Are you an adventure traveler seeking more meaningful journeys? Perhaps you are a new traveler hoping for exciting experiences and craving knowledge outside your familiar boundaries? We are an eco-tour company dedicated to bringing new worlds and cultures to you in a sustainable and harmonious manner. The philosophy behind Ecolibrium Sustainable Adventures is that responsible tourism experiences can and should help bring balance into the world. Our tours use local guides, locally owned accommodation, community involved ecolodges, and privately owned nature reserves to provide you with a genuine and ecologically conscious travel experience. Our adventures offer you the chance/opportunity to support sustainable economic development through responsible tourism.
Ecolibrium Sustainable Adventures has made a commitment to leave a positive lasting effect in the places we visit and to support those areas that are ecologically and culturally fragile. Development of these areas through sustainable tourism helps to conserve land, eliminate poverty, improve health and education, increase awareness of global issues and assist in creating new positive ideas and world perspectives for everyone involved. While taking part in one of our adventures, your experience will be guided by the following philosophies:
Ecolibrium Sustainable Adventures seeks to understand and support social, cultural, economic and environmental learning/change/development for both our travellers and the places and communities we visit.
- We engage local communities in our operations as much as possible to ensure a long-term commitment for their growth and development.
- We believe that responsible tourism should contribute to the preservation and care of ecosystems
- We encourage awareness and responsibility to connect with communities and places in a sustainable manner.
Our aim is to provide foundations and opportunities to create a better future for every living thing
Who We Are
Our team consists of adventure seeking individuals who have a passion for preserving and protecting the earth. We share a common philosophy to keep balance (or as we like to call it, Ecolibrium), and encourage enriched travel experiences through sustainable tourism practices. We have created tours based on our years of combined experience in various destinations with our valued and trusted local operators and local communities. We believe our trips will bring awareness of other cultures and environments and bring you a connection with your own sense of place in the world. We are conscientious, open minded and available to monitor and keep your best interests in mind. Most of all, we are passionate about what we do and aim to unite people and culture from around the world in fun, educational and memorable experiences.
Our network involves partnerships with our team in Canada, our tourism operators, and the local communities we work with. Our backgrounds are varied and we are experts in the fields of ecotourism, sustainable development, adventure travel, experiential education, business administration and research. The Ecolibrium tour leaders have strong leadership skills and are experienced travelers in the countries they are guiding in. They are dependable, knowledgeable and are able to understand and meet your personal needs while facilitating group dynamics. With advanced inter-personal skills and an ability to connect with people from all walks of life, our guides know how to adjust the tour to accommodate the group needs and make changes in the itinerary when necessary and as smoothly as possible.
Small Group Adventures and Volunteer Experiences
Our group tours focus on a balance between personal growth and group experience. The maximum group size is 12 to keep the journey comfortable and personal. Our participants have the opportunity to test their own comfort levels, gain confidence and understand new ways of thinking by visiting different cultures and environments. We cater to providing fun, exciting and meaningful trips for whatever interest and background you have. The group travel experience provides the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and to develop meaningful friendships through shared experience.
As part of our responsible tourism mandate, we offer small group volunteer adventures that support the communities we travel in. We combine our business sense with valuable social, environmental and economic development for both the participants and the communities. Our volunteer experiences give people the unique opportunity to participate in the daily life of local people and experience a country in-depth. Being a volunteer helps to develop a sense of self and world perspectives to broaden your horizons while contributing to the development of the projects we support. Volunteers donate their time and talents and at the same time receive an invaluable educational experience.
Economically Speaking
We price our tours to make them affordable to you while considering the costs and benefits for the countries we visit. In order to encourage greater economic benefit for local communities, we use local operators and try to “spread the wealth” in the areas that we operate. We achieve this by eating in local restaurants and eating locally farmed foods, we use local transport whenever possible, buy locally made crafts at a fair price and tip/compensate guides, musicians, servers, cooks, and porters. People in the countries we visit often receive low wages, tipping for a job well done can make a world of difference.
For the Environmentally Concerned
When packing for your tour, try to pack consciously. The waste systems in most of the countries we visit is insufficient and tourism increases pressure on waste disposal. It is a great idea to bring biodegradable soap, and remove packaging on any items you are taking with you. Biodegradable detergents and shampoos for hands, hair, dish, and clothes washing are mandatory on volunteer adventures and highly recommended for other tours. This helps to reduce polluting local water sources. Remember that in many places fresh water is a very precious commodity and should not be wasted. Using a minimum amount of water for showering and washing of any kind is encouraged.
In areas where wildlife may be encountered, please abide by local guidelines. It is better to take a picture of a wild animal from afar than to try to touch one! While intentions may be good, feeding a wild animal can have harmful results, such as causing a dependency on human foods and disrupting natural animal behaviour. Also, never buy products that exploit wildlife or aid the destruction of species or habitats. Do not buy souvenirs made from endangered species as doing so will only encourage the trade.
In recent years greater attention is being placed on the amount of fossil fuels being consumed for local transportation and international travel. Ecolibrium Sustainable Adventures encourages awareness of these issues to travellers and has teamed up with Sustainable Travel International to offer carbon offsetting to minimize our travel impact. To learn more about our carbon offsetting program visit our carbon offsetting link:
www.sustainabletravelinternational.org/documents/op_carbonoffsets.html
Our environmental responsibility also extends to our Canadian home-based office. We use recycled paper and soy based inks for our business cards, brochures and every day printing needs while also reducing our paper files to a minimum. We seek to support local businesses and practice “green living” in our day to day lives.
Respect and Reciprocity
Our tours are based on a mutual respect and sharing in the many cultures and countries we visit. We establish relationships that are based on respect and care. We provide the following guidelines for you to consider when traveling with our groups:
For the photographers, we suggest that you ask permission before taking pictures of people or sacred buildings, shrines or artifacts to show respect. When you visit one of our educational development projects, we also ask that you refrain from taking pictures of the children studying, instead we encourage that you buy a postcard from a local photographer with a picture from the project you have visited. This financial support will then be spent on school supplies for the children.
We encourage our travelers to refrain from giving beggars or street children money, sweets or presents. We support foundations and organizations that work with street youth and the disadvantaged in a beneficial way to encourage productive and self-empowering experiences. You will have the option to give your time and resources to these organizations directly.
Steps to a Positive Worldview
Ecolibrium Sustainable Adventures encourages meaningful travel experiences. Our tours allow you to interact in the daily lives of the people in the places we visit. We encourage building friendships with locals for a great travel experience.
Before your trip you can enroll in classes to learn the local language. If you are really keen you can try learning Quechua or other local dialects. This will allow you to converse with locals and to show that you are interested in their culture, not to mention feeling proud at showing off your new language skills! Begin by taking classes at home or enroll in a small course in the country you will be visiting before your tour starts.
Ecolibrium Sustainable Adventures are able to assist you in finding the right language training that suits you. You can send an email to: info@Ecolibriumadventures.com to inquire about Spanish and Portuguese courses. You can also go to our Spanish phrases section, located under resources to help you get started.
