Ecuador tours, Andes and the Amazon
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
The cloudforest lodge is a member of the Network of Private Protected Forests of Ecuador and works actively with local conservation organisations, working to preserve the cloudforest of northwestern Ecuador.
Carbon Offsetting: The tour operator is a multi-award winning responsible travel company, and for each person travelling with them they plant 10 indigenous trees in a degraded area of northern Tanzania.
Community
Otavalo guest house: The guest house near Otavalo is locally-owned and run, and is a member of their local community network. For meals they use mostly organic produce from local gardens. They are proud to promote the local craftspeople and artisans of their area, and they try to encourage understanding and respect for the indigenous Andean communities.
Yachana Lodge has rightly won accolades from lots of prestigious associations and conservation organizations, including 2008 winner of the National Geographic & Ashoka Changemakers award; Smart Voyager certification (2007) for “protection of the environment, social mission, treatment of its employees and working with established procedures in management, safety and service”; the Tourism for Tomorrow Award (2006) for best ecotourism project investing in people, and the Skal Ecotourism Award (2007) for best tourism project working in education. The list goes on …
The profits from Yachana Lodge and Yachana Gourmet (fair trade rainforest chocolate products) go to the Yachana Foundation which is involved in geotourism, education (they run a rainforest high school teaching tourism, sustainable agriculture, forest and wildlife management and environmentally sustainable micro-enterprises), agriculture, health (a medical centre), income generation and technical assistance. This is a lodge which really works – for the visitor, for the local people and for the flora and fauna of the region.
