Costa Rica walking holiday

Planet

Whilst it may be possible to drink tap water in Costa Rica as it has been reported to have negative effects on UK tourists. For customers keen to avoid buying single use plastic bottles, we encourage them to take advantage of our discounted filter Water-To-Go bottle which removes over 99.9% of all microbiological contaminants in water.

An important aspect of our Costa Rican holidays is the very high standard of training of the Costa Rican naturalist guides. They are highly trained in ecology and nature preservation, so our clients have the very best advice about minimal impact tourism. This allows customers to enjoy the wildlife whilst avoiding negative interactions with flora and fauna. For instance the guides commonly carry telescopes or powerful binoculars so wildlife can be enjoyed in great detail from a safe distance benefitting client understanding of the natural environment they have come to understand and enjoy yet allowing animal and birdlife to remain relatively undisturbed by human interaction.

People

We have chosen our local Costa Rican agent for not only their professional handling of our customers but also their record of campaigning for a better world. The agent has certification of Sustainable Tourism. Our agent also sponsors the Costa Rican National Campaign against child sexual tourism, run by the World Tourism Organization, along with Costa Rica’s National Childhood Institute, the Paniamor Childhood Foundation, and supported by the Costa Rican Tourist Board and the Costa Rican Association of Tour Operators (ACOT).

At a local level our charitable venture Heart and Sole works with the agent to fund a local orphanage in San Jose. Our customers are invited to visit and donate to the orphanage whilst on holiday. There is no obligation to do so but many clients find the visit a very positive experience.

Where possible our customers stay in locally owned hotels and we eat in local restaurants and visit local shops and markets giving customers the best possible chance to interact and trade with local concerns. This ensure the tourist pound goes straight to local communities allowing improvement in local education and health facilities amongst other benefits.