Responsible travel in Nicaragua

In the past recent years, responsible travel has been promoted extensively to encourage taking the good benefits of tourism and minimizing the negatives. First of all, we need to understand what responsible travel is. Some call it green tourism, responsible travel is indeed a green, environment-friendly travel. But the real meaning goes beyond the word green itself. It is also about giving back to the communities that we encounter along the way and to the preservation of the nature whose beauty we admire.

Also, global warming has been a big subject these past few years. People start feeling the negative effects it brings and therefore there should be something to be done to prevent it from getting bigger.
So even if you have to travel by air, make it worth the while by doing the rest of your travel responsibly.

Below are some forms of responsible travel and how it can be and should be applied in your Nicaragua visit.
 

Eco-tourism

Nicaragua is known for its quality coffee, cigar and chocolate products. Nowadays more and more farms are turned into organic plantation, producing better raw materials for better quality products, at the same time treating all workers fairly. This also means the price of the goods charged is higher than normal standard, but the excessive budget goes to improve the wealth and living condition of the workers and their families. More infrastructures are built, children can go to school without worries, access to medical services is made available, are just some of the benefits the local workers can get from the fair trade.

Registering yourself into an eco-tourism project is a great idea to spend your visit in Nicaragua. Fair trade helps the people in a big deal but it does not tackle all poverty problems. Now people start to combine the organic farming and eco-tourism in the hope of benefiting the co-operatives on their income and tourists on their cultural understanding and awareness to preserve the balance of the ecosystem. This program may include volunteering and helping the locals in their farming activities while at the same time you get to enjoy the beauty of the nature as well as the friendliness and sincerity of the locals.
To join one of these volunteering programs, visit co-operatives or get involved in other related social work, you can browse our 'Voluntourism' page where plenty of such different projects are listed. If you like some of them and wish to compare later, you may save them after logging in our website.

Eco-friendly accommodation

Last but not least, going green on your travel also means choosing your accommodation wisely. There are sets of criteria where an accommodation can be called eco-friendly. Is it giving a contribution to the community where it stands? Are they employing a lot of locals? How are they treated? How do they treat their waste water? Do they use alternative energy? If you click our 'Ecofriendly Accommodation' link, you will be brought to a page that lists eco hotels and resorts in the country. You can learn about them and save your favorites (again, you will need to log in before saving). This way you will already be promoting yourself as a responsible traveler.

So are you a responsible traveler? If you are, we suggest you start learning about the ecotourism programs in Nicaragua and planning your holiday on it.

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