Luxury safari travel is evolving beyond exceptional wildlife encounters and luxury accommodations. Across East and Southern Africa, leading safari properties are demonstrating that tourism can actively support conservation, sustainability, education, and local communities. Ethical safari travel proves that luxury travel can leave a positive impact long after a journey ends. For travellers, the safari experience becomes not only about where you go, but who your presence supports along the way.
Across East and Southern Africa, some of the strongest luxury safari properties are proving that comfort and conscience can belong in the same itinerary.
This is crucial to not only your experience as a traveller and explorer, but to the longevity and quality of the safari experience for generations to come. The right safari is just as committed to sustainability, conservation, and community impact as it is to extraordinary wildlife encounters.
We are proud to highlight some of our Virtuoso partners championing ethical safari travel:
Elewana The Manor at Ngorongoro
Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
Elewana The Manor sits within the wider Elewana Collection, whose sustainability work includes low-impact lodge design, strict recycling systems, reduced single-use plastics, and solar and power-storage technology across many of its camps.
In Tanzania, Elewana sends glass waste to Shanga Workshop in Arusha, a social enterprise where artisans with disabilities transform recycled materials into handmade jewelry, glassware, and homewares.
Through its 2018 “Ban the Bottle” initiative, Elewana also significantly reduced single-use plastic water bottles, with reusable bottles at six Kenya camps preventing more than 160,000 non-biodegradable plastic bottles per year from reaching landfill.
Mahali Mzuri
Maasai Mara, Kenya
Since opening in 2013, Mahali Mzuri states that more than 80% of its staff come from the local community, many of whom have been with the camp since its opening.
One of its most impactful initiatives has been the decade-long development and support of a local school serving 300 students between the ages of 3 and 15. Contributions from the property and guest donors have helped fund a dining hall, computer lab, accommodation facilities, sanitation infrastructure, school meal programs, and a rainwater harvesting system designed to help combat malnutrition and improve long term student wellbeing.
The camp has also expanded its sustainability initiatives through renewable energy development, including a solar farm project intended to provide 100% of the camp’s energy.
Zambezi Queen
Chobe River, Botswana
Each guest contributes to the property’s Community Development Fund through a small conservation levy, helping fund long-term projects identified in collaboration with local communities themselves.
One of the collection’s most impactful initiatives has been its ongoing support of Mbalasinte Combined School. Recent projects have included the installation of water and plumbing infrastructure, classroom renovations, reconstruction of the boys’ dormitory, improved sanitation facilities, a new student hostel, school fencing, gardens, and the development of a new library and learning spaces for students.
Beyond community development, Zambezi Queen Collection actively supports conservation partnerships with regional conservancies and wildlife organizations focused on habitat management, environmental education, anti-poaching initiatives, and long-term ecosystem protection throughout the Chobe River region.
Ol Jogi Conservancy
Laikipia, Kenya
This conservancy employs approximately 300 staff members, more than 70% of whom come from surrounding local communities. Unlike many conservancies, Ol Jogi allows staff families to live on-site, meaning roughly 1,000 people currently reside within the conservancy itself. Ol Jogi operates an on-site primary school serving 230 children with free education for staff families, while also funding secondary school, college, and university bursaries for students from neighboring communities.
Beyond the conservancy itself, Ol Jogi’s Wildlife Education Program has hosted more than 100,000 Kenyan school children since 1986, helping educate future generations on wildlife conservation and ecosystem preservation.
The conservancy also runs a medical dispensary with a full-time nurse providing free medical care, medication, vaccination support, maternal and child healthcare education, and family planning resources for both staff and neighboring communities. Ol Jogi also supports women’s empowerment initiatives focused on entrepreneurship, diversified income opportunities, healthcare education, and infrastructure support for women within surrounding communities.
Additionally, the conservancy uses holistic grazing systems based on Allan Savory’s land management model, hosts up to 1,500 community cattle during drought periods, and trains local herdsmen in sustainable grazing practices designed to reduce soil erosion and restore degraded land.
Singita Grumeti
Serengeti, Tanzania
Through its partnership with the Grumeti Fund, Singita supports the protection of approximately 350,000 acres of wildlife habitat in Tanzania’s western Serengeti. Conservation efforts include anti-poaching ranger teams, ecological monitoring, aerial surveillance, scientific research, habitat restoration, and specialist canine units used in wildlife protection operations.
Additionally, more than 90% of Grumeti Fund staff are Tanzanian nationals, helping ensure that tourism revenue creates long-term economic opportunity within the region itself.
One of Singita’s most recognized initiatives is the Serengeti Girls Run, an annual women’s fundraising event supporting girls’ education and empowerment programs throughout rural Tanzania. The 2026 event marks its ninth consecutive year, with proceeds helping fund scholarships, leadership opportunities, mentorship programs, and educational access for young women in surrounding communities.
The Takeaway
As you can see, the best safari properties do more than offer beautiful rooms, expert guides, and unforgettable wildlife. They invest in education, health systems, conservation science, local employment, women’s empowerment, and long-term cultural resilience.
For North South Travel clients, the question is not only “Where should I go on safari?”
It is also: “Who does my trip empower once I get there?”