Our Ecotourism Vision

When we first saw our home in southern Slovenia, it was winter. The ground was covered with more than a meter of snow. Only several months later, we saw how beautiful the surroundings are. Behind our house, there are meadows full of flowers. In early spring, delicate wild crocus flower and later, the same meadows turn yellow with rattles. In between, there are wild orchids, including the rare globe-orchids and elder-flowered orchids. Just a few steps further starts the Dinaric forest. In the evening, we often hear tawny- and ural owls calling. In autumn, we can sometimes hear rutting deer fight, right behind our home. These are experiences which we share during our tours.

During our nature tours, we often search for special plants and animals. One day, during our spring flower tour, we went to a small village. During the preparation of this tour, we had found early spider orchids here, in a small olive-yard. When we arrived with our group, we found that the olives were pruned and many branches were dropped directly on the flowers! 

On the edge of the orchard, there were still orchids flowering and we had a great time photographing those. After a while, the landowner came to see what we are doing. When we explained he started to wonder: are those tiny flowers really special? When we told him that they are, he promised that he’d be more careful here he’d drop the branches. This true story shows how our guests, with their enthusiasm, contribute to the local awareness of special plants and animals. 

Our nature tours in Slovenia are about sharing our passion with you. We love nothing better than to see how our guests enjoy the diverse landscapes, beautiful flowers and interesting animals of Slovenia. We believe that the enthusiasm of our guests is an eye-opener for local inhabitants, who do not always realise how special their nature is. Our tours also serve as a model of how well-preserved nature can benefit the local economy. This is why we cooperate with local providers of accommodations and locally produced ecological meals. 

Back in 2003, we established an NGO: Institute Symbiosis, to work on various nature conservation and education projects in Slovenia. It was a small step to the nature tours, which we organise under the brand Nature in colour.  

Through the years, we came to realise that the disconnection of people from nature is one of the biggest threats to nature. Modern life, often bound to cities, offers few opportunities to enjoy the beauty of nature. In 2015, we set ourselves on a new mission – to reconnect people with nature. As our goals are tightly linked with nature conservation, we decided to develop ecotourism within our existing NGO and obtained tour operator licences. Since 2016, we also have the status of a social enterprise, which underpins our commitment to environmental and social goals and well-being of local communities.