GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - For many travellers who have fallen in love with the African wildlife and bush experience, Samara Private Game Reserve has offered a magical home away from home.
Now, Samara’s founders are taking the experience one step further and enabling guests to become part of the pioneering Conservation journey.
The reserve is offering a 5-night Conservation Journey package: a thoughtfully crafted itinerary that allows participants to make a meaningful contribution to Samara's conservation efforts (without compromising on 5-star comforts).
“Every guest who stays at Samara embarks on a holiday with purpose - you help us to achieve our conservation vision simply by choosing to support us,” explains Sarah Tompkins, founder of Samara Private Game Reserve. “However, we also know that many people want to delve a little deeper - to understand how a game reserve truly operates behind the scenes, and to actively contribute to ensuring the future of the wildlife and of the land.”
First-time visitors to Samara will also quickly realise that Samara is not just another game reserve. Indeed, the reality is a little more complex. As Tompkins points out, Samara's focus on conservation is not a fashionable marketing tactic - it is in their DNA.
Samara was founded in 1997 with the vision of re-wilding 70,000 acres across eleven former livestock farms, restoring degraded landscapes and returning wildlife that had been absent from the region for centuries.
“Since the very beginning, we have been closely guided by expert ecologists and the best available science, and they are still guiding us now” says Tompkins.
The team has celebrated a number of thrilling 'firsts': reintroducing the first cheetah, black rhino, elephant and lion in the region in more than 100 years, and providing the land for the first government-accredited tracking school in the country. Samara has also witnessed the cascading effects of sound land management after decades of overgrazing – from the return of dung beetles and Cape vultures to the re-establishment of ecosystem processes.
Notably, the vision does not stop at Samara's boundaries – the team is working with stakeholders in the region to create South Africa's third largest protected area by linking two national parks with private land in an ecological corridor.
Guest Isabelle Tompkins planting a spekboom at Samara Karoo, South Africa.
“Importantly, our journey is ongoing, and we want our guests to help us shape it,” adds Tompkins.
The Conservation Journey package offers a 15% discount on nightly rates for a 5-night stay in any room type at Karoo Lodge or the Manor. The package includes a daily hands-on conservation session (subject to reserve needs at the time).
This could include wildlife monitoring, anti-poaching, land rehabilitation, reserve clear-up, fence maintenance, wildlife translocations, Spekboom planting, research assistance and community visits.
The experience also encompasses traditional game drives and/or bush walks; a tracking lesson with the SA College for Tourism Tracker Academy and a wilderness hike culminating in a fly-camp sleep-out under the stars. There is a R1 000 donation per person to the Friends of Samara Trust to support the ongoing projects.
“For anyone with an interest in conservation, a passion for the environment and a desire to travel responsibly, the Conservation Journey package promises to be a truly rewarding and remarkable experience,” concludes Tompkins.
For more information, visit www.samara.co.za or call (031) 262 0324.
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