Voluntourism
Voluntourism vs. Local Travel – making a (sustainable) difference abroad
Many travellers get to a point in their experience when they want to make a difference in the places they’ve visited. Whether it’s by donating money to a local charity, spending a day at an orphanage, taking a week to help build a school, or spending months working on a local development project, voluntourism has […]
Responsible Tourism Week – A better answer to some tough questions
We at The Responsible Safari Company were excited to celebrate Responsible Tourism Week, but it also sparked some heated discussions and questions in the office about how responsible we are. Should we be shouting it from the rooftops or just quietly getting on with what we do? Are there guidelines on how to be a […]
Top five picks for volunteer holidays
According to The International Ecotourism Society, volunteer travel is one of the fastest-growing segments of the tourism market. Environmentally and socially aware travellers now require more from their overseas trips than lounging on a beach and checking out the local watering holes. As a result, the number of initiatives that combine traditional sightseeing with helping […]
Thinking globally makes local tourism a heartfelt choice
Sometimes it takes a global village to help the one just down the road. For Fundación En Vía of Oaxaca, Mexico, that means not only reaching out to touch the lives of a nearby community through microfinancing loans and free English classes, but sharing the experience with people from all over the world who would […]
Creating community through volunteering in Oaxaca, Mexico
The women filed one by one into the dirt courtyard, taking seats on a long log bench after greeting each other quietly in Zapotec. They wore traditional full aprons over their everyday dresses; most had ribboned braids and dusty sandals. There was an electric air of anticipation, as though something important were about to happen. […]
Local life with the Odula family on Rusinga Island, Kenya
Fed up with the endless grey and drizzle of a London winter and the monotony of my office job, I decided it was time to finally make my African dream a reality. For some time, I had been entertaining thoughts of roaming the Kenyan savannah on a big-game safari, but I was also keen to […]