What happens when luxury safari tourism becomes a tool for conservation and community empowerment?
In this episode, I speak to Fabia Bausch, co-owner of Chem Chem Safaris in northern Tanzania. Together with her partner Nicolas, Fabia helped create one of the most inspiring conservation success stories in East Africa: the restoration of the Kwakuchinja wildlife corridor between Tarangire National Park and Lake Manyara National Park.
Declared abandoned in 2009 due to overgrazing, agriculture and increasing human pressure, the corridor is once again being used by wildlife — including elephants returning to Lake Manyara after an absence of almost 40 years.
Fabia explains how conservation only works when local communities benefit directly, and why long-term trust, education and economic empowerment are just as important as protecting wildlife itself.
The Chem Chem Association works with local villages through education, employment and business development programs designed to create long-term opportunities beyond tourism. From conservation education for children to entrepreneurship training in areas like beekeeping, chicken farming and agriculture, the aim is to help communities build sustainable futures while protecting the environment around them.
We also talk about Chem Chem’s invention of the “Slow Safari” — a more personal, flexible and immersive safari experience that encourages guests to reconnect with nature beyond simply ticking animals off a list.
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There are two things that immediately caught my attention. Most important is the success that they've had in working with local communities to reestablish the Kaja corridor, which is a stretch of land for animals to move freely between the national park and the lake.
dor was declared abandoned in:
Secondly, Chem Chem invented the so-called "Slow Safari", which makes travel in a safari destination a lot more relaxed, personal, and based in the moment.
Traditionally, days on safari, start very early and end rather late, and you spend a lot of time with other guests. The Slow Safari has changed all of that.
Fabia is one of the owners of Chem Chem, and she joins us today. Hi Fabia, and welcome to the podcast.
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[00:01:17] André: Tell us quickly, who is Fabia? Where did you grow up and how did you end up in Tanzania?
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But, I felt, I wasn't hungry anymore to prolong my career in that field. And so I went off and visited friends on a little island, and there I, met, Nicolas, who became now my partner, he was, already in Tanzania at that time.
He's from France and he had a vague idea about creating a wildlife conservation area, offering the guests a true connection with nature, that is way more difficult to experience when you are bound to just sit on a car and drive through the wilderness.
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[00:02:55] Fabia: Definitely. To be active in wildlife conservation, to have an impact, to be part of, safeguarding and, preserving the wilderness, which because of, you know, the human population, is under heavy threat.
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[00:03:32] Fabia: Um, both parks are located in the north of Tanzania, but south of the Serengeti, which, everybody knows about it, known for its Big Plains.
tion of elephants. About over:
During the genocide of elephants between 2012 and 20 18, uh, Tarangire has been, almost not hit, while other parks, lost elephants every 15 minutes.
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[00:04:15] Fabia: So, I think that's definitely, the, in two words, the USP is the elephants and Baobab trees.
When you swap over to the Manyara National Park, it's a huge, forest reserve It lies right on the shore of Lake Manyara, which is an alkaline lake, often a home of a breeding herd for pink Flamingos, who migrate through all the alkaline lakes on the Rift valley. And, normally when you read about Lake Manyara, people mention the tree climbing lions, which are mostly only seen in that area.
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[00:04:58] Fabia: No, I was not aware that they don't do it, because it was for me, I’ve never seen anything else. But,
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[00:05:06] Fabia: but you see it now, you see it a little bit also, at Chem Chem, they're always up in the trees. Tarangire you can see them, even in the Serengeti you see them, rarely. But I think outside of that larger, would say, ecosystem, if you go to other countries, the cats don't jump on the trees.
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[00:05:30] Fabia: Tarangire National Park is a park that has no direct connection to another conservation area or a national park. It's a standalone ecosystem.
And as we know, standalone ecosystem, if they don't have a link to another ecosystem, will in one day, dry out or die out. So, there was always, over the last, whatever, hundreds of years, a connection, to the Manyara ecosystem or the greater Serengeti ecosystem.
However, I would say since about 60, 70 years, this, these corridors have been heavily under threat due to human, uh, growth population. And if these corridors all dry out or being illegally overpopulated, then, Tarangire faces the danger that its Biodiversity will collapse.
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[00:06:41] Fabia: It is, you couldn't, say it better, exactly. It's a path animals have been using for generation. It's not a manmade road or, something that we created. Our the Kwakuchinja corridor, is a relatively, in African terms, small corridor. That's why I think also we were able to rejuvenate it again.
was declined as abandoned in:
And, with all the hard work we had to put in, one of the biggest help we had, is that the corridor wasn't really populated by settlers. So, there were not villages, built into, illegally, into these corridors, where many places the government and the villages didn't have the means, to keep these corridors protected.
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[00:07:55] Fabia: There was filled with overgrazing. I think one of the biggest challenges, not just in Tanzania, is overgrazing. The area we are in has a cow carrying capacity, about 300 cows. If you would apply, you know what, in Germany or in Switzerland, you know you have capacity how many cows per whatever square meter or square kilometre you allowed to have.
So, it's about 300. And in peak seasons we have over 300,000 cows going through.
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[00:08:28] Fabia: That means that, of course with cow and goats, the soil is getting completely dried out and destroyed. So that is one of the biggest challenges is it's not the grazing by itself. If it would have been kept at the normal level, there is a coexistent possible. It's the amount of grazing and then also agriculture.
A lot of people have encroached, slowly but surely, every year a little bit more. And then, they built their fields in there, knowing it was illegal, because the corridor was always designed or recognized on maps as a corridor.
But if you have nobody who advocates for it, and if the communities don't see any benefit from protecting an area, you cannot expect them to be holier than we are. We haven't done it neither, so...
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[00:09:33] Fabia: Ja, because they got shot and killed.
Elephants are really beautiful animals, we all love them. But they can be very cheeky, and they destroy in one night a whole field of watermelons. They destroyed maize fields. And this human wildlife conflict is one of the biggest threats at the moment in Tanzania.
That's exactly where you need to start to, to have, good boundaries. And the people need to understand, they can rely on the people who promote tourism, that they also protect the villages from the wild animals, because fencing is not allowed in Tanzania.
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The corridor has been described in one of the videos that I saw, as creating a good space for animals, allowing them to flow freely, but also ensuring that the communities around it have the space to flourish.
Because realistically, we're not going to move people away. People also need a place to live. How did you involve the local community, and how did you manage to get them on board and for them to feel that it helps them and to take ownership.
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It's something that needs to grow with them, and they slowly understanding the benefit, they actually get out of protecting the environment. And I think, we, I always like to reflect on how we do it. And it's a little bit the same in Europe as well, I think. So, it, it takes time until people understand that environmental protection is something positive.
So we had to start talking to the elderly people in each village, and then to the chairman and get them understanding, and also to be present, because it's not by coming in for two years and thinking you're saving Africa and after two years you clap on your shoulder and you go, you harm more than what you actually help.
So being there since:
And I think that with these 10 villages who own the corridor, we lease it from them so now they get the lease fee, they can divide by them. Then they get a tourism levy from the guests who stay with us.
We have 250 employees, 75% come from the villages around, so that's just the positive impact a sustainable tourism operation can bring, because when you're in a national park, you do not need to care about anything. You just have your lodge in a national park, and then you assume the government will take care.
But there is very little attention or respect to the rural areas who live around national parks, and therefore there's always this mis understanding that the people outside of a national park, they do not really benefit from tourism.
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[00:13:26] Fabia: Yeah, well the contract we signed obliged us to do that, so we had to follow the contract, and we have to follow the law in Tanzania and the land use plan. So that was our obligation. And then it was on us, on, how much do we really bring the community in the driver's seat, because it's not Nicolas or me it's not our land, so we are more facilitator...
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[00:13:54] Fabia: ... to help them to steer their vehicle and own the area and realize, and this needs time, but if they protect the corridor, they can get way more money on a way more sustainable base for much longer, than if they let the corridor dry out and overgraze it because, 10 years from now it will be deserted land and there will nothing grow.
And I think that, slowly but surely, we are getting there with all the efforts we do on every single level.
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And are you confident that you're getting to the point, that if you and Nicolas decided to leave at some point, for whatever reason, that the corridor would stay in this new format, and that it would stay protected by the communities?
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And then I think the most important thing is that with the foundation, we tap into the youngest, we do, conservation education through the government schools.
We educate them, what is the environment. We take them on safari in our vehicles. They to Chem Chem, they see the lodge.
When they go into second grade, we even take them on a little, like a school trip, and we show them the crater and maybe the Serengeti. They can sleep in a little hotel, but open their eyes and giving them a horizon, that they actually start to see the beauty of nature and do not see the elephant and the lion just as a threat.
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Um, I had an interview with one episode with Hilma from Namibia who created a children's Atlas of Namibia and then a children's Atlas of Africa, which he created for exactly this reason, to help the Children understand what am I a part of? What's beyond where I can see?", and I think that you do that with the children there is very valuable.
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[00:16:35] André: Talking about fruits and the fruits of your labour, how did you and the local community feel when you saw animals using the corridor gain, when you saw an elephant in Lake Manyara for the first time in 40 years?
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[00:17:12] André: Yeah. I'm sitting here with a smile on my face. It must have been, very special to see that a lot of what you've, done has, has worked.
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[00:17:21] André: The Chem Chem Association does work in four areas Wildlife conservation is one. Economic empowerment, also education, and social engagement.
We don't have time to talk about all of them, and there's more information on the website that I've put into the show notes, but tell me about your favourite project or achievement, Fabia, aside from the corridor.
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They group together, they create community banks, they learn how to save money, then they learn how to open bank accounts. Then they do write a business plan. And then we, um, evaluated four different branches of businesses that we think can thrive in the area we are in. That's beekeeping, that's, uh, chicken, it's, sunflowers and a special way of agriculture.
Then they can choose one of these four branches, and they get then for three years proper guidance on how to become a chicken farmer or a sunflower farmer. And after they accomplish that, most of them have doubled their income. That gives them more independence, that give them more stability, that give them more peace of mind.
And we have about the 85% succession rate, which is amazing. Once they've gone through that course, for a year, then they have possibility to go to the next step where you maybe from whatever, 20 chickens, you then make a big move and you go to 2, 4, 5, 600 chickens.
And you write a business plan again. And, together with the bank and an incubation fund, we are able to give out loans to a very reasonable rate of 5%. So not this crazy 18% per month rate that you normally get from these, microcredit institutes.
So that helps a lot to grow their businesses into something that, is I say, weatherproof. So they go through also the first storms and the setbacks, but it's important that they have like godparents behind, to help them to maneuver through this. And they are now talking about for the chicken to get a slaughterhouse built, that can supply the whole area.
So, there are a lot of people with great ambition, but if they don't get the tools and they don't get also the mental support, it is, it's very challenging to do everything by yourself, when you do not even know where to start.
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I mean, you can't buy the eggs from 600 chickens, so the chicken business needs to be bigger than just
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I wanted to have proper businesses, who cater for Tanzanians, who built their business, whether tourism is flourishing or not.
Yes, it was very important.
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[00:21:18] Fabia: Yes, that we started this year, which we focus on young adults, children between about 16 to 18. And it's very similar that they also, in groups, learn how to create a business, how to save money. However, with stem, we focus more on, like the IT admin. We make sure that they learn really good English, because we cannot have an entire region solely depending on agriculture, there's just not enough land.
And with a huge explosion of population, that's already an issue, and that's one of our biggest threat for the corridor.
So, these children, they learn how to operate with computers, with smartphones, set up businesses on the website.
They go through special English literature courses, and then to be able to work maybe also, in a nearby town where more admin jobs are requested or where they can run, the accounting department of a farm, enterprise, all things like that.
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Give us a brief overview of the three Chem Chem lodges, where they are, how big they are, and how they differ from each other.
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[00:23:00] André: Absolutely.
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That's also where it's, home of Slow Safari. At Chem Chem most of our guests participate in Nature Walk, you go jogging with the Maasai, where you go, power walking. And since two years now, we also do Silent Walk, which our guests appreciate a lot, when you walk for 45 minutes, along the lake.
And, after 45 minutes your Maasai guy makes a fire and you break your silence with Baobab and Wild Sage Tea. And this is this whole one part of the slow safari where we feel, being on safari is way more than just watching a zebra and the giraffe and the lion, but it's this connection again, with the roots where we come from, with the earth, with nature.
In today's world, I think, nature is one of our most important sources, we should not lose the connection to.
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[00:24:28] Fabia: Yeah, because you're exposed, you know, 24 hours and you smell it, you hear it, you feel it. And, what might be scary in the beginning, you slowly immerse yourself and you feel carried by it almost.
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[00:24:50] Fabia: Um, well, I was not really a fan when I went on my first safari, it was way over curated and organized. It felt like a summer camp. I had absolutely nothing to say. I had to be there, ready and go and. When I ask a question, I had to be very careful, I don't ask it twice, otherwise the guy get upset and it's a very strict, rigid experience for me, and it's a vacation. I don't need people telling me what I do all the time, and...
... it took away a lot of the mystic when you're in nature. So, for me it was like, doesn't matter when you wanna wake up. You can wake up at five and be out in the bush till 10 o'clock at night. But that freedom, that each guest should have when they're on vacation. The English call it Holy Days, and we forget the holy in the vacation.
It's a celebration. And that made us, invent the Slow Safari where each guest has his or her own vehicle and with its guide can create the safari they feel like doing. And whether you wanna sleep in or go out at 4:00 AM and wait until the sunrises, these are your days.
We are here for you to make sure you get out of these four days what you want.
While Mr. And Mrs. Smiths are completely on a different planet, and for them happiness has a different meaning, they need different things. So it's not fair to mix these two people and explain them, they should enjoy it now.
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[00:26:54] Fabia: Don't forget also, not everybody's fluent in English and you sit there and you are too timid to ask a question because your English might not be good enough, or you don't understand.
So, I think in the end it is nice if people want to socialize and meet people, but it's just we don't feel that you should get forced to do that.
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But back to the chem lodges. So you told us about Chem Lodge, which is on the Lake Manyara side. What about the other two?
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That's, I think, the only place in Africa where you can see such Big Tuskers in such big groups, roaming around so comfortably and calmly. You easily can spend an hour with 50, 60 elephants, 20 of them are really massive Big Tuskers. And, uh, this is the essence think you should focus on when you stay with us at Chem Chem and Little Chem Chem.
All three camps have the same facilities of a really upscales gym and we have pool. We have spa as well in all three properties, so that's the same. It is just maybe a little bit more the traditional way of safari because the walking is more done at Chem Chem Lodge side due to the lack of buffaloes.
And Forest is an exclusive use camp. It has four tents, catering for 10, which is ideal for multi gen trips, or for families or a group of friends who more want to have that feeling of a private villa.
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I can believe that the spa is used quite a lot, but do people use the gym when they're on safari?
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In the same spirit, we pay a lot of attention to our cuisine. We do have our "ponya" lifestyle. Ponya means healing in Swahili, and we created menus based on all the super food you get in our area. We also believe that food, nutrition, is medicine, so you have the option to try that out.
But of course, as I said, you are on a holy day, so you celebrate. And we have a mama menu full with the best pizza and pasta and all. So you can choose what you want, but paying, respect to the rather healthy lifestyle many of our clients are following. We want to be able to cater for that as well.
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Fabia, I like to end my episodes with questions about favourites. What is your favourite place in Tanzania?
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And then my heart also has a place for the Ruaha National Park down in South Tanzania.
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[00:30:57] Fabia: When it's really hot, I really envy the hippos because they just can be nice in the little pond sitting there. And I like water anyway, so I was like, oh my God, I also just wish I could lie in the lake and get cooled down.
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[00:31:17] Fabia: Thank you André, for giving the platform to, bring, change him a little bit closer, to your audience.
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[00:31:30] Fabia: Thank you.
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And most importantly, we learned about the work that Chem Chem Association has done to uplift the local communities, and especially to reestablish an important wildlife corridor.
There are links to the lodges and the association in the show notes, but if you have any questions or comments, feel free to write to me on Instagram or by email at podcast at africa with andre dot com. Till the next time.
