A preservation experience for Banyan guests across three African properties. Staff previews, guest expeditions, and a professional media engine that tells the story of what people journey here to find.
Planet 5 proposes a dedicated expedition program at Banyan Group's three African properties. Each expedition is a curated, multi-day preservation experience led by Dirk Collins and a professional documentary crew.
Guests do not simply visit these landscapes. They participate in their documentation and become Guardians of the places they experience. The expeditions produce two things: an extraordinary guest experience that no other hospitality brand offers, and professional media of Nat Geo caliber that tells the story of what people journey to these places to find.
That media belongs to the partnership. It becomes the living narrative of Banyan's African chapter, created not by a marketing agency but by the guests themselves, alongside one of the world's most experienced expedition filmmakers.
Banyan runs two experiential programs today. Neither puts guests in the field with a working documentary crew. Neither produces professional media. Neither creates a permanent preservation relationship between the guest and the landscape.
Half-day community immersions at property level: farm visits, craft workshops, village walks. Valuable but lightweight. They last a few hours. They do not produce professional content. They do not create a lasting relationship between the guest and the landscape.
Multi-day wellness retreats led by yoga and mindfulness practitioners. These prove Banyan's guests will pay for extended, curated, small-group experiences. But they are inward-facing. They are about the guest's internal journey, not about the place.
The capability required to run preservation expeditions, a world-class expedition filmmaker, 30 years of field experience across seven continents, a professional crew, a Guardian membership infrastructure, a direct-trade coffee program tied to local farming communities, cannot be assembled by a hospitality company. It can only be partnered with.
Ubuyu, a Banyan Tree Escape. Six artisan-crafted villas on the Great Ruaha River. Solar-powered, off-grid. Tanzania's largest protected area at over 20,000 square kilometers. The highest concentration of lions on the continent, one of the largest elephant populations in East Africa, and one of the last viable populations of endangered African wild dogs. Over 570 bird species. This is not the Serengeti. There are no crowds.
Duration: 7 days · Maximum guests: 6 to 8 · Base: Ubuyu, with mobile bush camp excursions
Days 1 to 3: Arrival, orientation, deep game drives along the Great Ruaha River. Dawn and dusk photography sessions led by Dirk. Mobile bush camp in Ruaha's remote eastern sector. Walking safaris with armed rangers. Night sky photography.
Days 4 to 5: Community immersion. Visit villages where Ruaha Carnivore Project operates. Meet community rangers. See the health dispensary that exists because a village chose preservation. Photograph the people whose daily choices determine whether lions survive.
Days 6 to 7: Gallery session. Guardian enrollment ceremony. Heritage Coffee "Last Light" at sunset. Each guest preserves a named section of the Ruaha landscape.
Staff preview: Late June / Early July 2026 (shoulder season, park reopening, walking safaris begin). First guest expedition: September 2026 (peak wildlife, herds massing along the river, predator activity at its highest).
Founded by Dr. Amy Dickman (Oxford). Operates across 50,000 sq km. Communities protecting carnivores receive direct infrastructure: clinics, wells, schools. Over 40,000 people on the village land. Commerce, not charity.
Dr. Amy Dickman (Founder) · Ana Grau (Field Operations Manager)
Tanzanian NGO founded 1984 in Iringa. Environmental education for communities surrounding the park. Potential storytelling and education partner for expedition content.
Iringa-based · Established 1984
Banyan Tree Ilha Caldeira. 40 private pool villas on a private island, 11 km offshore. 100% solar-powered. Marine Conservation Center on-site. Located within the Primeiras and Segundas Archipelago, Africa's largest coastal marine reserve at over 10,400 square kilometers. At least 56 coral genera, 194 reef fish species, dugongs, five species of sea turtles. The reef is unusually climate-resilient due to cold upwellings from deep underwater canyons. While coral systems around the world are dying, this one is holding.
Duration: 5 to 6 days · Maximum guests: 6 to 8 · Base: Ilha Caldeira, with island-hopping by dhow
Days 1 to 2: Marine Conservation Center orientation. Snorkeling the house reef. Underwater photography workshop with Dirk. Sunset sessions on the eastern shore.
Days 3 to 4: Dhow expedition to outer islands. Visit community-managed fish sanctuaries and no-take zones. Meet fishing community leaders. Photograph the nets, the boats, the hands, the faces. Kayak through mangrove channels.
Days 5 to 6: Seasonal highlight (turtle nesting, whale migration, or whale sharks). Gallery review. Guardian enrollment for a section of the marine reserve. Heritage Coffee ceremony.
Staff preview: Mid-2026 (post-opening, dry season, best visibility). First guest expedition: November 2026 (turtle nesting begins, whale sharks arriving, warm water).
Ran one of East Africa's most comprehensive marine preservation programs here from 2008 to 2018. Established community resource management committees, fish sanctuaries, women's cooperatives, and sustainable fishing training. Legacy infrastructure still active.
Domingos Gove (WWF Mozambique Marine Program)
National biodiversity fund. Administers EU PROMOVE Biodiversity funding (€10M, 6 years) for Primeiras and Segundas specifically. Potential institutional partner for formalizing Guardian marine preservation zones.
Maputo office
Dhawa Ouidah. 132 rooms on 23 hectares between the Atlantic and mangrove wetlands. Adjacent to the Door of No Return memorial. This is the spiritual capital of Vodun, a faith system that has endured centuries of suppression. The natural landscape is a meeting of ecosystems: Atlantic coast, mangrove lagoons, sacred forests. The Kpasse Sacred Forest is an ancient grove protected not by law enforcement but by spiritual authority. The expedition here is cultural as much as ecological.
Duration: 5 to 6 days · Maximum guests: 6 to 8 · Base: Dhawa Ouidah
Days 1 to 2: Walk the Route of the Enslaved to the Door of No Return. Visit the Kpasse Sacred Forest. Dirk leads a session on photographing sacred spaces with respect and restraint.
Days 3 to 4: Mangrove expedition by pirogue. Visit Eco-Benin restoration sites. Meet women's cooperatives. Document the sacralisation process: Vodun priests placing Zangbeto talismans to mark protected zones. Photograph the oyster farmers, the fish-smokers, the net-makers.
Days 5 to 6: Contemporary art circuit (Fondation Zinsou, Alozo Gallery). Vodun cultural immersion with community permissions. Guardian enrollment tied to restored mangrove. Heritage Coffee ceremony.
Staff preview: Late 2026 (post-opening, dry season). First guest expedition: January 2027, timed to Vodun Days (January 8 to 10), the most powerful cultural moment of the year. Nearly 2 million visitors in 2026.
Pioneered community-led mangrove preservation by integrating Vodun spiritual practices with ecological science. Since 2013, restored over 2,500 hectares of degraded mangroves. In Togbin village alone, mangrove cover expanded from 94 to over 400 hectares. Commerce and culture, not charity.
Gautier Amoussou (National Coordinator)
Private foundation in Ouidah promoting contemporary African art. Operates the Musee de Ouidah. Natural exhibition partner and cultural bridge for Planet 5. Also: GRABE-Benin (sacred forest preservation) and Alozo Gallery (artisanal products, dining).
Ouidah-based
The model is simple: staff preview creates the media, the internal advocacy, and the proof of concept. The guest expedition follows once the team has seen it, felt it, and can sell it authentically.
| Timing | Property | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| May / June 2026 | Ubuyu, Tanzania | Dirk + crew, 5 to 7 days in Ruaha. 4 to 6 Banyan staff join for 2 to 3 days. Founding savannah media created. |
| Mid-2026 | Ilha Caldeira, Mozambique | Dirk + crew, 4 to 5 days. Banyan staff experience reef, fishing communities, mangroves. Marine media created. |
| Late 2026 | Dhawa Ouidah, Benin | Dirk + crew, 4 to 5 days. Banyan staff experience sacred forests, mangrove restoration, Vodun cultural landscape. |
Each preview costs Banyan nothing but hospitality. Planet 5 covers travel, crew, and production. Banyan receives the media, Guardian enrollments for participating staff, and a fully formed proof of concept.
| Timing | Property | Expedition |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | Ubuyu, Tanzania | First guest expedition. Peak wildlife season. 6 to 8 guests. |
| November 2026 | Ilha Caldeira, Mozambique | First guest expedition. Turtle nesting, whale sharks. 6 to 8 guests. |
| January 2027 | Dhawa Ouidah, Benin | First guest expedition. Vodun Days. 6 to 8 guests. |
Scale to 2 to 3 expeditions per property per year. At full capacity: 7 to 8 guest expeditions annually across three properties, plus ongoing content from Dirk's independent field work. Year 1 total: 3 staff previews + 3 guest expeditions = 6 field deployments, producing a near-continuous content stream for Banyan's channels.
This is not influencer footage. It is Nat Geo-caliber documentary material created by a 30-year veteran expedition filmmaker and crew. The media tells the story of the place through the guests who chose to protect it.
Short-form documentary segments (3 to 5 pieces, 60 to 90 seconds each) formatted for social channels, in-room digital programming, and press. Long-form expedition documentary (8 to 12 minutes) for brand storytelling and sustainability reporting. Behind-the-scenes footage of guests in the field. Still photography for digital channels and press packages. Guest testimonial content captured in the field.
Social media content stream (each expedition feeds 4 to 6 weeks). Stay for Good and Brand for Good storytelling for sustainability communications. In-room digital programming at each property. Press packages for launches and seasonal campaigns. Guardian impact stories for guest follow-up and loyalty content.
Each expedition guest becomes a Guardian. Each designation preserves a named, measured section of landscape or marine habitat. Banyan can report these metrics in their GRI sustainability framework, aligned to UN SDGs 12, 13, 15, and 17. Annual preservation reports keep the guest connected long after departure. The stay never truly ends.
The Africa program is the opening chapter. Banyan's global expansion creates additional expedition opportunities as the partnership matures.
First overwater bungalows in the Caribbean. Marine preservation potential in Bahamian waters: coral reefs, nurse sharks, bonefish flats. Proximity to the US market opens a completely different guest demographic. The natural Phase 2 expansion for the expedition program.
The Dhawa is phase one. A five-star Banyan Tree and a four-star Angsana are planned for the same complex. Expedition infrastructure built at Dhawa scales automatically to higher-tier guests.
Second Escape property after Buahan. Natural fit for Planet 5's preservation philosophy.
| Region | Organization | Focus | Key Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruaha, Tanzania | Ruaha Carnivore Project / Lion Landscapes | Human-carnivore coexistence, community infrastructure | Dr. Amy Dickman · Ana Grau |
| Ruaha, Tanzania | Friends of Ruaha Society (FORS) | Environmental education, community awareness | Iringa-based, est. 1984 |
| Mozambique | CARE-WWF Alliance (P&S Program) | Marine preservation, community fisheries | Domingos Gove (WWF) |
| Mozambique | BIOFUND | National biodiversity financing | Maputo office |
| Ouidah, Benin | Eco-Benin | Mangrove restoration, blue carbon, community livelihoods | Gautier Amoussou |
| Ouidah, Benin | GRABE-Benin | Sacred forest preservation, Vodun-ecology | Ousseni Akoyi |
| Ouidah, Benin | Fondation Zinsou / Alozo Gallery | Contemporary African art, artisanal products | Ouidah-based |
1. Laura and Allegra review this document and decide how to introduce the expedition program in the Banyan conversation.
2. Dirk confirms May/June 2026 availability for the Ubuyu staff preview. Most time-sensitive item.
3. Begin preliminary outreach to Ruaha Carnivore Project (Dr. Amy Dickman / Ana Grau) and Eco-Benin (Gautier Amoussou).
4. Identify Mozambique marine preservation contacts through BIOFUND or WWF Mozambique.
5. Atlas prepares a one-page expedition overview for Laura to include alongside the Banyan proposal.