OSTELLO DEI BALOCCHI

Ostello dei Balocchi is managed since 2010 by Legambiente Ligonchio Aps, but owned by the municipality. The hostel is settled in the National Park of Ap-pennino Tosco-Emiliano. It is located inside the ancient village of Casalino di Ligon-chio (province of Reggio Emilia). This building was previously the primary school of Ligonchio village but it has been totally renovated and expanded in order to adapt it to offer a simple and good hospitality. Its aim is combining sustainable tourism with local traditions and territory enhancement. This happens trough different activities based on environmental education, developed with structured paths and guided visits with donkeys. Ostello dei Balocchi is the first touristic service in the area that connects the traditional hospitality of the mountains with the patient company and the slow walking of the donkeys. Donkeys are animals historically connected with these places, life-coaches and helpers for men. -- Main Activities: The activities promoted by the association are different, according to the multiple targets. The regular activities are: Thematic weekends for children and families where the donkey is at the centre of the program and the trekking, giving the slow rhythm of the journeys, so the participants can fully enjoy the contact with nature and dedicate to the observation of nature and to listening to themselves. School trips about environmental education, tourism and man-nature relationship. Educational workshops for kids and youngsters on various topics like art, reciclying, animals and rural life-style. Summer camps for kids and youngsters from 7 to 14 years old that every year involve more than 150 participants. The participants experience the coexistence with others, the contact with nature and animals, a sustainable life style and their harmony with the environment that surrounds them. Some camps are residential, with a program of activities to be carried out in the neighbourhood of the hostel, others are itinerant, with a program that includes a trekking in stages and camping with tents.