The Wild Expeditions collective are Zimbabwean, Ethiopian, Malagasy, South African and even German and all began cutting their ecotourism teeth independently from the mid-1990s.
They fell into the industry one way or another (basically driven by a passion for the environment and a desire to share it and their respective cultures with visitors) in a variety of countries and roles … guides, camp managers, accountants, ecologists. Over nearly 30 years they worked all over Africa – east, west, southern, the Indian Ocean islands – and helped build other people’s companies before branching out on their own in 2020 to start independent camps and companies that allowed us to do things their way in the places they wanted to do them.
Over the years the founders came across each other in remote parts of Ethiopia, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, industry events and elsewhere, and in 2020 they took the plunge and decided that their visions had too much in common for them not to collaborate. And so Wild Expeditions Africa was born.
Wild Expeditions team are from many countries, backgrounds and experiences but they all share a passionate belief in a few important things.
Firstly, ecotourism, as a central pivot of the wildlife economy, is a critically important driver of African conservation;
Secondly, rural people (often neighbours or owners of conservation areas) are a vital part of modern conservation;
Thirdly, the planet, its ecosystem services and its biodiversity are a shared natural heritage and an understanding of, and connection with, nature is necessary for the future of the human race.
Wild Expeditions works alongside Wild Philanthropy in supporting conservation and community development work in and around the camps they operate.