An eco-friendly Safari implies an environmentally conscious travel that incorporates the activities of protecting and conserving the environment. You can be part of the eco-friendly safari community in Kenya by hiring and working with tour operators who appreciate eco-friendliness for a sustainable environmental impact.
Here are 5 tips on how to actualize an Eco-Friendly Safari in Kenya.
- Chose camps and lodges that operate under the eco-friendly philosophy
You can find them by simply doing a google based research before booking your travel package. All you need is to find a tour operator who operates in an eco-hotel and ecology setup for the needs of a green traveler. Please note, this does not imply that you are going on a safari devoid of luxury, it is simply eco-friendly and centered on the merits of conserving the environment and supporting the locals.
- Choose an eco-friendly mode of transport
There are several alternatives to the usual means of transport. For example, you may choose to walk or ride a bicycle within the city of Nairobi while visiting the tourist attraction sites of interest to you. If you are traveling long distances from one city, says Nairobi to Mombasa, you are likely going to pollute the air by taking a flight. The eco-friendly approach for your travel is to partake in strict Overlanding. This implies that you travel with the mindset of reducing your carbon emissions and buying carbon offsets, to downplay any long flights from home to Kenya and back.
- Choose camps and lodges that have eco-tourism programs
There are eco-friendly businesses in the hospitality industry that partake in eco-tourism programs geared towards protecting and preserving the environment. Some of these businesses go a step further and sponsor the welfare of the communities around them and offer donations to promote educational initiatives, as well as conservation efforts. In places like the renowned Maasai Mara, the businesses around here employ the locals run a partner program with the community to conserve the wildlife of the immediate surroundings.
- Settle for green activity tours
The most significant travel option you can adopt is to pick non-motorized outdoor activities such as boat riding, cycling, and horseback for your safari in Kenya. You can achieve this by looking up tour operators with a set of packages that are primarily designed to reduce the environmental impact caused by carbon emissions from human activity. In the modern world, eco-friendly travel and activities are readily available and are no longer an exclusive privilege for the select few or mega-rich. Most of these activities especially canoeing, boat-riding and kayaking are either less fuel-intensive or less damaging to the surroundings.
- Be part of the solution
The most practical and immediate solution to adopting eco-friendly travel is by watching yourself and thinking through every activity you partake and its impact on the environment. You can make your travel to Kenya eco-friendly by minding your overall habits. First, do not use non-biodegradable products such as plastic bottles. You can also be part of the solution towards an eco-friendly travel in Kenya by being vigilant or more conscious on what camps and lodges run-on especially in relation to energy sources. Support lodges and camps that are using renewable energy such as solar power, wind energy, and biogas whilst staying away or rather denying business to tour operators who do have eco-friendly practices at the heart of their operations.