Vamos Expeditions is an adventure and ecotourism operator in Peru offering tours in several countries of Latin America with a focus on sustainability, education, communities and conservation. This LT&C-Example relates mainly to our activities in Peru, where tours – often involving university groups and scientists – support the National Protected Areas (NPAs) of the Andean mountains towards the cold coast of the Pacific Ocean. To “make it possible to travel in a way that does good for the world, that protects and restores wildlife, honours and supports the local people and fosters economic prosperity” belongs to our mission. Vamos works under the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility and contributes to worthy projects in the rural communities we work with, creating a positive impact in the lives of both locals and travellers alike. By using smaller boutique properties and well-paid staff and guides, Vamos ensures that each of their trips adds positively to the destinations they serve.

In Lake Titicaca, which is on UNESCO’s tentative lists of a World Heritage Site, Vamos Expeditions is proud to be a pioneer and motor behind a project that has become one of the best community-based tourism projects in Peru. Working together with the locals of Ticonata Island, Vamos helped expand their economy by bringing volunteers and tourism to this remote island, maintaining its ancient, pre-Inca culture. People live in “Putucos” (stone Igloo-like houses) and have built additions to receive and welcome guests. Over time Vamos got to know the community better and started to exchange ideas of how one could help this beautiful community more. Building little round houses on the island that could be used to sleep for travellers was one idea. Together with the locals, we built ‘putucos’, homes based on a pre-Inca design of ruins that are found in this area. The houses are constructed in sun-dried adobe blocks and have a thatched roof.

Also, Vamos Expeditions’ support for cloud forest conservation through the Golondrinas project in Ecuador can be seen as part of their LT&C-Example. The project focuses on conserving natural resources, conserving cloud forest, recuperating eroded soils, and environmental education in the mountainous region of Northern Ecuador. Inadequate agricultural management such as burning, row planting, overgrazing, among others, and high levels of water erosion have resulted in soil degradation and, thus, a loss in soil productivity. In Ecuador, this is one of the most successful deep-rooted ecological initiatives in the community. The principal objective of the Foundation is to conserve this unique forest ecosystem while improving the quality of life for the people in the region. The latter objective is being carried out via classes in environmental education and the introduction of appropriate agricultural techniques.

Typical tours of Vamos start from Lima, the capital of Peru. Visits to NPAs include the Paracas National Reserve with its Andean Condors, the San Fernando Bay Reserve, the Pampa Galeras Reserve with its thousands of Vicuñas, the Cotahuasi Landscape Reserve to see the world’s deepest canyons and the Aguada Blanca National Reserve with its active geysers and the most amazing Volcanoes Park. Also included is the Titicaca Lake Reserve, the highest navigable lake in the world, and finally the majestic Machu Picchu in Cusco, the door of the Amazon in Tambopata to see the fabulous jaguar and anaconda, immense rivers, infinite vegetation and the huge amount of insects and orchids