Respecting Wildlife on Every Game Drive
Our guides follow strict park and conservancy guidelines on vehicle numbers at sightings, minimum distances from animals, and off-road driving restrictions – rules that exist to protect wildlife behaviour, not just guest experience. In gorilla and chimpanzee trekking regions (Uganda’s Bwindi and Kibale, Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park and Nyungwe), we follow permit-holder limits on group size, trekking time with habituated groups, and health screening protocols designed to protect the primates from human disease transmission.
We prioritise camps and lodges that operate within conservancy models – private and community-run land set aside specifically for wildlife, where tourism revenue directly funds anti-poaching patrols and habitat protection.
Keeping Tourism Revenue in East Africa
Vision Safaris & Tours is based and staffed in the region we sell. Our guides, driver-guides and office team are East African, and the camps, lodges and conservancies we work with employ local staff and, in many cases, are partly or fully community-owned.
Where itineraries pass through Maasai, Chagga, Batwa or other local communities – for cultural visits, village walks, or simply staying in community-run conservancies – we work with operators who ensure a fair share of tourism income reaches the community itself, not just intermediaries.
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Supporting the Places We Visit
Every gorilla trekking permit sold through Vision Safaris directly funds conservation and community development programmes administered by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Rwanda Development Board – a portion of every permit fee goes back into protecting the mountain gorilla population and supporting the communities living alongside the parks.
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Reducing Our Footprint
We favour camps and lodges that demonstrate genuine environmental practice – solar power, responsible water use, and waste management – over those that only market themselves as “eco” without the operational commitment behind it.
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Investing in the People Who Make This Possible
Our guides and driver-guides are trained, licensed professionals – not casual labour.
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What We Ask of Our Guests
- Follow your guide’s direction at wildlife sightings and on treks – the guidance exists to protect both you and the animals
- Respect photography and interaction guidelines at gorilla and chimpanzee trekking sites
- Ask before photographing people in the communities you visit
- Choose reusable water bottles where camps provide refill stations
- Consider tipping guides and camp staff fairly