Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
Fernando de Noronha is an extremely important marine reserve, and has been made harder to visit because of the limit of 400 people allowed to enter the island each day. The environmental conservation tax that you pay on entry goes directly to the Brazilian Environmental Agency and helps to keep the area undeveloped and well protected. A good example of the work done here is Projeto Tamar, responsible for monitoring and protecting the turtles in the area that use the shores as a hatching ground. Your pousada not only minimizes its environmental impact by recycling its water but promotes the use of sustainable energy by generating its electricity through solar power.
Your guide in Olinda, Joao is a local whom we met on our travels. We were so impressed by his warmth and knowledge that we now employ him directly as your guide. Through him you will get a real inside track on the local culture, meeting many of the local characters and genuinely participating in the local surrounds on a personal level. Your hotel here is a small, well preserved colonial building that provides a valuable revenue stream for the local people of this small town, helping to make this colonial town viable and preserved for posterity.
In Rio your hotel consists of just 7 rooms, minimizing the impact on the environment and creating a more personal involvement with the locally sourced staff. Employing local people allows you to step out of the tourist bracket, and discover much more of this city than usually possible. Equally important to us, because of how much the business and the clients gain from them is giving these locally sourced staff the opportunity to earn money, improve their English and show off their home to you. They are immensely proud people, making them extremely good at their job, energetic and fun.
Part of the cost of your holiday goes towards the planting of 20 hard wood trees in the Mata Atlantica, under the guidance of R.E.G.U.A. (Reserva Ecologica de Guapi Assu) who protect one of the last stands of primary tropical rainforest left in the severely depleted Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil. This gesture is greatly appreciated by locals and campaigners alike, but most of all by the wildlife.
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!
