Greystoke Mahale
Nomad Tanzania is a small owner-run safari company, based just outside Arusha. It has an eclectic mix of luxury camps spread across the country. Greystoke Mahale, at the foot of the Mahale Mountains and on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, is a fantastic base from which to view chimpanzees and enjoy the clear blue waters of the lake. Chada Katavi is miles from anywhere in wildest Tanzania. Nduara Loliondo is a mobile camp that moves its African-style yurts across the Loliondo area of the Serengeti Eco-system to wherever the best game viewing can be found. The Serengeti Safari Camp moves around another part of the Serengeti.
Ndura Loliondo Under the Stars
Sand Rivers Selous
Accommodation at Sand Rivers Selous is in spacious open-fronted cottages made of stone and thatch, raised up on the banks of the Rufiji with amazing views out across the river. The new Kiba Point camp, four cottages above the river, is for exclusive use. Nomad also manages Vamizi Island in Mozambique.
In Mahale National Park
What They Are Doing
When Nomad Tanzania was created in 2003, bringing the above camps under one umbrella, it committed to support three trusts that had already been established by the founders of the companies that made up the new Nomad Tanzania. These trusts related to the areas in which the individual companies were operating and were all born organically as a result of continual contact with the issues in the different areas. The Nomad Trust now provides administrative and fund raising-support for the following affiliated trusts, and is a totally non-profit making organization. Nomad Tanzania contributes $3 per camp bednight to the trust. Any funds given to the individual projects are entirely committed to them.
Conservation
The Selous Rhino Trust works to secure the safety of the handful of endangered rhino left in this area (down from 3,000 in the 1970s). A team of 12 rangers and a rhino specialist are based here working together with the Wildlife Division of the Tanzanian government.
Community
Nomad Tanzania also works closely with communities in the Loliondo area, specifically Ololosokwan and Piyaya, two villages it has had close ties with for a number of years. Through donations and company contributions, it has targeted education as one of the prime areas where a difference can be made. In addition, in partnership with Piyaya village, it has contributed fifty percent of the Women’s Home Industry Fund, which loans money to women to help them start up a self-sufficient home industry of their choice. It helps the MIMAMPI honey-gathering project, which has helped reduce hunting in the Katavi and Rukwa areas. In Ololosokwan, it has purchased over $1,000 worth of school books and kept the school Landcruiser rolling with mechanical input and spares. Along with other stakeholders who operate in the area, the camping fees that guests at Nomad’s safari camps pay go to the fund, which so far has helped to send over 70 children to secondary school.
Black Rhino, Endangered Especially in the Selous
The Tongwe Trust, founded officially in 2006, supports community-based projects throughout Tongwe land, from Village Forest Reserves of extraordinary biodiversity in western Tanzania, to boat building and eco-tourism, to schools, dispensaries and village microenterprise. The trust is also collecting an invaluable archive of Tongwe folklore, herbal medicine, and music.
In 2008, Nomad became the first company in the country to have a complete carbon footprint audit done on all its camps and offices.
