Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
We visit the Madidi National Park staying at the Chalalán Eco-Lodge, a project, designed to benefit the local community of Quetchua-Tacana Indians by creating a sustainable and viable alternative economic activity while preserving the resources of the park, thus preventing destructive logging and hunting. Chalalan is now completely administered by the local community and all of the personnel, from cooks and boatmen to guides and office personnel are fully trained local community members
The community of a few hundred Quetchua-Tacana Indians living in San José is the only settlement within the park. They have lived here for over 200 years in harmony with the jungle around them surviving from subsistence farming.
The lodge is built with the almost exclusive use of materials that could be sustainably harvested in the surrounding forest, solar panels were set up throughout the complex to provide adequate electricity and an ecological sewage disposal system was created. All profits go straight back into the community.
We are also now supporting the UK registered chairty Amantani. As this charity is very much in keeping with our ethos of small scale, targetted help which is educational & sustainabale. HuchuyYachaq is the other main Peruvian charity we support by paying a for a full time teacher. A % of all our income goes to support those projects.
The founder of this tour operator set up 14 years ago after working as a trek leader and writing guidebooks in South America. She decided to offer alternative trekking routes that no one else was doing, where you’re more likely to cross paths with local people. She maintains close personal relationships with her suppliers and is godmother to several of their children. Her small specialised team have really walked the walks and so know exactly what they’re talking about; they familiarise themselves with the hiking trails every year and believe the Andean way of life is well worth sharing.
Listen to the podcast below:
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
