Loliondo, TanzaniaLoliondo community conservation Area is a partnership between Hoopoe Adventure Tours and the Maasai village of Oloipiri in the Ngorongoro District. Bordering the Serengeti, this is one of Tanzania’s most scenically beautiful game areas. Hoopoe has exclusive rights to a 200km2 area, with sections designated for walking or donkey-supported treks led by Maasai guides. Conventional game drives take place away from trekking routes. The agreement forbids tribal tree cutting, charcoal manufacture, poaching, agriculture or permanent settlement in the concession area, although seasonal livestock grazing occurs.
A significant proportion of tourism revenue goes into a village development fund for projects including education and clean water. Hoopoe also pays concession fees and makes contributions to the village council for development needs identified by the community.
Guests stay beside a remote granite monolith in five large, walk-in tents with simple bathrooms. Candles and oil lanterns provide light, and meals are eaten in a special tent. Loliondo is family friendly, enabling kids and teens to interact with their Maasai counterparts and experience young life in Africa. Njobvu Camp, MalawiThe recently opened Njobvu Camp, on the western boundary of Liwonde NP, offers guests a real taste of rural village life and is already generating valuable funds for the communities that run it, reports Hobbs Gama. Visitors can take guided tours by foot or bicycle, enjoy catchy traditional dances, eat the staple msima (hard maize porridge) with a spinach relish and sample locally brewed beer. Day tours are offered or guests can spend a night in a traditional hut.
The camp is the brainchild of African Wilderness Safaris and Mvuu Camp, in collaboration with Malawi’s Department of Tourism, and is the first of a series planned to open throughout the country. Managed by communities from nine villages surrounding the park, the project provides employment and conservation education. Among other things, money raised is used for the maintenance of schools and clinics. African Wilderness Safaris director Chris Badger believes the project can go a long way to help the poor, as villagers identify intimate problems and administer the funds themselves.
Abel Maluwaya, a villager at Liwonde, said people were initially unsure of Njobvu’s potential, as they were learning the value of their own traditions for the first time: “Many wondered if our way of life was interesting enough to attract any visitors, but the situation is different now.” Contributors: Stephanie Debere | 
