Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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The lodge is committed to the local environment & community.
The water supply is limited for over half a year and water has to be bought at a very high cost from a farm across the road, so the lodge makes every effort to conserve water. All the rooms and tents have signage to encourage judicious use of water, all bathrooms have showers, the toilet flushes have the lowest capacity tanks possible, the gardens are stocked with plants that need very little water and the staff is trained not to waste water.
The lodge uses low energy consuming CFL bulbs in almost all the light points. There is signage in all rooms that encourage energy savings. Over half the accommodation (12 tents – out of the 11 rooms and 12 tents that the lodge has) do not have any air conditioning and do not use any electricity guzzling appliance.
All the waste that can be recycled is recycled. This includes empty glass and plastic (mainly mineral water) bottles, all metallic waste, plastics, cardboard etc. These are sold in the Kabadi bazar (the recycling mart in every major locality in India). All the inorganic waste that cannot be recycled and can be burnt is burnt in the boiler that heats water fro the tents. All the organic waste is given to a local farmer who breeds pigs. The garden is totally organic. The lodge only uses cow-dung manure in the garden that is widely available locally.
The lodge plays a very proactive role in wildlife conservation in collaboration with the office of the Field Director of Ranthambhore tiger reserve. Some of the most successful conservation projects that the lodge has undertaken were “Monsoon anti-grazing and wildlife monitoring project 2006”, “Operation Co-operation 2005 – 06 anti-poaching project” and the “Operation man-eating leopards in South Rajasthan 2004 – 05”. The lodge briefs the guests on the do's and don't's of the safari. There are four 32 square feet notice boards in the lodge that have information about the forest, including topographic maps, information about flora and fauna, environmental information.
Most of the staff is from nearby villages. Trained by the management they are gainfully employed throughout the year, even when the lodge is closed for the monsoon. Temporary labour is from nearby villages and food and service purchases are local. A visit to local villages is actively encouraged by the lodge and the lodge employs a family of local musicians.
The lodge supports and promotes local arts, crafts and culture and almost all the interior decoration elements in the lodge are locally procured.
The lodge actively promotes "Dastakari Kendra" - a village women's co-operative that trains village women in the art of making handicrafts and markets the same for them. A visit to the Dastakar is part of most of the package that the lodge sells and information on Dastakar is put up prominently on the notice boards in the lodge. The lodge was the first one to promote Dastakari Kendra and even have them on the brochure. We also hold a weekly free medical camp at the premises of the Dastakar Kendra.
Kids for Tiger is a program run by Sanctuary magazine and sponsored by Complan- Heinz with the aim to sensitize the school going kids in India to the plight of the tigers and to make them aware of the environmental problems of the planet by keeping the focus on tigers. The Directors of the lodge are the Co-ordinators of the program in Ranthambhore and have been actively involved in the program since its start.
In addition, the lodge has completed financing a school building with four class rooms in the village of Bhadlav.
The next project for Bhadlav – building a boundary wall in some parts of the village is in the pipeline and the lodge is now planning on contributing 100 Rupees per room per night towards a fund that would use the amount for small conservation works.
We sponsor Clean Himalaya, a recycling and waste management project, dedicated to maintaining the sanctity and beauty of the Ganges and Himalayas.
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!
