Our Story…
By Company director Carmen Portella Ernest.
“Many people will remember us as Lanzarote active club. The tours began back in 2007, with my simple wish to enjoy Lanzarote with others and get active together. My passion was always for the great outdoors and nature, but through the years our small team gained more and more knowledge which lead us further into the conservational aspects of Lanzarote. We have been lucky to attract some great minds to our tours, enabling us to not only share knowledge, but also to grow roots and connections with like minded people. Our love for Lanzarote and the rest of the ‘Los Chinijos’ UNESCO protected islands has expanded way beyond simply wishing to enjoy nature and get active.
In late 2014 we decided that it was time to evolve Lanzarote active club and present ourselves in a different way. The first shoots of The eco Insider Tours were already present, but it would take us just under 2 years to fully understand and develop our new venture.”
It’s important to understand that Lanzarote active club does still exist! The Geo Tours, Walks, Bird Watching, Wine Tours and Marine Excursions which we currently offer are all the same tours which have been fine tuned over the last 10 years. The Lanzarote Active Club name is now 100% dedicated to our island residents. We run monthly group visits to a number of interesting cultural centres and geological sites under the umbrella of LAC, so it’s never goodbye…
Some may ask what the future holds for the new ‘Eco Insider Project’. Firstly we will continue in an organic direction – Building on ethical tourism, sustainable travel, ecotourism, pioneering sustainable mentalities and building on the conservational projects which we are already directly involved in. Our volunteer work with the bird protection charity, ‘Desert Watch’ is very exciting, and seems to be taking a wonderful new turn. (You will have to stay tuned to learn more about this!).
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With a passion for the natural world, our team are committed to the sustainability of our environment.
I feel blessed to share all of this and more within our day to day tours. We are still a very small team, and we have no plans to grow any bigger. Our excursions are and will remain bespoke and personal. The main difference between 2007 and 2020 onwards is the final conclusion, that the word ‘Active’ has more than one meaning to me now”
The Eco-Insider team
Carmen
There has been much talk of sustainability recently, especially by the authorities. Some projects are made on time, but time is not on our side for the radical changes which are required. Sustainability must come from each of us, applying small (or large) changes in our day to day. We cannot wait until the government or somebody else “does something”.
Responsibility towards the environment and the conditions of our own survival is something that every family, every company and every organisation should commit to. It’s not the easiest or the most economically efficient, but it is the only thing that makes sense.
Eco-Insider is our own contribution to that change.
Silvia
“Life is a fascinating miracle!” Cesar Manrique
I love reading and conteplate nature, this is my attitude when a wonder around in Lanzarote, and that is why a borrowed Manrique’s quote!
Life in Lanzarote, even though you may think it looks like a dramatic moonscape very dark, instead is full of colours and I can’t get enough to appreciate all their nuances!
In my previous life I was a psychologist of work and organization and HR recruiter but my passion for travels knocked at the door so I started engaging my skills more into incoming tourism development in my native land, always keeping travelling to feed my zeal and that was when years ago I came to visit Lanzarote: it was true love, so I had to move here.
There came my next step, walk and explore every day Lanzarote’s most beautiful corners in a sort of virtuous loop, taking people with me.
Since I’ve became an outdoor guide practicing and improving my skills as Life mental emotional coach is a lot easier in this blessed and peculiar landscape that Lanzarote represents.
This is what I’m committed to share when I take people to discover the island, so I invite you to come and learn how to read the island spectacles with me in an Eco-way!
Adolfo
Adolfo was born in the USA, a child of Venezuelan parents. From early childhood he has been interested in nature, one of the reasons he joined the boy scouts. When he had to decide about his future, Adolfo chose to pursue a geological career. Her entered the University in Caracas, Venezuela and finished his studies as geological engineer. Adolfo has over 20 years of experience working for several international companies operating all over South America, exploiting the rich mineral resources of the continent. In 2014 he and his wife, whose ancestors came from Tenerife to Venezuela, decided to move to Lanzarote. Since there’s not much to mine on this island, Adolfo decided to share his knowledge with tourists, interested in the genesis of the Canary Islands and joined Eco-Insider. To improve his skills he completed post-graduate studies in Volcanology.
I don’t know how many times I’ve been to the volcanoes with Adolfo. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were able to address the mountains in Tolkien’s language of the dwarfs so that the volcanoes would open to let us have a look inside. But actually that’s not necessary. Even without this skill Adolfo has the ability to explain geological processes in easy comprehensible words and in vivid colours. His explanations make it really easy to imagine and visualize the complex processes taking place beneath the surface.
Joachim
I was born and grew up in a very small town in Austria, close to the border with Hungary, between woods, meadows, vineyards and rivers. My parents were teachers and during my childhood we did plenty of hikes exploring nature, especially with my father who was biology teacher and had a keen interest in botany. For Christmas I received plenty of books about animals and science.
But what really fascinated me was the mythology of ancient Greece and Rome. So I decided to moved to Vienna to study archeology. I worked in tourism marketing for the national tourist board of Austria in Berlin, but my interest in history has never faded. What I love about archeology is that it studies the human being in almost all its aspects. Archeology taught me to always have a closer look at things, never to stay on the surface, to stay curious and to use my own brain and imagination.
Moving to Lanzarote in 2012, today I can do a job that allows me to combine and dig into everything I am interested in: Nature, history, wine….and, when I can share it with others, it is perfect to me!
Martina
Martina is of Greek-Italian origin. She started her career as a jurist because she was interested in social rights and social assistance. After experience in the legal world, during which she also had an opportunity to work for an EU deputy in Strasburg, Martina decided to change her path and “hike” to discover the world. At this stage she found different cultures and especially nature, which was her passion since she was a little girl. Little by little and ever since her path brought her to Lanzarote, she was constantly discovering, experimenting and learning many things related to nature and society which converted her in a fierce environmental warrior. In present days, Martina is very successful at transmitting her passion for the natural world and the culture of this island. She is a fighter for our common right to live in a world that is fair to people and to nature.
