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In an ongoing partnership with Save the Rhino Trust Namibia (SRT) and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), Wilderness Safaris is proud to report the success of their most recent entirely airborne anti-poaching operation, forming part of a campaign launched last year. Involving two helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft, the aim of the campaign is to monitor, dehorn and protect black rhino in north-west Namibia. Funded partly by Wilderness Safaris’ Sustainability Fund, the recent operation saw close to 50 rhinos dehorned in order to deter poachers, as well various other veterinary services carried out in the local villages.

For more than a year before its opening in 2017, Wilderness Safaris Bisate Lodge was fully committed to its reforestation project, germinating over 100 000 indigenous tree seedlings each year. This visionary programme has since seen more than 30 000 trees nurtured into complete independence from the care of the lodge. Besides its pioneering reforestation and conservation model, the lodge has also engaged with the Bisate community through a number of projects.

Wilderness Safaris Bisate Lodge at Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, is enhancing its guest experience by building an exclusive new Day Lounge to accommodate early arrivals and later departures. As the only lodge in the area to offer this service as part of its fully-inclusive offering, guests will be able to shower, change, enjoy a light meal, in-room massage, or simply relax in the lodge’s supremely hospitable and peaceful environment.

The 2018 safari season has kicked off in Zambia’s wildlife-rich Busanga Plains with Wilderness Safaris’ Shumba and Busanga Bush Camp now open until the end of October 2018. In addition to offering the most exclusive wilderness experience in this remote region, every guest visiting the Busanga Plains is a conservationist, helping Wilderness Safaris contribute more than USD500 000 to Kafue National Park every year.

Wilderness Safaris’ Chikwenya  and Ruckomechi camps are set to re-open on 1 April for the 2019 safari season in Zimbabwe’s majestic Mana Pools National Park. With both camps offering an authentic and immersive experience strongly rooted in a core purpose, guests can be assured of an exclusive wilderness experience in one of Africa’s greatest wildlife areas, whist giving back to conservation and community empowerment at the same time.

Wilderness Safaris’ non-profit partner, Children in the Wilderness (CITW), is thrilled to announce the appointment of long-standing CITW South Africa Board member Mike White as its new Chairman.

Wilderness Safaris’ non-profit environmental and life-skills programme, Children in the Wilderness (CITW), launched its inaugural all-girls YES (Youth Environmental Stewardship) Enterprise Camp at Victoria Falls Rest Camp in Zimbabwe recently. Funded by the International Centre of Excellence for Community Schools, the camp brought together 17 Form 3 pupils from Kapane, Ngamo, and Sipepa secondary schools.

Situated in a private concession on an island in the south-east of the Okavango Delta, the renowned Chitabe Camp has reopened after an extensive renovation and rebuild of its elevated walkways and main camp area.   “When we originally built Chitabe over 20 years ago, it was the first completely elevated camp in the Delta”, commented Helene Hamman, Chitabe CEO.

Children in the Wilderness (CITW) Rwanda has awarded scholarships to eight learners for the full duration of their secondary school education. The funding was provided by Olympus and Wilderness Safaris Bisate guests. With an estimated value of USD300 per student, per year, the scholarships also include school fees, books and uniform costs.

During the first week of December, 30 girls from Seronga’s Ngambao Junior Secondary School underwent yet another exciting and empowering training at the second Conservation Science Camp for Girls in Rural Areas in Eretsha.

In an effort to encourage and empower school girls in rural areas to develop an interest in environmental and conservation science, Children in the Wilderness (CITW) Botswana, Wilderness Safaris’ non-profit partner, held a five-day Conservation Science Camp for 30 girls from Ngambao Community Junior Secondary School in Seronga, in Botswana’s North-West District.

Wilderness Safaris’ non-profit partner, Children in the Wilderness, has delivered over 1 000 food hampers to various communities in the Zambezi region since the start of COVID-19. In addition to these food relief efforts, 71 Days for Girls hygiene kits were distributed to students at St Mary’s Primary School in Hwange last week, giving them a vital opportunity to attend school and to be present for the rest of the academic year.

Since the start of COVID-19, Wilderness Safaris and its non-profit partner, Children in the Wilderness (CITW), have continued to provide crucial support to rural Namibian communities through educational assistance, the provision of Tippy Taps in remote regions and reusable face mask materials. Ongoing food parcel deliveries are providing relief to the Himba community near Wilderness Safaris Serra Cafema, and the donation of a lion-proof kraal to a farm in Damaraland has greatly assisted with livestock protection, helping to combat human-wildlife conflict in the region.

Wilderness Safaris’ non-profit partner, Children in the Wilderness (CITW) has awarded 80 six-year scholarships, valued at USD120 000, to learners at Bisate Secondary School. Provided by Wilderness Safaris Bisate Lodge guests, the scholarships will cover school fees, books and uniforms costs for the full duration of their secondary school education.

The 11th of October was the start of the new school year in Rwanda, an exciting time for the six partner schools that Wilderness Safaris’ non-profit Children in the Wilderness (CITW) works with, in the company’s three areas of operation in Rwanda.

Children in the Wilderness (CITW), in partnership with humanitarian Anton Poplett of 4x4OutFar, and his Global Vision team, recently visited six of the schools in the Tsholotsho region that CITW works with in Zimbabwe, to carry out eye-test screening for students between the ages of 10 and 14 years.

Children in the Wilderness (CITW) Zambezi has launched a ground-breaking Adult Community Literacy Programme at Jabulani Primary School near Victoria Falls, starting with 90 books generously donated by Judith’s Reading Room. Delighted teenagers and adults of all levels of reading ability from the community have already joined the programme, with meetings taking place in the evenings when the school is quiet.

Wilderness Safaris’ environmental and life skills programme, Children in the Wilderness (CITW), has officially launched a Zimbabwean papermaking initiative involving eight women from Jabulani. In conjunction with the Mapepa Paper Project, these women are contributing to Jabulani’s journey towards sustainability, one sheet of paper at a time. Using what would otherwise end up in landfill, instead they create beautiful products and souvenirs such as bookmarks, notecards, origami boxes as well as A4 paper.

After a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Zimbabwean schools are open again, and Children in the Wilderness (CITW), Wilderness Safaris’ non-profit partner, has provided two tonnes of nourishing porridge to primary schools in Matabeleland North province, ensuring each child has a nutritious start to the day.

For the safety and convenience of its guests, Wilderness Safaris is making in-camp COVID-19 RT-PCR testing available in its camps in Hwange National Park.