How it began
Before EcoHikes had a name, it was one person walking. Naveen's years in wildlife conservation meant long field seasons in the Eastern Ghats — documenting trails, following species, sleeping in villages that saw few outsiders. What stayed with him wasn't only the forest. It was the people: Adivasi families who could read the weather in birdsong, farm steep land without breaking it, and treat any stranger as a guest. Two worlds sat a few hills apart — the cities of the coast and the communities of the highlands — and they almost never met.
EcoHikes was founded in 2017 to close that distance. The first walks were small — a few friends, a trail, a village lunch — but the idea was already whole: journeys built with the people of the place, where the traveller learns and the village earns. Word carried. The walks grew into summit camps, tribal homestays, waterfall weekends, cave explorations, festivals — and slow journeys as far as Ladakh and Zanskar.
Ten years on the count reads: 700+ experiences curated, more than 7,000 people walked with — and the same rules on every single one. Small groups. The mountains' own people leading on their own slopes. Every place left better than we found it.
“The outdoors is not an escape. It is a return to something real and enduring.”
The idea EcoHikes is built onBuilding a sustainable future
Our mission, in one paragraph.
We connect people to the great outdoors and to the communities who call it home. Authentic experiences build understanding and respect — so we curate journeys that celebrate the traditions, cultures and wisdom of those living in harmony with nature, in a way that enriches both traveller and host. Looking ahead, we're expanding these connections across India and beyond — deeper bonds, and stewardship for a shared planet.
How we work
Naveen and Manu walk into new regions first — looking for places where an eco-model of tourism can sustain the land, and create honest livelihoods for the communities living closest to it.
Ravi asks the hard questions an experience must answer; Anokhi turns the answers into something you can see. Nothing is copied — every journey is drawn from the place itself.
Priya, Shri Poshak and the whole crew carry the background work; village teams lead on their own mountains; Eswar documents it; Devi garu cooks. That's the machine — except it's a family.
The core team
Every one of us grew through the same path we now offer you — volunteer, intern, core. Nobody was hired into this; everybody walked into it.
Naveen Rongali
Ten-plus years outdoors, and a life built around one belief — that nature and people belong together. A certified permaculture designer, mountaineer, rock climber, freediver, scuba diver and Wilderness First Responder with a background in wildlife conservation, Naveen founded EcoHikes in 2017. With Manu, he's the one walking into unmapped regions — scouting where an eco-model of tourism can sustain both the land and the communities who live closest to it.
@mountain_met_ocean
Manohar Kandala
In the outdoors since 2017 — advanced mountaineering courses across India's institutes, a Kilimanjaro summit behind him and Everest in his sights. A certified Wilderness Advanced First Responder and search-and-rescue trained, Manu has led high-altitude treks and curated adventure camps for hundreds of children. He worked with Boots & Crampons and other expedition companies before joining EcoHikes in 2020 — a year as volunteer, six months as intern, core team ever since. The explorer of the family.
@manoharkandala7
Ravi Teja Gudimetla
Trained in nautical & fisheries science, Ravi spent five years with the Fishery Survey of India before joining EcoHikes as a volunteer in 2020. A certified rock-climbing instructor, freediver and scuba diver with a botanist's eye, he's the one who asks the right questions before an experience is born — and the coordinator holding team and travellers together on every journey. The all-rounder.
@ra.v.teja
Priya Yerramsetty
With EcoHikes since 2019, Priya blends wildlife conservation, photography and outdoor leadership. She has worked with conservation NGOs (and still collaborates with many), rescued more snakes than she counts, contributed to documentaries, and dives as an advanced scuba diver. With Shri Poshak, she is the quiet force behind every trip — the background work that makes an experience feel effortless.
@yerramsetty_priya
Anokhi Shah
A master's in furniture design from NID and a bachelor's in event management before that — Anokhi is the team's visual alchemist. She turns rough ideas into experiences you can see: the visual language, the designs, the video work. A year and a half with EcoHikes — volunteer, then intern, and core team for the past six months.
Shri Poshak
A bachelor's in tourism and a heart in the hills. Shri Poshak volunteered for a year, interned for six months, and has been part of the team for the last six — living proof of the path we offer everyone who joins. With Priya, he carries the supporting work behind every departure.
Eswar
Eswar has spent the last year documenting EcoHikes from the inside — the treks, the festivals, the village kitchens and everything between. His photographs and films are how these stories reach you.
The wider family
EcoHikes doesn't end with the core team — it runs on village partners, kitchens and wheels.
Ram Babu & family
From the village below Andhra's highest peak. Ram Babu and his family have walked with us since 2018, leading treks on Jindhagada, Galikonda and across the ASR district — the mountains' own people, in the most literal sense.
Sanju, Rajesh & Raju
The trek team from the hills — Sanju, Rajesh and Raju walk the routes with Naveen and Ravi, carrying their mountains' knowledge on every summit push.
Papa Rao
The reason every trip leaves on time. Papa Rao's transport business puts the right vehicle in the right place for every journey out of Vizag — for years, without fail.
Devi Rongali
Naveen's mother — and the hands behind the home-cooked lunches on many of our hikes. If you've eaten with us on a trail and thought of home, that was Devi garu.
Friends who walked with us
Volunteers and teammates from over the years — now off on their own journeys, their contributions still woven into ours. (Photos and names coming shortly.)
This story has room for you
Volunteer on treks, intern with a real project, or grow into the core team — the same way every person above did. We're honest about what we offer, and generous with it.
Join the journey →