Astounding Africa

Where to start?

We’ve chosen the word “ASTOUNDING” to describe this incredible continent but we could equally have chosen AWSOME, ASTONISHING, AMAZING, REMARKABLE, INCREDIBLE or any other superlative. Perhaps we could have combined them…….but can anything do justice to this special place?  One thing is certain we haven’t over used Astounding – read on…

We visit this A S T O U N D I N G continent because doing so delivers benefits. Simply put: increased tourism to these wild places benefits the wildlife and the environment by helping to reduce poaching and illegal land use/logging. The Covid pandemic showed just how much benefit flows to the local communities in trickle down commerce as well as through the direct employment of locals and conservation and land use fees.

Habituating wildlife to the close proximity of tourists benefits the wildlife – enabling tourists to make ASTOUNDING memories and images that previously would have been all but impossible. Habituated wildlife become ambassadors for the wild places of Africa. Tourists return home, plan their next trips and tell their friends. Communities benefit from the inflow of foreign currency and see the value of the wild where before they may have experienced only conflict.  Habituation is not the same as dependency – some antelope chose to frequent safari camps where they may, apparently, feel safer from predators. The animals that frequent the locations are not encouraged to do so, for example, by offering food.