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Big Five Tours & Expeditions and Sustainable Travel International Team Up to Offer Sustainable Safari to Kenya
01-14-2009Boulder, Colorado / Stuart, Florida - As part of Big Five Tours & Expeditions’ ongoing commitment to sustainable tourism, it is teaming up with Sustainable Travel International (STI), to offer a safari to Kenya that exemplifies sustainable tourism in action. Scheduled for November 9-20, 2009, this special safari, accompanied by STI President, Brain Mullis, will visit top game reserves and community-operated eco-lodges that are helping to protect natural habitats and rare wildlife, as well as empowering local villagers to be economically self reliant.
The entire trip will be carbon neutral, to help address climate change, by calculating the total carbon emissions associated with the safari (including all accommodations, air, and land travel), reducing them where possible, and mitigating the impact of the remaining emissions through an investment in carbon offset projects in Africa.
“We are excited to partner with Big Five in offering this sustainable safari,” said Brian Mullis, co-founder and president of STI. “Although more tour operators are offering trips that feature ‘green’ elements, the travel industry needs to do more to support local economic development and the natural and socio-cultural environments they visit. By collaborating with Big Five Tours & Expeditions, we aim to offer the safari of a lifetime, while also providing our guests with an opportunity to learn about sustainable tourism first hand.”
Participants in this unique 12-day safari will visit several award winning projects, including Campi ya Kanzi, a Maasai community-owned luxury ecolodge where guests can participate in night game drives, bush hikes, and wildlife-viewing from 4x4’s accompanied by expert Maasai guides. The trip will also include a visit to Lewa Downs Conservancy, a partnership with local Samburu and Maasai villagers that has helped bring back the rare Grevy’s Zebra from the brink of extinction and, through the Northern Rangeland Trust, put more than a million acres of tribal lands under conservation protection.
The trip will visit self-help women’s projects such as the Kazuri Bead collective and Nanyuki Weavers & Spinners, cottage industries for local women and single mothers who had no other source of income, enabling them to be self-supporting by producing handicrafts for visiting tourists.
“We are delighted to partner with Sustainable Travel International on this exciting safari,” said Mahen Sanghrajka, Founder and Chairman of Big Five Tours. “Not only will our guests stay in some of Kenya’s finest safari lodges and experience the country’s extraordinary wildlife, but they will also learn about sustainable tourism conservation projects from the local villagers who are directly involved.”
This 12-day Kenya Safari costs $8550 per person, not including international airfare.
For more information and a detailed itinerary, contact, Deborah Kilcollins, Communications Liaison, (800) 244 3483, email: deborah@bigfive.com.
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