Meet local experts on a bespoke holiday

Fetish priest. Tortilla cook. Blacksmith. Street artist. 

Ethiopia. Nicaragua. Colombia. Ghana. 

Which will you meet, and where? 

TravelLocal, the ‘buy-local’ expert in tailor-made holidays, empowers travellers to create their own bespoke itineraries by connecting them with carefully-selected local experts in over 40 destinations around the world.

These local experts are directly connected to individuals in their respective countries – people with a huge variety of occupations. TravelLocal gives travellers the chance not only to meet these people, but also to gain an insight into (and learn) their trades, thereby really engaging in a different culture, rather than merely observing from afar.

Here are four ‘Meet the Locals’ sample itineraries:

Ethiopia – meet a blacksmith, a baker and a brewer, from £1,950 pp
A trekking trip where you engage with remote village communities and become familiar with their cultural activities, including injera baking (East African sourdough-risen flatbread), beer-making, blacksmithing and hairdressing. From shopping in Africa’s largest open-air market in Addis Ababa and visiting the famous churches of Lalibela, to hiking through the Simien Mountains and staying in a traditional hut, this itinerary offers a real insight into communities and their customs.

Cost: From £1,950 pp, including ten nights’ B&B (with three nights’ camping and two nights in a traditional community hut), most lunches and dinners, two internal flights and numerous trekking trips and guided tours.*

Colombia – meet a street artist, a wool spinner and an agri-tourism granny, from £2,490
Led by a local bilingual graffiti artist, head into Bogotá’s hidden alleys to see the city’s incredible and straight-talking street murals. In Villa de Leyva, visit the underground Salt Cathedral and learn traditional wool-spinning techniques from local craftsmen. During the trip you’ll also head out into the beautiful countryside to meet a gregarious grandmother who’ll share her farming philosophy with you.

Cost: From £2,490 pp, including 14 nights’ B&B and two internal flights.*

Ghana – meet a basket weaver, a fisherman and a fetish priest, from £1,140 pp
Immersion into village life – via rice, cacao, coffee and banana plantations, and rivers – is what this trip’s all about. You can learn to create colourful bead jewellery and a batik cloth (a typical Ghanaian method of cloth-making using dye and stamps); how to weave a basket, to fish, to farm and to cook. Alternatively, visit a fetish priest, a local figure who communicates between the living and the dead.

Cost: From £1,140 pp, including 11 nights’ B&B and guided tours.*

Nicaragua – meet a sawdust carpet layer, a tortilla cook and a marimba player, from £1,480 pp
Lifting the lid on the country’s spectacular scenery and fascinating culture, this trip is extremely diverse. Take a bike tour in Granada, dine with local families, make religious murals using multi-coloured sawdust, peer into an active volcano, assist in the creative process of tortilla-making, and learn to play a new instrument: the marimba.

Cost: From £1,480 pp, including 11 nights’ B&B and guided tours.*

* All of the trips are based on two sharing. TravelLocal trips include transfers, excursions and the services of a local guide. Travel to the destination is not included, giving more flexibility and allowing customers to book their flights via points schemes if preferred.

For more information, call TravelLocal on +44 (0)117 325 7898 or visit www.travellocal.com.