Responsible Travel

Culture

We appreciate the diverse cultures on the African Continent. A good number of people travel to experience different cultures across the globe. This is an opportunity for the travelers to learn how things are done in different cultures and try them out too differently. Both the locals and the clients get to understand and appreciate each other’s cultures and eventually interact well.

We therefore encourage our clients to observe the following:

1. Try to be cheerful and friendly whilst interacting with the local population.
2. Due to curiosity, some people may ask numerous questions. Kindly respond to them politely and in a friendly way.
3. Do not openly criticize their cultures in their presence or try to change them.
4. Be respectful around places of worship or areas considered holy by the specific religion(s) or ethnic group(s). For example, Temples, churches, mosques, tombs, Statues, icons etc. This may also apply to the head of the religious institutions; they are also widely respected and obeyed across the continent.

Here are some suggestions that will help you interact more:

1. Learn and use the local language: By doing so, they feel their language is also appreciated and valued, this will eventually make your relationship with them better.
2. Order food or drinks using local dialects.
3. Identify the things that bring the locals together and participate in the same to interact even more with them. This may include games, common activities, or meetings at coffee joints.
4. Visit the common areas frequented by the locals like shopping malls, parks and the public transport system.

Whilst interacting, you may however consider the following:

1. Dress appropriately and decently.
2. Use suitable greetings and body language.
3. Note and avoid offensive gestures or words.
4. Boundaries of privacy- This includes how far one can go or do in a certain area without offending the other person(s).
5. Any other common belief or practice.
6. Shopping behavior or practice, for instance; Bargaining is common when purchasing good in open air markets in many African countries.

Dressing Code

What we choose to dress in is mostly dictated by weather, places to visit and activities to get engaged in amongst other reasons either personal or otherwise. For example, different people tend to dress in a certain way while going to places of worship, business meetings and the likes.

We will therefore brief our clients in advance of the expectations in the dress code while visiting various places to avoid the culture shock.

Dressing appropriately ensures that the people you interact with at that time don’t feel offended. For example, in Zanzibar, more than 92% of residents are Muslims and dress in a certain way.

Dressing contrary to their code especially in Muslim community won’t be received so well. However, the locals would feel more comfortable interacting with a person dressed in a way pleasant and acceptable in their community/religion or region. This does not necessarily translate that one should be dressed exactly like the locals though; it only means that one should consider their feelings and respect the natives’ culture too.

Photography

In East African countries where we conduct our business, it would be unimaginable to not be tempted to make several pictures whilst traveling around the beautiful sceneries and other sightseeing’s.  We would recommend all our clients looking forward to having memorable moments and events to invest in the right cameras and other equipment’s.

While on game viewing sessions, (land and marine) it is allowed to take as many photographs as possible. These photographs normally act as memories for travelers once they have returned to their respective residence areas. Therefore, making many quality photos at this juncture will be highly recommended.

In urban areas and residential places seems to be a bit different depending on the country and the managing authority(s). For example, photography of government building is prohibited in some African countries. These buildings would include,

1. National parliament
2. Office of President and Vice/Deputy president
3. Buildings hosting government ministries and other critical offices
4. Military Headquarters/Barracks and other National Defense related offices
5. National Police Offices and other Police stations

Other places that would be having certain restrictions may include:

1. Places of worship (Mosques, Churches, temples amongst other places).
2. Medical facilities

We will share with you in detail depending on the specific country of travel since the laws and other restrictions tend to vary.

While taking photographs of individuals or their residents/property, one would need the consent of the individual(s) to be polite to the same individuals. Kindly respect their will and judgment while they are against the same to take place.

Their decision to decline your request could be contributed to:

1. The fact that they could not be looking their best at that specific time hence and won’t like wish to appear in photos in that state.
2. The negative mentality that they would be “sold” in foreign countries.
3. The feeling that one is only “taking” from them and not “giving back”. This feeling has led to some asking for some mode of payment in return.

At Dawn Expeditions, we encourage the spirit of sharing rather than just taking. When possible, we encourage our clients to share the photos they take with the locals through the Tour leader. We recommend that you use our designated Tour leader in that scenario.

We will, however, advise our clients appropriately according to their travel region of the requirements and expectations of the locals.

Shopping

At times we will engage our clients where possible to shop from the locals hence promotional of the local economy. This is a good time for the clients to purchase anything legally that they might need and not provided by the Company.

We avoid usage of single use polythene bags where possible while carrying and storing purchased goods.

The said polythene bags have been replaced with recyclable materials that will also be used to serve the same purpose. This will ensure that we contribute very little if any to environmental pollution.

Monetary Handout

At Dawn Expeditions, we don’t support monetary handouts to street /homeless children. It has been increasingly challenging to identify genuine needy/financially vulnerable individuals in society. In this regard, we advocate offering any such financial support through some recognized/certified community organizations. However, we support gifts like books, pens, and clothes to the identified children’s home/community aid organizations.

We have identified genuine Children’s homes/ community aid organizations that we support in our own little way to bring a smile to a child. Therefore, we shall at any given time give some recommendations for any of our guests willing to support the genuinely less fortunate.