Best of the American West and annular eclipse holiday

Planet

We spend a significant amount of time in five beautiful national parks on this tour, the main focus is to explore on foot. All entrance fees are included in our package and these go towards the continued conservation and protection of the resources by the National Park service. In certain parks we benefit by using their excellent shuttle services - this gives us a good idea of how well organised the American Park Service is, and an indication of the facilities that our entrance fees are helping to support. Management of the sites is very well regulated, to avoid overcrowding.

Our Tour Leaders educate travellers on the landscapes they are travelling through and advise all groups to keep to the path to minimise their impact and avoid disturbing wildlife. We always operate a 'leave no trace' policy across all of our tours. Setting the group size at a maximum of 13 also helps to mitigate our impact, allow us to use smaller vehicles and cause less disturbance whilst walking.

As a travel company we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key, and so all staff, Tour Leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage.

People

Our Tour Leader is American, and will guide us through the National Parks that they know so well. They have an ethical approach, are passionate about the environment and will share a great depth of knowledge about the culture and history of the country with the group. For the eclipse day itself, we will be viewing the phenomenon in Monument Valley, on Navajo lands. We will be accompanied by Navajo guides, who will introduce us to this landscape through their eyes. We also work with an American astronomer, who will guide us through the science of this event.

We travel in small groups of 12-13 people to minimise the effects that large groups have when visiting remote areas and small villages. This allows us to stay in smaller properties and eat in local establishments, avoiding the more touristy locations that large coach groups would find themselves in. Our Tour Leader will introduce us to family run establishments and small town diners, as well as encouraging us to shop at local stores for picnic items. This all brings economic benefit to the local communities that we visit.

As a company we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Ripple Effect, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of the UK travel industry body AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.