Patagonian photography tour

Planet

We are committed to working in conjunction with local communities in all the countries in which we operate. We use locally owned services such as hotels and restaurants, paying a fair price for those services. We buy fresh local produce for all of our treks from markets and small shops in each departure town. In preference we choose local over imported goods and use public transport whenever possible and feasible.

On all our tours we aim to minimize waste by using products with minimum packaging, leaving no litter and keeping all water sources clean. In the UK office we use recyclable and recycled materials when possible. We recycle what we can and attempt to keep waste to an absolute minimum. We promote paper saving by using email as much as possible and by keeping unwanted mail to a minimum. We use low-energy light bulbs, fair-trade and biodegradable products where possible. We are involved in on-going training of the staff we work with in the UK and in the Andes to ensure as high as possible standards of environmental care and responsible behaviour.

People

We actively support several community projects in Peru.

Currently we donate in the region of USD$1000 at the start of each school year to a school near Cusco. We ask the community what is most needed and usually we are asked to provide materials (books, pencils, paper etc.) for the children and the local school.

Also, since 2006 we have been able to support the Huchuy Yachaq community project in the marginalised neighbourhood of Hermanos Ayar, on the outskirts of Cusco, with the help of everybody who has travelled with us. We donate USD $3000 a year to this community project.

The project has been set up by volunteer social workers and teachers to provide much needed social and educational support to the children and families of this neighbourhood. Children are encouraged to attend study and games sessions held each afternoon and participate in vacation projects. Our contributions so far have paid for educational books and games, tables and chairs, improvements to the structure of the basic community owned building and the addition of functioning toilets, materials for the children to take to school, school books, vacation programmes.

We are now also financially supporting the UK registered charity Amantani which is running boarding houses for children in the remote Andean region around Cusco. It is very much in keeping with our ethos of small scale, targetted help which is educational & sustainable