I thought it might be interesting to have people list the positive and negative things we as tourists do/can do to help wildlife and the environment. I'll start it off with a couple - then feel free to add your comments:

Don't waste water. Take short showers.

If there are fences around your lodge or camp don't walk up near them, particularly if there is wildlife on the other side - you might be sorry.

If you are staying multiple nights in the same lodge/tented camp tell your steward that he/she doesn't need to put clean sheets on every night. Just straighten the bed. After all, how many of us strip our beds daily at home and put on clean sheets?

If you are on a game drive and see a water bottle, plastic bag, bottle cap, baseball hat on the ground please ask your driver to stop - then ask him if it safe for you to get out and collect the rubbish. An animal playing with or eating the item could choke or suffocate on it.

If your vehicle is rushing to join 20 other at a sighting, please ask the driver to go back later after the other vans have left. Don't harrass the animals by boxing them in.

Please don't bang on the side of the vehicle or whistle for an animal to get its attention.
Just enjoy them in their own environment doing what they do naturally.

Never, never throw anything at an animal.

Perhaps others might share some of their tourist do's and don'ts.

DO NOT block animal paths by driving infront or cutting off their path to get a better photo - I have seen this so often happen.

Do not attempt to feed animals when on safari - they are dangerous and they do not understand if you do not have more to give them; mainly for monkeys - they can react.

I have seen drivers chasing animals or trying to close in on animals (especially cheetahs) early hours of the morning when they are trying to go for a hunt.
Respect them and let nature take it course - they have to eat as well.

If anyone tries to stop me in my restaurant during service to plate up and cook for clients; they probably will find a strange bump appearing on their forehead....

Keep your litter and rubbish in the van / car and remove it when you are back in camp / lodge.

Do not shout when close to animals.

RESPECT tribes and their way of living. Do not photograph them - at least ask. Do you want strangers walking into your garden, home or photographing you when you are walking about?

SMOKING:

For animals smoke=fire and fire=danger. Hence, when close to an animal, the smell of a cigarette will make the animal nervous and restless. Not only the animal but also you will benefit of a relaxed animal when trying to take a photo.

Ask your lodge/camp manager to please not serve game meat on the menu. It could be helping to drive the bushmeat trade. Tourists are spending a lot of money to view wildlife. If the bushmeat trade continues, there will not be much wildlife left to view.

Do not keep food in your room or tent if there are monkeys or babboons around. They will break into your room to get it. Though I didn't have food in my room, a babboon ripped the screen off my window and was in the room looking out at me as I prepared to enter. DANGEROUS.

try not to wash your hair daily in an environment where water is precious commodity! no one in the bush cares whether your hair is done freshly! you weare a hat during daytime anyway and during dinner it'smuch too dark and people are too tired to pay attention to such a detail

never leave a sweet beverage like coke opened in your tent because it attracts ants! i wash even used glasses with a bit of water or take them back to the messtent when we go for a drive or dinner!

don't believe "our tents are 100 % mosquito proof"! such a tent has yet do be designed!!!
in case you are afraid of mosquitoes or even scorpions, which might walk your tent's wall or roof: bring your own travel mosquito net with you - its handy: lightweight, small and has got several means to fix it! almost every tent/room offers some kind of opportunity to fix it! at least we have always found a clue to do so!

shake your shoes before you slip in! it might have got an inhabitant while unworn

if you smoke: carry always a kind of little ashtray (empty sweetbox etc.) with you. extinguish on a stone , make sure no gras has captured fire (carsten !) and take the box with you when you leave the car! please don't litter!

if you see litter flying around - ask your driver to stop and get it! when we are on game drives we always collect waste........but for this you must have a good relationship with your guide otherwise you might embarras him!

don't walk around after dark and before sunlight! you are in a wild animals habitat and animals have the right of way! furthermore it's very dangerous to walk without an askari! don't jeopardize your own life and the destinations reputation! just follow the rules of the bush: stay in tent until you get collected for dinner or early game drive!

don't touch anything........plants and insects or animals you don't know might be poiisenous!

drink only bottled water! it might be tempting to brush your teeth with tap water.......be careful with salads, icecubes and icecream! kai got an amabiasis in tanzania - he would have been dead after a couple of days without treatment! it was the very first time he experienced this. i myself had nothing at all .....just depending on your overall condition i guess whether you get it or not! but don't gamble with your health and it might easily ruin your trip! by the way: i even drink water from the tap in mexico city or in papua newguinea

[color=darkblue]now the most important thing:
if your are not offered a sundowner by the camp manager - ask for it!!! ask your guide to find a wonderful location, unpack your gin + tonic, get some bites and enjoy the awesome african setting in!!!

now i am homesick to this marvelous continent!!!

irma
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Pippa:

I like your list also.

You made be think about something I should do, but haven't done. I leave the empty Coke bottle on the table on the veranda and put the empty glass on the fridge inside the tent. Now I will rinse it out before doing so. I enjoy the Coke bottle on the table though because there are two little yellow-striped geckos that visit the bottle all the time lapping up the moisture from it and from the table.

For an ashtray when I'm away from my room/tent or in the vehicle - I always leave the last 2 - 3 inches of water in my bottled water. It always has the cap on it. If I have a cigarette I open the cap and drop the cigarette in the water. No chance of fire here. Then when I get back to camp I dispose of the plastic bottle.