Angolans invest €2 million in safari park with hotel in Alentejo

The Africa Safari Park zoological park will soon be born at Herdade da Camacha, near Almodôvar, the result of a €2 million investment by the company Africa Land. With a total area of 147 hectares, the project “intends to recreate the safari environment that takes place in Africa” and, to do so, will have 86 animals from the savannah. But there will also be a tourist component, which will include a five-star hotel to be built in a fenced-off area, separate from the zoological park.

Lions, tigers, lynxes, zebras, giraffes and many more. Africa Safari Park will have dozens of animals typical of the African savannah, felines and herbivores, in an area that was “designed and dimensioned taking into account the wellbeing of animals, in order to provide them with the best conditions, as close as possible to their natural ecosystems,” reads the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) for the project, which is in public consultation.

Visits to the Africa Safari Park will “essentially” be made by pre-booking, and will take place in all-terrain vehicles. Estimates point to three vehicles with a capacity for nine or 12 passengers and a maximum of 200 visitors per day (around 5,160 per month and 54,810 per year).

The animals will walk freely in an area of 141.9 hectares, which is the zoological park itself, where there will also be support buildings, a veterinary clinic and an interpretation centre, which “will serve as a place to inform visitors about the characteristics and activities developed” in the park.

Besides this component, there will also be a five-star hotel – “Africa Safari Lodge”, which has already received the approval of Tourism of Portugal. Set within an area of 4.8 hectares, there will be 54 accommodation units in the form of bungalows, with 138 beds, offering guests a spa, communal outdoor pool, restaurant, bar and a room for events and conferences.

The promoters are the company Africa Land – Turismo e Natureza, managed by Paulo Catalo, who lives in Luanda. According to the project’s EIA consulted by ECO, the estimated investment for the project is €2 million.

It is estimated that the zoological park will employ 18 permanent staff, to which 40 can be added for the hotel and two full-time employees for the reception. These 60 jobs will represent “around 4% of the jobs in the parish of Almodôvar”, says the EIA.

ECO tried to contact those responsible for the project, but up until the time of publication of this article, it had not been possible.