Croatia packrafting tour

Planet

Wherever we work, we try to alter our environment as little as possible. Zrmanja and Mreznica rivers are venues included in most of our tours which means they receive a lot of TLC during the tourist season. However, in the off-season, when heavy rain and snowmelt make water levels rise, the river picks-up rubbish which then travels many kilometers downstream until it finally litters the rivers' banks. This becomes apparent in early Spring and Summer as water levels fall. This is why at the beginning of each tourist season we organize team-building style clean-up actions where guides and base managers clean up the area which they are about to work in the coming season. While guiding tours, guides also pick up any trash they see along the way and they encourage clients to do so as well.

Apart from the cleaning, the concession we pay to the respective Nature Parks for use of the rivers also go towards cleaning up and nature and wildlife preservation.

People

As a part of this tour, we closely partner with the communities in the two locations we work in. In Kastel Zegarski – a war torn town which has seen minimal progress in the last 30 years - we set up our base on a family farm. Apart from paying rent for staying there and storing our equipment, the family is paid for the food they grow and prepare for our clients as well as taking care of the logistics of our tours.

In the same town we recruit and employ local people as river guides. They receive training and a fair wage, and the benefit for us and our clients is that local river guides have far more intimate knowledge of the river, its flora and fauna, and about the local culture.

We have a similar relationship with the family running the hotel in Zvecaj, where the groups we bring in make a large part of their total guests throughout the season.

Our clients also impact these isolated communities by introducing a demand for certain global trends. For example, the demand for locally-grown and overall healthier food, has changed how local businesses approach gastronomy and profit making. More and more hotels and restaurants catering for the demands of tourists now buy food locally and prepare it in ways which are better for the consumer and the environment, and which produce less waste and generates more profit for the communities.