“This trip is a wonderful way to get Americans to come to Africa and get involved with a very worthy cause,” Mama Hope founder Nyla Rodgers said in a press release announcing the $3,500 travel opportunity.
Terra Incognita Ecotours’ approach to sustainable travel provides a different spin. Trip price tags for the Tampa, Fla., company’s once-in-a-lifetime vacations, safaris and treks through bucket-list countries include financial donations to conservation and wildlife nonprofit groups. Contributions range from $100 to $500 depending on the trip and the needs of the conservation groups, said founder Gerard “Ged” Caddick.
“What’s needed more than volunteers or anything else is money,” he said. “For very little money, these organizations can hire someone locally and get them involved on a much more fundamental level. I’m reluctant to bring over volunteers because it’s not motivating anyone in the destinations to get more involved. There’s this image that the white man comes in and fixes problems. I’m more interested in getting more local people involved in fixing the problem.”
Each of Terra Incognita’s trips is designed to promote thoughtful and respectful travel that makes a difference. Since 2006, the company has donated $130,000 to programs in Rwanda, Tanzania, Madagascar and several South American countries. Bringing tourists to Africa also creates jobs for locals — from guides and porters to restaurant and hotel staff – and Caddick makes a point of asking his clients to use locals.
“When possible we stay at locally owned lodges and hire local drivers,” said Caddick, the company’s sole U.S. employee. “I made a deliberate decision if I needed more staff my goal was to hire them in places we visit, not here in the U.S.”
Many of the company’s beneficiaries are conservation and wildlife focused — a throwback to Caddick’s previous zoo and expedition travel careers. Itineraries are designed to include dinner with members of the conservation partners.
“We offer premium tours that include visits to community and groups we work with,” he said. “Our clients get to see where their donation is going. Our biggest partner has a $1 million annual budget. A $5,000 donation makes of world of difference to what they’re doing.”
It took Caddick years to perfect Terra Incognita’s planned eight-day Uganda trek, which debuts in 2014 with three excursions. In addition to a traditional African safari and the opportunity to witness the spectacle of tree-climbing lions, participants will also hike the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to visit a family of endangered mountain gorillas and the Kibale Forest in search of chimpanzees. Overnight accommodations are included at each destination. Ecotourists will also meet the Gorilla Doctors, a group of veterinarians who treat sick and injured wild mountain gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo.
“We are a for-profit company but I made a commitment that everywhere we took tourists we would have a conservation partner,” said Caddick, who hosted his first trip in 2006. “I used to work in the zoo world and quite often what I found was it was quicker to do the job myself than spend eight hours showing someone how to do it. I felt from my company’s point of view if I could expose and educate people to the issues and get them engaged emotionally, they’ll continue donating after the trip is over.”
