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GivinG
LuxuriousLy
With every ultra-luxury, high-dollar trip you take, your considerable final tab supports the livelihood of many hospitality workers who toil far from sight. Travel is good. But your next trip can serve an even greater good. Oprah Winfrey and Silicon Valley tech moguls, who journeyed to Africa and the Himalayas to build schools recently, are the trailblazers. Find your own path to making a difference in Africa, Asia, at sea or close to home, with the help of companies that know the right way to do good on the go.
By ScOTT GOeTz

The Good Trip:

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maasai villager / courtesy of uncharted outposts

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africa
Uncharted OUtpOsts: preserving east africa
The Mission: Uncharted outposts safari and Travel Company owners Chip and Sandy Cunninghams strength lies in taking guests to less-traveled areas and booking them into unique owner-operated boutique luxury lodges and tented camps. They have strong ties to the community and believe that wildlife conservation plays a vital role in sustainable, nature-based tourism. Uncharted Outposts manages TUsK UsA, the U.S. arm of TUSK Trust UK, a high-profile nonprofit charitable foundation that has been honored by the royal patronage of HRH Prince William. Over the last 15 years, Tusk initiated and funded more than 30 conservation and community-development projects in 15 African countries, making substantial donations to protect threatened species such as elephant, rhino, cheetah, chimpanzee, mountain gorilla and African wild dog (www.tusk.org). Join them on a tour to Kenya and Tanzania by private charter to visit
GAME dRiVE / SHOMPOLE

the following luxury camps and the communities they support.

Contact: Owners Chip and Sandy Cunningham, Phone: (888) 995-0909 or (505) 795-7710; Fax: (505) 795-7714; Email: sandy@unchartedoutposts.com; Website: www.unchartedoutposts.com

camp Ya Kanzi
LoCATion: Southern Kenya at the foot of Kilimanjaro, Kenya The progrAM: The simba project protects lions that have killed the Maasais local livestock by providing compensation to the Maasai for each casualty. Supported by Edward Norton, the project also pays for a proper clinic and funds the salary of a licensed doctor. yoUr experienCe: Hike through the green Chyulu Hills on this 280,000-acre ranch where lions which would have been killed in retaliation for attacking Maasai livestock, are returning. Visit the doctor at the dispensary and discover first-hand the challenges of providing healthcare. Meet village residents who will finally be able to reach medical facilities thanks to the donation of a Land Rover ambulance.
TANzANiA LOdGE / UNCHARTEd OUTPOSTS

give Big: $40,000 will run the project for a year; $18,000 buys a Land Rover so the doctor can reach the sick; $6,000 builds a waterhole to draw more animals into the conservation area; $2,500 pays a doctors salary for a month; $750 pays for a student to attend secondary school.

MAASAi ViLLAGE / SHOMPOLE

Ol seKi
LoCATion: Eastern Koiyaki, north of the Maasai Mara, Kenya The progrAM: Koiyaki Guiding School yoUr experienCe: Step into a Land Rover with a Koiyakischooled guide, and youll hear perfect English and a display of bush-smarts that unlock a hidden, locals view of the Maasai Mara. Tour the school with the creative director and learn that this program is tough. Culture, first aid, environment

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handling, natural history as well as driving lessons are tested with military discipline. Give BiG: $2,000 sponsors a student for one year and provides food, board, tuition, uniforms and travel expenses; $12,500 will build a girls dormitory; a 4x4 vehicle is $23,000; solar lighting is $12,105; the salary for an instructor for one year is $35,000.

GUIDe TRAINING / OL SeKI

LODGe GReAT ROOM / SINGITA

Shompole
Location: Southern Kenya, on the Tanzanian border near Lake Natron the ProGram: This was one of the first luxury lodges to partner with the local Maasai on a shared-revenue basis. your exPerience: Meet with a local witch doctor wholl perform a spiritual cleansing, visit a group of women who are turning their beadwork into dollars by marketing their goods to Neiman Marcus and Barneys, and hike through the Rift Valley. Give BiG: The lodge will soon offer private ownership designer homes managed and leased out by Shompole. Pricedbetween $250,000 and $1,000,000 sales will generate tens of thousands for the trust.
GUeST LODGe / SHOMPOLe

Singita grumeti reServeS

Location: Serengeti Mara in Northern Tanzania the ProGram: The Grumeti Fund was created to rehabilitate and maintain the indigenous biodiversity of the western Serengeti-Mara ecosystem by creating positive partnerships between communities and wildlife. your exPerience: American billionaire Paul Tudor Jones acquired this large hunting concession in Western Tanzania and is stabilizing and increasing the wildlife that had been on the decline. Safari goers will learn anti-poaching techniques and see how the funds dollars have improved wildlife numbers. Give BiG: $250,000 to the Grumeti Fund can provide a pachyderm-sized punch against future black rhino demise.

easy being green

Drive Green When you rent a car in Los Angeles, New York, Boston and San Francisco, reduce your carbon footprint by choosing a Toyota or Lexus hybrid or a bio-diesel Mercedes.

(www.OZOcar.com, www.eco-limo.com or www.evrental.com).

FLy Green Use carbon Funds carbon calculator (www.carbonfund.org) on your next trip to determine how much carbon dioxide your jet is responsible for and offset the damage by donating that sum. In turn, your donations can support projects that reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the threat of climate change. Both individuals and businesses can become carbon neutral at low costs: $100 on a commercial airplane offsets roughly 100,000 miles per passenger. Pack Green Louis vuitton has launched a major green campaign to ensure its environmental sustainability. In just a few years, the company reduced its energy use substantially, changed its shipping methods, built environmentally conscious headquarters and mandated the use of renewable resources. (environment.louisvuitton.com/main_us.html) SLeeP Green Book a LeeD-certified hotel when you travel. The buildings pass the tests of sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality (www.usgbc.org). Leading hotels of the World also offers the Leading Green initiative to offset guests energy consumption. For anyone who books online (www.lhwgreen.com) or at a reservation center, LHW will pay the offset cost.

greyStoke mahale
Location: Lake Tanganyika in Western Tanzania the ProGram: Tongwe Trust your exPerience: By visiting Mahale, guests guarantee their dollars go to the protection of wild chimpanzees. Days are spent hiking the jungle alongside researchers. Give BiG: Giving to the Tongwe people through their community-based projects and Village Forest Reserves secures the future of the chimpanzees in the area. FLyinG there: If you want to conserve private jet hours, virgin atlantic upper class to Kenya is your best best, especially since the airline participates in many charitable programs through change for children and also funds the Sekenani Primary School in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve.

Contact: Virgin Upper Class, Phone: (800) 862-8621; Website: www.virgin-atlantic.com

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at sea
zODIAC ExPLORATION / LINDBLAD ExPEDITIONS

OCEAN KAYAKING / LINDBLAD ExPEDITIONS

LindbLad ExpEditions: saving our ocEans

The Mission: Lindblad expeditions pioneered eco-tourism with the mission of bringing travelers to the most remote and pristine places on the globe, and inspiring protection of these unique places. Closely partnered with National Geographic, Lindblad expeditions provide an educational experience, as each voyage has a number of scientists, researchers, video chroniclers and photographers onboard. Its Galpagos Conservation Fund (GCF), funded by Lindblad and guest contributions, has raised over $4 million to help fund environmental projects. In Baja, Lindblad works with Mexican and international partners to create the Gulf of California Conservation Fund and the Baja Forever! campaign. Guests contributions are matched dollar for dollar and benefit projects such as sea lion disentanglement, the restoration of Santa Catalina Island to its natural state, and radar surveillance to monitor illegal fishing in marine reserves. To see the operation in action and lend your assistance, accompany them on an Antarctic adventurelike the one below.

PENGuIN ADvENTuRE / LINDBLAD ExPEDITIONS

Contact: Manager of Sales Kathleen Pearson, Phone: (212) 261-9016; Fax: (212) 265-3770; Email: kathleenp@expeditions.com; Website: www.expeditions.com

nationaL gEographic EndEavour

The ProGraM: oceanites, a nonprofit scientific and education-

unique travel initiatives

Pink Pride Book customized Trips for Pink through elite Travel international, and they will donate $200 to the Breast Cancer research Foundation for each itinerary. If your journey is to Australia, you can double-up on giving by flying QantasLink. Qantas painted a Q400 aircraft pink (www.pinklink.

al foundation that determines environmental impacts of tourism and nongovernmental activities on the Antarctic Peninsula. your exPerienCe: Oceanites scientists conduct their Antarctic site inventory during Lindblads Antarctic expeditions onboard the national Geographic endeavor, allowing travelers the opportunity to assist in penguin census-taking, observing tourist impact and photo-documentation. By aiding in the data-collecting, guests have a direct effect on environmental protection and conservation policies. Lectures by national Geographic journalists and photographers, field walks led by noted scientists, kayak tours, underwater roving camera demonstrations and an open-bridge concept all allow for an incredibly adventurous learning expedition. Explorer suites are $17,950 per person for a 15-day expedition. Give BiG: Sponsor an Oceanites scientist for a season of fieldwork; bid high during Lindblads on-board charity auctions; or just book a trip well ahead of time (for each voyage booked to the Galapagos, Costa Rica, Antarctica and Central America, Lindblad donates $250 in the name of each guest and honors them with $250 trip vouchers).

org.au) to raise money and fly the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia message of
prevention and awareness.

Contact: President Stacy Small, Phone: (561) 681-3355; Email: stacy@elitetravelinternational.com; Website: www.elitetravelinternational.com/tripforpink.html
Wise WaTer Offer Charity Water at your next corporate event. For every $20 bottle of water you buy, the charity will use 100 percent of the money to bring clean drinking water to Africa. Ordering 200 to 500 bottles can provide 500 people with clean water for up to 20 years. Since the charity was founded in August 2006, it has funded the development of over 250 wells in six African nations. Most wells produce clean water for 500 to 1,000 people.

Contact: Founder Scott Harrison, Phone: (646) 688-2323; Website: www.charityis.org

heLPinG hoMes Real estate mogul and co-owner of decker Bullock sothebys international realty Olivia Hsu Decker advises people to donate the use of their luxury vacation homes to raise funds for charity. She has donated the use of her Chateau villette near Paris, France to organizations like the San Francisco Opera and the Cannes Film Festival Cinema Against AIDS project (who auctioned one week at the chateau for $60,000).

FLyinG There: Lan flies direct from Miami and Los Angeles and New York to Santiago for a commercial airline alternative. The airline also participates in philanthropic endeavors by supporting organizations such as un Techo Para mi Pais, a community development organization, and america solidaria, a volunteer mentoring program.

Contact: Olivia Hsu Decker, Phone 41-5-435-1600; Fax: 41-5-383-1258; Website: www.frenchvacation.com
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Contact: LAN First Class Team, Phone: (866) 435-9526; Website: www.lan.com

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asia
Journeys Within: Cultural support in southeast asia
The Mission: Brandon and Andrea Ross boutique Southeast Asia tour company Journeys Within strives to give guests authentic experiences in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. The couple also formed the nonprofit Journeys Within our Community organization to spearhead such projects as: a microfinance fund that has loaned over $17,000 to give the poor an opportunity to start or expand a business; a water project that creates wells to provide a safe, dependable water source year round; the Killing Fields Pagoda language school that offers classes in Thai, Japanese, Korean, and English; the Dollars for scholars Fund that gives students university scholarships; and the Thanh Xuan Peace Village shelter that helps victims from the Vietnam War. To really make a difference, join them on a giving tour of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam while enjoying some of the regions finest accommodations and experiences, as outlined below.
ThAi RuRAL SCEnE / JOuRnEyS WiThin

Contact: Director of Tours Andrea Ross, Phone: (877) 454-3672; Fax: (949) 635-6812: Email: andrea@journeys-within.com; Website: www.journeys-within.com

RiCE FiELDS / MAnDARin ORiEnTAL DhARA DhEVi

Mandarin oriental dhara dhevi

LoCaTion: Chiang Mai, Thailand The PrograM: Lanna rice-planting your eXPerienCe: Guests take part in rice-planting, beginning with a ritual ceremony to honor the spirit of the fields. The resort, which is designed to look like a centuries-old village, employs traditional farming methods such as using water buffalo to plow the land. Once harvested, the rice is donated to the Wat Don Chan orphanage. giVe Big: $2,380 pays for the Wat Don Chan pig project; $2,640 supports the Wat Don Chan hydroponic greenhouse project.

aMansara
LoCaTion: Siem Reap, Cambodia The PrograM: Journeys Withins programs (see above) your eXPerienCe: Personal tours of projects run by president Brandon Ross and private tours of the Angkor temples bring a cultural and historic connection so guests bond with
CAMBODiAn FARMER / JOuRnEyS WiThin

the projects they support. Guests meet with the Dollars for scholars leaders to discuss the donors interests and strengths. Visits to villages include bringing donations, collecting payments, assessing loan recipients business plans and offering advice on how to improve productivity. Guests can donate their time and money to Journeys Withins English language school. Those staying at Amansara will have the chance to discover the hotels own community involvement by visiting a working temple and receiving a monks water blessing. Angkor temple tours with scholars can help direct archeological donations. giVe Big: $5,000 will sponsor a language school in Cambodia for a year; $400 will provide a one-year university scholarship.

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asia
ELEPHANT ODySSEy / FOuR SEASONS TENTED CAMP

Four SeaSonS TenTed Camp

Location: Golden Triangle, Thailand the Program: elephant conservation centre, which aids in the conservation and care of domestic and wild elephants. your exPerience: Become a mahout during a three-day training course. Learn the plight of Thailands domestic elephants, what they eat, how to properly care for them as well as all the necessary commands to mount and ride them. Trek through the jungle high on their backs, then guide them into the Mekong River for a bath. give Big: $12,000 per year provides for one baby elephant, a

mahout and his family.

SoFiTel meTropole
Location: Hanoi, Vietnam the Program: Thanh Xuan Peace Village your exPerience: A culinary and cultural tour of Hanoi is enhanced with a visit to this peace project, which provides shelter, food, health check-ups, education and supervision for over 100 victims of dioxin (Agent Orange) used during the Vietnam War. give Big: Help start up a community center for $50,000. FLying there: Not only does Singapore airlines provide excellent first class to Asia, the airline auctioned off all seats on the inaugural flight of its new superjumbo Airbus A380 with the proceeds going to the Singapore community chest, Sydney childrens hospital and Doctors Without Borders.

Contact: Singapore Raffles Class Reservations, Phone: (800) 742-3333; Website: www.singaporeair.com

helping out at home

FunDing FarmS heifer ranch in Perryville, Arkansas, creates sustainable solutions by way of providing farm animals to the needy. Visit the ranch and learn how heifer global village, a unique five-acre program near Little Rock, changes the world through farming. Join a week-long farming workshop or donate to participate in a womens lambing season program, where women from various locations and lifestyles participate in basic wool crafts and cheese-making classes. A summer youth program offers activities that teach children about world hunger. Give cash for an animal, book a program and visit a farm, or sponsor someone else to go. homeS oF hoPe Follow the lead of Makar Properties, owners of St. regis, monarch Beach and Korakia Pensione in Palm Springs, who recently invited guests to join their hotel staff in building homes for locals with habitat for humanity. Executives, guests and bell staff banned together to construct houses, and well-wishers signed the walls with messages of hope and happiness to the future residents. All it takes is a few extra days to volunteer in the vacation location of your choice. hurricane reLieF Thousands are still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Katrina in and around New Orleans, and they need more assistance. Relief organization operation uSa is committed to providing aid to clinics and hospitals as well as setting up community programs. The charity can arrange guided trips for major donors.

Contact: Founder Richard Walden, Phone: (800) 678-7255; Email: info@opusa.org; Website: www.opusa.org
the ritz-carlton, new orleans, offers a crescent citys comeback package that includes accommodations for two nights, transportation to an organization site to participate in a relief effort with habitat for humanity or rebuilding together, a rewarding butler-drawn bath and a couples massage for two at the spa from $1,100 a night.

Contact: St. Regis, Monarch Beach General Manager Johnny So, Phone: (949) 234-3200; Email: johnny.so@stregis.com; Website: www.stregismb.com or Korakia General Manager Flor Schechtel, Phone: (760) 864-6411; Fax: (760) 864-4147; Email: info@korakia.com; Website: www.korakia.com

Contact: National Director Tony Woodell, Phone: (800) 422-0474; Email: ray.white@heifer.org; Website: www.heifer.org

Contact: General Manager Myra deGersdorff, Phone: (504) 524-1331; Fax: (504) 524-7675; Email: myra.degersdorff@ritzcarlton.com Website: www.ritzcarlton.com/neworleans

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