BECOMING GREEN - Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism - page 185

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Becky Timbers was seated in a lotus position every morning as she welcomed us at sunrise
for thirty minutes of stretches. We gathered on the covered upper deck, passengers of vary-
ing skill and flexibility, to be gently led by Timbers through a series of modified yoga po-
sitions. She had the nimbleness of a ballet dancer. Bill, on the other hand, got stuck on
some of the first positions. But he didn't give up. This was his first attempt at anything
resembling yoga, and although he swore yoga wasn't for him, the fresh morning air and
calm nature of the class convinced him otherwise. Throughout the cruise he showed up
every morning for the stretches before breakfast.
Timbers is from Vermont, a college graduate with an itch to travel. She started out as
a steward, or housekeeper, and worked her way up to the ship's “wellness expert,” which
involves, among other things, holding classes and giving massages.
Most important for the standards of sustainable tourism, or ecotourism, Timbers is an
American, as are all of her fellow crew members from the captain to the stewards. Nation-
al Geographic is headquartered in the United States and the vast majority of the passen-
gers are American. So, in contrast to the large commercial cruise ship companies, the Sea
Lion is registered and flagged in the United States. Its port home is Seattle. The ship re-
cruits Americans, pays American wages and follows American regulations and standards.
The wages are significantly higher than those on big cruise ships. Timbers said she is paid
$140 a day on a six-month contract, and added that, as a steward, she was paid roughly
$100 a day, or twice as much per day as a steward on a Royal Caribbean ship earned in a
month.
The Sea Lion fulfills the guidelines' requirement that locals are hired and paid living
wages: an American ship with American crew also employs Costa Rican and Panamanian
naturalists. It is not flagged and registered in a country like Liberia to avoid environmental
and labor laws.
“It's hard to get these jobs,” Timbers said. “I was lucky.”
The mood on the ship reflected that difference. The crew was not obsequious; there
were no complaints about wages and pleas for high tips to supplement a miserable wage.
And on our vacation it mattered to Bill and me that we were around people who were
properly compensated for their hard work.
Translating the sustainable ecotourism requirements for the cruise meant local hires at
the home port and local hires for the countries we visited. On that score, Isabel said she
was just as pleased with her role. “I have been with Lindblad Expeditions since 1997 and
I believe we Costa Rican naturalists are best at guiding visitors to our country.”
How much did all of this sustainable ecotourism cost?
On the face of it, this was a much more expensive trip. It cost $4,800 for each of us for
eight days with everything included—food, all of our expeditions on shore and the premi-