Costa Rica & Panama vacation, tailor made

Planet

As a Costa Rica Experts we are carefully organize every vacation to ensure that our actions are ethical and that we actively helping to protect environment. Hotels that we are recommending in this tour are doing excellent job protecting environment. Our local offices and our guides are trained on environmental protection and sustainability. With their local knowledge we can deliver eco-friendly vacations without cutting standards.

We are working with many hotels that are focusing on sustainability. In this tour we would like to highlight few hotels that are focusing on environment:
Selva Verde Lodge: A pioneer in the business of ecotourism, Giovanna Holbrook traveled the world creating unique adventures for avid naturalists. Selva Verde began with one woman's dream of preserving nearly 500 acres of endangered tropical forest and the multitude of species that call it home. Through her unwavering devotion, Selva Verde is now a premier ecotourism destination, protecting the most accessible rainforest in Costa Rica, and attracting nature enthusiasts from around the globe. Conservation of the rainforest and its inhabitants remains paramount in the mission of Selva Verde. Working with organizations such as the Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center (SCLC), the San Juan-La Selva Biological Corridor and others, Selva Verde has retained its focus on ecological conservation and education. At Selva Verde Lodge, conservation and preservation of our natural resources requires minimizing the impact of our and our visitors impact on the environment.

Additionally the lodge is committed to responsible tourism; finding ways to minimize negative impacts on the local environment and maximize positive effects on the surrounding community in Sarapiquí.

SOME OF THE GOOD PRACTICES that Selva Verde HAVE IMPLEMENTED ARE:
A compost system to recycle organic waste, mainly from our restaurant.
Solar panels to heat the water for rooms.
Recycling of solid materials such as; glass, paper, cartons, aluminium and other products.
The use of sunlight to dry laundry.
The usage of biodegradable cleaning products with no environmental damage or minimum impact.
Refillable soap dispensers in the bathrooms to avoid waste.
they do not use chemicals, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides, instead we use a natural fertilizer and derived from compost in their gardens.
They created our Green Classroom program in which children learn about sustainability and preserving natural resources of the region.
Visitors are prohibited from feeding any of the animals, including direct or indirect feeding of any species.
The souvenir shop at Selva Verde Lodge supports local artisans and does not sell products harmful to the environment.
Selva Verde Lodge uses recycled paper and paper products, to prevent unnecessary felling of trees.
Selva Verde is committed to working with local and regional conservation organizations to save Great Green Macaws and the Almendro trees - within our preserve and beyond our boundaries. Protecting the Great Green Macaw’s habitat also protects habitat needed by many other rainforest birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and plants – ensuring a future for rainforest biodiversity and for Selva Verde.

Mawamba Lodge: Conscious to protect natural resources, they care that their operations have a low impact on the fragile ecosystem that surrounds them. One method is the biodigester that allows them to treat the lodge's sewage and, in return, obtain methane gas for cooking in our kitchens. Presently, approximately 30% of the gas wthey use comes from our biodigester.

Cariblue Beach and Jungle Resort:
Cariblue Jungle and Beach Resort has an area of about 20,235 square meters of tropical jungle where live a number of wild animals which delight with their songs and dances to hotel guests.
The lodge have chosen to have a serious and responsible commitment to the environment by implementing measures and protocols to safeguard the harmony of the resort with the flora and wildlife of the place to ensure that the natural spectacle and the contact of our guests with the animals takes place in a normal atmosphere without altering the ecosystem.

The hotel guests and the staff are informed and aware that lodge actions have a direct impact on the environment. One of the measures the lodge have taken is to use organic products or those that have the least negative impact possible.
The lodge have strategies to reduce our carbon footprint in the activities, being aware that every day they can improve and take even more creative measures to promote good behavior with the nature.

In Latin America we are actively involved with the work of the LATA Foundation, a charity set up by the Latin America Travel Association to support social and environmental projects throughout the region.
In Panama we support conservation project: A conservation project to protect just under 100 square miles of tropical dry forest. Tropical dry forest is the most endangered type of forest in Panama consisting of beaches, mangroves, dunes and marshes. The mangroves are the reproductive sites of many species of fish. Dunes are natural barriers to erosion, beaches are important for turtles to come ashore and lay their eggs and the marshes provide the important habitat, breeding and feeding grounds for hundreds of species of birds as well as the endangered Azuero Spider Monkey.

People

We recognise that tourism can have a big impact on local communities. As a tour operator specializing in tailor-made vacations we have the privilege to ensure we can design our vacations with great care to support local communities. In this tour we have focused on picking accommodations that are actively supporting locals. Moreover we are encouraging our clients to interact with locals and support their businesses with purchases of their products and services. It is important to ensure that we are not just visiting places, but we are also trying to connect locals with tourists. For example we promote visits to local handicraft markets to purchase some handmade crafts. Also if there is any cultural show we are recommending it to our guests. Hotels that we suggest for this tour helping local communities in many different ways:

Selva Verde Lodge: The Sarapiquí Conservation Learning Center (SCLC) was founded in 1993 by the Holbrook family and Selva Verde Lodge. Today it is a fully independent US and Costa Rica registered non-profit organization. The SCLC’s mission is to link communities and conservation through education and ecotourism in the Sarapiquí region. The SCLC offers community programs such as English classes, computer literacy, environmental education and after-school activities. By offering local residents opportunities to improve their job prospects, the SCLC hopes the population is able to cultivate more sustainable occupations to improve their job prospects.
Selva Verde and the SCLC can help you craft a unique service learning program or cultural immersion experience for your students. Or, choose from a variety of existing programs. Activities of the lodge that supports local communities:
LATIN DANCE LESSONS
COOKING CLASS
COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS
VISIT A LOCAL SCHOOL
CHARLA - A CHAT ABOUT LOCAL LIFE IN THE SARAPIQUÍ
HOME STAY WITH LOCAL FAMILY

Mawamba Lodge: The lodge provide support to local community, and we use a manual of good practices in our daily operations.

In Latin America we are actively involved with the work of the LATA Foundation, a charity set up by the Latin America Travel Association to support social and environmental projects throughout the region. These projects are helping to transform lives, providing clean water, dental or medical support and practical training to provide people with new skills in Mexico, Central and South America.

Costa Rica: Education Project, Guanacaste
In the Guanacaste area of Costa Rica state education amounts to just 3 hours of tuition on 85 days each year, a paltry total of just 255 hours. The LATA Foundation is supporting a dedicated Youth Development programme in conjunction with Abriendo Mentes which is delivering basic education, English classes and computer skills to 290 children in two villages.
Abriendo Mentes has developed long lasting partnerships with six local hotels and local tour operators in Potrero and Brasilito who provide support, funding, donations of resources, volunteers and tutors. Hopefully this will also lead to jobs for some of the current youth program participants. They are actively seeking more partners for this program.

We are encouraging our clients traveling to Playa Potrero or Playa Brasilito in Guanacaste, Abriendo Mentes would be grateful for donations of school and art supplies such as pencils, markers, crayons, glue sticks, lined paper, pens, rulers and composition-size notebooks.