In 2009, Sofie Amalie Klougart traveled to Mombasa, Kenya with the nonprofit ActionAid. Her day job was to document ActionAid’s numerous efforts to alleviate poverty in the country. Fascinated by the country, Klougart spent her nights and weekends traveling the country in search of stories.

While visiting the country’s numerous beautiful beaches, Ama was struck by the many older European women she saw carousing with young Kenyans. When she inquired with one of the women, she found that she was witnessing what many call “Romance tourism” — lonely men and women who travel to impoverished countries in search of companionship and locals who willingly oblige, in exchange for gifts, free meals, and, sometimes, cold hard cash.

Klougart began documenting the affairs of the many women she met on the beaches of Kenya who introduced her to the sometimes troubling and sometimes empowering world of women who go after exactly what they want and nothing more.

Klougart shared a number of the photos with us here, but you can see the rest at her website.