Captivated by everyone’s curiosity, kindness and easy laughter Linette and I spoke of life in their village and life in our village in Switzerland and the USA. We felt our guests’ humanity and warmth, we were welcomed and felt safe as guests of the community. An hour later after sharing gifts of Nike tee-shirts and old Levis we had agreed to deliver two men who needed a ride to their cousins funeral in a village twenty-five kilometers away. Sent off with an open invitation to return completed with smiling faces, vigorous handshakes, and waves we set off down the Trans-Kalahari Highway towards Namibia.
A New Journey
While driving I realized that the seed for Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel, planted twenty-seven years before in rural Haiti, had just awakened in Africa. That afternoon as I drove through the Kalahari Desert with Linette and our two new acquaintances on their way to celebrate an ending, I began again on a new journey: introducing travelers to locals with the intention of uplifting those local people and their communities through health, education, and sustainable development.
If you are a traveler I encourage you to become a philanthropic traveler. Exquisite Safaris has developed partnerships with humanitarian outreach projects in Africa, Asia, and South America: Orphanages, AIDS and medical clinics, schools, women’s entrepreneurial initiatives, and clean water NGO’s that will open their doors to you and connect you personally with the people they serve.
“Life changing luxury travel experience for you: health centers, clean water, schools, and women’s rights for those less fortunate in the locales you traverse: philanthropic travel.”—David Chamberlain
“Don’t follow the crowd. The crowd doesn’t get there. They just run round and around in a crazy race. It never ends.”—F.L., PhD
Photo: Jewel Path by Dean Chamberlain, Courtesy of Exquisite Safaris
