Costa Rica and Panama holiday

Planet

Making a difference to planet and people underpin our itineraries and travel philosophy, across destinations. Costa Rica is one of the best examples of this in the world, if not the best. As the ultimate spot for eco conscious travellers who are keen to immerse in local culture and nature in a meaningful and informed way, we have gone above and beyond to ensure that we maximise the positive impact of international travel in the locations that we offer.

One of our central USPs is that we work with locally owned, boutique style special stays as opposed to international chain hotels. This works twofold, by providing the traveller with a once in a lifetime experience full of authentic, local flair and also supporting the local community through investment in locally owned ventures and the employment of local staff. Many of these hotels and independent guesthouses also have policies to reduce their environmental impact. For instance during this trip you will stay in an eco-lodges that are committed to protecting the flora and fauna of Costa Rica. They do this by recycling, educating the community on the practices and benefits of environmental protection and using energy saving methods and biodegradable products throughout the lodge.

Carbon reduction policies extend beyond accommodation. As part of your tour package, you will also enjoy a range of excursions and activities that have been checked and vetted by our team. These involve a range of human powered transport from hiking to boat trips and beyond. All our trips can be made vegan and or vegetarian friendly on request and our helpful assistance travel with zoe can give specific food recommendations to accommodate more environmentally friendly choices.

As a business, we are keen to practice what we preach. As a UK team, we recycle 80% of our waste in a closed- loop system, work in a b-corp office space, and are working towards b-corp status ourselves. We also partner with Earthly, a company that chooses nature based solutions to invest in the future of the natural world. This aims to protect, better manage and restore ecosystems while addressing global challenges. All of Earthly’s projects remove carbon, restore biodiversity and improve livelihoods. A £5 donation is added to each parties itinerary as standard. We work with local partners in Costa Rica who share our values of sustainability, and actively work to make their business more sustainable too. Our local partner in Costa Rica has sustainability at the forefront of their ethos and they have demonstrated this by achieving the highest level of 5 leaves as part of the Certification for Sustainable Tourism Program. This program is based on the degree to which they comply with a sustainable model of natural, cultural and social resource management. This influences their choices when it comes to accommodation and excursions they offer.

Environment and wildlife

We are a proudly nature positive tour operator. This is realised through our itineraries in multiple ways.

Due to the unique location in an immersive natural environment, our places to stay naturally bring the traveller into closer proximity with the environment, ensuring their reconnection to nature. This is an investment in their future interest in sustainability. Due to this proximity, the accommodation is also invested in looking after the environment, as it is a key draw to their customers.

Furthermore, the wealth of opportunities to visit national parks across Costa Rica and Panama helps contribute to investment in the natural environment.

Our travelers will pay entrance fees to all national parks and similar spaces, such as Tortuguero, helping to support the upkeep of these protected areas.

Even before take off, we offer tools to our customers to encourage sustainability, carbon reduction and caring for the environment both at home and away. These include 'zero waste while travelling: our top tips', as well as our 'make it meaningful policy' that promotes animal welfare (underpinned by our relationship Animondial, an animal welfare group), 0 waste (exemplified in our almost entirely paper free office), and a slower pace of travel. We’re serious about this animal welfare stuff and want to do everything we can to improve the welfare of animals in tourism. We’ve therefore teamed up with animal welfare experts, Animondial. Their vision is to minimise tourism’s impact on animals, natural environments and the people that depend upon them. They’ve helped us to improve the welfare standards of our trips even further and create long-term plans to support animals in tourism. Best of all though, we’ve worked together to create an [](http://animondial.com/animal-welfare-starter-kit)Animal welfare in tourism starter kit for small businesses, to help other travel companies improve their animal welfare standards too. This is particularly important in places like Costa Rica where the wealth of wildlife is a key draw.

We also like to use local guides on each of our trips who know the area and the natural surroundings. During our trip to Tortuguero National Park you will get to explore the water ways and local village with local guides. If you book your trip to coincide with the turtle season you'll have the opportunity to visit the beach with local guides who will be able to tell you all about these fascinating creatures. You'll also be supporting the local Turtle Spotter programme which seeks to conserve and protect the turtles and support the local community so that no one is tempted to poach the animals.

As a team, we believe that protecting the environment goes hand in hand with building stronger communities, which is why we have both lead and joined in with beach cleaning initiatives with surfers against sewage, and local community gardening initiatives.

People

Our trips aim to put positively impacting local communities at front and centre of our itineraries, as local interactions are what make our trips so fantastic.

We work with small, boutique style special stays full of authentic flare work twofold by offering you a unique experience and also supporting local business ventures and local employment, thus supporting the local economy. For instance [example]. During your trip, there is a wealth of local shops, cafe’s, bars and restaurants to visit and enjoy. This helps bolster the local economy further.

In Boquete, our coffee tour seeks to support local farmers. In Panama there are no co-operatives for local farmers so the farm you visit will reap all the rewards for your visit. You'll get to know all about coffee from the fruit stage to the tasting stage and you'll see exactly what agricultural life is like in Panama today

One of the key aspects of our itineraries is that we work with local partners who are based in country in order to provide the most authentic insight into everyday life in the destination, and divert from the usual tourist trail (which is important when considering the mitigation of environmental degradation in tourist hotspots) but also supports the country's economy even before our customer has touched down as the local partner helps to develop their itinerary.

Throughout our trips we use local guides and drivers who can pass on their specialist expertise to our customers. By having a local guide specific to each area you gain an insight and experience. This also puts money into the local's pockets, especially if you eat at local restaurants which we actively encourage, for instance when exploring Panama city.

Costa Rica is well known as a welcoming and friendly destination for LGBTQ+ travellers.