Today, we spent the first half of our day volunteering in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. The Tenderloin only spans one square mile, but it’s home to 37,000 residents (almost 10% are children), 586 apartment buildings, and the metro area’s highest poverty, drug, and crime rates. City Impact helps Tenderloin residents with their school, […]
Read PostOur volunteer work continued in Marin County, California this week. We spent two mornings working to restore vital habitat for coho salmon in two different watersheds. Just 30 minutes from San Francisco, Lagunitas Creek Watershed is one of the most important waterways left for wild coho salmon along the Central California Coast. We worked with […]
Read PostFor three decades, Save Our Shores (SOS) has cared for marine environments in California through ocean awareness, advocacy and citizen action. Key accomplishments by SOS include helping to establish the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and preventing offshore drilling in California Central Coast waters. Now, SOS works to educate youth on the importance of watersheds […]
Read PostToday marks the beginning of our third service learning trip with Mackintosh Academy’s 8th grade class. Our first volunteer shift was at San Francisco Food Bank (SFFB). SFFB serves the San Francisco Metro area including Marin County. In 2011, 450 million pounds of food were delivered to the community. SFFB depends heavily on volunteers to […]
Read PostGuest blogger: Nick Snakenberg of Denver Botanic Gardens For several travelers in our group, today is the day we’ve been looking forward to since we first signed up for this trip. Today we will receive a guided tour of the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel grounds to see the hundreds of orchid plants and flowers […]
Read PostIn October 2011, I traveled to Chiapas, Mexico for the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s Annual World Summit. While there, I had the fortunate opportunity to meet Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo (“Pati”) between seminars. Martha “Pati” Ruiz Corzo is the founder of Sierra Gorda Ecological Group and former federal Director of Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve in […]
Read PostGuest Blogger: Nick Snakenberg of Denver Botanic Gardens I have wanted to visit Machu Picchu since I first glimpsed a photo of it in my 4th grade geography text book. Today, along with the rest of our tireless group, I would get that opportunity. Construction of Machu Picchu is believed to have started around 1440 although […]
Read PostEarly last month, the US State Department updated its travel advisory for Mexico. This version is broader and more detailed than those in the past and it lists specific areas that should be avoided by travelers. Less than a week later, Mexico’s Tourism Board reported a record number of foreign visitors in 2011. More than […]
Read PostGuest Blogger: Nick Snakenberg of Denver Botanic Gardens After a quick breakfast at our hotel, our adventurous group of travelers loaded a bus and began a day of exploration of the Urubamba Sacred Valley. After following the UrubambaRiver out of Cusco, we began climbing along a new highway to Cuyuni Pass, a mountain peak at […]
Read PostGuest Blogger: Nick Snakenberg from Denver Botanic Gardens Our second day of discovery begins with a flight to Cusco, the historical capital of the Inca Empire. We had time to rest and adjust to the high altitude (over 11,000 feet) before meeting our guide Carlos Seminario (a Cusco native) and beginning a tour of the […]
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