You may be one of the growing number of travelers who hunger for journeys beyond the old “if it’s Tuesday, it must be Belgium” approach. You want to go beneath the surface—stretching your mind, your limits and even your should to experience the true land and culture. You care about saving the natural wonders of the Earth’s fragile places.

Manaca believes that responsible travel protects the environment and benefits local communities. We have partnered with like-minded organizations like The Jane Goodall Institute to further our mission—to stir travelers to become global stewards.

WHY MANACA?
In short, we do the homework for you. Manaca, Inc. selects in-country operators, guides, and ecolodges with great care. We ask the hard questions so you don’t have to. We ask our operators and lodge owners to answer the detailed questions of our Manaca Eco-Assessment, which measures their commitment to conservation, community, and environment. If they meet our standards, we ask each to sign our Responsible Tourism Pledge. This is your final assurance that you can travel with both confidence and a conscience.

OPERATING IN THE GREEN
Like Manaca, our ecolodge owners and tour operators are committed to protecting the environment. With this in mind, they have set up their operations to use alternative power, various types of recycling, and environmentally friendly forms of transportation.

Food: Whenever possible, our ecolodge owners and ground operators serve foods grown locally in a responsible manner. They give leftovers to community-service groups.

Education: Manaca’s business partners are committed to supporting community conservation efforts. They also strive to educate both visitors and residents about local environmental issues.

Community: To boost the well-being of their communities, our ecolodge owners and ground operators invest part of the proceeds into local organizations and conservation efforts.

Fragile Sites: Our ecolodge owners and ground operators monitor visitation to fragile environments. They coordinate with authorities and even competitors so that tourism does not exceed appropriate levels.

Construction: Ecolodges use indigenous, renewable materials whenever possible.