Galapagos tailor made adventure vacation

Planet

For every visitor we take to the Galapagos we donate £25 to the Galapagos Conservation Trust www.gct.org who work to protect and conserve the Galapagos islands.

We are also an active member of IGTOA http://www.igtoa.org/, a non profit association of travel companies, conservation organizations, and other groups that seek a lasting protection of the Galapagos Islands. We lobby for conservation, fund projects, and promote and practice sustainable tourism.

The boats we use are all locally owned and operated yachts, and accompanied by professional naturalist guides certified by the Darwin Research Station.

On our Galapagos adventure vacation give people free membership to the Conservation Trust, we have IGTOA membership who campaign to protect the islands, we employ local staff all the way on the trip, only use hotels owned by locals, all the food is sourced locally, no rubbish is left anywhere by us or guides. No wildlife is disturbed and we operate a strict policy leaving the animals and flora alone.

The Galapagos was the first natural site to be named a UNESCO World Heritage Site - 1979. It is also a Biosphere Reserve and Whale Sanctuary.

The Galapagos is a worldwide model for eco-tourism. Here you are able to visit an area of great natural beauty and encounter, at close quarters, animal species that have no fear of humans. Strict regulations govern all tourist activities and are rigidly enforced and tourist numbers are restricted.

We are supporting two charities, the UK registered charity Amantani - which is very much in keeping with our ethos of small scale, targeted help that is educational & sustainable - and Huchuy Yachaq, a Cusco-based project which we support by paying a for a full time teacher. A percentage of our income goes to support those projects.

People

The trip employs locals only, so all wages and taxes are kept in country, helping to create a beneficial relationship between tourism and the local community.

All guides are Galapagos residents and trained there, giving them a unique bond to the islands and the protection of the wildlife, plus making sure that the benefits of tourism are felt by those that live on the islands.

This also means that locals get great life skills, such as learning foreign languages so as to work in tourism, at home and abroad.

We use small, locally-owned hotels wherever possible and encourage people to use local restaurants, plus tips, which is part of the culture in the country.

The boats we use are all locally owned and operated yachts, and accompanied by professional naturalist guides certified by the Darwin Research Station.

Membership of IGTOA means we are actively looking to help to preserve the islands and the way of life for islanders, as well as the wildlife.