As the short rains transform Tanzania's landscapes from dusty ochre to vibrant green, our community and conservation team traversed the country's wild corners, often on the boundaries of National Parks delivering projects that weave together the futures of people and wilderness. From ancient elephant pathways to classroom desks, here's where we started this year:
Bicycles: the simple wheels of change
In three villages, we handed over 31 bicycles to secondary school students whose daily journeys had meant pre-dawn departures, and many kilometres walked in darkness. For young girls especially, these wheels represent more than a mode of transport—they're pathways to safety and continued learning. Watch a student pedal away with newfound independence, and you'll see how a simple bicycle becomes a vehicle for transformation.
Mahale's next generation of learners
Along the shores of Lake Tanganyika, five students from Mahale who would have ended their learning after primary school are now continuing their education into secondary school and beyond. Our support with boarding resources and accommodation fees represents the smallest nudge with the most profound consequences—a simple gesture allowing young minds to grow, question, and explore.
Youth skills & future-makers
The interviews for our 2025-26 youth skills and start-up programme have begun in earnest, with twenty young people sharing their aspirations and ideas. Already, eleven standout candidates have demonstrated the spark and determination that will shape tomorrow's conservation-minded businesses. More conversations await in the coming months as we identify those whose to move forward in the process.
Girls finding their voice in Mahale
Hellen and Jacky, from our community and conservation team, created a space of trust and honesty during their two-day Girls' Empowerment workshop, where 87 young women gathered to discuss everything from self-esteem to menstruation management.
Against the backdrop of Lake Tanganyika's waters, these conversations about goals, obstacles, and futures echoed with laughter and determination - planting seeds of confidence that will continue to grow long after our team departed.
Beds for meds reaching 2,300 people in remote Tarangire
For two days, specialist medical teams joined us in villages surrounding Tarangire National Park, focusing on childhood disabilities, paediatric cancer, and fistula care. Among the 2,300 community members who were seen, twelve children with disabilities were identified for follow-up care, and one woman scheduled for life-changing fistula surgery. Between examinations, health education rippled through schools and community gatherings
Elephant Watch Towers in Tarangire
Along the boundary of the Tarangire National Park, we completed the construction of 50 elephant watch towers. These help the farming communities keep a lookout over their crops, protecting their farms and playing a vital role in reducing conflict between people and wildlife in an area where elephants will often come out of the park and into the fields, damaging crops and endangering livelihoods.
Tomorrow's tourism stewards head out on safari
On the edges of Arusha National Park, our team spent a day with students at a sustainable tourism school, sharing insights on ethical guiding and community conservation. Mock interviews prepared them for future opportunities, while a game drive into the park—a first experience for many—transformed textbook knowledge into lived understanding as fourteen students encountered their professional future through the windows of a safari vehicle.
Learning from the Land
As March ended, our team knelt in the rich soil of a regenerative farming demonstration site, exploring techniques that promise renewed soil health and improved water retention for local farmers. These hands-on lessons in working with rather than against natural cycles offer local farmers practical wisdom that costs little but yields abundantly—both for families and for the land itself.
Each project and initiative on the ground looks to deliver on our purpose. Without the support of those remote communities that neighbour our camps across Tanzania, the wilderness and wildlife on which we rely would never survive. And without you visiting from every corner of the globe, the virtuous circle of safaris, community and habitat would be impossible to maintain.