For immediate publication:
January 4, 2023
Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382
Norfolk, Virginia – New Years is the peak time to book for the 2023 African safari season, and PETA is announcing its grand opening recipients Animal Friendly African Safaris Award, recognizing safari companies that offer wildlife viewing in protected reserves or national parks and, among other considerations, maintain a respectful distance from wild animals and guide small groups at specific times of the day to minimize stress on safari animals. All of the winning companies offer exclusively vegan menus, cruelty-free toiletries and bedding, and zero exposure to trophy hunting, conveniences that today’s conscious and socially conscious traveler often seeks.
Here are the winners of PETA’s Animal-Friendly African Safaris award:
seductive africaWinter Park, Florida
Alluring Africa has partnered with Vegans, Baby CEO and founder Diana Edelman, who has crafted a luxury itinerary that introduces guests to diverse vegan cuisine and conservation-focused experiences. One of the company’s safari camps operates in the 320,000-acre Selinda Reserve, a former game reserve, which boasts a thriving wildlife population. The area is home to large prides of lions, hyenas, leopards and cheetahs, and guests keep a safe distance to watch the animals as they enjoy life in their natural home.
World Vegan ToursSquamish, British Columbia, Canada
World Vegan Travel tours offer a wide variety of destinations, and activities are catered by vegans, for vegans. Their tours include guided wildlife walks through a forested primate sanctuary, an afternoon river cruise to spot birds and monkeys, a tour of the largest aviary in the southern hemisphere, and lessons on rhino conservation. Guests are also invited to learn how to prepare traditional African plant-based cuisine, courtesy of a local vegan chef.
kings campWhite River, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Kings Camp offers a luxury safari experience with a certified vegan hospitality consultant to ensure all guest needs are met. The camp is located in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, facing an open savannah plain with an active waterhole visited by a wide variety of wildlife. Guests are invited to visit the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, a refuge for abandoned, injured and poisoned wildlife, including lions, rhinos and leopards.
Vegan Safari AfricaBoseja, Maun, Botswana
One of the featured lodges on this safari, the Deception Valley Lodge, was once a collection of eight cattle farms that were rebuilt by removing fences and creating migration corridors, naturalizing water holes and allowing roads to be covered with vegetation so that wildlife could thrive again. . Vegan owner Helene Forward visits all safari lodges to ensure they are vegan friendly and personally trains chefs for mobile camping safaris.
Air Safaris 269Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Vegan owner and pilot JC De Klerk personally makes sure his tours are 100% vegan, including vegan versions of traditional foods like braai (South African barbecue) and melktert (custard pie). Travelers can choose from 14 packages that allow them to see animals in their natural habitats by air and on the ground, visit a rehabilitation center for previously captive African big cats and learn about research on African wild dog populations.
“These safari companies are winners because they offer cruelty-free adventures that respect animals enough to allow them to live in peace and ensure that visitors’ food and toiletries choices are animal-friendly,” he says. PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges travelers to research and choose safaris that respect animals and never allow harmful, hands-on encounters.”
Studies show that a quarter of safari visitors are now vegetarian or vegan, and safaris that allow viewing of animals in their natural habitat, rather than forced interactions, are on the rise. Meanwhile, trophy hunters, who spend $50,000 or more to travel to Africa to kill native wildlife, are being left behind as more people prefer to “shoot” animals with cameras, not guns.
The dry winter months (generally June to September) are ideal for African safaris. It is recommended that people book these trips six months to a year in advance.
PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” opposes speciesism, a human supremacist worldview. For more information please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebookeither instagram.
