Commitment to Communities
Visiting a Maasai village in Loliondo and helping to milk the baby goats
Sharing religious perspectives at
a mosque in Arusha
Dr. Frank Artress and staff at FAME (Foundation for African Medicine and Education)
Improving a school at a village in Arusha
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Unique Safaris is a totally Tanzanian owned and operated safari company. As such, we have a strong commitment to helping communities to benefit from tourism. Tanzania is one of the world's poorest countries and there are many ways that our company displays the commitment to helping communities and increasing the tourist's understanding of Tanzania culture and needs. All of our community visits involve a fee that is given to the project or village 100%. It is our responsibility to constantly monitor the various projects we expose our clients to, so that we can ensure that there is integrity and that compensation is benefiting the entire village or project.
Unique Safaris also helps to arrange service safaris, which are a combination of volunteer projects and time in the bush on safari. We actively support FAME, the Foundation for African Medicine and Education, founded by Dr. Frank Atress and his wife Susan. We encourage professional or church groups to volunteer their time providing medical/nursing care, building schools, participating in water projects or providing other service such as dental care, veterinary services or educational support. Volunteers are required to secure special visas and Unique Safaris can assist in that process.
- All funds received for the cost of your safari are declared as taxable revenue. Many safari companies that are owned by Europeans, Americans and South Africans declare their revenue in their home countries instead and they send only the funds necessary to operate the safari to Tanzania. This means that although the Tanzania national parks are being supported by your safari, the remainder of the revenue is not being used to generate taxes and revenue for the Tanzania government - revenue that is essential to support and develop the infrastructure and meet the needs of villagers.
- We encourage visits and service to various villages and compensate villages accordingly
- We encourage visits to local and private schools to help support their efforts to improve education in Tanzania
- We have arranged visits to local orphanages to bring much needed supplies for children
- We have helped to support the development of local medical dispensaries, encouraging clients to bring over-the-counter supplies that we can distribute to needy and worthy projects
- We are especially committed to the Maasai communities of Loliondo on the border of northern Serengeti. We work with Buffalo Luxury Camp to arrange visits to non-tourist villages that are committed to teaching travelers about the Maasai culture and including clients in some aspects of daily life.
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