India adventure holiday, north to south

Planet

This 34-day tour embraces longer, slower exploration, offering the opportunity to journey from the northern state of Rajasthan south to Kerala - travelling the vast length of the country, largely overland by mini buses, trains, boats, jeeps and one domestic flight.

By keeping the group size to a maximum of 16, we believe we can minimise the human impact on the fragile sites and ecosystems we visit, while creating better opportunities to interact and share experiences with those we meet along the way.

To help reduce single use plastic waste, all of our travellers are encouraged to use reusable filtered water bottles, which provide safe drinking water when filling up anywhere from your hotel room tap or a natural water source.

As members of non-profit conservation organisation Toftigers (Tour Operators for Tigers), we make a financial contribution on behalf of each of our travellers that visit the tiger reserves in India.

Toftigers aims to:

Advocate and support better tourism practices in wilderness areas, with specific guidelines for operators, service and accommodation providers and visitors.

Empower local communities to become involved in wildlife tourism projects and initiate low impact and sustainable development which helps conserves the parks and benefits the communities through employment and business opportunities.

To catalyse initiatives through the lodge community that enhance wildlife conservation and community support, including waste and water management, trade cooperatives, local employment, fair wages and local enterprises and services.

People

While in the city of Jaipur you will take a tour through its charming backstreets with the Pink City Rickshaw Company, a not-for-profit initiative aimed at empowering local women from from low-income households by providing innovative employment opportunities within the tourism industry.

This modest tour by electric rickshaw, which is also taking a step to help fight India’s pollution problems, offers travellers the perfect opportunity to respectfully observe daily life whilst also supporting a forward-thinking, eco-friendly form of tourism that strives to better the livelihoods of its female employees.

This tour also supports the women of Sheroes Hangout Café, in Agra, who have been victims of acid attacks and are fighting to stop acid attacks in India. The café is empowering the women to build up their confidence and skillset so they can improve their livelihoods and feel a sense of belonging again. Here we enjoy lunch and discover some of the women’s brave stories.

While in Agra, we also have the opportunity to discover more about the farming community of Kachhpura as we embark on a Mughal heritage walk, led by a USAID-trained specialist guide. USAID is an NGO striving to create sustainable livelihoods for women and lower-class youth in Agra, and this walk through Kachhpura village will give us a unique insight into this local community and culture whilst providing some financial support. The walk then ends with refreshments on the rooftop of a local home, offering stunning views of the Taj Mahal in the far distance.

Visit Dastkar Ranthambore, a non-profit organization founded in 1989 in an effort to provide much needed income to the villagers who had been displaced by the creation of the Ranthambore tiger reserve. Dastkar, which means artisan in Hindi, produce handicrafts made by local villagers, particularly women, from an area around the National Park. Working with more than 300 families, Dastkar provide a steady source of income in a region where the wages are low and available employment is seasonal. On this tour you will have the opportunity to gain an insight into Dastkar and learn how the women and their family’s lives have been transformed by the self-help initiative.