To conserve Earth’s biodiversity, the Global Deal for Nature calculated it would be necessary to protect 30% of the land and seas. Is that possible in Africa? A savvy conservation NGO has drawn up an African game plan that began with a single reserve. To conserve Earth’s biodiversity, the Globa.
The rooms Founders Camp, with only four bedrooms, is on the banks of the Matlabas River and is booked on an exclusive-use basis. While not particularly inspiring design-wise, the interiors are light-filled and spacious, including the bathrooms with deep, river-view tubs, indoor-outdoor showers and private, wraparound decks. Grunting hippos will lull you to sleep at night. Explorers Camp, while priced slightly lower, has much more charm, with checked mohair blankets on wrought-iron beds, bold colours and African crafts. Five double tents and one family tent may be booked by more than one party, which also makes it a more sociable place to stay. Both camps have libraries, board games and Wi-Fi. Private conservation guides and vehicles are allocated to each booking, which usually comes at extra cost at other lodges. Because the rates seem so affordable in relation to other exclusive camps, you may wonder where corners have been cut. Instead of adding the cost of conservation to the room rate, Marataba consciously (and cleverly) has separated the two and also increased the levy paid per night per person to be both transparent about where the funds go and to underpin the importance of ecotourism to support the work done here.