Not so long ago, the roar of a wild lion at
night came accompanied by the steady
thumping of a safari lodge’s diesel gener-
ator. Plastic water bottles were routinely
handed out to guests. The contradiction
between celebrating nature and adding
more pollution to the planet has not been
lost on the growing number of today’s
more sustainably minded travelers. The
safari world has been listening. In 2020,
Xigera Safari Lodge will reopen in the
biodiverse bonanza of the Okavango,
powered by a 4,000-plus-kilowatt solar
farm. A Tesla lithium-ion battery system
will sport charging points for electric
safari vehicles. It will also be free of
single-use plastic. “Our aim is to create
the eco-luxury safari lodge of the future,”
says managing director Mike Myers.
In Rwanda, one of the last strongholds
of the endangered mountain gorilla,
Singita Kwitonda Lodge is also taking
sustainability to the next level. Natural
materials were used to build the walls,
and an innovative ventilation system
draws in fresh air to cool the rooms,
elimating the need for energy-intensive
air-conditioning.
In Namibia, andBeyond Sossusvlei
Desert Lodge is located in the continent’s
only dark sky reserve. “Deserts are par-
ticularly fragile ecologically. We have not
only taken care to cause as little impact
as possible during construction, but we
also have a full recovery program once the
build is complete,” says Joss Kent, CEO
of andBeyond.
Experiencing nature can and should
be about protecting it.
COSTAS CHRIST ( @costaschrist) is an
editor at large and senior advisor for
sustainable tourism at National
Geographic. To learn more, visit
beyondgreentravel.com.
In the early morning, an
oryx roams Sossusvlei,
Namibia, where red sand
dunes can reach more
than 1,300 feet tall.86 NATGEOTRAVEL.COM
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