Western Ghats walking tour in India

Environment

Our guides have been drilled in the concept of ‘Leave No Trace Camping’ & hence we insist that the full trek has minimal plastic and advise the participants not to litter, as well as to clean up any traces of non degradable materials on the trek. Such items are taken back to the camps for proper disposal & recycling.

Water is refilled from large reusable containers having Lifestraw hollow fibre membranes to filter water into individual metal canteens which the participants are encouraged to bring along. We have moved ahead in the field of reusable water containers, thus reducing the use of disposable plastic bottles.

We provide clean vegetarian food during the trek, thus reducing deleterious effect on meat consumption on the environment as a whole. Another outstanding achievement is organic waste disposal and using the compost in the vegetable gardens, thus going along way from being an organic food certified camp.

We have also introduced solar lamps at our camps thus further reducing impact on the environment and reducing carbon footprint in a sustainable way.

During the trek, special care is taken to brief participants to take nothing from the trek route and not to disturb wildlife including birds and butterflies. We ensure that the trails are adhered to and no new trails are formed by any sort of destruction during the trek.

Community

Our guides are all from the local areas and they know the landscape intimately, thus adding to the local experience of the trekkers. That we also include local tribal trackers to showcase wildlife and birds during the trek adds to the experience. Tourism is a major source of income for the local tour guides.

The food at the camps is entirely sourced from the local villages, the camp cooks who are from the local community, prepare local delicacies. Ethnic food discovery is one of the main aspects of this tour in keeping with our philosophy of travel through ‘people, places & food’ being our cardinal principle. The local terrain is tough to negotiate and hence movement of materials is through hardy local jeeps hired from the local villages, thus enhancing the local economy.

Another innovative idea is involving the local tribal-based Eco Development Committees devoted to the participatory managements of forests in all our programmes. This has been gratefully acknowledged by the Eco Development committee members whose livelihood to a large extent is now through tourism related activities in these remote areas. To ensure that tourists respect the local culture, we brief the trekkers not to photograph them unless specifically permitted by them.

While on trek, we encourage the trekkers to buy locally from the small isolated tea stalls and shops owned by the local communities, so that the money is distributed locally and the guests get a chance to taste local delicacies and buy local handicrafts.