Where the money goes
Our winter snow-leopard journeys in Ladakh contribute a fixed USD 150 per travelerdirectly to the Hemis conservancy fund and the local homestay network that acts as informal spotters year-round. This isn’t an add-on you can skip — it’s baked into the trip cost. On the K2 basecamp trek we contribute per traveler to the Central Karakoram National Park.
Our animal welfare policy
The short version: no elephant riding, no captive dolphin swims, no walking-with-lions.But those don’t come up on our routes. The rules that actually matter for the Karakoram and Himalaya:
- No baiting, no feeding, no calling. Snow leopard spotting is done from a static blind or a long-lens scope, with a permitted conservancy guide. If the animal moves away, we let it.
- Distance from ibex and markhor.A minimum of 200 m from feeding animals. If they change behaviour, we’re too close.
- No off-trail pursuit of any animal for a photo.
- Pack animals (donkeys, mules, yaks) carry no more than the legal load, get one full rest day per week, and stop for the day if they show lameness. We audit our supplier every season.
- Homestay dogs stay outside our meal circle.They’re working animals, not pets.
Species we support at basecamp
- Snow leopard — Hemis, Ladakh
- Markhor — Chitral Gol National Park (occasional add-on)
- Himalayan ibex — Deosai, Shimshal
- Golden eagle — Pamir plateau
- Bactrian camel (wild) — occasional Wakhan sightings
- Kashmir musk deer — an aspiration for a future Bhutan itinerary
None of this is a checkbox. Any part of it you want to talk to us about directly, please do.