Conservation and animal welfare charities are offering trips abroad as a way of boosting funds and enticing new supporters. An ever-increasing choice of holidays suit a wide variety of tastes yet each will immerse you in a real wildlife heaven.

The idea of seeing a charity's work "in progress" is not new. For example, Care for the Wild International's (CFTWI) supporters have been able to visit their adopted orphan elephants in Kenya for a while. The difference between these visits and the new charity conservation holidays is that CFTWI doesn't make money from these trips. Instead, they help their supporters arrange a trip and get "the best deal" through liaising with the organisation's Kenyan director.

Africat, in Namibia, in association with Endangered Wildlife Travels, offer their UK supporters a two week Africat Tour that not only enables them to see behind the scenes of their magnificent work with cheetahs, leopards, other cats and wildlife but also takes them on safari. (Prices from £2,498 based on sharing).

Other charities have started offering "one-offs" in countries where their money has been spent. One is the Born Free Foundation, who have been advertising an "East African Safari" to Kenya later this year, with either Virginia Makenna or Will Travers, both trips overlapping on party day. Cost is £3,395 per person for 12 days.

The idea of getting sponsors to pay for your trip is an exciting one and other charities have followed suit with trips to project bases in Africa as a popular choice.

Save the Rhino International have launched an entirely different series of pursuits based around the sponsorship idea. "Rhino Adventures" give people the chance to be thrust against the forces of nature as they enter the territory of the rhino - whether it is rafting the Zambezi, cycling across the Namib Desert or climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Supporters need to put down a non-refundable £250 and then raise £2,200 on top of that for their 10-day adventure. These challenges are targeted at active people who have attained a good level of fitness and supporters will have to prepare for at least two-to-three months beforehand. Funds raised from each challenge will be used to support rhino survival initiatives in the country where the challenge takes place.

For further physical and mental involvement, companies like Discovery Initiatives and Earthwatch make their money from people who pay for the privilege of working on a particular project. These companies do not have a charitable status but they do offer a good selection of Africa-based conservation activities.

Many wildlife charities now work closely with supportive tour operators who are also "conservation friendly". For example, The Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society's website promotes whale-watching tour operators who adhere to whale-watching codes of practice. Friends of Conservation is supported financially by tour operators who are members of The Travel and Tourism Committee. These companies give donations based on how many people they send to West Africa, which is where FOC's projects are currently based. There are many more charity/travel company link-ups in the pipeline.

But these activities are not restricted to conservation charities alone. For example, The Charity Challenge is running over seventy expeditions in the year 2000. These include treks, bike rides, mountain climbs, canoeing, sea kayaking and white water rafting trips. Anyone over 18 years of age can participate. They do not represent any particular cause, so you can decide which UK-registered charity you would like to support. Their African trips include bicycle rides in Malawi, Zanzibar and Kenya, mountain climbs in Tanzania and Kenya, treks in Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, and canoeing in Zimbabwe. As well as the UK charity that you choose to support, Charity Challenge also invests US$20 per person into a local community project in the area you are travelling through.

Nothing can match the experience of visiting Africa. The scenery and wildlife is outstanding and nothing can beat being able to see at first hand the work of your chosen charity in action. It should leave you with a wonderful sense of having helped, albeit in a small way, a breathtaking area of nature's garden of Eden and the communities of animals and people that live there.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Nine: Autumn 1999Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)