Romania wildlife vacation, bear tracking and birdwatching

Planet

We travel in very small groups to minimize the impact of our activities on the wildlife we watch and their environments. Our days are planned carefully to minimize travel while maximizing the chance to see wildlife. We don't use public transport for this trip, as that would waste a lot of our guests' time in the area (connections are poor). We use 4x4 only for the parts where it is necessary, the rest being done by normal cars, with lower carbon footprint

We work with local wildlife researchers to assess the impact of wildlife-related tourism activities on the environment. We abandoned several very good areas when the researchers found out that our activities (even kept to a minimum) were disturbing wildlife. Based on their findings the researchers have also written their recommendations based on which were set different levels and measures of protection in Bucegi Natural Park for example.

We encourage our guests to follow our lead and reduce the amount of litter they produce during this trip and to not leave any marks in the areas we visit. For example, if we take any food with us (although we try to avoid this if possible) we make sure at the end of our meal we collect all the garbage and transport it back to the guesthouse, where all the reusable litter (e.g. food leftovers) is separated and put back to use (e.g. compost or domestic animal feeding) and the rest is disposed of properly or recycled. Another thing is that at the beginning of our trip we give our guests who don't bring their own water bottle - one or two half-litter bottles, who we kindly ask them to refill as needed and return them at the end of their trip with us for proper recycling.

Our office waste paper is reused wherever possible. We have reduced the amount of paperwork generated by our office by switching to online newsletters, booking confirmations etc. We use recycled products wherever possible.

Our guests don't have direct contact with our water saving initiatives, but they also reflect on our choice of guesthouses. The guesthouses we use have toilets with "half quantity" option, which our guests do have direct contact with. They also re-use part of the water for plants, but again our guests don't have contact with this during this trip. We stay in locally-owned accommodations that use mainly home grown produce, thus contributing to reducing food miles and supporting the local community. The guesthouse in the Carpathians is eco-certified by the Association of Ecotourism in Romania, and the one in the Danube Delta works on the same principles, but is not eco-certified as it is not member of the Association of Ecotourism in Romania.

As members of the Association of Ecotourism in Romania we also contribute to the development of responsible travel and nature conservation in Romania.

People

We collaborate exclusively with local people and locally owned businesses that employ local people for all the services we provide, thus all the revenues from our tours “stay” locally.

Working with local small-size businesses gives them a fair chance of doing business in a world dominated by big hotels and impersonal services. It also improves our guests’ access to the local culture through their hospitable hosts.

One important characteristic of our tours is authenticity. We have managed to find local collaborators that share our aim of preserving the local values in terms of customs, culture, food etc.

The size of our groups is very small, with a very small impact on the local culture. Our groups average six guests, and many tours operate on a private basis with just two guests. This has much less impact when traveling through rural areas, reducing our environmental and social impact.

On most of the areas we travel to we take the time to visit some of the local traditional craftsmen. This gives our guests the chance to experience first-hand some of the local traditions and, at the same time, provides revenues and emphasis on the importance to preserve these great traditions for the local craftsmen.