Everyone deserves the chance to travel. Yet, all too often, seeing the world is a privilege reserved for the global elite. At Elevate Destinations, we bridge the divide, and our goal is to connect local youths to their own environments as travelers and stewards.
Through our innovative Buy a Trip, Give a Trip model, your trip purchase creates fun new travel opportunities for local kids. For the first time, they experience nearby natural and cultural wonders, see the sites, have fun, and make the kind of travel memories we take for granted. Here’s just one example of Buy a Trip, Give a Trip in action:
The Travelers:
High school students from the Believe Girls Club in Zambia spent the day with the African Bush Camps staff to learn about potential career paths in the safari industry. Believe Girls Foundation empowers young women with skills to confidently enter adulthood through access to higher education.
The Details:
On October 24, 2022, the first Females in Safari event was held at Thorntree River Lodge. Females in Safari is a program that opens possibilities for women in the African tourism industry.
The day began with a delicious breakfast and a warm welcome, followed by a tour of Thorntree River Lodge and an overview of how the camp runs.
The girls were treated to a day of guest speakers, including Thorntree Lodge’s camp manager, chef, beauty therapist, and trainee guides, to name a few. As guest speakers, the women shared their diverse career experiences, achievements, and advice, along with the importance of how women are shaping the safari industry.
To conclude the day, the young women enjoyed an exciting guided walking safari and a boat cruise to gain insight into what being a female safari guide could be like.
African Bush Camps’ Females in Safari program aims to train 25 female guides by 2025 in their Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana camps. African Bush Camps also contributed care packs for new moms to their local foundation project in Maunga Village as part of this event.
Partner Organization:
African Bush Camps Foundation:
The African Bush Camps Foundation strives to empower local communities and improve their quality of life through education, conservation, and community empowerment programs. They operate in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana, working to address issues such as unemployment, food scarcity, poor education and healthcare infrastructure, financial constraints that lead to low school attendance and dropouts, wildlife poaching, and preserving natural resources.
Read about other Buy A Trip, Give A Trip experiences.
