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  Okay.
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  Cape Town, South Africa.
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  And Kounonia is here to talk to us today about what will impact tourism, what it is, what that entails, how it rolls out in the real world out there.
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  So we'll get into that obviously in one moment.
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  But as always, we'd like to get to know who we're speaking to.
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  And as I've not met Kounonia before, everything she's going to tell us is new to me as well.
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  And as just before we came on air, I picked up an accent and I thought it was a British or English accent.
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  As such thinking Corneonia might have been educated in Great Britain or somewhere around there.
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  But she says no, all in South Africa.
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  on that note, Corneonia, can you tell us bit about yourself and your background and all that type of stuff?
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  You are completely right.
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  The accent is all South African.
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  So I grew up in Limpopo, what was previously Northern Province, the top most province of South Africa.
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  I moved to Pretoria to go do my undergraduate in business management at the University of Pretoria, moved to Cape Town about
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  10 years ago.
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  So I've been based in Cape Town for the past 10 years.
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  And yeah, my passion is community development and really being able to support and develop thriving and healthy communities.
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  So I am the communications and fundraising officer for African Bush Camps Foundation.
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  A lot of the work that we do is centered around improving the quality of life for the communities that surround the properties where we operate, as well as achieving long-term
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  conservation in those particular areas.
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  then so
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  that was obviously driving force you through your education and obviously a passion you have.
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  So how did you end up at African Bush Camps?
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  Now, just before we go actually get into that, everyone out there, African Bush Camps is one of our partners in South Africa.
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  They have a choice of lodges, which we'll get to in a minute.
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  But again, according to you, how did you find yourself at African Bush Camps?
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  So I made an interesting detour in my life after graduating for my honours degree.
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  I actually spent eight years in financial services.
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  I worked for an asset management firm.
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  And during that period, I started my own nonprofit, which focuses on providing access to menstrual health resources for homeless women, as well as creating employment
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  opportunities for them.
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  So I'd been running my own nonprofit for about six, seven years at the time.
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  COVID hit.
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  When COVID hit, was one of those.
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  I think COVID is probably the turning point for most people.
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  When COVID hit for me, it was coming to the point of realizing that life is too short.
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  And what really inspired me during COVID is that there were so many nonprofit organizations that really stepped up.
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  not just nonprofit organizations, but businesses as well.
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  We saw more and more people getting involved, more and more people really being boots on the ground, trying to meet certain needs for so many different communities.
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  And that's where, I mean, I always have the passion to be able to help people, but that's where I really wanted to be able to do this full time.
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  So I knew that I wanted to go into the corporate social investment space at the time.
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  And I wanted to be able to...
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  work for a charity or a foundation or a nonprofit that is intentional, transparently, actively doing work that is developing and supporting local communities.
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  But my biggest but was I wanted to be able to work for a nonprofit company or a charity or a foundation that is attached to a business.
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  Coming from a business background and having worked in the financial services, I realized the importance of long-term sustainability.
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  Being able to and running my own nonprofit, you see that a lot.
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  Many charities
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  don't survive because the funding runs dry.
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  So for me, it was important to make sure that if I'm going to go into the space full time, being able to work for an organization that has a strong business leg.
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  And that's where African bush camps really kind of tick the boxes for me.
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  What I really love about African bush camps is that the business is great.
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  The properties are great.
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  The work that we do is great.
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  But there were also very intentional about making sure that we're investing in the local communities where we operate.
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  We're investing in the wildlife areas where we operate.
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  And we know that it's not just about the bottom line in terms of business.
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  It's great to bring people through, for safaris.
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  It's great to be able to offer amazing properties, amazing luxury experiences.
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  But at the end of the day, what makes a massive difference is the impact that we leave behind in the communities that we support.
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  So being able to work for a company like African Bush Camps on the foundation side ticked the boxes for me.
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  It allowed me to continue my passion in developing and supporting communities.
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  but it also allowed me to still play around with some of the stuff that I've learned in finance, as well as then pursue my passions in terms of community development and now
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  conservation.
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  So when you went to African Bushcamps, did they have a community service, or want to better term, program in place, or is that something you brought to African Bushcamps?
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  So African Bushcamps Foundation, which is the foundation side of African Bushcamps, has been operating alongside African Bushcamps since 2006.
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  So we have active projects that are in the communities and the wildlife areas where we operate.
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  So where you'll find an African bushcamps property, you'll also find active work that we're doing either in the national parks through things like anti-poaching, mitigating
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  human-wildlife conflict with the local communities, or supporting schools through education, infrastructure development, the work that we're doing with empowering local
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  women, allowing and supporting the community to create their own employment opportunities.
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  being able to finance some of the projects which they're using to feed their families.
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  So when I joined African Bushcamps, there was a lot that we were doing at the ground.
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  What was interesting for me coming in was that we had over 54, 54 plus projects at the time.
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  And one of the things that we realized very quickly, because I joined at the end of 2021, which is in the height of COVID, that gave us an opportunity as a business to take a step
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  back and really assess with that many projects, are we really having a long term impact?
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  Are we really being sustainable in what we're doing and are we seeing the long-term benefit that that is having in the community?
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  So one of the exciting projects that I got to get involved in when I started was really cleaning up the projects.
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  So I did a lot of project scoping, a lot of project analysis, really a lot of cleaning house for us to assess what do we need?
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  What is still relevant?
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  What is still beneficial for the community?
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  You know, and as much as COVID was so devastating, it was a good clean slate for a lot of organizations.
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  It gave us a time to think about we've been going in this direction.
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  Is this still the direction that tourism is heading in?
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  Is this still the direction that the communities are heading in?
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  Their needs have changed now, you know, with with with tour operators and a lot of properties being closed for three, four years during COVID, many communities that relied
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  on tourism.
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  could no longer tap into that as a source of income or could no longer tap into that in terms of being able to feed their families through nutrition programs that were running
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  into schools.
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  So it gave us the opportunity to think about if we've been supporting, for example, 20, 20 or 25 different projects, are all of these projects still meeting the needs of the
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  community?
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  And a lot of that came with, it came with project scoping, it came with going back into the communities, going back into the projects, having sessions with key stakeholders,
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  asking the questions.
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  Are we still helping you the way we intended to help you?
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  Are we still helping you in a way that's relevant for you?
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  Are we still collaborating?
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  A big part of the work that we do is making sure that we're working hand in hand with the community to achieve benefits for them.
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  We don't just want to come in and say, a borehole is what we think you need, so let's dig a borehole.
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  It's having those discussions.
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  Does a borehole work?
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  Is this the need that you have?
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  Is water the issue?
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  Is food the issue?
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  So making sure that we're constantly working hand in hand.
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  so I spent a lot of the time in my first
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  in my first two years in African Bushcamps, really cleaning house.
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  And once we were ready to go to market, that allowed me to then start tapping into my actual role, which is communications and fundraising.
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  Right.
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  You actually preempted a question I was going to ask and you answered it very clearly.
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  But my question was, when you go into these communities, you're not, as you say, going in and telling them what they need.
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  You're asking them what they need.
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  So these these FoundOcean projects are integral to what the local community needs.
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  And it could be different, obviously.
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  in each community.
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  So where are African bush camps located?
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  As in where are your lodges around South Africa?
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  So our lodges are actually our head office is based in South Africa, but all of our lodges are in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana.
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  So we operate in several national parks, several national parks and wildlife areas that are within those three countries.
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  So those that's what we call our heartlands.
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  What I what's what's so interesting, I guess what makes us different is that going in
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  our founder Bix N' Globo who is a professional guide that grew up just outside of the Wangi National Park.
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  When we set up our camps and we started growing, our focus was we want to operate in those three areas.
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  I think it's where we're different, you know, the other properties that decide that, you know, we start here and then we go to Kenya and then we go to Rwanda, then we go to, you
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  know, then we go to other places.
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  But for us, it was we started in Zimbabwe, we then moved to Botswana.
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  And then we've been operating and then from there we moved to Zambia and we decided that that's it.
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  These three countries are where we want to operate.
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  These three countries are where we want to limit ourselves and the benefit of limiting ourselves, if you put it that way, that it allows us to go deep.
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  It allows us to tap into the resource in that area.
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  We recently opened a property in the Okavango Delta.
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  there's still so much for people to see in those areas where we operate.
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  So being able to be intentional and focused.
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  18 properties later spread across those three countries means that it does work.
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  It does work to focus in one area.
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  It's also great from a foundation perspective because now we're building relationships in the places where we operate.
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  We're spending time with those local communities.
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  We're investing.
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  We're making a deep investment into those areas, into the national parks, into the conservation, into the economy, as opposed to spreading ourselves wide by trying to
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  explore other countries.
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  I think it's great for other, know, for other tour operators and other people in, know, in this industry to explore.
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  But our, our focus is we want to explore in our heartlands.
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  There's so much that we still haven't discovered in the areas where we operate and we're still going, you know, we're still growing.
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  We're still expanding into those areas from a project perspective, from a, from a property perspective, but Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana, that's, that's, you know, those are our
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  roots and that's, that's where we're staying.
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  Okay.
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  So here's some,
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  questions more on the tourism side of things.
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  know impact tourism, we'll get to that, but just from a purely lodge point of view, you mentioned Zimbabwe.
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  A lot of North Americans may still feel a little bit reluctant to visit Zimbabwe due to past, and I mentioned that past history, but obviously Zimbabwe's opened up again and
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  everything is fine and wonderful to travel in and around Zimbabwe, correct?
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  Absolutely.
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  What's been exciting for me is with the launch of our impact safaris,
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  and being able to do hosted impact safaris, it's been interesting.
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  I'll take guests on a circuit where we're doing three nights Zimbabwe, three nights Zambia, three nights Botswana, and they'll be like, my favorite destination was Zimbabwe.
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  And I'm not gonna lie, for me it's the same.
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  When I first visited Wanga National Park, first visited Monopools, it was one of those, this is not the Zimbabwe I saw on TV.
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  And that's really exciting.
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  I love the variety of game.
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  If you know, if you've got guests who they're like, I just want to see elephants.
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  love elephants.
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  Wanga National Park is the best place to get that.
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  You know, I grew up a two and a half hour drive from the Kruger National Park.
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  So being, you know, seeing wildlife and going on game drives is something that I'm used to in the sense where I grew up, you know, as children, our parents would take us to the
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  national park just randomly for us to go and have a bry.
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  So being able to...
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  Sorry to interrupt.
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  Is that a fair statement for someone growing up in South Africa that
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  seeing the wildlife as a foreigner once, yeah, like it's magical, it's exotic for obvious reasons.
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  But few as a local is seeing the wildlife just part of growing up.
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  You know, like, basically, if you're an Australian, everyone thinks you go to the beach all the time, which most of us do.
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  But for for a South African is interaction with the wildlife, not a daily occurrence, of course, but is it a common occurrence as you grow up?
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  I think
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  because of the areas that we grew up in, especially if you think of people that live in provinces like Mpumalanga or Limpopo, your proximity to wildlife is closer.
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  By closer, I don't mean that there are lions walking around outside, but I mean, you know, the national park was a two hour drive away.
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  So I think everything feels more natural.
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  That by the time I thought of, I remember one of the interview questions, they're like, do you even like wildlife?
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  And I'm like, you know, I don't have a problem with it.
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  Because it's, yeah, you grew up seeing elephants and giraffes and all of this stuff.
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  So you don't, so I don't expect, so it's not, I love it, but it's also not like a, it's it's also not that, my word, it's an elephant.
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  So by the time I started working for African bushcamps, I think the fact that I'd had the experience, I'd had the experience of wildlife and game drives and safari, it didn't, I
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  didn't think that I would have that, I would have that, I tend to call it a spiritual moment because I can't think of a better word for it.
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  But
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  in having traveled to places like Zimbabwe and being in the Wangi National Park, being in monopoles, that changed things for me.
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  I didn't think that having grown up and spent most of my childhood years being so close to the national park and the school organizing a yearly trip there that I would fall in love
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  again with wildlife.
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  And what did that for me was Zimbabwe.
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  I only recently started, so we've got, as much as we've got properties in all of those three countries, I largely go to where the need is in terms of the work that we're doing
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  on the project.
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  So for me, it was amazing to be able to start in Zimbabwe because that switched things on for me.
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  It's you appreciate things differently as you mature and being able to, you know, to sit at the swimming pool of the elephant pond, you know, with elephants a meter away from you.
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  And you're just in the moment.
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  They're drinking.
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  You're just sitting there watching it.
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  It brought me back to that first, this is an elephant and the wildlife in Zimbabwe does that for you.
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  You know, being able to, was in Mauna Pools once and we were, we were tracking wild dog and we're just, and we're sitting and here comes the wild dogs running.
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  And it's just, it's, it's moments like that you won't find in, in many, in many other places.
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  And it's, and that's to say that, you know, Zimbabwe still has so much to offer.
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  It's got so much to offer in terms of, you know, the culture, the diversity, the places you get to visit, the people you get to see, the wildlife all on top of that.
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  And that's why we haven't left Zimbabwe.
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  you know, from the start when we opened our first camp in Zimbabwe, we keep going back to, you know, we keep going back to, you know, having other properties in Zimbabwe, expanding
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  into different areas.
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  And it's one of those places that if you, you know, usually when people travel, they probably do Cape Town, then they'll do the Okavango Delta, you know, maybe do Victoria
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  Falls, then head up to go and do the gorillas.
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  But it's one of those where now you can't miss Zimbabwe.
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  It's you know, our camps are so close to Victoria Falls.
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  Wagga National Park is a 45 minute flight from Victoria Falls.
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  You may as well add three nights there and and and see what what what Zimbabwe has to offer.
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  Yeah, and the reason I said is one because of the recent history, but two, I that was my very first experience of southern Africa was flying into Zimbabwe.
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  And it was obviously pre-Mugabe and it was yeah, it was my first memories.
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  And as you say, the wildlife was rich and healthy.
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  And it's excellent to hear that it's back to what it was and even getting better.
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  So are the African bush camp lodges, would they be four or five star or is it a selection of?
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  We have a selection.
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  We have our expedition camps.
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  I consider those your more rustic down to earth where when you think of growing up and you go camping with your family, it kind of brings that nostalgia and that kind of memory to
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  it where you're, you know, you're
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  you're in a tent, all our tents are glamping, but they still kind of speak and offer that range.
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  So expedition style, it's more, it's slightly more toned down.
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  You feel closer to wildlife.
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  If I think of our Zambezi Expeditions Lodge in Monopoulos, it's right on the ground, it's right along the Zambezi River.
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  So you've got elephants that are coming through the lodge, you've got hippos right outside.
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  So that's more for, it's more lower priced, but still great service offering, great.
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  great staff, great quality.
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  It's really one of those where you almost wanna go back to your childhood memories of camping.
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  From there we have our signature properties, is more higher end.
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  The decks are slightly higher, the rooms are air conditioned or fans.
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  The property quality is, it's still luxurious.
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  All of our properties, we consider them, you're going from the wild to wildly luxurious.
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  So it's still leaning into that great.
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  that great product offering, know, great rooms, high quality, amazing decor, you know, not to mention the staff, the food, the environment, the activities, all of that.
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  And then from there, have our icon property, is which are icon properties, which is then top of the range, top of the range, all of that, all of that moon and stars, whatever you
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  expect, it's all in there.
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  But what I really love about that mix is that there's such a huge variety in the the the in the the properties that we offer.
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  And the benefit of that is that it speaks to any type of traveler.
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  If you're traveling and you're like, I'm on a budget, we've got camps that accommodate for that.
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  If you're traveling and you're saying, I've got families, we've got lodges that accommodate for that.
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  Some of our camps have family camps as well.
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  So it's suitable for families.
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  If you're saying, I'm traveling and I want to have, I want to spend all the money.
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  know what mean?
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  Money is not an option.
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  Anything is possible.
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  We've got lodges that accommodate for that as well.
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  So there's no limits when guests are traveling with African Bushcans.
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  We want people to come.
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  want them to experience.
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  We also want them to realize that we've got, you know, we've got you covered in any, in any way, budget form that you're traveling.
• 19:01
  Right.
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  Now you mentioned before that you've often led trips on a circuit doing a couple of nights in each country.
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  So on that note, if someone wants to do multiple camps, can they mix and match go from the, like the tentative camp to the high end option?
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  So it's not tentative camps everywhere.
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  It can be mixed and matched.
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  Absolutely.
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  So our we're all about tailor tailor making the safari for guests want to experience.
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  So we do have some set packages, which will probably have, you know, three camps, like, for example, our icon experience, which mixes some of our icon properties.
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  But we also have the freedom of guests to be able to tailor make the to tailor make the experience.
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  So if a guest wants to, for example, do expeditions in Zimbabwe and signature in Zambia and icon in Botswana, we we guess can can completely do that.
• 19:47
  And that's one of the things that I generally recommend.
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  What I enjoy is if you're going to do a three, if you're going to do a nine night circuit where you're spending three days in different properties, why not mix and match?
• 19:59
  Experience expeditions in Zambia, experience expeditions in Zimbabwe, experience icon in Zambia, experience signature in Botswana.
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  What I feel that does is that it adds to experience because you're experiencing safari in different layers.
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  Because mean, a bed is a bed.
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  But it's great to be able to see, the bit is the same.
• 20:20
  But what then starts to make the experience different is just, for example, one of my favorite camps is Somalisa Expeditions.
• 20:29
  It's, you know, when you're there, you feel like the elephant, you know, the lion might or might not at any point, you know, run underneath my deck, which has happened.
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  You know, people have walked out of their rooms and found some lions in the pathway leading to the main deck.
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  And you may not necessarily find that in an icon property, for example.
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  So sometimes it's being able to mix and match that because the closer you get to the wildlife, which is what our expedition properties get, the more opportunity you feel
• 20:56
  you'll get to interact with wildlife.
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  Same with icons.
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  Sometimes you want to be able to experience the infinity pool and have the icon in a super hot travel season.
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  So it really depends on your flavor and what you feel like as a traveler.
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  But always if...
• 21:11
  If you only have one opportunity to travel to safari and the nine nights that you spend across the countries, why not experience it all?
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  And having a mix of our properties in one circuit allows you to do that.
• 21:24
  You've experienced multiple countries, you've experienced different foods, different places to travel, different wildlife, but you've also traveled in style and three
• 21:32
  different types of styles that still offer you an amazing, authentic African safari experience.
• 21:39
  when someone is looking at an African bush camps, be it one area stay, one lodge stay or a multiple from a pricing point of view.
• 21:47
  So if you are doing a circuit of say three different countries, three different styles of lodges, the transfers between would be included, I'm assuming all food, all daily
• 21:55
  activities are included in the pricing, correct?
• 21:58
  Correct.
• 21:58
  So when, so when guests are, when they're doing their booking for our trips, everything is from the moment you arrive, essentially the way we do it is by the moment you arrive in
• 22:07
  Africa.
• 22:08
  we've pretty much sorted all of that stuff out.
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  So when you're doing your booking, we're factoring in things like internal transfers, how we get you from one lodge to another, whether it's chartered flights or the road
• 22:19
  transfers, all of our packages are all-inclusive, so the meals are included, the accommodation is included, so obviously the accommodation is included, it's food, it's
• 22:30
  drinks, it's all of that.
• 22:31
  We're making sure that everything is sorted.
• 22:35
  That makes a difference as a person traveling, especially if, for example, you're doing a country, if you're doing a country for the first time, it's great to know that we get you
• 22:43
  from the one airport, we move you along to the next airport, so you're constantly connecting with the different connect points that we have that bring all of the countries
• 22:50
  together.
• 22:51
  So a circuit is a great thing to do, and it's also an easy thing to do.
• 22:54
  Before you leave the camp, if you're checking out tomorrow, the staff really lets you know your transfer flight is at this time, we're leaving the camp at this time to get you to
• 23:03
  the airstrip.
• 23:04
  So you're literally just packing your bags and moving along on the journey, which makes travel so much simpler.
• 23:09
  Nice.
• 23:10
  Now, when people look at any African adventure, the safari is key to it, which is most people will understand that it's, you you have morning safaris generally not midday cause
• 23:22
  it's too hot, generally speaking, afternoon, evening, walking, Jeep, et cetera.
• 23:27
  But as part of African Bush Camp, so what we're really here to talk about today is the impact to us.
• 23:31
  So.
• 23:32
  Explain how an impact tour with African Bush camps would be different from a standard safari that someone would experience.
• 23:41
  impact safaris or impact tours, impact safaris is one of the things that we launched late last year.
• 23:47
  And the thinking around it was really being able to create or really being able to create opportunities for guests to leave a place that they travel to better than they found it.
• 23:57
  I grew up in the Tupperware era and what that would mean is that when family comes over or when guests come over, we eat a meal at home, when there's food left over, everyone takes
• 24:08
  home a Tupperware with leftovers to eat when they get home for the next day.
• 24:12
  But when they bring the Tupperware back, the Tupperware never comes back empty.
• 24:16
  So you're always excited to go and visit someone else's house because you know when I leave, I'm going to leave the Tupperware full of food.
• 24:22
  or you're excited when someone comes back to your house, because they're coming back with a tupperware full of food.
• 24:27
  So either way, you know that you as the receiver has been left to better off, or you as the giver has left someone else better off.
• 24:35
  So in thinking of impact tours, it's that same type of thinking.
• 24:39
  that a guest will leave home, they'll leave America or the UK and come to Zambia and they'll receive from Zambia.
• 24:45
  They'll receive from the conservation, they'll receive from the staff, they'll receive from the guests in terms of the, receive from other guests in terms of the amazing safari
• 24:52
  experience that they'll have.
• 24:53
  But the Impact Safari also gives them the opportunity to give back to Africa, which may be through supporting a local school that we're doing work with in the community, supporting
• 25:04
  local women empowerment projects by purchasing local items for them.
• 25:07
  So it's really just working on that ecosystem of making sure that as a business, we're offering amazing safari experiences, but we're also giving guests the opportunity to
• 25:16
  actively get involved through the work that we're doing at the foundation.
• 25:19
  So Impact Safaris are essentially that.
• 25:21
  It's a safari with African bush camps.
• 25:24
  So guests still get the amazing, they get the amazing game drives, they get the amazing stay at all of our wonderful lodges.
• 25:29
  They get to experience what they typically would experience when they travel with African bush camps with the added benefit of guests get the opportunity to spend some time in the
• 25:36
  local projects.
• 25:37
  They get to learn about the work that we're doing.
• 25:39
  They get to visit the communities where we're actively doing work on the ground.
• 25:42
  They also get the opportunity to volunteer at some of our local projects.
• 25:46
  What we're seeing now a lot is guests are more and more guests want more out of their safaris.
• 25:53
  You know, it's this conscious travel thing.
• 25:55
  It's I don't just want to come and look at the lions.
• 25:57
  I want to do that.
• 25:58
  But what else can I do?
• 25:59
  And what the impact safaris do is that they help to start.
• 26:02
  answer answering some of those questions.
• 26:04
  It starts to give guests a tangible real time on the ground in the moment opportunity where they can give back, where they can volunteer, where they can, you know, go home and
• 26:14
  think about how they can give back more.
• 26:16
  And Impact Safaris are creating that.
• 26:18
  You're on safari, but you're also being intentional on safari, helping to develop some of the local areas and communities in the various places where you travel to.
• 26:27
  when someone looks at an African bush camp for their choice to Africa, is an impact
• 26:32
  Safari part of the program or is it something you request?
• 26:36
  So Impact Safaris, have at the moment, we have four Impact Safari packages, if I can put it that way.
• 26:43
  And essentially, we're there for the one focuses on learner development.
• 26:47
  So it's still three of our properties.
• 26:49
  So all of our Impact Safaris are three to 10 nights.
• 26:52
  It's a three to 10 night circuit.
• 26:53
  We've got three.
• 26:54
  The one is the learner development Impact Safari.
• 26:56
  And it focuses on the work that we're doing to actively support and divest support.
• 27:01
  and invest in local schools in the areas that we operate.
• 27:04
  So guests would stay in one of our properties in Botswana and as part of their trip, spend some time visiting, learning and volunteering at the local school.
• 27:12
  And that's spread across three different countries with the same focus of leaning into the work that we're doing in schools, similar with our Women Empowerment Safari that leans
• 27:21
  more into the work that we're doing and developing.
• 27:23
  women within the different communities that we operate.
• 27:25
  Same model, stay in one of the properties in a certain country, spend some time volunteering and learning about the work that we do at the school.
• 27:32
  Conservation impacts safari.
• 27:34
  It starts to lean into the work that we're doing in the national parks, in the national parks, in the community with regards to mitigating human-wildlife conflict, educating and
• 27:43
  empowering the community to coexist with wildlife, the anti-poaching efforts that happen in the ground in of mitigating, know, mitigating...
• 27:51
  mitigating illegal activity, the recovery of snares.
• 27:54
  So all of the three set packages that we have, or the three set impact safaris that we have focus on exposing gets to different properties that we have in different areas, as
• 28:05
  well as the projects that we're doing in those areas.
• 28:07
  The fourth one is what we call the hosted impact safari.
• 28:09
  And it's a hosted trip that guests would do with myself and a group of 12 people.
• 28:14
  That one is a mix.
• 28:16
  So you might find a mix of, may find it to be a mix, a mash of the learner development, conservation, women empowerment.
• 28:22
  It starts to just kind of throw everything up into one.
• 28:25
  With that being said, guests can either book a standard impact Safari.
• 28:29
  So they can book a standard learner development, women empowerment or conservation Safari.
• 28:33
  Or as I mentioned earlier, all of our experiences are customized.
• 28:36
  So they could customize.
• 28:37
  They could customize and say, well,
• 28:39
  I want to do this part of learner development in this area.
• 28:42
  I want to do this part of women empowerment in this area.
• 28:45
  And they can kind of mix it in that way.
• 28:48
  Ultimately, at the end of the day, what their safari would have offered them is it would have offered them the amazing safari, amazing wildlife, amazing lodges, and amazing
• 28:56
  African bushcans experience with the addition of getting to spend time at the local projects, learning what we do, investing and volunteering in those communities and schools
• 29:05
  or national parks.
• 29:09
  group comes to us could have a very large groups department and they have a specific area of interest from the impact tourism point of view.
• 29:18
  And I think I know the answer, but I'll ask it anyway.
• 29:23
  Itinerary could be customized for a larger group of people to get maybe even more involved than the like the average impact tourer.
• 29:30
  If someone wanted to come out and spend like two weeks working at the school, that type of thing, is that a possibility?
• 29:37
  It's a possibility.
• 29:39
  The only thing that guests will always need to keep in mind is that from a foundation perspective and the work that we do on the ground, everything moves so quickly.
• 29:48
  So when we start the year, we start the year out by assessing, you what are some of the key needs that we have, for example, in a specific school?
• 29:54
  What are the things that we aim to achieve throughout the year?
• 29:57
  There's some things that are die in need, make or break.
• 30:00
  We have to fix it now.
• 30:02
  And there are other things where, you know, we have to fix it or we have to build it now.
• 30:05
  Then there are other things where
• 30:06
  It's not so much a make and break and it can happen later.
• 30:09
  So we always, we always, when we look at groups like that and we look at guests that want to be able to spend more time, you know, at the projects and with that, it's always
• 30:18
  looking at, which it's always looking at it from a project perspective in the sense of what can the projects offer at the time and what can we hold off on up until the group
• 30:28
  comes.
• 30:29
  In a very practical example, I just completed an impact safari with guests in September.
• 30:34
  and we repainted one of the classrooms.
• 30:37
  You see, the thing with repainting, whether the class is painted now or not does not really impact the school being able to use it.
• 30:44
  So I have another group coming out with me later on early next year, and we're gonna repaint the outside of the classroom.
• 30:50
  So there are some things that can realistically wait and we don't, and we're not hampering the progress that we're trying to make at the school.
• 30:58
  Whereas the other things where, for example, if that classroom didn't have a roof,
• 31:02
  and we're waiting up until guests arrive in March.
• 31:05
  Yeah, that starts to become something else.
• 31:08
  So ultimately, what's really great is that from a reservations booking side as well as a foundation, we're constantly in dialogue.
• 31:16
  ABC and ABC are constantly in dialogue.
• 31:19
  When there is a group that comes in and they're like, hey, we want to do one, two, three, it's from a foundation side.
• 31:24
  I'm assessing, okay, cool, we can do that for the group.
• 31:27
  We can hold off on this up until the group comes three, four, five months.
• 31:31
  So it comes back to the customization process.
• 31:34
  We look at what the guests are hoping to do.
• 31:36
  We look at what's coming up on the ground.
• 31:39
  The benefit that we have, it's a weird benefit, is that not all of our countries move at the same pace.
• 31:44
  In some areas, it takes longer to implement things with her, and that's for different reasons.
• 31:49
  Some might just be logistical issues, because some areas are three, four hours drive away from main towns.
• 31:54
  So it does take a while for some resources to get into the area.
• 31:57
  does sometimes community engagement takes a while because there are a lot of stakeholders that you're engaging and we're ultimately making sure that we want a lot of people on
• 32:05
  board and invested in the work that we do.
• 32:07
  Some projects are just massive building projects that take a couple of phases and time to do.
• 32:12
  the opportunities always exist for guests to be able to get involved and partner with us one way or another, especially when they're actively on Safari.
• 32:20
  but it all comes down to us, know, dialoguing and finding those gaps and those opportunities at the times when they're looking at traveling, especially for bigger groups
• 32:28
  where you want them to be able to have bigger, chunkier things that they'd like to do over an extended period of time.
• 32:33
  Okay.
• 32:34
  So any of our group coordinators out there or group agents out there, I think the message there, if you are looking at something bigger than the, I don't want to use the word
• 32:42
  standard impact too, because they're all amazing.
• 32:45
  they're definitely not standard, they're very, different to what a lot of people offer in the African region.
• 32:50
  But so if you are working with a group or this is something that piques your interest, then if you want to do a bigger project, so to speak, I think there's a lot of planning
• 33:00
  involved here.
• 33:01
  And again, our group specialists would work with African bushcamps companies to work out, based on what I said there, know, certain projects as they're coming up and structure, I
• 33:11
  guess, for want of a better term to work around timelines and whatnot.
• 33:15
  I'm going to to my next question that be it a group or be it an individual or family or a couple of people traveling together.
• 33:22
  When they look at booking an impact tour, Safari, sorry, should say impact Safari, and they choose, say the women's development side of things.
• 33:33
  The actual project when they arrive is not may not be known at the time of booking.
• 33:39
  Is that a fair statement?
• 33:41
  No, so guess we'll, so if you're booking one of the standard standard, we'll use the word standard.
• 33:46
  If you're booking one of the standard, you know, learner development, women empowerment, conservation, safaris, those projects will be known because we, yeah.
• 33:53
  So we have a project attached to almost every single one of our properties.
• 33:57
  think it's usually the newer ones that don't have one yet, because there's always that, that, that delay of waiting for the camp to get established, set up before we move into
• 34:04
  the community.
• 34:05
  But if, for example, if I think if I use the learner development safari, for example,
• 34:10
  Learner Development is a three-night stay in Botswana, so either Kwai Lidwit or Kwai Lidiba.
• 34:15
  We're supporting two schools in that area, which is the Kwai Preschool as well as the Kwai Primary School.
• 34:19
  So from the moment that guests are traveling with us, they already know that when I'm in Botswana, this is the project that we're going to be going to.
• 34:27
  What I found so interesting with Impact Safaris is that guests ask a lot of questions ahead of time.
• 34:32
  know, people are doing research.
• 34:33
  People are researching the pictures, they're researching the projects.
• 34:36
  So a lot of the questions we tend to get is,
• 34:37
  I know we're going to a preschool, can we bring toys?
• 34:40
  Can we bring stationery?
• 34:41
  We've seen that this is the list of needs, what are the stuff that we can do?
• 34:44
  And that's why it's important that with an impact safari for guests to know as much as they can about where they're going and what they're going to be doing.
• 34:50
  So if we're going to Maunga Primary School, which is the project close to our Thorn Tree River Lodge in Zambia, guests will know that this is the school.
• 35:00
  They'll get more information so they have an idea of this is the stuff that we've been doing here, this is where we're going with the school.
• 35:06
  That by the time they get there,
• 35:07
  It's not new.
• 35:09
  The same way that you're researching, is there an air con, is there a hairdryer in my room?
• 35:13
  It's almost that same type of thinking for you to come in having already thought about what are the challenges in the area?
• 35:19
  What are some of the things that, how can I enhance this experience by digging a little bit more?
• 35:26
  Is there anything I can bring?
• 35:27
  Is there anything I can think of later?
• 35:29
  So guests will definitely know which projects they're going to, what's happening in the area.
• 35:34
  So when someone books that trip, they
• 35:36
  they do get this background information and I guess a list of Q and A's to the point of like, can I bring something else?
• 35:42
  Can I donate financially or bring supplies, et cetera?
• 35:46
  So as you just said, they should have all that information pre-travel and as such know what they can and should not sometimes bring as well.
• 35:54
  Nice.
• 35:55
  Now I believe as part of the pricing structure of African Bush camps that there is donations built into the pricing.
• 36:01
  Is that correct?
• 36:02
  Absolutely.
• 36:03
  So what makes
• 36:04
  I guess what really makes the Impact Safari unique is that a portion of the booking fee is donated towards the foundation projects within that circuit that guests will travel to.
• 36:14
  and the nice thing about that is that we don't, so when a person books an Impact Safari, it's not saying, well, book an Impact Safari, but also donate towards the foundation and
• 36:21
  also give us this and also give us this.
• 36:22
  We want guests to know that from the very beginning, when you made the conscious decision of going on an Impact Safari, you're already making a difference.
• 36:30
  As part of the pricing and the packaging that you've paid,
• 36:34
  a portion of that is donated towards the projects that you've visited.
• 36:37
  So if you're on a conservation safari, a portion of those funds go towards lion bombers, which help to keep the community's livestock safe from wildlife and predators because they
• 36:46
  live so close to the national park.
• 36:48
  So every single one of our impact safaris has a portion of the booking fee that goes back into the communities and goes back into those projects.
• 36:56
  And then we've also got the bed night lately, is for every night that a guest stays with African Bushcams, African Bushcams donates $10 towards the foundation's operational costs.
• 37:06
  So from the get-go, just by booking with African Bushcams, where the guests are booking a regular impact safari or booking any safari without spending time in the projects, without
• 37:15
  seeing the community, the work that we're doing, they're already contributing towards the work that we're actively doing on the ground.
• 37:23
  going on an impact safari is just that added benefit.
• 37:26
  It's just that extra because guests get to go to the village, they get to go to the projects, they see the work that we've been doing.
• 37:33
  And that becomes organic.
• 37:36
  What's so exciting and what's so interesting about guests that we see on impact safari is that the questions and the want to always comes from the guests.
• 37:44
  It's never us going, also, do you want to bring stationery?
• 37:48
  It's always a, I'm here.
• 37:51
  Can we go to the local shops?
• 37:52
  think one of the things shocked me.
• 37:53
  had a group on a hosted impact safari.
• 37:57
  We arrived in Zambia and we were due to go to the projects the next day.
• 38:00
  And they're like, hey, can we drive to the local town?
• 38:02
  We just want to buy some stationary that we can drop off at the school.
• 38:04
  And it's amazing things like that.
• 38:06
  It's being able to see that guests are thinking about this stuff.
• 38:09
  They're thinking about the Tupperware.
• 38:11
  How do I not arrive with an empty Tupperware?
• 38:14
  And that's exciting.
• 38:15
  And that makes the safari different.
• 38:17
  It makes their experience different as well.
• 38:21
  We've generalized to a degree that you might be working with a school, painting the walls or supplying stationary or building a roof.
• 38:29
  Once that school is established, I would assume you move on to another school.
• 38:33
  In other words, you're not causing any friction with the local communities competing against each other.
• 38:38
  Is that, that's obviously something you would be aware of.
• 38:42
  But to my question, I guess once one community or school or need is established, you would then share the love.
• 38:50
  to other neighbouring communities?
• 38:51
  Absolutely.
• 38:54
  The challenge that you'll always face is that the need is always so great.
• 39:00
  that being able to address that will always take time.
• 39:03
  But our focus is, you know, when we start a project, we want to finish a project and get the project to the point where you know that the school is done.
• 39:11
  I don't think most some of our projects, especially depending on what it is, like a school, for example, we won't completely walk away.
• 39:18
  And the reason I say that is that if you think of a school, for example, we can do all of the infrastructure developments, fix boreholes, fix solar, repaint, build classrooms, all
• 39:25
  of that.
• 39:26
  But we also have ongoing projects like we have back to school drives.
• 39:29
  We make sure that the learners have stay here at the beginning of the year.
• 39:32
  We have nutrition programs that are running that are providing healthy nutritious meals to learners.
• 39:36
  So those type of commitments we continue doing.
• 39:39
  we may move on to another project in that same community, but we will still keep supporting that school by making sure that those.
• 39:46
  those recurring things that we know that the school needs, know, as small and as small as they may be, we keep those alive and keep those running.
• 39:54
  You know, right now we're currently working on a project in Botswana.
• 39:57
  We were doing an analysis of the five villages that exist in the Linyanti area.
• 40:03
  And the purpose of that is for us to establish of all of these five villages, what are some of the key needs in those areas?
• 40:09
  And then we can start to prioritize them, you know, which is more important, know, which is more important?
• 40:13
  What do we need to solve now?
• 40:15
  What can we solve, you know, six to 12 months from now?
• 40:17
  So it's making sure that we are spreading the love as best as we can, as frequently as we can and as quickly as we can.
• 40:24
  And that process also takes time because you're making sure that you're not neglecting what you've worked with, but also taking on new things in a realistic, sustainable way
• 40:34
  that we can make commitments to the community and still meet those needs, you know, on time without making sure that we've made promises that we just can't keep.
• 40:42
  Fair.
• 40:42
  And well, that's it.
• 40:44
  That's excellent to hear because there's too many stories of people or organisations going in and leaving early or not finishing the job and often leaving the situation worse than
• 40:53
  they found it.
• 40:55
  With African Bush Camps being a tourist, tourism based company, obviously bringing foreigners in to the beautiful countries you mentioned, is there any aspect of your role
• 41:06
  that encourages or educates the youth of those countries to get involved in tourism?
• 41:13
  guides become administrators, cetera.
• 41:18
  So one of the really great things about our, not just our impact safari, so all of our camps organize project visits.
• 41:26
  So if guests are, if you have a guest that's just staying in Boomy Hill Safari Lodge and they'd actually like to go into the community to see the work that we're doing, or, you
• 41:34
  know, go help out serving meals at the nutrition program, our camps organize those trips.
• 41:39
  So you don't have to look at tourism, can just for a day or an afternoon.
• 41:43
  Yes.
• 41:44
  And those trips are guided by our local guides in the area.
• 41:49
  Our guides and our staff that are based in our camps come from the communities that we support.
• 41:53
  What that starts to do is that that starts to build and bridge that relationship between the work that we as the foundation do and that education, that awareness in the community.
• 42:02
  When the community sees our vehicles going in, they know that that's African bush camp.
• 42:06
  They know that that's tourism.
• 42:09
  We're constantly making the community aware of what we do.
• 42:13
  The staff, our guides go into our schools, they do conservation lectures, they lecture the learners on the importance of conservation.
• 42:19
  They educate them on the different work that they do.
• 42:22
  So we're making sure that the learners are exposed to tourism, they understand tourism.
• 42:29
  One of the other benefits of guests being able to visit our local projects is that the learners...
• 42:36
  get exposed to other career opportunities that they would have never thought of.
• 42:40
  I think what we tend to see a lot in these communities that most learners are thinking when I'm done, I'm going to go into tourism because that's what they know.
• 42:46
  You know, if you think of Boomi Hills Lodge, know, the one of Boomi Hills Lodge is right next to the fishing community.
• 42:51
  So a lot of what, you know, a lot of what learners see their parents doing is either working in working in safari or working in the fishing community.
• 42:58
  But when you have guests that are, you know, we recently had a guest that visited Maunga School.
• 43:04
  worked for, I want to say work for NASA, but there was something involved with rockets and science and kids being able to hear that, kids being able to hear that there's, I can aim
• 43:14
  for the moon because people are going up to the moon.
• 43:18
  It's that.
• 43:19
  So we want guests to visit our projects.
• 43:21
  We want guests to visit the community because there's already work that we as African Bushcamps are doing to expose the learners and the communities to other opportunities that
• 43:30
  exist, other career opportunities that exist.
• 43:32
  but guests being able to come in, guests seeing doctors, guests seeing engineers, seeing accountants, learning from them, learning just what they do in their work really starts to
• 43:42
  cement the fact that we want our learners to thrive.
• 43:45
  We want them to pass and graduate, but we also want them to know that there's opportunities for you outside of school, outside of this community.
• 43:53
  We recently put, we recently had computer labs set up and wifi in some of the schools, and that makes a massive difference.
• 43:58
  Kids now have access to.
• 44:00
  so much information, they have access to technology, they can now research, they can research, they can learn about the world outside, they can learn about, you know, career
• 44:08
  opportunities that exist.
• 44:10
  It starts to unlock and untap so much hidden potential that's within these learners.
• 44:14
  And that's such a critical part of the work that we do as the foundation.
• 44:18
  Yeah, there is there is a very positive side to to the World Wide Web.
• 44:22
  There's a lot of dark side to but there's definitely a lot of positive on the on the learning side and research and you know, as
• 44:27
  You know, common statement is a whole lot.
• 44:29
  You know, like you've got the world's information sitting right there in your hand these days.
• 44:33
  Now, I'm sure every African child has a phone, but if they have access to Wi-Fi, then it's a positive step.
• 44:39
  And I've also found just to your point of the guests getting out to the communities, be it on a booked impact safari or as a day or half day trip.
• 44:48
  I used to be a travel guide as well.
• 44:49
  The thing I always spoke of that tourism is wonderful because particularly when you
• 44:55
  Like as a tour guide, we'd have people on our trips and they'd come from all walks of life.
• 44:59
  And normally in your day to day and wherever you may live, you would never bump into the teachers who taught in the outback of Australia, or the engineers or the miners or the
• 45:09
  doctors, lawyers, et cetera.
• 45:11
  And being an underprivileged kid or being a privileged child or person as I was, that access to learning, cross pollination of knowledge, seeing what other people do, how they
• 45:22
  do it, the opportunities, also I think in your world.
• 45:25
  that the youth of these countries have if they want to pursue it is amazing.
• 45:31
  that meeting from both ways, not just us meeting the locals, the locals meeting us is a true benefit as well.
• 45:41
  it actually reminds me of my first safari when I headed out to Zimbabwe.
• 45:46
  I I traveled in COVID, so it was still locked down and there were only like two other guests in camp.
• 45:51
  And by day two,
• 45:53
  I was like, yeah, I think I've seen enough elephants.
• 45:56
  I've seen enough zebras.
• 45:57
  And the third day, we actually headed out into the village.
• 46:00
  that's just adding that to my safari experience completely changed.
• 46:05
  It just changed the entire experience of being in a new country.
• 46:08
  was the first time I traveled to Zimbabwe.
• 46:10
  And the guides took me out and the guides are from the local village that we went to where the projects are.
• 46:15
  So being able to have them show me around, we stopped at one of the local shop, bought some sweets, bought some chips.
• 46:23
  being able to just see the world from their perspective.
• 46:26
  You won't meet people and experience things like that unless you spend an afternoon taking a game drive out of the national park to go and experience that community.
• 46:35
  And I always say, if you're going to take time and money to go and travel to another country, experience all of it.
• 46:44
  If you're going to Cape Town, don't just go to the beach and Table Mountain, but go and find those opportunities and those activities that allow you to.
• 46:51
  learn local culture, learn local foods, try something different.
• 46:56
  Because when you're visiting Africa, you're not just visiting wildlife and great destinations, but you're visiting the people.
• 47:03
  You're experiencing what makes us, you're experiencing Ubuntu, you're experiencing our way of life.
• 47:11
  And those are usually the memories that people talk about.
• 47:13
  They talk about, meet this teacher, and I meet this person, and I meet that guide.
• 47:17
  And those are the stories that you keep with you.
• 47:19
  You remember the faces, you remember
• 47:21
  you remember the way you felt in those moments when you were in, you know, when you were in certain places and spaces and had certain conversations.
• 47:28
  And that is, it's such a critical part of a safari and a trip that I think people, if you walk away without that, you've missed out on so much on being on a trip.
• 47:39
  yeah, I agree 100%.
• 47:40
  Any cultural interaction, regardless of what country you're talking about is invaluable, particularly if you're traveling with a family and kids.
• 47:48
  Again, my
• 47:49
  I have three boys and they've been lucky enough to travel extensively and quarter every trip we do is some type of cultural interaction, be it a family visit, be it something
• 47:58
  more extensive like your impact safaris.
• 48:01
  Getting involved, seeing how the other half of the world lives and often at times understanding how lucky we are.
• 48:09
  So I'm going to speak for myself in that respect.
• 48:12
  But yeah, you don't need to do much to make a big impact.
• 48:15
  And obviously African Butch Camps is doing more than a little bit.
• 48:17
  You're doing a lot.
• 48:18
  And it's obviously by its nature, by its name, the Impact Safaris sound very, very impactful, sound wonderful.
• 48:26
  So is there anything else you'd to leave our listening audience with about impact tourism or African Butch Camps?
• 48:33
  I think I'd almost say, you know, impact tourism is not complicated.
• 48:38
  think a lot of the times when people think of Africa, I think they think of it as, you know, the world has taken so much from this area.
• 48:46
  I don't want to add by going on safari or I don't, or people feel like they don't know how to engage with Africa as a travel destination.
• 48:57
  you know, Africa is open for tourism.
• 49:01
  It's always been open for tourism.
• 49:02
  But over and above that, we're open for collaboration.
• 49:06
  Like we want people to come and see the amazing destinations where we operate.
• 49:09
  We want people to come and experience the wildlife.
• 49:12
  We also want people to come and experience, you know, the food, the culture, the people, the way of life.
• 49:17
  But we also want people to be able to know that they can give back to communities.
• 49:21
  They can give back to local schools.
• 49:22
  They can give back to, you know, to national parks without feeling like it's intrusive, without feeling like the little that they're doing is a drop in the ocean.
• 49:31
  I think sometimes people feel like I come on safari and I give $20 and what difference does that make?
• 49:35
  Now that $20 has made sure that a learner continues to have healthy meals at schools and that they can focus, they can concentrate, they can graduate and pass.
• 49:43
  So we want people to come on safari.
• 49:45
  We want people to come on regular safaris with African Bush camps.
• 49:47
  We want them to come on impact safaris.
• 49:49
  know, our purpose as a business is to share and conserve Africa together.
• 49:54
  And sharing and together means that, you know, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana are open for guests to come and experience.
• 50:02
  We're open to have them, but we're also
• 50:03
  open to dialogue, we're also open to conversation, we're open to finding ways in which we can collaborate in giving back, in building up, in empowering these local communities and
• 50:13
  local areas.
• 50:13
  And yes, having amazing drinks at sundowners, seeing a lion kill, seeing elephants drinking at the watering hole, we want to experience those.
• 50:22
  We want to experience it with guests that travel with us.
• 50:24
  We want them to go home, tell their families about it, bring their families with it so that we can continue to build healthy, thriving communities in the areas where we operate.
• 50:33
  Yeah, I can't recommend enough this this type of travel anywhere in the world, but obviously with African bushcans because they do it exceptionally well.
• 50:43
  as Kounoma has just mentioned there in regards to, you know, a small donation, people may not think it's, you know, it makes an impact, but it does.
• 50:52
  Because if you look at the reverse, you're often asked not to pick up stones or things from different places, because if everyone does it, then all of sudden.
• 50:59
  the wall that was there will not be there anymore because everyone's taken a bit of a stone.
• 51:03
  But if you put it in reverse and you place a stone before you know it, you have an amazing foundation for future generations.
• 51:10
  And again, that's the other thing I think is worth pointing out.
• 51:12
  This is affecting the current generation that African bush camps are working with, but it's going to affect the future generations as well and give them a fantastic foundation
• 51:20
  for their own futures.
• 51:22
  And everyone who participates in an impact safari with African bush camps can be part of that.
• 51:29
  So on that note, I'd like to thank you Konoma for your time today.
• 51:32
  It was absolutely a pleasure speaking to you about this and your programs and the foundation.
• 51:37
  I wish you nothing but the best going forward.
• 51:39
  If anyone has any questions about the foundations that we didn't cover today, you can reach out to one of the Go A Destination specialists in our African department.
• 51:48
  They're all very well trained on these projects.
• 51:50
  If you want something deeper, we will put you in touch with Konoma and her team and they can answer any questions, be it sort of a larger group with long-term plans.
• 51:59
  or again, just more information about it.
• 52:01
  And African Bush Camps, their website has all the information about their impact safaris as well as their standard safaris as well.
• 52:11
  So on that note, Kenoma, thank you very much.
• 52:13
  I really appreciate your time from sunny Cape Town.
• 52:16
  And thank you everyone today for listening in and we will talk to you soon.
• 52:20
  Thank you so much.
• 52:21
  See you on the next Impact Safari.