Healing and meditation holiday, Croatia

Environment:
Our company policy is to be as environmentally friendly as possible, which means recycling whatever is possible in Croatia. Our aim is to offer a lifestyle of good healthy food, complementary therapies, cycling and walking in an environment that is peaceful and unspoiled, but still providing modern amenities. Our hope is that guests return home and find a way to implement some of these lifestyle changes for themselves.

We compost all fruit and vegetable waste and feed other food waste to local dogs, cats, pigs and chickens. We take our own shopping bags to avoid using plastic carrier bags. We have fitted oxygenated water taps and showers, our water is metered, we ask guests to be aware of water conservation. We have an underground water butt for watering the garden.

On trips we collect waste from guests to put in our recycling bins. We have bins for glass, plastic bottles and paper. We supply mountain bikes and encourage guest to cycle or walk the many routes in and around our area.

Our destinations are ancient hill top towns and coastal resorts, also the Ucka Nature Park and Baredine Caves, these have all been maintained for the tourist trade Croatia’s main source of income. We are learning from our neighbours as they too are learning from us. Eg they are restoring the stone on buildings in our village since we have renovated our stone house. Whilst we learn Croatian methods of growing crops on this land and how to keep chickens.

Community:
We use local transport when needed, a local man, Nino, runs a bus company and is always glad of the extra work. In our village we are totally integrated with neighbours and our cookery courses are run partly from their specially adapted outbuildings.

Smilijana works during the week as she is the main bread winner, her husband Franko works in tourism in the Summer months only, so we run the course in their kitchens Saturday and Sunday and at the stone house during the week. Our aim is to help her and her family to work full time offering these courses, not just to us, but to Croatians also who have lost the traditional Istrian cookery skills.

Our Istrian night is the highlight of our eating out experience, as well as traditional food and wine we will tour the buildings and land experiencing the past with old tools Jordon has lovingly displayed for us. We are helping Istria to hold onto their valued traditions for future generations. We offer help with their grape harvest in September and ask guests if they would like to help out too.

Destination suppliers all employ only local labour as it is very difficult for foreigners to work in Croatia. A working visa is required and locals will always be employed before foreigners as there is a lot of unemployment. The tourist industry is very important, employing local labour and bringing in revenue. As we are encouraging English tourists to visit Croatia and employing local labour we are doing a lot to help the local economy.

Most supplies are local and seasonal apart from goods that are not produced in Croatia due to the fact that there is very little industry in Croatia. We buy some vegetables, fruit, wine and flour from neighbours and grow our own where possible. We have leaflets for local boat trips, restaurants and places of interest for our guests. Craft shops and markets are highlighted on all our trips.