Everyone deserves the chance to travel. Yet, all too often, seeing the world is a privilege reserved for the global elite. At Elevate Destinations, we bridge the divide. Our goal is to connect local youths to their own environments, as travelers and as stewards.
Through our innovative Buy a Trip, Give a Trip model, your trip purchase creates fun new travel opportunities for local kids. For the first time, they experience nearby natural and cultural wonders. They see the sites, have fun, and make the kind of travel memories that we take for granted. Here’s just one example of Buy a Trip, Give a Trip in action:
The big day:
Friday, May 1, 2015
The travelers:
11 talented adolescents from the Zama Dance School in Cape Town, South Africa. They were selected through the Uthando Organization, a partner of the dance school.
The excursion:
The group went site-seeing around Cape Town’s best-loved spots – Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, and lunch at Cape Point
The details:
May 1st was an exciting day from start to finish. The day trip started with an airy cable car ride up to the top of Table Mountain, one of the city’s most pronounced landmarks. At the top, the kids were blown away by the sprawling views of the city below. They were looking down from above the clouds!
Next stop was to Boulders Beach, famous for its colonies of penguins. The flightless feathered creatures didn’t disappoint. Cameras snapped and everyone fawned over them as they made their appearance. Tummies rumbling, the group headed to Cape Point, where they were treated to an elegant lunch.
The grand finale of the day was a sighting of mischievous baboons at Cape Point.
Firsts:
- Posing for travel photos and even shooting video in the city’s most famous locales
- Learning fun facts about False Bay, the Cable Way, and Cape Point from knowledgeable guides
- A fine dining experience at a restaurant with a view
Quotes from the road:
“Thank you sooo much, Elevate Destinations, for providing these children with such an amazing opportunity. They work so hard to better themselves through dance and really deserve such an outing. We so need our children to experience these things, so that they can dream, and hope.”
– James Fernie, Uthando organizer
Partner Organizations:
Uthando (which means ‘love’ in the Zulu language) is an innovative non-profit organization and Fair Trade in Tourism accredited company. The aim of Uthando is to raise funds and other forms of assistance for community development projects in South Africa. It achieves its goals by offering authentic, uplifting experiences for travelers inside the impoverished townships of Cape Town.
Zama Dance School uses the medium of dance for to reach at-risk children and improve their lives through instilling a sense of pride, self-discipline and achievement. The program engenders happiness and a sense of self-worth in socially marginalized townships. Zama is a beneficiary organization of Uthando’s ‘human development through arts/culture’ funding.
