Ecuador tailor made family vacation

Planet

We work with the Galapagos Conservation Trust protect and conserve the Galapagos islands and give £25 to the trust for each visitor we send to the islands, or offer our customers a one-year membership with the trust.

We are an active member of IGTOA, which is a non profit association of travel companies, conservation organizations, and other groups that seek a lasting protection of the Galapagos Islands. Through IGTOA we contribute to conservation, fund projects, and promote and practice sustainable tourism.

On our trips we encourage passengers and staff to dispose of litter in a responsible way. Recycling facilities are now being installed on the islands in many places and we see it as part of our responsibility to use these and ensure that locals are encouraged to do the same. We strongly emphasise the need to save electricity in the islands by not leaving lights on at hotels and keeping electricity consumption to a minimum. All electricity has to be generator produced in the Galapagos and it is vital that this is pointed out to all travelers.

We remind all passengers of the importance of saving water in the Galapagos islands and Ecuador mainland as water is scarce.

We use shared transport in mainland Ecuador and the islands where, as well as using only shared motor boats in the Galapagos.

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. 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.

In Galapagos 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.

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.

A percentage of our profits also go to two charities, the UK registered charity Amantani who run boarding houses in rural Peru, enabling local children to attend school, and the Huchuy Yachaq charity, based in Cusco and providing nursery care as well as project for local women. Here our donations fund a full time teacher.