Galapagos & Ecuador holiday for families

Your Galapagos cruise will be run under strict environmental guidelines that ensure that minimal disturbance is caused to the wildlife and fragile ecosystems of the Islands. While there are a great number of issues and problems facing the fragile environment of the Galapagos, success stories and potential solutions abound. The introduced eradication program, though slow going has eliminated feral goats from several small islands and dogs are now absent from the island of Isabela.

The efforts to reintroduce and repopulate species such as elephantine tortoise have increased their numbers dramatically. Environmental education efforts on the islands help their inhabitants understand the larger picture and need for conservation, and responsible tourism and enforced park guidelines help preserve the Galapagos for the future. But there are seemingly endless needs for the park's preservation, and always limited funding. Other than what little budget it receives from the Republic of Ecuador, the National Park relies entirely on funding from philanthropists, fundraising efforts of the Charles Darwin Foundation, Inc. and other private organizations.

All the employees at Hotel Patio Andaluz are conscious of the example that they establish in the Hotel Industry. They have made a commitment to:

• Preserve the water
• Preserve energy
• Reduce waste
• Increase recycling
• Unconditionally support any environmental projects in the community
• Beautify, not only our immediate surroundings, but further inside their community
• Work with their community and help in its improvement
• Make any additional management to help maintain their environment
• Reject any type of corruption and to denounce it

Huaorani Lodge

Since the 1960s the Huaorani Tribe have had to deal with the presence of Oil Companies, who came searching for new reserves of Fossil Fuels, in an area in which the Huaorani Tribe had lived for over 1000 years.

When the Petroleum Era began in areas of Amazonia it resulted in rapid population growth, deforestation, pollution, social and health problems. The Huaorani Tribe refused to give in to their would be exploiters, however they still needed an income to preserve their heritage and traditions, whilst at the same time conserving the land. So together with Tropic – Journeys in Nature, an award-winning organisation dedicated to providing amazing travel experiences in Ecuador, which are compatible with the environment and native peoples, they created the Huaorani Lodge.

Their aim is to integrate tourism with ecological, socio-cultural and political objectives. Not only does their enterprise have a positive impact on the immediate area, but they also donate 10% of profits to other environmental protection programmes in Ecuador.

In essence this is an opportunity to visit one of the most unspoilt landscapes in the world, meet and interact with the indigenous people and gain an insight into another way of life, all whilst contributing to sustaining it.