Galapagos Islands cruise, 10 days

Planet

Wildlife: As part of our commitment to our customers and to the destinations that we offer, we place a huge emphasis on ensuring that every expedition we offer is operated in the most conscientious and environmentally friendly manner as possible, including the protection and promotion of conservation efforts for the wildlife that you will observe on your tour. As a team of passionate wildlife enthusiasts, conservation efforts are at the forefront of everything we do and we support many wildlife organisations worldwide including Save the Albatross, Wader Quest and the South Georgia Habitat Restoration Project. We find that our clients generally come back from our wildlife expeditions with a higher degree of environmental awareness and often become advocates and supporters of wildlife conservation. We actively encourage our customers upon return to donate to charities such as those which we and our partners support. On this particular sailing you will likely come into contact with a plethora of unique and enchanting wildlife. A huge emphasis will be placed on interacting with this wildlife in a responsible manner. Your CEO Naturalist Guides who will be onboard with you at all times have been certified by the Galápagos National Park Service and as such will deliver strict guidelines to you regarding appropriate behaviour around and close to the wildlife. Each landing will be determined and planned to ensure limited impact on the landing site’s wildlife populations and throughout your journey you will learn all about the conservation efforts that are in place to support the survival of this wildlife.

Transport: Your Galapagos cruise will take place aboard a small 20 pax capacity yacht meaning that the vessel will create a much smaller impact on the surrounding environments than some of the larger, more cumbersome vessels in operation across the islands.

Suppliers: As further commitment to delivering environmentally conscientious once-in-a-lifetime adventures to our customers, we also ensure that we only use suppliers and operators who echo our commitments and promises. The suppliers of your Galapagos tour take their responsibility to animal welfare and the environment exceptionally seriously. Their mission statement on animal welfare states, “We believe that tourism can be a means for positive animal experiences; however, where such experiences are not carefully managed or do not exhibit high welfare standards there is potential to jeopardize animal welfare, the well-being of the local community, or the travellers’ safety. We believe that a robust animal welfare policy is an essential part of a commitment to responsible tourism and to making the world a better place.” They have adopted guidelines developed by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) in conjunction with the Born Free Foundation, a third-party organization whose mission it is to protect vulnerable animals from abuse. They use these organizations as well as others, including World Animal Protection, to inform their decisions regarding which activities to include or exclude when developing their tours. They avoid businesses that keep wild animals as pets, do not allow guests to feed or touch wild animals and have strict policies in place for ensuring travellers maintain safe distances from all wild animals seen on the tours, so as not to encroach upon their habitats or cause them any undue stress or harm. They also support visits to recognised animal sanctuaries where wildlife roams free under the careful protection of trained and experienced animal carers who promote conservation, including the tortoise breeding centres that you will visit on this tour.

Importantly, this particular cruise is also part of the “Jane Goodall Collection”, a small group of select wildlife-focused tours which have been endorsed by world-renowned primatologist and conservationist Dr Jane Goodall. Furthermore, purchasing this tour helps your supplier to financially support the Jane Goodall Institute’s mission to protect wildlife and empower local communities.

People

As a company we are proud of our principle based values which our community can always depend on. We support several home and overseas charities, organisations and campaigns including AfriCat, Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), Save the Albatross, South Georgia Habitat Restoration Project, Wader Trust, Wildlife SOS India and sponsorship of individual and underprivileged children in many countries. We are committed to ethically working with overseas partners who employ and support local communities and local guides who know and love their region like no other, delighted to share knowledge and are dedicated to looking after our valued passengers. Likewise, the operators of this tour are fully committed to their responsibilities to the local communities that their tours visit and also support a broad range of charities throughout the world. The utmost respect is given to all local cultures and the valuable cultural sites that you may visit on your trip. Strict guidelines will be in place when visiting any cultural sites and your expert tour guides will offer information along the way.

The suppliers of this trip work with locally owned businesses, including the operators of your Galapagos yacht and your pre and post-voyage accommodation, ensuring that your money stays where it is spent as opposed to using large chains and multi-national conglomerates. They have numerous, very stringent, policies in place for supporting local communities and a Traveller Conduct Policy which ensures that guests visit the locations on this tour in a respectful and conscientious manner. They also have their own non-profit partner foundation that is dedicated to ensuring communities touched by tourism benefit from the opportunities it provides including empowering local people to develop their communities, conserve their cultures, and create humane and supportive systems for their endeavours.

5 of the Galapagos islands have permanent residents, and during your visits here you will be encouraged to get to know the local people and advice can be given on interacting with the residents and appreciating their cultures and traditions. We can also offer advice on places to eat and drink whilst on the mainland, and the best places to purchase souvenirs and gifts to ensure that the proceeds are going directly to the vendors.