Galapagos cruise and Ecuador tour

Planet

In Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands we help the environment as most of the park and permit fees for trekking, walking, snrokelling and just visiting through the parks goes to help maintain the conservation efforts inside the park.
We also look to employ local scientists as they conduct their research into the forests here. We also contribute and participate in as many studies that the local researchers are conducting as possible. On request we can also look to arrange specific tours that help researchers on their wildlife monitoring studies.

All the lodges and resorts that we use on this tour are careful with their waste management and they are very aware of their ecological responsibility. The lodges all use sustainable energy sources and conserve water where possible. We also donate to the World Land Trust which is focused on purchasing large amounts of rainforest to protect from deforestation throughout the world but particularly in South and Central America.

We also donate money to the Andean Bear Project (a project that our director and zoologist escort for this tour holds close to his heart as he has worked on this project at grass root level in the past). This project is concerned with the rescue, rehabilitation and release of bears that have been orphaned or captured for the pet trade, as well as research and conservation of this magnificent species to ensure their continued survival in the rapidly developing Andean mountains.

Wildlife Promise:
We monitor the rare and endangered wildlife we see whilst on the trip and hand this information over to the park and reserve authorities. We also donate annually (depending on how many tours and how many guests we have) to the Andean Bear Project and actively help the project find volunteers for their radio tagging and tracking projects in the Andes. We also donate our pictures to the researchers to aid in their photo identification studies.

For water conservation we reduce washing of bedding and towels by encouraging our clients to use the same towel for the duration of their trip, so to reduce water usage in cleaning them regularly. Where washing has to be done when on the trek we use the rivers (not machines) and do not use any chemicals.

As we are often in the eco camps and small independent guest houses we are well off the power grid and so solar power is crucial for our trips. All of the camps and guest houses we visit use solar power as their primary source of energy and water heating.

We only use one vehicle on this trip, we minimize the amount of driving on the trip, most of the movement on the trip is walking.

People

The local community benefits from this tour as we employ local guides in all the lodges we use. This ensures that the money we pay these guides, is invested directly back into the local economy. Thus generating a great financial option against illegal poaching and logging which used to be seen as a quick way to earn large amounts of money.

The lodges we use are all eco-friendly which conserve their water use, only use locally produced food and other products look to employ as many local people as possible.

By participating in the cultural activities whilst in the cloud forest and Amazon you will be contributing to the income of the local people and helping to keep alive the traditional practices of the local indigenous peoples. Many of these cultures and traditions could be lost without people paying to see them and experience the wonderful way in which local people live in harmony with the forest that provides them so much.

We promote using locally produced foods and handicrafts in the Amazon and encourage our guests to participate in cultural tours and other community programmes.