About our tourism initiatives
Haburas are specialists in developing community-run tourism initiatives and hosting international study tours. We offer unique community-based tourism experiences that introduce visitors to the diverse environments, traditions and cultures of Timor-Leste. We work closely with a range of organisations and educational institutions, including a long-standing collaboration with the Geography program at The University of Melbourne, Australia (scroll down to learn more about this collaboration).
Community-based tourism fits into Haburas’ mission to support culturally sensitive environmental management practices that respond to the developmental needs of local communities. We support tourism practices that not only share the benefits of economic development equitably across local communities, but also draw on customary practices that strengthen people’s connections to environment, culture and place. Alongside introducing you to Timor’s rich landscapes and people, each tour directly supports Haburas’ environmental mission, Timor’s community-based tourism operators, as well as the local communities themselves.
Our tour packages are tailored to your group’s specific interests, and timing around seasonality and key cultural events. If you’re interested in learning more about our tours or organising one for yourself or your group, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us to discuss further.
Meet some of the community-based tourism operators we work with:
Jorge
Hakmatek Ecovillage,
hakmatek, Maubisse
Estevão
Estevão’s homestays,
beloi, ataúro island
Mario
Mario’s place,
adara, ataúro island
Study tour packages
Since 2015, we have been organising life-changing study tours in conjunction with the Geography program at the University of Melbourne, Australia. These sought-after field classes run annually, and are an integral part of the Geography curriculum at the University. Locations change annually, and we invite Timorese students to join the study tour, creating connections that last a lifetime.
We absolutely love to work with educational institutions and young people, and to introduce the next generation of thinkers and leaders to Timor’s rich customary culture, environmental governance practices and development challenges.
Below are two itineraries from past study tours, including a rare option to travel all the way to Jaco Island on the eastern tip of the island. We warmly invite you to get in touch with our Study Tour Coordinator to discuss your ideas and learn more about working together.
Study tour itinerary 1:
2023 TIMOR-LESTE FIELD CLASS
- Key sites: Ataúro Island (Beloi, Adara), Maubisse, Dili
- Collaboration with Geography program at the University of Melbourne (led by Professor Lisa Palmer)
- 12 days in July 2023
- 20 final year undergraduate and Master’s students
- Exploring community-based and customary environmental practices across Timor-Leste
For highlights from the 2023 study tour, see the short film made about the trip shortlisted for the 2023 Timor-Leste Tourism Short Film Awards:
day 1
Afternoon airport pickup from Dili International Airport. Drive to beachside accommodation in Dili. Welcome meeting with Haburas Foundation, before a sunset dinner on the beachfront.
Day 2
Dragon boat ferry to Ataúro Island. Stay in homestays at Beloi, led by Maun Estevão, and experience the local way of life. Learn about community-based tourism. Snorkel over the verdant coral reef in Beloi, and learn about the Tara Bandu method of customary community resource governance and how it has worked to regenerate the reef and locals’ livelihoods.
day 3
Walk and drive from Beloi to Vila Maumeta. In Vila Maumeta, visit the Boneca de Ataúro women’s co-operative. Meet the women who sew the famous dolls and intricate textiles known around the world, and purchase items direct from their workshop store. Walk to Makili; learn about the fisherpeople and male and female weavers of the village. Return to Beloi via a dramatic sunset coastal walk. En route, enjoy an unexpectedly authentic Italian restaurant dinner back in Vila Maumeta.
day 4
Spend the morning snorkelling in Beloi, near Barry’s Place. Learn about folk and customary medicines through a tour of household gardens and wild vegetation in the village. Learn to identify which herbs will heal your cuts and bruises, and the importance of different forms of first aid medicine to villagers.
Day 5
Set off early to hike across to the other side of the island, over the mountain. Stop en route in Alor, to meet the women potters and learn more about customary healing practices. Learn about traditional food practices and tastes, and how these have changed with Portuguese colonial rule. Arrive in Adara in the afternoon for a warm welcome at Mario’s Place on the beach.
day 7
Learn about the work of Empreza Diak in Adara and across Timor, before saying goodbye to Ataúro Island and heading back to the mainland on the ferry to Dili.
day 6
Spend the day in Adara. Snorkel along the reef shelf, witnessing the dramatic drop. Meet the women divers of Adara, and hear about their incredible skills and livelihood practices. Visit the local health clinic and the water spring, and learn about how both contribute centrally to the health and wellbeing of local people.
day 8
In Dili, Attend the Timor-Leste Studies Association conference at UNTL (Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e), and hear the most up-to-date research on Timor-Leste by scholars from around the world. In the evening, bear witness to the heartbreaking atrocities inflicted on Timorese during 24 years of Indonesian occupation at Centro Nacional Chega! Museum and Santa Cruz Cemetery.
day 9
Take a private charter bus to the misty mountains of Maubisse, stopping for lunch in the market town of Alieu on the way. Arrive at Jorge’s in Hakmatek Guesthouses, including a welcome address. Stay overnight in a traditional thatched Uma Lisan house.
day 10
Spend the morning in the markets in the small town, and visit the now seemingly unoccupied Pousada overlooking the town. Arrive in place through a traditional welcome ceremony at the Uma Lulik complex in Hakmatek. Listen to traditional stories and learn about the enduring customs that tie people to their land, to the spirits, and to each other.
Day 11
Continue exploring life in the Maubisse mountains. Visit the coffee plantations and learn about how Timor’s organic coffee farmers make a living. Hear of the colonial histories and current challenges of coffee growing in Timor, and drink some freshly prepared coffee from Jorge’s own coffee field.
Day 12
Hop on the bus back to Dili. A final wrap-up lunch at Haburas’ own Kafé Natureza, where students give their reflections on the last two weeks and tearful farewells with new Timorese friends. For those heading back, group transfer by bus to Dili International Airport.
Tour experience options
Alongside the study tour options, we also offer tourism options that can be tailored to your interests. No matter if you are travelling with us for a day or a month, your tour goes towards supporting Haburas’ environmental mission, strengthening community-based tourism operations and supporting culturally sensitive grassroots economic development in Timorese communities.
Get in touch to discuss your ideas further, and a personalised itinerary for your trip.
Maubisi Mauloko Cultural Tour at Hakmatek Ecovillage
Learn about Timorese traditional culture at Hakmatek Ecovillage in Maubisse, exploring connections to ancestors, spirits, water springs and land through song, ritual, prayer and ceremonies. Immerse yourself in an Uma Lulik sacred house complex, hike up to Mount Maubisi-Mauloko and explore the landscapes, waterways and coffee planations of the mountainous Maubisse region.
Highlights
Come and experience Timorese culture and arts for people and planet.
- Experience an Ancestral House (Uma Lulik Tartehi) welcome ceremony
- Hike up to Mount Maubisi-Mauloko
- Witness traditional natural resource protection and conservation practices.
- Immerse yourself in storytelling and traditional dance
itinerary
Day 1:
- Meet at Haburas at 2pm
- Travel to Maubesi with a coffee break in Aileu
- Reach Hakmatek Maubesi and snack
- Evening meal at Hakmatek and free time
Day 2:
Morning
- Visit Fleixa or Rabi Lau to watch sunrise from the mountain tops
- Breakfast at Hakmatek and prepare for visit to Maubisi Mauloko sacred house complex
- Interact and chat with members of the community.
- Snack on-site
- Lunch at Hakmatek
Afternoon
- Free time
- Trekking to see local farm, coffee plantation and have afternoon snack, continue walk to waterfall Ersalibuti
- Free time
- Evening meal at Hakmatek
Day 3:
Morning
- Breakfast at Hakmatek and prepare to visit the water spring to witness ritual prayers, offering and dancing.
- Interact and chat with members of the community.
- Lunch at Hakmatek
Afternoon
- Free time
- Trekking to Hautrabi and snack
- Free time
- Evening meal at Hakmatek
Day 4:
- Breakfast at Hakmatek and then go to ancestral house Tartehi to receive bua-malus (betel nut and leaves)
- Depart for Dili. Before returing to Dili stop at Maubesi market and pousada.
- Rest and lunch in Aileu
- Return to Dili
Coffee lovers in Timor’s Highlands
Explore Timor-Leste’s coffee plantations and learn about the organic methods, histories and challenges of producing coffee in Timor-Leste today
Highlights
- Visit Timor’s organic coffee plantations and meet coffee farmers
- Stay in traditional Timorese guesthouses on coffee farms
- Learn about organic coffee growing and processing directly from Timorese farmers
- Understand the unique opportunities and challenges of producing coffee in Timor today
- Pick your own coffee in the fields and purchase roasted coffee beans direct from the farmer
Snorkelling and diving in Ataúro
Snorkel and dive the coral reefs fringing Ataúro Island, an hour by boat from Dili. Cross the mountainous island by foot to stay in ecotourist guesthouses and homestays in the villages that dot Ataúro’s coastline.
Highlights
- Ride the dragonboat ferry to Ataúro Island from Dili
- Dive the lush coral reefs along the Ataúro coastline
- Stay in ecotourist guesthouses facing the beach, and learn about everyday life in Ataúro Island at the homestays
- Meet local craftspeople, and see them at work sewing, carving and weaving intricate products from local materials
- Learn about the unique opportunities and challenges of ecotourism in Ataúro Island and Timor-Leste
HABURAS FOUNDATION 