Responsible Travel & Sustainable Tourism
The privilege of travel has a counterpart in properly considering our impact on the places and people visited. The keynotes of our policy are:
SPECIAL PLACES TO STAY & SUPPORTING SPECIFIC PROJECTS
For over a decade we have made a particular point of taking Kudu guests to stay in some very special lodges, camps and eco-hotels round the world. These projects lead the way in sustainable development, providing training and empowerment for local people in remote rural areas; demonstrating ‘best practice’ environmentally; and supporting local schools, crèches, clinics and veterinary services.
This is a win-win situation - our hosts benefit directly from the revenues generated; and Kudu guests find the experience culturally enriching, often commenting on how they feel it was a privilege to stay in such special places and be able to contribute.
In addition to a direct donation to the UK registered charity, EthiopiAid, during the tour we visit a women’s crafts training centre in Gondar, which helps local women in difficult circumstances.
Kudu parties stay in 2 different village projects in the Karpaz peninsula (a proposed National Park), both local initiatives involving the restoration of traditional village houses and the opportunity to participate in village activities - we have also been involved with lobbying the government to save a local wetland which is important for migrating birds.
High in the Albanian Alps Kudu guests stay in a comfortable village guesthouse, recently built in traditional style, which brings employment and income to villagers in a very remote area and supports projects to mark walking trails, monitor wildlife populations, and establish a village library.
Kudu travellers to India’s Western Ghats stay in the multi-award winning Green Hotel in Mysore, a converted Princess’s palace (renovated and furnished using traditional Indian crafts) where profits go to charitable and environmental projects in India and staff are recruited from less advantaged groups.
Our visit to a Berber Village highlights the incongruity of modern living and traditional hospitality, as portrayed in an authentic Berber meal, preceded by a tea ceremony and fractured conversations across the continents with French as the common language. The signs of support for current football teams fade into the beauty of a Berber history tracking back two millennia. We enter as intruders but end as honoured guests.
WHAT TO TAKE WITH YOU
In many developing countries, things which are easy and inexpensive for us to obtain are unimaginable luxuries - books, maps, first aid kits, children’s toys, sports gear, pens, radios etc.
Once you book a trip we will send you packing suggestions and Responsible Travel tips - we all need to give serious thought to remembering to bring a proper tough water bottle for refilling (no mountains of plastic water bottles!), taking batteries back home again for proper recycling, using bio-degradable soap and shampoo in rural areas, and carrying along a cotton or hessian bag for putting our locally sourced souvenirs in……
HOW TO GET THERE - TO FLY OR NOT TO FLY?
The following Kudu destinations are straightforward to access by train, ferry or car - Montpellier, Gstaad, Krakow, Stockholm or Milan. Please visit www.seat61.com for train travel information.
Where there is no practical alternative to flying, you may care to consider travelling ‘climate neutral’ by making a payment to Climate Care’s carbon offsetting projects. Please visit www.climatecare.org for details.
You may also want to consider booking your flights through North South Travel, a flight tickets agency who operate a campaign called ‘Every Flight a Fight against Poverty’. Please visit www.northsouthtravel.co.uk for more information.
