Eco Tours – Rural & Community & wildlife
Eco Tours – Rural & Community & Wildlife Eco Tours

Ibex offers eco tourism experiences that may have an accent on wild life and conservation or communities and their livelihoods. These trips can be designed as dedicated eco tours or can be woven into a cultural or special interest tour.
Wildlife Eco Tours
Thekkady Tiger Trail, Kerala
Ibex engages in this unique initiative using former poachers as guides who were earlier dependant on the forest. Today, the guides get an economic benefit when you hire them as guides and walk with them in the forest. As highly knowledgeable naturalists, they now make you aware of the rare and endangered species of plants and animals and the need for conservation.
Corbett Foundation, Corbett National park
Ibex visitors to Corbett engage with the Corbett Foundation and understand their commitment towards conservation of wildlife and nature targeted mainly at reducing human-animal conflict. By offering cattle compensation to the locals when they lose their livestock by predators, the communities too understand the need to save the tiger.
Home stays and snow leopards in Ladakh
The initiative here is dedicated to promoting innovative grassroots measures that lead local people to become better stewards of endangered snow leopards, their prey and habitat. At Ibex, we use the home stays for our clients, thus supporting the community.
Khonoma Nature Conservation, Nagaland
The Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary was set up to conserve the rare Blyth’s Tragopan, an endangered pheasant and the bird of Nagaland. The sanctuary is also an ideal place for trekking and Ibex has pioneered some walking trails engaging the local community to save the pheasant.
Rural Communities
Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu
Karaikudi is the centre of Chettinad, 82 kms from Madurai. The early migration of Chettiar families instilled in them a desire to create sprawling mansions, which is a part of the architectural heritage of historic Chettinad. There are temples and water harvesting structures like tanks for irrigation for which conservationists have energised restoration, using traditional skills, such as Athangudi floor tiles and Chettinad egg plaster, all of which engage the visitor including the highlight of staying in an original Chettinad mansion serving Chettinad cuisine.
Hodka, Gujarat
Hodka is a Kachchhi village on the edge of the Rann of Kachchh in Gujarat. The main livelihood here is art and craft forms like exquisite embroidery and leather work. One can stay with the local community in comfortable mud hut architectural style, reflecting the vernacular along with bird and wild ass viewing in the Rann of Kachch.
Spiti Homestays
Spiti has home stays in 5 villages, namely Langza, Komic, Demul, Lhalung and Dhankar, set along its highlands at an average altitude of 4000 metres. Most of these villages fall within the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary and are home to rare and endangered species of wildlife such as the Snow Leopard, Tibetan Wolf, Blue Sheep. Insight into local cultures along with tracking for wolves with local guides is possible.
 
"I want to appreciate Ibex Expeditions’ great job organising my wonderful trip. The temples were absolutely fantastic as were the natural attractions of Corbett and Bharatpur. As an international eco tourism consultant, having experiences of travelling to many countries around the world, I want to congratulate Ibex for the excellent quality of trip services you are offering. Keep up the good work."

Hector Ceballos- Lascurain, Mexico

"I was totally and delightfully pleased with the quality and care provided. The itineraries were well thought out taking care to match our abilities and demonstrating excellent knowledge of the area and terrain. Efficiency twinned with charm!"

John Leonard, UK
Memberships
Himalayan Environment Trust
The International Ecotourism Society (USA)
Ecotourism Society of India
Read a story on India's Corbett Tiger Reserve written by Russell Johnson:

> Tigers and Twitchers
> Floating through Kerala
(+) Click image to enlarge