Responsible Travel

Our Commitment To Sustainable Travel

As Chigo Tours Africa, our sustainability policy aligns with our mission statement, vision, and baseline assessment conducted on internal management, partner agencies, accommodations, tour guides, our supplier transport companies, restaurants, and attractions and experiences that we offer to clients. This has been developed with input and collaboration from all our staff.

The plan is to focus on the social, environmental, and economic pillars of sustainability in tourism, emphasizing transparency and compliance with the laws of Uganda and the Global Sustainability Tourism Council (GSTC).

 We aim to follow, implement, and promote good sustainability practices to maximize positive impacts and minimize negative impacts on tourism of our operations and to influence our clients and partners to do the same. We are committed to ensure all our clients’ visits benefit the destination country, the environment and local people. We ensure local community tour experiences in our itineraries contribute directly to the socio-economic wellbeing of local people while supporting nature conservation initiatives.

Our Mission.

At Chigo Tours, our mission is to craft immersive tailor-made luxury journeys and photography tours through East Africa that take clients far from the crowds.  Each journey blends hidden nature, big game sightings, world-class birdwatching, vibrant culture connections, expert photography and is purpose driven travel – ensuring every trip creates meaningful impact and not only inspires guests but also gives back to local communities especially women led cooperatives and conservation initiatives.

Reducing carbon footprint on the environment.

We’re conscious of emissions to the environment. It’s our policy to provide more opportunities for clients to walk on our tours, and in some local destinations we encourage clients to take biking tours, have short breaks to visit local businesses, buy local directly and stay in environmentally conscious properties. We are focused at continuing to use updated Vehicles that minimize carbon emissions to nature. Download Chigo Tours – Sustainability policy here

Community Involvement and Reconnecting with local people.

Our tours focus on reconnecting clients with local community experiences. Our Tours have short breaks along the program to visit local establishments, projects & innovations. Our gorilla safaris now include visiting local women & Youth projects like Ride4woman – a local women owned project, educating visitors about local skills by African woman. Here are opportunities to learn traditional basket weaving, joining a cooking class, and directly buying products made by these women. The money paid directly to the center provides incomes to over 200 women whose families has been affected by HIV, poverty and domestic violence.
It’s our policy to work with Lodges that employ staff from local community, have an organic approach to meals, use locally sourced products and organically grown vegetables from the community. We give priority to lodges which fund community outreach programs that uplift local healthcare projects, schools, churches  within their neighbourhood. Our guides are natives of destinations we visit.

Conservation Efforts.

It’s our policy to encourage clients going to trek mountain gorillas to pay an extra $15 directly to local porters ( support helpers). These are natives in the community neighboring the park, who help to carry clients’ backpacks and sometimes give a push and pull at sections that appear difficult to maneuver along the trekking trail. We also encourage all clients travelling with us to contribute tips to rangers who are guiding clients during the trek. Tips motivate them as they take care of primates, including gorillas and chimpanzees.
Note: the payment to porters will keep them away from carrying out activities in the forests that would otherwise hurt the environment and these primates.