1 2 Travel Africa furthers its sustainable credentials

The new year started great for 1 2 Travel Africa. Not only did their Dream Holidays and Workations in Malawi get published in two magazines in the Netherlands, they now also joined the Better Places family as their official Malawi travel expert.

Better Places is the largest travel organisation in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany (where they operate as FairAways) when it comes to sustainable travel.

Better Places is a social enterprise. This means that making a positive impact on the world we live in is more important than making a profit. They strongly believe that travel can and should make the world a better place, for local people, nature and obviously the traveller too.

Better Places became the first B-Corp certified travel organisation in the Netherlands, and all their partners follow the Travelife sustainability principles.

The team of 1 2 Travel Africa is proud to have been approved as Better Places’ Malawi expert. They already started the process just before the COVID-19 pandemic put a brake on the global travel industry. In 2022 they finally continued, and managed to prove that not only Malawi as a country is amazing for sustainable travel, but that 1 2 Travel Africa is the perfect company to book it with.

The Sustainability Score of their Malawi travel itineraries is currently an average of 8/10, and they will keep fighting to become more carbon neutral, have a positive local environmental and social impact, and let more people experience the Magic of Malawi in a sustainable way!

One of the ways that 1 2 Travel Africa puts their money where their mouth is, is by being the custodians of a beautiful piece of land bordering the Dzalanyama Forest Reserve. It all started as a cooperation with Land & Lake Safaris, who operate the Dzalanyama Forest Lodge, to further develop ecotourism in the area. In addition to accommodation, hiking and mountain biking, the forest is the perfect place for horse riding.

1 2 Travel Africa will get their first horses in after the rainy season, while preparations are taking place. In the spirit of this carbon neutral eco-activity, no trees were cut on the property. Buildings have been put up in naturally open areas and in fact, since the team is protecting this piece of land, new indigenous trees have started to grow everywhere.

Besides horse riding (opening later this year), there are going to be permaculture gardens to work with the surrounding communities on more sustainable ways of farming. They discover more and more edible plants and wild fruit species in the area, which adds something unique to the place as well. One day they might even have a large food forest.

All developments are done with respect for nature, to preserve and protect the natural forest and dambo, and to create a place for connection and life-long learning opportunities.

Learn more about 1 2 Travel Africa on their dedicated page here.