We try to adhere to the principles of eco-tourism and encourage our clients to be responsible tourists. We like to use the definition of eco-tourism as Environment and Community Oriented Tourism, abbreviated to ECO-Tourism. This trip offers an insight into one of the friendliest countries in the world – Ghana. Ghana has some fantastic examples of eco-tourism in practice, and this trip is definitely one of them.
We are a charity registered in the UK and a not-for-profit entity registered in Ghana, this means that the funds generated by these trips are invested back into the projects and communities we support.
Each trip has different phases that will challenge you in many ways; the project phase of each trip is unique. You will visit an existing community development project in the southern districts. A percentage (11-15% depending on the number of people booked) of the cost is set-aside to fund the project.
During this time you will be fully immersed into the local culture and begin making friends with people so very different from yourself, yet surprisingly similar. It is a unique experience as we only run a restricted number of trips each year. We also have a limit of 8 people on each trip, ensuring the impact on the community is minimised and we can actually work effectively with the local community to progress the project.
We are committed to ensuring a positive impact rather than a negative one (for example; we always consult with the elders before arriving in the community, we never buy too much food locally so as to deplete local reserves). Once we leave the community and begin travelling around, we will continue to take in rural sites but also sites of historical and cultural interest. All trip supplies are purchased en route, in this way we can directly support local economies.
We are principally based in Ghana and therefore work with a huge variety of locally run organisations to put these trips together. Throughout your experience you will be accompanied by local and international staff. When we need to stay in housed accommodation we select the ones with the friendliest attitude, both to us and to the environment. Whilst not many locally run buildings have written policies, the environment and their location naturally requires them to operate in a sustainable way.
In order to ensure that the good work continues long after the trip returns home, additional funding and project monitoring is supplied through our organisation. Everything about this trip is focussed on minimising negative impact and maximising positive impact.
The Trust was set up to help schools and other institutions in West Africa with infrastructure improvements, resource supplies and staff training programmes. In addition to Schools, the trust also provides support to the health and conservation sectors. Our programmes are targeted to support areas of weakness in the local education sector, particularly within kindergarten education and vocational training for young adults. Both areas are under resourced and have only recently been recognised by the Ghanaian authorities as part of the formal education system.
The Trust is a small organisation, working at minimal cost to ensure that its help and assistance reaches those who need it most. The work of the Trust is complemented by other organisations, and supported by a growing number of schools & companies in the UK
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!
