Sicily walking vacation, Sicilian Volcanoes

Planet

Activity:
Few vacations have as little detrimental impact on the environment and local residents as a trekking trip. Erosion on and adjacent to popular paths is a growing problem in certain places and therefore our trip leaders encourage clients to stick to advised routes in order to minimise this. We do believe in leaving no more than footprints although this tour actively encourages guests to talk to local people, visit local cafes and restaurants, and use shops to purchase traditional gifts and crafts.

UK Office:
It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK Offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.

People

Accommodation and Meals:
We spend 4 nights in family run apartments in the small village of Canneto, 2 nights in hotels and 1 night in a comfortable mountain lodge. All of the accommodation we have selected is run by local people, which is good for the community. Tourism is particularly important for businesses on the very small islands and remote mountain ranges we visit. Where meals are provided, local and organic ingredients are used wherever possible. There will be a range of Mediterranean food on offer- pizza and pasta with rich tomato sauce, arancini, olives, fresh seafood, gelato and granita. Your local guide can suggest restaurants to suit your needs where meals are not supplied.

Local Craft and Culture:
A large amount of this tour is focused on nature and climbing volcanoes, however we encourage clients to engage with locals wherever possible. By using local services like hydrofoil transfers and authentic restaurants we encounter real people and can forge connections between clients and locals. One evening in Lipari we organise a wine tasting in a wine shop. Here we can try regional wine, cheeses and other bites in an authentic environment. There are other local crafts for sale throughout the tour and buying these generally has a positive effect on small businesses. However, we ask that clients do not buy obsidian stones as we don’t like to encourage damaging larger rocks.

Charity:
If clients are interested, we can organise a meeting with a local N.G.O. called G.A.P.A. which we have supported in the past. This group actively helps children in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Catania by organising summer camps, school support, sports activities and neighbourhood improvement meetings. They are self-funded and usually make money by hosting dinners, concerts, shows and exhibitions so by visiting something like this we can make a large contribution to this worthy cause.

Group Size:
This small group tour has a maximum of 16 participants, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. The small number also allows us to stay in unique, family-run hotels that cannot benefit from coach tours and other mass tourism due to their limited sizes.