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Candid conversations with conservationists, community leaders, lodge owners, guides, researchers, filmmakers and innovators.
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Conversations shaping a better future for safari
Safari ChangeMakers is a purpose-led podcast exploring how safari travel can become a greater force for wildlife, wild places, local ownership and community opportunity. The Safari Briefings continues those conversations in writing, with deeper stories and practical insight shaped by nearly 40 years of experience.
One vision. Three ways to explore.
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Deeper essays, stories behind Safari ChangeMakers conversations and practical insight shaped by nearly 40 years of experience.
Read The Safari BriefingsWhy Safari ChangeMakers exists
Safari tourism can be a force for good.
When thoughtfully designed, safari tourism can protect wildlife and habitats, create meaningful employment, support local and Indigenous ownership, and help communities benefit from the landscapes they have long helped sustain.
But those outcomes are not automatic. Safari ChangeMakers creates space for bold, honest conversations about what is working, what needs to change, and the people building better models of tourism across Africa.
By sharing their stories, we hope to help travelers, travel advisors and the safari industry make more informed choices about where they go, whom they support and what their journeys make possible.
We do not simply tell stories about change. We connect those stories
to more thoughtful travel choices and the journeys Safari AweCrafters
designs.
The conversations that matter
Key themes
Safari ChangeMakers challenges outdated tourism models while celebrating innovation, resilience and community-led leadership.
Overtourism
Examining the pressure excessive visitation places on wildlife, fragile ecosystems and the quality of the safari experience.
Human–Wildlife Conflict
Exploring solutions that help people and wildlife live alongside one another with greater security and shared benefit.
Climate and Environmental Action
Confronting plastic pollution, degraded landscapes and climate risk through practical, locally grounded solutions.
Community and Local Ownership
Centering African voices, Indigenous leadership, equity and tourism models that retain meaningful value within communities.
Travel as a Force for Good
Showing how thoughtful journeys can create personal transformation while contributing to conservation and community opportunity.
A New Era of Safari
Spotlighting pioneers who minimize impact, protect wildlife, redirect travel beyond crowded places and inspire industry change.
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The Safari ChangeMakers Podcast
Hosted by Karin Jones, CTC, MBA, founder of Safari AweCrafters, the Safari ChangeMakers video podcast features candid conversations with Africa’s conservationists, community leaders, lodge owners, guides, researchers, filmmakers, social entrepreneurs and innovators.
Recognized by Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler, Karin draws on nearly four decades of African safari experience and trusted relationships to explore the forces reshaping safari today and the bold solutions protecting ecosystems, livelihoods and cultural heritage.
Watch the full video podcast on YouTube, or listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts and Overcast.
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Meet the ChangeMakers
Browse the conversations reshaping safari tourism for good.
Matt Saus & Gary Lotter
Tanzania: When Safari Goes Underwater, Pemba Island Wins
Most travelers know Zanzibar. Almost none have heard of Pemba, and that may be exactly why this under-visited island still has a chance to choose a different path for tourism.
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James Suter
When Elephants Raid the Garden
The acclaimed filmmaker and top guide behind Edge of Existence shares a raw look at human–wildlife conflict in Africa.
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Colin Bell
The Original Eco-Renegade, Parts One and Two
The co-founder of Wilderness Safaris and Natural Selection on pioneering low-impact, high-purpose travel across Africa.
Jackson Looseyia & Dominic Nchoe
Cultural Custodians of the Maasai Mara
The founders of the Mara’s only 100% Maasai-owned lodge on preserving culture through community-led conservation.
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Jeremy Bastard
Where the Wild Things Heal
A second-generation conservationist on Sarara Camp, support for Reteti Elephant Sanctuary and the rewilding of northern Kenya.
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Clive Stockil
Conservation Before It Was Cool
Zimbabwe’s pioneering conservationist, community visionary and founder of Chilo Gorge Lodge.
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Lippa & Tarquin Woods
Beans Out, Cheetahs In: Rewilding with Heart
How a former bean farm became a thriving wildlife conservancy beside the Maasai Mara through partnership with the local community.
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Simon Teede
War on Plastic, Safari Style
The Ele-Collection co-founder pioneering zero-waste solutions to protect Zimbabwe’s wildlife and communities from plastic pollution.
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Sophie & Calum Macfarlane
Saving Rhinos Before Breakfast
The guardians of Lewa House, where mornings begin with rhino conservation and community impact reaches far beyond the lodge.
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Nick Kleer & Kieran Day
Viral Safari Crossing, Part One
An unfiltered examination of overtourism and wildlife-viewing pressure during the Serengeti–Mara migration.
Watch Part One
Nicky Fitzgerald
Viral Safari Crossing, Part Two
Moving beyond outrage to examine practical solutions for overtourism and migration-viewing pressure.
Watch Part Two
Praveen Moman
Apes, Impact and One Visionary
A pioneer of gorilla tourism on protecting great apes and chimpanzees while creating opportunities for neighboring communities in Rwanda and Uganda.
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Rob & Storm Mason
The Samburu and the 60-Room Hotel That Wasn’t
Why Kalepo became an intimate six-tent safari model built around connection, low impact and Samburu community equity.
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Andrew & Chyulu Francombe
Rotors, Roots and Rebel Hearts
A helicopter pilot and conservation partner with deep African roots on protecting northern Kenya’s landscapes and cultures.
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Rosco Wendover & Craig Millar
Kenya’s Super Tuskers: The Legacy of Craig
The story of the people who protected one of Amboseli’s great elephants and what Craig’s natural death means for conservation.
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Angus Douglas
Inside a Black Rhino Collaring
A field mission alongside veterinarians, researchers, helicopter crews and drone teams working to protect a critically endangered black rhino.
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Bruce Simpson & Team
Madagascar and Zambia: Lemurs, Girl Power and Children Once Hidden
An exploration of conservation, education, inclusion and community-led change across Madagascar and Zambia.
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Vanessa Roumeguere
Kenya: Nairobi Remix: Swahili Soul Meets French Style
Why rushing through Nairobi means missing one of Africa’s most creative destinations and the people redefining how safari begins.
Watch the EpisodeThe conversation continues
The Safari Briefings
Go deeper with The Safari Briefings.
The Safari Briefings on Substack is the home for our written work. It brings together deeper essays on conservation, African and community ownership, authenticity, regenerative travel and the changing future of safari.
It also includes the stories, context and reflections behind Safari ChangeMakers conversations, along with practical planning insight and expert recommendations shaped by nearly 40 years of designing African safaris.
This is where listeners, travelers, travel advisors and others who care deeply about Africa can continue the conversation.
A welcome gift from Safari AweCrafters
Planning a safari? Start with our complimentary A–Z guide.
Subscribe to The Safari Briefings and receive Your Guide to Safari Done Right: An A–Z Guide to Planning a Safari in your welcome email.
From conversation to journey
Bring these values into your own safari.
Safari ChangeMakers gives a voice to the people protecting and reimagining Africa’s future. Safari AweCrafters brings travelers into meaningful relationship with that world through rare, deeply personal, conservation-led journeys shaped by nearly 40 years of experience and trusted relationships across Africa.