Luxury Ecuador and Galapagos tailor made vacation

Planet

Staying at the lodges and sailing on the vessel owned by our group partner in Ecuador contributes greatly towards conservation efforts.

By traveling with us you help protect the biodiverse and threatened forests of Ecuador’s Andean Chocó region, and help develop more sustainable livelihoods for its people through a program run by their holding group’s foundation, Fundación Futuro.

Through your investment, and ours, we will expand the current Mashpi-Tayra Reserve of nearly 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) to around 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) and create biological corridors in the Choco Bioregion — continuous strips of restored land that allow for the absorption of CO2, migration of species, suitable mating strategies, and proper foraging — across a further 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres), equal to nearly 28,000 football fields in one of the wealthiest, most biodiverse places on planet Earth.

They created the first NGO which focused on waste issues in the Galapagos islands, for example, investing in infrastructure and training so that, today, the local municipality of Santa Cruz Island has the highest rates of recycling anywhere in Ecuador.


Your stay at Mashpi helps fund research and the conservation efforts that are helping protect this last remaining patch. Your stay with us goes beyond simply being able to experience this beautiful place — it also helps us preserve it! Mashpi is part of the ecologically important Choco biogeographical region that spans Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Your stay at Mashpi helps fund our research and the conservation efforts that are helping protect this last remaining 2% of the Choco Andean rainforest that remains intact. Additionally, we work hand-in-hand with the local community living around the Reserve.Additionally, we work hand-in-hand with the local community living around the Reserve.

People

They have also played a part in the community, by inviting over 1,600 students and members of the community to embark on expedition cruises over the decades, in order for them to experience the true wonders of National Park and become even better stewards of its future as a result.

What’s more, our program (managed by the Fundación Futuro) also works to develop more sustainable livelihoods for the communities of the Choco through improving agroecological practices, education, and community governance. We therefore communicate regularly to our stakeholders through, for example, communicating the scientific advances in the Mashpi-Tayra Reserve to our employees, suppliers, academia, and surrounding communities.

Through the Fundación Futuro, we have formed partnerships to rent land from local farmers and landowners or will be paying them a fee to ensure nature-friendly uses of the land that are kind to people, kind to biodiversity, and kind to the Earth.

Staying at Casa Gargotena in the heart of Quito old town helps local suppliers and artistis. The hotel offers a map of locally owned artisan businesses to explore or your own, and also offers interactive tours where you can engage with and purchase from local, sustainable and ethical neighbours.