Central America highlights tour

Planet

On our Central America overland tours we visit a number of national parks, including the Sarapiqui Protected Zone and Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica, and Masaya Volcano National Park in Nicaragua. With thousands of visitors each year, good administration and management of parks is essential in order to preserve these delicate eco-systems and fragile environments.

We actively encourage clients to carry all waste out of parks, walk only on designated paths, and not to pick flowers or disturb the natural resources. When staying within these parks we use locally owned accommodations which minimise the negative impact of tourism on the surrounding area through conserving water and electricity and employing local staff instead of hiring from the bigger cities. In Sarapiqui we stay in a fixed tent camp in the forest, an accommodation that prides itself on its environmental policies. The local tour leader and guides that we use in these areas are instrumental in educating tourists on how to make their visit positive for the environment and surrounding communities.

At Copan, we give our customers the opportunity to visit Macaw Mountain, a Bird Park and Reserve that started off simply as a place to care for abused, hunted or smuggled birds, but which has now begun to develop release programs for Scarlet Macaws, as well as working with the communities to educate and raise awareness of the need for environmental protection. This program has already started to increase cooperation and a sense of pride in the local area, and in 2016 an area of 870 square km around Copan and the ruins was legally declared a protected area for the Macaw, as well as being a symbol for many other projects such as reforestation. A visit to the Macaw Mountain Reserve contributes to their projects.

As a company we support Cool Earth. Protecting rainforest is one of the most effective actions to tackle climate breakdown. CoolEarth work with indigenous communities empowering them to conserve their forest; keeping CO2 locked in.

People

Throughout the trip we also visit several small communities where we encourage our groups to shop and buy produce from the local people - at the Masaya Market for example, the stallholders earn a living from selling their handmade goods. On the tour of Lake Atitlan we visit various local villages offering the chance for passengers to interact with the local communities and buy textiles from the women’s cooperatives in each village. We also visit a pottery workshop in one of the local villages where we have the opportunity to buy straight from the source - you'll see this pottery in shops around the area.

This off-the-beaten-track vacation visits El Salvador; a country that has only recently come through a series of political upheavals. Here, our visit is directly contributing to the local economy as the country discovers the importance of tourism in their financial recovery. In the small village of Suchitoto we hope to encourage local entrepreneurs by visiting their shops and taking part in cultural activities such as indigo dye-making workshops or pupusa (a type of filled tortilla) making classes.

In addition to the above, we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key and so all staff, Tour leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage. As well as this, we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of UK travel industry bodies Tourism Concern and AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.