Articles Tagged with: San Francisco

The Zulu empowerment volunteer tour takes place in September 2010. Credit: The Cultural Explorer

If you’re serious about taking a truly meaningful environmental holiday – one where you can make a difference in the lives of others — then it’s not too late to sign up for the Cultural Explorer’s Zulu empowerment volunteer tour into KawZula-Natal, South Africa this September.

The San Francisco-based cultural and philanthropic tour company is offering this three-week trip, which will allow volunteer travellers the rare opportunity to immerse themselves in the vibrant Zulu culture while participating in a variety of service-oriented projects.

Participants will be encouraged to design a project based on their own interests and skills. Some might want to refurbish a school or tutor students in maths, science, English and art. Other volunteers might want to work with children in an orphanage or teach in a crèche (day care centre). And others might want to teach marketable skills to the Zulu women, or assist rural businesswomen with marketing ideas.

Volunteers will stay in a local hotel in a small rural town in KwaZulu-Natal. There will be excursions daily into the numerous nearby Zulu villages — with opportunities to observe both traditional and contemporary life, and attend a Zulu wedding, birthday, or healing celebration. Volunteers will visit with local sangomas (traditional healers) and spend time with the only white sangoma in South Africa. They’ll also enjoy lively dinners with local activists, politicians, educators and entrepreneurs who are invested in making positive change in the Zulu community.

There will also be time to explore the picturesque town of Eshowe and surrounding areas, and participants will spend a weekend on safari in the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve, the oldest game park in South Africa. Also planned is a side trip into the city of Durban where there will be a chance to visit the beautiful beaches along the Indian Ocean.

The Zulu Empowerment trip starts in Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city, with an in-depth history lesson and visits to the Apartheid museum, Origins Centre, the thriving township of Soweto, and downtown Johannesburg. Travelers will be treated to authentic African foods and music. The volunteer portion of the trip will be based in KwaZulu-Natal, about 7 hours south of Johannesburg, an area known for its large Zulu population and diverse terrain.

Pat Walker, founder of The Cultural Explorer, has spent several years cultivating contacts within the Zulu communities in KwaZulu-Natal. Travelers will meet with her personal contacts and colleagues.

“This is a one-of-a-kind volunteer trip,” Walker says. “We have teamed up with a local family-run organization that has been working in this area for several years. We find their projects to be authentic and they really do make a big difference in the lives of the Zulu community. We are pleased to make this volunteer trip available to adventurous travelers who want to go beyond the ordinary travel experience.”

Trip dates: Sept 4-25, 2010. For more information, visit: http://theculturalexplorer.com/.

Courtyard at the Hotel Del Sol, San Francisco. Photo Credit: Courtesy Joie de Vivre hotels

Regarded as an epicenter of sustainable food and progressive politics, San Francisco is also becoming well known as one of the best destinations for green travelers in search of environmentally sustainable vacations, and  the Joie de Vivre chain has largest number of certified green hotels in the city. Among the hotels with green certification are  the Hotel Del Sol and the Galleria Park, Hotel Vitale, Hotel Carlton, and Hotel Drisco.
Joie de Vivre is also rolling out bio-compostable bath amenities from California-based Lather at its hotels. The new Bamboo Lemongrass amenities are packaged in materials made from biodegradable cornstarch rather than petroleum-based plastic and are made of 85% post-consumer recycled materials. A number of the hotels take their sustainability efforts one step further, opting to use Lather’s products in bulk dispensers in their guestrooms.

“By the end of 2009, roughly one-third of our hotels had achieved official green certification,” said Chip Conley, Joie de Vivre founder and CEO. “Achieving formal certification requires a long-term investment of time and resources. These hotels reflect our commitment to environmental conservation, and we are working steadily toward green certification for all of our hotels.” Joie de Vivre’s environmental conservation program, Green Dreams, focuses on four main areas: recycling and waste reduction, energy conservation, water conservation, and pollution prevention. Conservation efforts range from implementing guestroom recycling programs and installing energy efficient lighting at the hotels to donating leftover food and setting up composting programs at the restaurants.