Sao Tome & Principe hiking vacation

Planet

We are one of only a few operators currently offering tours to Sao Tome and Principe, and we wholly recognise the importance of sustainability in this destination. As a country still largely undiscovered by tourists it is important that the natural beauty of all destinations we visit on the tour are maintained for future generations.

CARBON REDUCTION

This is one of our slower paced tours where we have a focus on hiking, surfing and beach relaxation on 4 of the days. When hiking to the more remote regions we always use guides with local expertise to ensure that our groups always follow designated trails thereby reducing any impact to the local environment and biodiversity.

As a small group tour transfers are on a shared basis to reduce the overall carbon footprint. In addition on the internal flights between islands we ensure that carbon offsets are included to minimise overall impact.

If we book flights for our clients for this tour we will automatically include carbon offsets. We also encourage clients who book their own flights to consider the carbon impact, and to offset where possible.

This tour has vegetarian and vegan options available for all days of the tour.

Food provided on the trip is locally sourced whenever viable to support the local economy and reduce the environmental impact, and as a result meals are seasonal.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

All lodges on this trip are committed to reducing water consumption and plastic consumption. We are also working with lodges to develop their sustainability practices, to see active improvement year on year.

We pay conservation levies and fees into all parks and nature reserves visited to ensure funds are available for the protection of the area for future generations.

All of our clients receive a welcome pack prior to travel that includes items that emphasise to importance of making a difference during travel, including how to reduce the impact on nature and the environment whilst on the tour.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

We only work with locally owned West African companies, and our guides are from the local regions. We firmly believe that those that are impacted by tourism are the ones that should benefit from tourism, and continue support the development of tourism roles.

This tour includes an in-depth look into the local cocoa and coffee trades, allowing us to support local producers who are more remote by directly visiting their production sites.

Buying local crafts is a great way to support the local community, and we visit 2 destinations on this trip offering the opportunity to purchase locally created crafts and souvenirs. Bartering is common practice but we advise to do so in a respectful and friendly manner, ensuring the price paid is still fair as this is often the only source of income for the sellers.


EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY

We are a female owned and operated small company and have a workplace diversity strategy in place to ensure that if recruiting we champion equal employment opportunities across race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and nationality.

We only work with local operators on our tours who employ local workers with salaries that are above average and also ensure fair working schedules.