Low-impact Travel – Oluokos 7 climate-conscious, low-impact travel options you can take
As an environmental-conscious luxury safari operator, we’re always looking for new ways to cut down on emissions. All our safari itineraries are well informative regarding the climate-conscious travel.
We’re also working with various destinations to ensure that we carbon offset and this makes a great place to start. However, the best way to help the planet, people and nature while you travel is to minimize your footprint in the first place. That could mean fewer internal flights (or preferably none at all), lots of public transport, good old-fashioned walking (or cycling), and eating plant-based meals or sustainably grown, outsourced produce or even (eating less meat, generally) wherever we can.
If you’re looking for a climate-conscious, low-impact African luxury safari with Oluokos, here are seven of our favourite guide.
Please, read more about Wildlife Conservancies around the Maasai Mara
For many personal, societal and conservation reasons birdwatching provides huge amounts of benefits conservationists, birdwatching safari companies and researchers in general.
For birders, Africa remains to be the best destinations on earth. Africa is blessed with diverse vegetation from coastal estuaries, swamps, desert, open savannah, rain forests to mountain moorlands and the peaks that give Africa added advantage to birding safaris.
With over 2300 bird species, around 67% are endemic with a majority found in East African countries with Tanzania taking the with 26 endemic bird species, Kenya is second with 8, Uganda third and lastly Rwanda.
Birding safaris in Africa have been boosted by Africa’s favorable climate that support a stable number of resident species throughout the year. Africa also supports a good number of migratory species that call Africa home during the winter while others come for breeding in Africa.
In recent years, expert ornithologists have testified that African remains the top birding destination where one can spot over 400 bird species while on a 5 day safari and this isn’t easily matched with anywhere in the world.
When it comes to Africa’s wildlife, everyone knows the Big 5 animals better. Wild animal’s names like – leopard, lion, rhino, elephant and Cape buffalo are on the lips of every perceptive guest. However, did you know that you could actually expand your African wildlife checklist while on safari?
Apart from the well-known wildlife, you could encounter some cool wildlife herein; the Big Seven, the Little 5, Ugly 5, Shy 5 and even the Impossible 5! By being curious, the reality will dawn on you that coming to Africa on safari isn’t just about the 5 animals on your wildlife checklist.
You’ll get it right with Oluokos Signature, and we agree with you that the Big 5 still remain iconic., but there are so many other incredible animals, both big and small, that will captivate your mind away on a walking safari or game drive. Apart from wildlife, there are extraordinary birds for your own special safari enjoyment.
Leaving your 4×4 behind and setting out on foot to explore the African bush and discover all its inhabitants is something that’s really amazing about an African safari.
Without the noise of the engine and the smoke from the exhaust system, your eyes refined and your expectation doubled – the walking safari sets the new pace of checking your carbon footprint.
Africa offers wonderful possibilities for walking safaris and in Kenya, unlimited options await. From easy nature walks to tracking big game on foot or simply unwinding for a few days into remote wilderness areas of Kenya. Our informative walking safari holidays are customized to meet your individual requirements, and allow a combination with other wildlife holiday experiences.
By staying in wildlife conservancies, you’re helping by taking the lead to create a coexistence between wildlife and local communities who live in these wildlife habitats.
Host communities own most of the land surrounding Kenya’s wildlife protected habitats. In conjunction with the communities, investors have leased some of these conservancies land because it’s private, and for guests staying within the conservancy, you get a quieter experience and can do optional extra activities like walking safaris, and night game drives.
The wildlife freely roams between the parks and conservancies, and you will have the chance to visit local community projects. By choosing to stay at a camp within a conservancy, you will have a more peaceful safari experience with less traffic and know that local communities are being supported directly, as well as helping to fund anti-poaching initiatives.
All our itineraries in the wildlife conservancies are low-emission by nature, but a wildlife safari experience in conservancies take climate-conscious operations to the next level. Wildlife conservancies offer the most beautiful and most remote luxury holiday, which means it’s also off-grid. When it comes to limiting your footprint, off-grid beats offsetting every time.
Slow travel involves immersing in local culture for an extended time, boosting authenticity and sustainability. While longer stays reduce our carbon footprint and aid towards sustaining local businesses. We utilize this opportunity to remain relaxed and deeply engage with culture, learn the language, enjoy local cuisine, and join activities, enriching your experience and conserving heritage.
With extended stay, we build better connections locally. You may even consider volunteering. By choosing long eco-stays and supporting local businesses for a mindful, impact that goes along the way to better lives in the community at large. Thus, slow travel means more than time; it’s a positive impact, beauty preservation, and treasuring moments. Slow travel allows you to embrace the pace, connect with cultures, and savor the beauty of the timeless African luxury safari slowly.
One thing we’ve learned over the years of our operations: the magic of staying in community-owned accommodation facilities. It isn’t only better but worth it. When you consider traveling, it’s usually a good idea to make a conscious effort to keep your tourism dollars in the hands of locals.
As a result, of this, our safari guides and local guides on all our trips. We also stay in local-owned accommodation wherever possible, including the experiential homes stays that are nestled deep in the heart of our African destinations.
The least-visited Western Kenya is home to rolling tea plantations, lush swamps, and equatorial forests, along with Kenya’s second-highest mountain and the largest lake in Africa.
Scaling up the heights of Mount Elgon sampling Nile Perch big fishing opportunities, birding the remote islands, or just basking lazily on the mainland beaches of Lake Victoria are among the so many leisure activities to undertake while in Western Kenya.
With some of the most breath-taking sunrises and sunsets, Western Kenya remains to be one of the best locations in Kenya to see some of Kenya’s most sought-after bird species in its forests, swamps, lakes, and rivers, and even in the scattered hills with its neighboring countries. Well known to be among the most welcoming communities, the culture here isn’t something to be missed. Your visit to Western Kenya will contribute positively towards our low-impact travel!
Understanding the difference between the Maasai Mara and the neighbouring conservancies…
The neighbouring conservancies that surround the Maasai Mara act as buffer zones and also wildlife migration corridors between the Maasai Mara National Reserve and the surrounding community owned lands, where cattle graze year-round. While the Maasai Mara National Reserve is the key area for the great wildebeest migration, there is also plentiful resident wildlife inside the reserve, that lives here year round and gains more space to roam with these adjacent conservancies.
Most of these wildlife conservancies belong to Maasai communities, private conservationists and some exist with leasing them to some top responsible safari companies they can create additional revenue while the land also is protected. It’s a win-win for nature and people! Please, read more about Wildlife Conservancies arond the Maasai Mara
