Wilderness
Travel with purpose
Founded on the principles of conservation and community empowerment, Wilderness is at the forefront of safeguarding Africa’s diverse ecosystems while uplifting local communities.
Together we’re driven by a commitment to making a positive impact through travel. When you choose Awakening Travels, you’re joining a mission to make travel a force for good. Your journey supports a range of projects that benefit both the environment and local communities. These initiatives help protect endangered species, restore natural habitats and provide essential services like education, healthcare and employment for local residents. Your trip helps make a real difference.
Unforgettable trips
tailored to you
Follow your curiosity—from leopard trails to temple bells. Whether you seek stillness, thrill, or deep heritage, we craft every itinerary by hand. Start with inspiration, then let us design your soul-aligned escape.
Adventure & Outdoor Tours
Cultural & Heritage Tours
Relegious & Spiritual Tours
Wildlife & Nature Tours
Reforestation
In the fight against the destruction of natural habitats for wildlife, Wilderness has been making significant strides with its reforestation project in Rwanda’s Bisate and Gishwati regions. The project has reached an impressive milestone of over 100,000 indigenous trees planted, all nurtured from seed to sapling in their onsite nurseries. This initiative has had a dramatic impact on the region’s fauna and flora, contributing to the restoration of biodiversity.
Among the planted trees, some are specifically chosen for their importance as a food source for the endangered mountain gorillas that inhabit the areas surrounding Volcanoes National Park. The initiative helps to alleviate the severe impacts on Gishwati Forest, which has suffered a 98% reduction in size and forest cover since the 1970s. This deforestation had led to significant environmental degradation, including landslides, erosion, loss of biodiversity, flooding and silted rivers. As a guest at Wilderness Bisate Lodge and Bisate Reserve, you can plant your own indigenous tree and contribute to this vital cause.
Human-wildlife conflict
Wilderness, in partnership with organisations like CLAWS Conservancy in Botswana, has launched initiatives to address the widespread issue of human-wildlife conflicts across Africa. In many regions of the continent, wildlife poses a significant challenge to local communities, impacting their daily lives, economic activities and safety. These conflicts often arise from competition for resources and habitat encroachment.
To tackle these challenges, CLAWS initiated a groundbreaking programme in villages afflicted by human-wildlife conflicts. The project focuses on engaging local communities in non-lethal activities to foster peaceful coexistence and eliminate harmful practices such as the indiscriminate use of poisons. One key aspect of this approach involves empowering villagers to develop a personal connection with the wildlife around them.
Using state-of-the-art satellite collar technology, the movements of lions are tracked in real-time. This data is then fed into an automated alert system, which promptly notifies farmers via SMS when lions are dangerously close to their livestock enclosures. This enables timely intervention and helps prevent conflicts from escalating.
Experience it all at Wilderness’ lodges
Wilderness integrates sustainability into every facet of their operations. The journey toward conservation begins within their camps, where they prioritise hiring and training local employees. They have developed Group Environmental Management Standards (GEMS), to ensure that all operations minimise their ecological footprint while maximising positive impact, drawing from years of experience and industry best practices. As a guest, you also share the responsibility for safeguarding the natural world.
Through wildlife research in their concessions, Wilderness actively monitors and protects biodiversity with hands-on conservation efforts. They collaborate with neighbouring communities to mitigate human-wildlife conflict and promote coexistence, especially in regions like Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda and Tanzania, partnering with organisations such as CLAWS and the Lionscape Coalition.
By advocating for policy reforms and investing in landscapes that preserve crucial carbon sinks, Wilderness ensures that their impact resonates globally, advancing toward a more harmonious relationship between people and the planet.
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