Wildland Adventures (3 testimonials)
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In business since 1986
Since 1986, Wildland Adventures has guided travelers through fragile natural and cultural environments, creating innovative ways to support local people in their efforts to protect their culture, environment and communities. With remarkably few barriers between our visitors and local cultures, we give our travelers a more authentic perspective of the people, land and cultural history using only indigenous guides who know less-traveled routes, speak the native language and introduce our travelers to their local lifestyles and customs. From Costa Rica adventure vacations to African safaris, we offer unforgettable journeys for families and independent travelers that will change the way you see the world, without changing the world you see. A sample of additional additional destinations offered by Wildland Adventures includes Peru, Patagonia, Belize, Alaska, Turkey, the Middle East, Eastern and Southern Africa, India, and Borneo. Rated by National Geographic Adventures as the #1 Do-It-All Adventure Travel Company on Earth.
Address
3516 NE 155th StSeattle, WA
98155 United States
Website(s):
Testimonials (3)
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Reviewer: Kate Steinbacher
located in
Roanoke,
VA
USA
You are the kind of tour operator the world needs more of...caring of your groups AND the beautiful places and people we get to experience!
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Reviewer: Ginger and Richard Lang
located in
Clyde,
NC
USA
Congratulations on the kudos from National Geographic Adventure magazine. Our experiences in travel with Wildland underscore this commendation. We have loved traveling to Costa Rica and Southern Africa with you and are now involved in planning a trip to East Africa. Great job from a superb company! You are first in our minds!
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Reviewer: Libby Volckening
located in
Northfield,
MA
USA
How can I begin to thank you for the most amazing, wonderful, incredible vacation of my life?!?!?! Everything was better than I could have hoped. So many precious memories. Such wonderful chemistry of personalities. It has been very hard to leave it all behind and get back to my real life...
Save $1000pp on a Green Season…
Save $1000pp on a Green Season Zambia Safari.
For those with flexible schedules and a serious case of wanderlust, we have an amazing offer on a Green Season safari to Zambia. Stay 4 nights in South Luangwa National Park at Mfuwe Lodge and 2 nights at Victoria Falls for $2995 per person, with no single supplement for single travelers. This is a savings of over $1000 per person! Contact Africa Program Director Nick Bay for more details.
Must travel by March 31st, 2012. Safari must be booked more than 21 days before departure. Begins in Livingstone and end in Lusaka
Prominent affiliations & awards
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- Adventure Travel Trade Association
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- The International Ecotourism Society
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Our commitment to sustainable travel
Since our inception in 1986, ecotourism has been the cornerstone of our foundation. Our authentic worldwide cultural and natural history explorations are designed for active and inquisitive travelers including families, small groups, and independent travelers, honeymoon adventures, and other special interest travel for professional, educational and non-profit organizations. Wildland Adventures is a preferred provider of travel services for leading environmental organizations including Americans for UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, Earthjustice, as well as many zoo and museum groups.
We create opportunities of personal discovery in exotic natural habitats and among native cultures as a means to protect natural environments, preserve cultural heritage and bring direct economic benefits to local communities. Through the careful design and operation of our trips, and by attracting travelers who are sympathetic to preserving natural environments and traditional cultures, we are proud of the contributions to conservation and good will our travelers have helped us bring throughout the world.
As a pioneering business leader in ecotourism, Wildland Adventures’ President, Kurt Kutay was a founding member of the board of The International Ecotourism Society, the International Galapagos Tour Operators Association, and the Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition. We have established our own company Ecotravel Principles and Practices by which we conduct our travel programs, both in the design of trips by our USA staff and their operation in the field by local guides and outfitters. They reflect a travel ethic that our conscientious travelers can expect will enhance their experience with Wildland Adventures and assure it will be positive for both hosts and guests.
Ecological/Environmental Impact
Sociological Impact
We recognize that local political and economic structures often restrict real social and economic improvement and opportunities for self-determination of local peoples. Small scale, community-based tourism is one way to circumvent conventional centers of economic and political control which frequently by-pass indigenous peoples. We give preference to employment of qualified services provided by local communities whenever possible rather than depending exclusively on expatriates or upper-class national residents to provide accommodations, meals, and guides. Almost without exception, we work with resident guides rather than American trip leaders. We encourage native peoples, especially of minority ethnic groups with little political power or meaningful economic opportunity, to participate in the operation of our trips as guides, cooks, office staff and managers. We favor local ground operators who are willing to help educate, train and hire indigenous staff. We have supported many micro-enterprise community development projects throughout the world including construction of a Maya guest house in Belize, Maasai women’s beading co-op in Kenya, a community museum in Peru, ecotourism development in the Talamanca region of Costa Rica and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
Economic Impact
We recognize that local political and economic structures often restrict real social and economic improvement and opportunities for self-determination of local peoples. Small scale, community-based tourism is one way to circumvent conventional centers of economic and political control which frequently by-pass indigenous peoples. We give preference to employment of qualified services provided by local communities whenever possible rather than depending exclusively on expatriates or upper-class national residents to provide accommodations, meals, and guides. Almost without exception, we work with resident guides rather than American trip leaders. We encourage native peoples, especially of minority ethnic groups with little political power or meaningful economic opportunity, to participate in the operation of our trips as guides, cooks, office staff and managers. We favor local ground operators who are willing to help educate, train and hire indigenous staff. We have supported many micro-enterprise community development projects throughout the world including construction of a Maya guest house in Belize, Maasai women’s beading co-op in Kenya, a community museum in Peru, ecotourism development in the Talamanca region of Costa Rica and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
Best Practices
A Code of Ethics
For Nature and Culture Travelers
- Move cautiously a quietly in natural areas so as not to disturb birds, animals and plants.
- Do not collect natural souvenirs. Respect the sanctity and integrity and integrity of ecosystems and the terrain on which you walk. The highest compliment you can pay Nature is to leave no evidence of your visit.
- Do not use recordings, decoys or loud noises to get a better view of birds or wildlife.
- Observe all locally established rules and regulations for conduct in protected areas.
- Leave no litter, charcoal or footprints.
- Use provided toilet facilities. If toilets are not available, carry a trowel to bury waste and burn toilet paper. Never dispose of human waste within 100 meters of water.
- Bring and use biodegradable soaps and detergents.
- Leave extra packaging for items such as film, clothes, toiletries at home
- Do not distribute non-degradable, breakable gifts or items in non-degradable packaging.
- Avoid consumption or purchase of animal or plant products harvested from unmanaged wild populations.
- Accept that campfires are inappropriate in areas where wood is scarce
- Pick up litter left by other travelers and local people.
- Join local conservation organizations in countries you visit.
- Make donations to temples, schools, monasteries, parks, visitor centers and museums.
- Hire and encourage local guides.
- Invite local students and teachers to your dinners, campfires, nature hikes and discuss conservation.
- Correspond with local environmentalists after your trips and subscribe to their newsletter to keep in touch. They will appreciate your support and friendship.
- Write letters to government officials. Bear personal witness against negative environmental trends with which you have personal experience.
- Become an advocate for sustainable use of natural environments you visit. You will have expert knowledge as a result of your trip. Use your influence.
- Tell your guides and the Wildland Adventures USA staff about improvements we can make in our programs which will have positive effects on nature and culture conservation.
- When you show your slides to local civic groups, request a contribution for a conservation cause your slides dramatize.
- Do not patronize accommodations, organizations, vendors, operators, villages or individuals who consciously violate environmental regulations or principles.
- Employ local residents as guides and outfitters whenever possible.
- Learn a little of the local language and staff names.
- Learn proper local etiquette for greetings, eating and hospitality and ask a local guide if you are unsure about local customs.
- Evaluate requests for gifts carefully. Understand the cultural context of gift giving. Only give gifts after a relationship has been established.
- Provide a balanced view of Western material culture. Encourage prople to appreciate their own cultures and environments.
- Invite local people and the guides to visit you in the United States only if you are fully prepared to pay all expenses and compensate your invitee’s family for loss of services.
- Take photographs within the guidelines suggested by your guide and respect privacy requests.
- Compensation for appearances in your photographs may be a legitimate request.
- Don’t make promises you may not keep like sending photos.
- Do not drive a hard bargain. If moderate discussion does not derive what you consider a fair price on your terms, don’t buy.
- Purchase souvenirs close to their point of origin and from the original makers if possible.
- Modesty is always cross-culturally appropriate. Avoid making a loud, gaudy or flamboyant impression in your behavior, clothing or equipment.
- Don’t wear traditional clothing or jewelry if you do not fully understand is cultural and ritual significance. Dress neatly and conservatively in your own cultural tradition.
- Listen and learn. Don’t preach or criticize cultural practices.
- Don’t rely on local markets or village food supplies to outfit your trip. You can cause inflation and food shortages.
- Determine from your guide the most culturally-appropriate way to reciprocate for local hospitality.
3 most popular Trips (out of 45 total)
Tigers And Travels In IndiaNational Geographic Tour of a Lifetime 2010/2011 
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Tigers And Travels In India
Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, Delhi
for
19 Days • from $5,595* per person
Provider: Wildland Adventures (3 testimonials) Recognized by National Geographic Travelermagazine as a "Tour of a Lifetime," our Tigers and Travels in India is a comprehensive adventure throughout north-central India dedicated to the search for the elusive tiger and the ancient sites and contemporary cultural fabric of modern India. During our tiger safaris we learn about Project Tiger to bring tigers back from the brink of extinction in Bandhavgarh and Kanha National Parks. Visit the old city of New Delhi, the Moghul masterpiece of the Taj… more |
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Manu Wildlife Safari Overland Adventure: Andes & Amazon
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Manu Wildlife Safari Overland Adventure: Andes & Amazon
Lima Airport, Lima, Peru
for
12 Days • from $3,795* per person
Provider: Wildland Adventures (3 testimonials) This Amazon journey through the Manu Biosphere Reserve to the Manu Wildlife Center is considered one of the best naturalist and wildlife viewing experiences in the entire Amazon rainforest. Traversing a vast ecological range traveling by land over the Andes we make overnight stops at the Cock-of-the-Rock Cloud Forest Lodge and the Amazonia Lodge in the Manu foothills. At the Manu Wildlife Center we hike on an extensive network of trails, take nocturnal forays through the forest to a tapir… more |
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Amazon Rainforest Conservation Explorer
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Amazon Rainforest Conservation Explorer
Lima Airport, Lima, Peru
for
6 Days • from $1,500* per person
Provider: Wildland Adventures (3 testimonials) Traveling 5 hours by boat along the wildlife-rich Las Piedras River we reach the remote Amazon Rainforest Conservation Center (ARCC) situated on the shore of pristine Lake Soledad in the Tambopata region of southeast Peru. The ARCC is an undiscovered gem in nature travel and the focal point for important conservation initiatives in the region with exceptional bio-diversity of rainforest animals and plants. We encounter a spectacle of wildlife here including a resident family of giant river otters, eight species… more |
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