Western Ghats wildlife tour in India

Planet

The accommodation chosen for this tour are small family or privately owned establishments. All of them have policies that encourage using materials that have least impact on the environment. The Hornbill camp for example minimises use of energy- inefficient cement and uses canvas, recycles waste to grow vegetables, uses filtered spring water and is located in the midst of a coconut and spice farm which has minimal impact on limited water resources. Similarly, other resorts on this tour are built using local materials and with minimum destruction of trees and with an avowed policy of responsible tourism, with commitment to sustainability.

The activities at each place are designed to utilise minimum usage of vehicles and maximising walks and environmentally friendly modes of transportation like cycling and kayaking emphasising closeness to nature and people.

The concept of the tour of watching wildlife and photographing them has minimal impact on the environment, while educating the tourists about the bio-diversity of the region through its flora and fauna.

Our guides for this tour are all environmentally sensitised by years of formal education at various fora and are facilitators in youth and children’s camps, laying a strong foundation for an environmentally sound society.

People

The guides and trackers used on this tour are all from the local community and the indigenous tribal population. This has ensured them a decent income from tourism. Their traditional knowledge of local flora & fauna has been embellished by formal training by us along with years of field training. In this, they have all been trained in sustainability, responsible tourism and minimizing carbon footprint. These imbibed concepts have made them head and shoulders above other guides and they are considered with great pride in their own communities and villages. This ‘respect’ is well earned and acts as a role model for youngsters who yearn for such life.

The accommodation on this tour has been chosen carefully to ensure that the local community members get employment at these resorts, that the items are sourced locally thus earning a livelihood for the local villagers, using local transports like tuk tuks whenever possible to provide income to local drivers. The local visit to the farms of the villagers also helps them earn an income from tourism when locally produced items like honey and local artifacts are bought by visiting tourists.

Our travel ethos is ‘travel through people, places and food’. We help you to experience real-life in your chosen destination. So a trip through the countryside involves eating from locally owned restaurants or buying local items in small shops, all the while meeting up with the local people. This also provides these local businesses the opportunity to earn money directly and gives travelers a chance to interact with them.

We also pay attention to travel without disrupting local life and traditions. We also discourage our guests to avoid giving gifts to local children which may encourage begging and ending up in dependency, thus destroying the local entrepreneurial spirit.