Walking the Akamas Peninsula

We work hard to create trips which improve life for the people and places we visit and look after the planet we explore. Find out more about our sustainable travel ethos and practice here, and find out about the work of the Exodus Travels Foundation here.

Some sustainable travel highlights of this trip include:

People

How this trip helps improve life for local communities.

• This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally-owned hotels, restaurants, transfer companies and places of local interest, as well as the emphasis on eating locally produced food and support of other local enterprise.
• This trip helps bring income and opportunity to destination communities particularly during low and shoulder seasons, when traditionally tourism income would decrease.
• The Laona Plateau (next to Akamas peninsula) experienced extensive emigration from the 1950’s, when many of the inhabitants migrated abroad for economic reasons. The villages managed to keep their architectural heritage and consist largely of traditional stone-built houses. There is a growing pressure in recent decades towards developing the coast of the Akamas peninsula (significant areas of coastal land belong to people coming from the Laona Plateau villages). Exploration on foot highlights the combination of culture and natural heritage in the Akamas region of Cyprus. The local communities and villagers in these regions can play a role as the guardians of nature and the cultural heritage of Cyprus, which necessitates that they earn enough income to sustain their presence in this area.Some of the routes pass very near family-owned wineries (close to Kathikas village). The route also passes through many stone-built villages, including Kretou Terra and Kathikas which has a good selection of Cyprus food tavernas. 
• The provision of local information in customer documentation means our customers will be well informed about local traditions, and cultural and social sensitivities.

Places

How this trip helps protect and conserve local landscapes and nature.

• Read about our commitment to nature protection and restoration here, including our rewilding commitment for every customer who travels.
• By travelling independently or in a small group, you ‘tread lightly’ minimising your trip’s impact on local resources and the environment.
• This trip visits the Akamas Peninsula National Parkwhich helps incentivise and fund continued conservation efforts. Some routes are on popular trails but most routes are on dirt tracks that don’t see many visitors.
• Stretches of the route pass through vineyards and orchards that have been cultivated in Cyprus for thousands of years. The Akamas peninsula is rich in biodiversity. Out of the 150 or so endemic plant species found in Cyprus, most are only found in the Akamas Peninsula (or in the Troodos mountains). The trip itinerary stays off the beaten track in the Akamas peninsula area with its small villages thus helping to minimise degradation caused by over-tourism. The Akamas coast is free from development and the stretch east of the Akamas north coast has, so far, escaped the construction of a big number of hotels or of many villas, that is typical of the tourist centres of the island.
• We work with our partners on the ground to proactively eliminate or reduce waste.
• Our trips adhere to ABTA’s industry-leading animal welfare guidelines to ensure the best possible practices with regard to working animals and wildlife viewing. Our animal welfare policy can be found here.
  

 Planet

How we seek to keep the carbon footprint of this trip low.

• Read about our climate action here, including our carbon reduction and compensation commitments.
• We seek to minimise the carbon footprint in the following ways:
  • Favouring smaller, locally-run accommodation and eco-hotels, versus big hotel chains which have a bigger impact on the surrounding environments.
  • The majority of accommodation and restaurants in the itinerary use locally-sourced food which has not been transported long distances.
  • Vegetarian options are available at the majority of accommodation and restaurants.
• The local operator has been involved in designing and implementing a reforestation effort (on a 7.2 hectare family-owned plot, with mostly wild olives and hawthorn). They are planning to develop this into an agrotouristic/ecotouristic project where visitors would be able to cultivate a number of indigenous trees and explore the cultural and natural attractions in the area (in the Xeros Potamos Valley). The goal is for this venture to be a good example of the use of private rural land in Cyprus and abroad. 

 Tips for sustainable travel on this trip

• Leave no trace: We do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish behind in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, we’d ask you to consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
• Plastic waste reduction: Please bring your own re-usable water bottle on this trip rather than buying single-use plastic bottles.