India & International
They are the pioneers, offering adventure travel tours in the Himalayas since 1995. Aquaterra is especially known for its river rafting expeditions. They are, after all, the outfit that opened the entire Tons River for white water rafting in 2005. Aquaterra has since gone global and offers trekking, river rafting and angling expeditions in other parts of the world, including Africa and South America.
The outfit, which also runs 'activotel' Atali Ganga in Rishikesh, offers a wide repertoire of trips for both first-time adventurers and veterans. Travellers can choose from scheduled and custom trips, ranging from four-day hikes to 20,000 feet plus mountain climbs, from weekend rafting to raging expedition-style river running. They promise that if you have dreamt of a particular journey or an adventure in India, they will make it happen no matter how bizarre or wild or difficult.
Price: Tariff varies according to trip, number of people, difficulty and location. For instance, an upcoming 13-day Snow Leopard Trip in Spiti costs Rs 91,300 per person, not including tax.
Read More: https://www.aquaterra.in/
Slow Travel
Aquaterra’s penchant for thrills goes hand in hand with mindfulness about both the fragile environments they take travellers to and the communities they interact with. It hires staff only from the Indian Himalayan regions. It restricts group sizes to 12 on treks and upto 18 on river trips, keeping in mind traffic at campsites, sensitivity to camp grounds with regards to toilets and reasonable camping privacy within camp and between other campsite users. The outfit follows the ‘leave no trace’ philosophy to the letter on all their trips, carrying back dry waste and burying only biodegradable wet waste like food waste. It follows many other sustainable travel measures, from not using generators during expeditions and opting for solar powered lanterns to not having campfires and eating local and reusing as many resources as possible.
