Azerbaijan small group tour

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

Transport will involve communal travel wherever possible, so the effects of single person transport will be minimised as much as it can be. No internal flights are used, which not only brings the necessary benefit of minimising environmental impact, but also maximises your own experience of the country itself by being able to observe and contribute from ground level. After all, you’re free to pop into local cafes on the way to the next destination, or stop off at nearby sights if you so desire. This gives you a greater sense of autonomy whilst also providing a genuine contribution to the local economy, all whilst minimising carbon emissions. All diets can be catered for across the board, including vegan and vegetarian. We utilise local restaurants and partnerships with local people to ensure we are minimising impacts of economic leakage and also the carbon impacts of imported food.

ENVIRONMENT & WILDLIFE

This trip encompasses a broad array of habitats and environments, from the capital of Baku and other settlements to the national parks and historic monuments across the country. Travelling responsibly is central to what we do, and as the environments are flexible, the response has to reflect that. As always we have worked hard to guarantee that we will leave minimal trace of our presence within the varying environments. We always use local guides who have intimate knowledge of these places and how they are fairing in terms of restoration, degradation, and therefore how best to navigate these spaces.

We always ask you, our clients, to also respect our outlook on this. Infrastructure that we take for granted might not be present in many of our destinations. As such we ask you to be mindful of your own rubbish, and try to recycle whenever you can. We encourage all our clients to bring a reusable water bottle, and promote brands such as Water-to-Go which provide filtered water bottle that can be used in areas where plastic bottles are the norm, thus ensuring clean drinking water whilst reducing the use of single-use plastics.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

One thing we have come to understand is that generosity is often much more commonplace in many of our destinations than it is in our own native countries. As such, it is of vital importance that we consciously strive to give back to local communities and economies wherever we can. For the first step in combating this we ensure to hire local people as guides for all our tours, ensuring they receive both fair working conditions and a fair salary for the great work they do.

The choices of accommodation throughout this tour are also all regionally owned properties which minimise the economic leakage from international chains and ownership. We include visits to many aspects of the local economy as well, including Shebeke workshops, copper craftsmen in Lahji village, and the carpet museum to name a few. Each of these inherently contributing back into the local economy by highlighting local craftspeople, local guides, and locally owned businesses at as many levels as possible.

EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY, AND DIVERSITY

One thing which is true across all of the countries in which we operate is that we are passionate about ensuring the partners we have on the ground are those with the best knowledge of them. Our ground operators are staffed by people who are from the representative country, and often have a staff of people from various regions thus diversifying the representation and ensuring we are providing an inherently more authentic experience. All of our guides, drivers, and other staff are paid at least minimum wage, if not a living wage or above for fair compensation of the incredible work they do. Our partners employ women guides in all countries, and we are LGBTQ+ friendly on all of our trips and are always willing to have discussions with those who may have questions about safety on the ground, visibility, and any other concerns to ensure that our clients are comfortable and confident whilst on our trips.