Green Light Ventures: Conservation Projects & Adventures in Tanzania!

Going to Tanzania with GLV was an absolute joy. The leaders have clearly thought thoroughly about their approach to this kind of trip - from their attentive treatment of travellers to their awareness of environmental effects. For example, great effort was taken to reduce our plastic bottle use and offsetting our plane flight carbon footprint with tree planting. Dom and Chloe were both laid back/down to earth but at the same time completely switched on and on the ball. I felt well guided at any point that I didn’t know what I was doing and knew I could trust them.

The beauty of the nature and community was a highlight for me. We saw so many captivating views, saw so much wildlife, plantations at sunset and vast starry skies. We also experienced the brilliantly hectic Massai markets and ate the local food and drink there. It was also an honour to cook with and eat with (and play with the baby) a local family at their home. The tour guides all knew their stuff and the planting and building projects were well lead and well managed.

I am conscious and wary of trips like this in relation to the ‘white saviour’ complex. There was none of this feeling on the trip. GLV teams up alongside amazing locals in Tanzania who are doing life changing work.
The trip was so well balanced with doing rewarding hard graft, getting involved in the community, fun activities and rest.

The group of people on my trip were all lovely, laid back and good company. Dom and Chloe were always up for adventure and making sure we got the most out of our time there while also being attentive to the needs of the group and being flexible when rest was needed! Would highly recommend the trip to anyone!

This trip was a perfect blend of Conservation, Community Development, and recreation. Green Light Ventures also gave me the opportunity to veer from the touristy beaten track and experience Tanzania's amazing culture and people at a personal level. The volunteering I took part in was highly appropiate and ethically conducted, it is without a doubt one of the best programmes ive seen in terms of giving you, the voulenteer, a real meaningful role in tackerling both the enviromental threats and socio-economic issues at hand. Some evenings we would spend drinking tea and making fires with the maasai whilst others we would relax and go for a swim or read a book by the pool. Between projects we would also do day excursions which would also vary from safari to waterfall walks. GLV truly put everything on offer during my trip so that I could return back home with the knowledge that I had experianced all the aspects of Tanzania and had contributed what I could to helping its enviroment and its communities.

For me this trip provided me the balance I wanted from my time in Africa. I wanted to both volunteer within the community but also to explore the area, embrace the culture and become enriched by the experience. I was particularly attracted to the sustainability focus of the projects and found it interesting how the local community support the concept. No other tour provider seemed to offer me the experience to both volunteer but also explore the area with an itenary I was able to select from and I am so glad that I made the decision to go with green light ventures. The tour guides knowledge of the area and history was fantastic and I always felt well looked after. The food available was varied and eating together was a nice way to reflect on the day just gone. We would recap the progress of each project we were working on and would always be informed of the plan for the next day. I never felt alone despite travelling solo and that was very important to me.

Green Light Ventures was the perfect opportunity to experience the real Tanzania. It offered a real range of activities where I was able to observe Tanzania's beautiful scenery and wildlife such as waterfall walks, cycle rides to Lake Manyara, and of course Safari. We also undertook a variety of projects which centred around conservation. Smaller projects included creating herb gardens with plastic bottles we had collected. We also undertook a larger project where we built a Chicken Coupe for a community in need, this was extremely rewarding.
Dom and Chloe were the perfect hosts always fun, extremely helpful and supportive throughout my experience and always quick to answer any queries I had. They were constantly asking what they could do to better my experience. They were also very attentive to any specific requirements or needs I had such as providing vegetarian meals. I would recommend Green Light Ventures to anyone who is considering this kind of trip. Thank you again for such a great experience!

Green Light Ventures gave me the opportunity to experience a trip of a life time. This is a trip for anyone who wants more than just a holiday; as on top of activities such as relaxing at rift valley infinity pools and waterfall hikes, this trips gives you the chance to experience the real Tanzania and its people. I personally enjoyed how diverse the trip was, one day I was getting up close and personal with Tanzania's most impressive wildlife and the next I was spending an evening under the stars with the Maasai. Out of all the other NGOs I originally looked at it was important I picked GLV, due to their attention towards environmental issues and afforestation, and also how all volunteering was community led development and so entirely ethical.