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This tour uses hotels with a proven track record of sustainability and responsible and ethical operations. Lazos Fuertes hotel in Antigua has all its profits go to support the Development Project, “Safe Passage” (Camino Seguro) which is an organization providing opportunities for the children of families working at the Guatemala City garbage dump through education. Posada Santiago’s owners are great community supporters and involved in many local initiatives. The Totonicapan homestay program sees money go directly into the local community. Maya International is a certified hotel with Green Deal.
All of the tours in this itinerary involve local people from the surrounding communities in each area visited and a number of them visit local development programs where some costs from this trip will go directly to the charities involved and the people that they support. Everywhere you travel on this trip a large amount of the costs involved in the trip will remain in that area with the local people.
We are a top certified operator with commitment to sustainable travel and proceeds from this tour will go into our own foundation which also supports local development programs and people. The cost of the tour includes all expenses for Friendship Bridge staff as well as an additional donation to Friendship Bridge Micro Credit Program and we also supports this organization on an annual basis
As Green as it Gets (GAIG) is a charity working to support small independent coffee producers and promoting environmentally responsible agriculture in Guatemala. This tour takes guests to visit some of the families supported by this organization where they can work side-by-side with small coffee farmers in their daily coffee processing, pick, pulp, ferment, wash, dry, trilla, sort, and grade the coffee (depending on the season), roast coffee over an open fire and grind by hand on a grindstone before sampling their handiwork. Coffee Season is Nov to Mar. This tour includes a donation to GAIG and we also support this organization on an annual basis.
With the help of Casasito Association the handicraft center of Santiago Zamora began in 2006 offering both tours but also serving as an education center where workshops and courses are offered to the local women to help the protection and growth of traditional Guatemalan weaving in the village. During the tour guests visit the village itself and the handicraft center and learn about the local history, language and traditional way of life as well as the difficulties faced by today’s rural Guatemala. The tour includes a walk through the village, demonstrations of traditional weaving methods and a family-style lunch where you can learn how to make “tortillas”. 100% of the entrance fee here goes directly to the villages and to a special fund used for social purposes such as education, medicine and emergency help. The price of this tour also includes a small donation to Casasito Association and we also supports this organization on an annual basis
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