Tourists are increasingly looking to meet local communities. Tourism Update rounds up some options on offer in Africa.
The Hide, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
The game lodge has established the Hide Community Trust and works with communities surrounding Hwange with the goal of preserving nature in a collaborative manner. It facilitates the empowerment of rural people through sustainable initiatives. Community visits are made and may include a tour of a chief’s traditional homestead, a display of traditional dancing, or a stop at a local primary school.
A programme presently on the go at The Hide is integrated land use design and training in permaculture. There is a tree nursery in the camp, using recycled plastic as seed beds. In development is a women’s training centre, where women learn craft making from recycled and natural material. Guests are welcome to get involved in all these projects.
Wilderness Safaris
When it comes to community visits, the group has multiple programmes, but two that stand out for their access to age-old cultures are located in Namibia. For guests based at the Serra Cafema Camp on the Kunene River, which cuts through a stark landscape of sand dunes, there’s the possibility of an encounter with the nomadic Himba. Depending on their location, a long drive may be necessary.
From the Damaraland Camp, guests can visit villages where the Damara and Riemvasmaker communities are resident. In fact, many of the camp’s staff come from these villages, which are run as community partnerships with Wilderness Safaris.
To ensure all interactions are respectful, guests are well briefed on etiquette ahead of excursions. Wilderness Safaris also subscribes to an Ethics Charter and Codes of Conduct for Cultural Tourism, keeping a rein on interference.
Kadizora Lodge, Okavango Delta, Botswana
This lodge offers a village tour of Gunotsoga, 8km away and where most of its staff live.
The tour is conducted by Pat, Kadizora’s head mokoro poler. In the wet season the village is only accessible by this water-borne transport. Getting there involves an hour’s mokoro paddle, followed by a 10-minute walk into the village. In the dry season the trip by road takes 45 minutes.
“We usually leave at about 08h00, so that guests are not walking around in the heat of the day and do the mokoro trip back before it gets too hot. Due to the sandy conditions, walking around the village is like walking on a beach, so people that are not that fit have told us that they struggled somewhat.... something we make people aware of, especially elderly guests,” says Chris Anagnostellis, Director of An African Anthology.
There are approximately 800 people living in Gunotsoga and 310 school pupils at the Gunotsoga Primary School. The secondary school is 30km away in Seronga, a bigger village.
Guests get to experience the Kgotla, where village meetings are held, the police station, and clinic. At the bakery Pat buys fresh mangwinya, a vetkoek-type staple. If the visit takes place on a Saturday, the guests may be able to join in the local church service. The last stop is Pat’s ‘bachelor pad’.
“All the guests comment on is the fact that the village is completely authentic,” says Chris. “There are no curio stalls or people harassing them to sell goods, as some guests have told us they have experienced elsewhere. In fact, many have said to us that the people are so accommodating and gracious while their day is being interrupted by visitors.”
