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Who we are:
In the beginning there were four great independent adventurers who set off into the wilds of Tanzania in search of paradise. Whilst Mark & Milly Houldsworth found it in the great plains of the Serengeti, Roland Purcell - soon to be joined by Zoe - sat in a deep aquarium green forest in the Mahale Mountains, and realised that this was the only place for him.
Richard Bonham, meanwhile, was leading trips with 20 porters and a few brave souls into the largely unexplored interior of the Selous.
They all established their base camps - Richard picked a wide bend on the Rufiji River, Roland a long white beach on the edge of Lake Tanganyika, and Mark and Milly decided the best way was just to keep on roaming around, camps and kit packed in four by fours.
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Within a decade, these simple beginnings had turned into very special and unique safari destinations; a grand lodge called Sand Rivers Selous, the fantasy camp of Greystoke Mahale, with its wild brother camp Chada Katavi in Katavi National Park, and a collection of superb mobile camps traveling around northern Tanzania in the greater Serengeti eco-system.
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But, no man is an island, and as demand and pressure grew it seemed a natural next step to join together. So one long weekend, over five years ago, over lashings of coffee and chilled wine as the hours grew late, these friends and comrades in Tanzania tourism decided to merge. They called the company Nomad Tanzania, and together embarked on a great new future.
They have since been joined by an eclectic team of passionate and professional travel fanatics - consummate nomads - who make sure that Nomad Tanzania always has the freedom and ability to bring you the best of wildest Tanzania. Nomad has a shared history of safari pioneering, grass roots local knowledge, and great style. Its goals and priorities are shared too; there is a serious yet irreverent love for the bush, strong conservation ethics combined with a sense of courage and leadership. The relentless quest for excitement and extraordinary adventure continues. |
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What has Nomad done for the environment lately?
Nomad Tanzania is proud to be the first company in Tanzania to carry out a complete carbon footprint audit on all our camps and offices.
We are also the first company in Tanzania to be awarded Bronze Rating from the Ecotourism Society of Kenya in recognition of our efforts to further sustainable tourism in Sand Rivers Selous, Greystoke Mahale and Chada Katavi.
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Nomad’s reputation has been built on its pioneering spirit and amazing camps in the most far-flung locations in Tanzania. This ethos is built on a heartfelt commitment to the environment. Nomad is a company of Firsts; the first permanent camps in Mahale Mountains and Katavi National Parks, the first company to set up the shared mobile camp concept in the Serengeti and now we have two more firsts to add to the list.
The carbon footprint audit, completed in May 2008, was based on a year of data collected in the field by Julia Bishop, an environmental consultant, and audited by Energy For Sustainable Development (ESD) working with the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management. Assessment is the first step in the carbon management process, which provides the building blocks to carry the company to a greener future. It enables us to develop our company strategy for reducing carbon emissions by setting targets that undergo regular assessments. |
We now have the source data of our energy usage and carbon emissions, both for our camps and offices. We also have a carbon footprint offset value for each one of our safari camps, which will result in carbon neutrality for Nomad – and a carbon neutral safari experience for our clients.
The Bronze Rating from ESOK, awarded in June 2008, is a holistic assessment of our performance and approach to ecotourism. This rating covers carbon emissions, environmental policy and conservation, community work, training and education, employment practices and health care. The Ecotourism Society of Kenya provides an internationally recognized environmental benchmark.
The only thing that matters, in the end, is sustainability and too often, this has become a tired concept. We are doing our best to go beyond greenwashing.
Nomad believes this: A safari is only as good as its wilderness.
For too long mankind has seen itself as somehow above nature. With overwhelming evidence of the breakdown of natural systems, it is time to re-evaluate our relationship with the Earth. As a company whose raison d’etre is the celebration of wilderness, Nomad Tanzania Limited has an obligation to preserve and protect the environment that sustains us.
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