Responsible Travel

Amanzi Travel was initially created with the aim of protecting and maintaining specific local projects like the Zambia Teaching and Community Development Project and the Lions' Rehabilitation Project in Zimbabwe. As our company has enlarged we have made sure we never deviate from our aim to passionately give back to the communities in which these projects are developed. By engaging in a volunteer placement or adventure tour with Amanzi Travel you are choosing to partake in community tourism - we are fully committed to benefit and support local communities by maintaining a positive contribution to local projects, local people, and the local environment and wildlife. We are dedicated to open the world of volunteer and adventure travel in Africa by promoting ethical travel, actively minimising the negative effects of conventional tourism. Every program we support can proudly describe their contribution to local community or environment. By becoming part of the local team for the duration of your stay, you too will become an integral part of the ongoing infrastructure designed to support and maintain worthy projects.

• All our projects are run with the consensus and support of local authorities
• We support the local economy by investing in local projects
• We use local guides who share their native expertise. Although back at the office we are always on call to advise and help, we know that the best support and information will come from the experts living on site.
• We focus on helping whole communities, not just the individual
• We encourage cultural sensitivity, ensuring that others are not exploited or their livelihoods diminished by the traveller's tourism
• We are concerned with creating self-sustaining communities by helping implement or maintain existing forms of industry and commerce
• Our projects are environmentally sensitive and sustainable
• We aim to establish and expand responsible tourism within Africa
• We actively contribute to the protection and preservation of Africa's amazing wildlife
• We keep groups small to minimise impact and facilitate a greater personal contribution
• We liaise with the local tourist boards for up-to-date information

Amanzi Travel offers a wide range of extremely worthwhile community and wildlife conservation volunteer placements throughout Africa. We welcome volunteers with drive and enthusiasm and a desire to make a difference. Our volunteers do not need to have any specific skills to help on a volunteer placement except an open mind. However we also offer skills-based placements like our medical projects, so if you would like to use your specific training and experience to further your contribution please speak to one of our advisors. Our medical and teaching projects are also open to enthusiastic volunteers with a desire to help in these areas. By embarking on a volunteer placement with Amanzi Travel you will play an important role in our company's ambition to promote ethical tourism. Here are a few suggestions to facilitate your transition from tourist to responsible traveller:

• Learn a few key courtesy phrases in the local language, such as 'please' and 'thank you' - a little respect goes a long way to promoting goodwill. A number of our volunteer placements include basic language skills as part of the initial orientation.
• Remember the economic realities of your new currency: although most of your trip will be all-inclusive, there will be times when you will want to spend personal money and you may be charged 'visitor prices' as opposed to local prices. The likelihood is, you earn a lot more than your patrons, so don't worry about overspending a few rand here or there.
• Bargain fairly, with respect to the seller. The perfect deal is where neither party feels ripped off, and you have engaged in a social custom with ease and good nature.
• Be aware of what you are buying as a souvenir: we do not condone the practice of unethical animal produce such as ivory and tortoise-shell. If unsure of an item's origin, think hard before you buy.
• Be aware of the traditions or taboos of your host country, and follow the examples of your local guides if you are unsure about dress or behaviour.
• Arrive with a sense of the political, social, and economic situation in your host country: to have an awareness of a country will facilitate your immersion in the culture and allow you to better understand the people you aid and interact with.
• Above all, show respect for the different cultures and customs you may come across.

CARBON OFF-SETTING

As part of our determined initiative to promote responsible travel, we are now offering a carbon offsetting facility for flights - whether you book them through us or not, you can still calculate the carbon emissions you will generate and then make an informed decision to offset. We want to offer you the option to reduce your individual carbon footprint by offsetting when you fly, helping in some small way to tackle climate change.

Carbon offsets explained

Each time we heat our homes, take a flight or drive the car, fossil fuels are burnt and CO2 is released into the atmosphere, causing climate change. We all need to take steps to reduce our CO2 emissions and one way of doing this is to offset the emissions we already emit.

Carbon offsetting enables you to take responsibility for your emissions by paying somebody to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere on your behalf. We are using a company called ClimateCare to invest in several relevant emission reduction projects all over the world.

What kind of projects will my money be funding?

VCS Voluntary Carbon Standard
GS VER Voluntary Gold Standard
VER+ TUV SUD's Voluntary Standard
ER Emissions Reduction

Project example

Clean stoves in Uganda

The Uganda Stoves Project supplies efficient wood burning stoves to institutions such as schools in Uganda. As well as reducing greenhouse gases produced from cooking, the stoves reduce the amount of wood fuel needed, helping to reduce deforestation. Cooks also experience the benefits of reduced indoor pollution since the stoves are less smoky.

Sarah Nakabuyo Naloongo is a cook at Kibuye Primary School in Kampala - where the new improved wood stoves were installed in Autumn 2007. She told us how the new stoves had improved her life because the kitchen is now smoke free and the food is easier to cook.

"Beforehand, we cooked the food on an open fire using stone stands and the room would be black with smoke. The new stoves have improved my life because I no longer have to work in a dirty environment. The new stoves are taller too which means that I don't have to crouch down and damage my back."
Image credit: Sue O'Connor

The carbon calculator

We will soon have a link from our website to that of ClimateCare, in the form of an embedded calculator that will quickly assess the costs of offsetting your individual flight. You enter your airport of departure and the airport of arrival, and simply press 'Calculate' where you will be sent through to ClimateCare's website.

The offset payments are made online using a credit card through WorldPay's secure payment service. You will then receive a certificate from ClimateCare noting the CO2 emissions offset through this service. www.climatecare.org