Chile and Argentina tailor made vacation

Planet

All food used during the trip will be locally sourced, organic (where possible) and provided by the local community.

During your stay in Buenos Aires, you will be staying at our boutique hotel. In 2006, we purchased this historic building and undertook a major restoration and transformation into a boutique hotel with the objective of maintaining the original Belle Époque architecture & design. Most of the furniture is antique which has been restored and recycled. We use low energy lightbulbs throughout the hotel.

We have a recyclable linen & towel policy whereby the client is encouraged to reuse linen & towels and to request changes on a need basis. We encourage our guests to use the extensive public transport systen available in Buenos Aires. We also encourage guests to drink the high quality tap water rather than buy bottled water, to avoid excess waste of plastic. All transport used by us uses low carbon fuel. All recyclable garbage from the hotel is separated for collection on a nightly basis. In the office we have a minimum use paper policy whereby all travel itineraries, reservations and confirmations are sent to customers and maintained by us in PDF format. Any paper used is used double sided and any waste paper and cardboard in recycled. All ink and toner cartridges are refilled and reused. All our furniture has previously been owned and was purchased at auctions.

We check the environmental credentials of all our suppliers and service providers before doing business with them. We use only certified local nature guides that are trained in ecology, conservation and animal protection. The guides and clients have to adhere to a zero footprint policy when entering national parks and protected areas.

During this tour we visit Aconcagua national park. We ask our clients to keep all waste with them until back in the nearest town, to walk only on designated paths, and not to pick flowers or disturb the natural resources. National Park entrance fees are paid directly to the national parks by the clients to ensure that they directly support the parks´ maintenance and preservation.

People

We employ and contract the services of local people throughout South America. We have a “study-time” vacation for employees who are undertaking any further education courses.

We have a “national first” policy whereby we give preference to local products. We use accommodation of small local suppliers and not multinational chains. We also encourage our clients to consume local handicrafts at local markets.

A percentage of all profits is donated to a charity that provides a “reinsertion program” for vulnerable adolescents that have dropped out of the formal education system.

We only use accommodation providers that comply with the law and have an active policy & procedure to eliminate child abuse, prostitution and people trafficking.

All our tours contribute to the local community by providing our clients access to their customs, products, music and language in each destination. We encourage our clients to visit small local restaurantes that comply with organic & healthy living best practice. We provide training and English language courses to local guides to enable them to work with our English speaking customers.