link to entry | comments (0)

Traveling Into Consciousness

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel has raised over 1 million dollars since 2008. 100% has been donated to high impact NGO's (non-government organizations) in destinations in the USA and around the world.

Share

Life is a journey comprised of many steps on our personal path that takes us down a winding road of constant evolution. And each day, we are provided with a myriad of opportunities that can allow us to transform into our next best selves.

One moment we are presented with an opportunity to react differently when yet another someone in our life rubs us the wrong way; on another day we may find ourselves wanting to walk away from a particular circumstance but are not sure if we can.

Eventually, we may find ourselves stuck in a rut that we can never seem to get out of. We may even make the same choices over and over again because we don't know how to choose otherwise. Rather than moving us forward, our personal paths may take us in a seemingly never ending circle where our actions and choices lead us nowhere but to where we've already been.

It is during these moments that awareness can be the first step to change.

Awareness is when we are able to realize what we are doing. We observe ourselves, noticing our reactions, actions, and choices as if we were a detached viewer.

Awareness is the first step to change because we can't make a change unless we are aware that one needs to be made in the first place.

We can then begin understanding why we are doing what we are doing. Afterward, it becomes difficult not to change because we are no longer asleep to the truth behind our behaviors.

We also begin to realize that, just as much as we are the root source behind the causes for our behaviors, we are also the originator for any changes that we want to happen.

It is through awareness that we can continue to consciously evolve.

link to entry | comments (0)

Going Away To Go Within: Philanthropic Travel

Share

Occasionally, we need to pause -and step away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. One way to do this is to get away from our daily life and go on retreat. Far more than a vacation, a retreat offers us time to ourselves to rest, heal, reflect, and renew our spirit.

The beauty of going on retreat is that no matter where you go or how long you stay, you'll always meet yourself when you get there. A retreat may offer quiet, solitude, and sometimes even silence. Retreats often take place in humble dwellings with simple fare so that our senses may be reawakened to the beauty of unadorned tastes and the sights and sounds of nature. When we spend days in contemplation, we can more easily hear our heart when it speaks to us.

We also are able to really listen when a bird sings, deeply breathe in the smell of flowers, grass, or earth, and delight in a soft breeze blowing on our cheek. When we go on retreat we have time to connect to the sacred geometry of a labyrinth, discover epiphanies through asanas, or take a long, reflective walk through the woods where we can give each step our full attention.

Without the pull of deadlines, relationships, the Internet, or other media, we give ourselves time to go deep into our own solitude where we can fully reflect on our joys, sorrows, and fears, owning and releasing them as needed. We may even come to know and understand our life path more deeply.

Hopefully, when we return home, we can take a little bit of this time alone back with us and create the space for deep reflection on a daily basis. We also may come back to our life renewed and ready to take on the world.

``
Make an appointment with an expert.

Join us on Facebook and get to know us on Twitter

Learn More:
Personal Philanthropy = The Globalization of Empathy
Living Legacy and Philanthropic Voyages
Your Philanthropic Travel Team
Around the World with Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel
Philanthropic Journeys begin with Exquisite Safaris
Member of the United Nations Foundation World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism
The Advent of Philanthropic Travel by Mark Lovett Global Patriot
Financial Times/FT.com: Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travelers
Vacationing in Generosity: Philanthropic Travel
TheGlassHammer.com Philanthropic Travelers
Your First Philanthropic Travel Experience

Philanthropic Travelers:
The One's Who Do: Philanthropic Travelers
John Legend: Philanthropic Traveler

link to entry | comments (0)

Water Buffalo Donation Hoi An, Vietnam

David Chamberlain offering congratulations to Vietnamese man.

BEAST OF BURDEN AND BOUNTY
Philanthropic Traveler's gift of a water buffalo will help raise Vietnamese family from poverty.

By MARIE VASARI
Herald Staff Writer

People buy all kinds of things when they travel abroad.

Cut crystal or fine lacework. Liquor, clothing, handicrafts to bring home -- or to give as gifts.

Dan Presser's philanthropic travel group purchased a water buffalo -- then they gave it away.

The travel agent was touring Cambodia and Vietnam with a group of travel industry professionals, who were moved by the poverty they saw and decided to help a local family. Members of the group made inquiries and were introduced to one of the poorest families in Hoi An, Vietnam, subsistence farmers surviving on a small patch of land next to their homes.

So the group of 15 or so travelers each pitched in for the $640 purchase, bought from another local.

While the monetary investment was only about $40 a person, Presser said its payoff was a big emotional experience.

What's considered change to most people will have life-changing results for that family.

"It means a whole new life for the guy," said Presser.

The family, who lives in a one-room, thatched tin-roof house with only a divider to mark off a sleeping area, will benefit on several levels with the beast of burden.

"It means he can now hire himself out and till fields and make more money," likely about $7 a day, said Presser. According to the group's tour guide, the most they'd be likely to earn otherwise would be about $2 a day.

In addition, the young female animal will eventually reproduce, with those offspring providing another source of revenue for the family.

Presser doesn't know many details about the family who got the water buffalo -- they were introduced to the travel group only as "Mr. Gung and Ms. Tuet."

"The only thing we know about them is that they were desperately poor," said Presser. "For them, it's a life-changing experience."

The two-week tour, from May 11 to May 25, was organized for U.S. travel agents by a major Southeast Asian travel provider, but one member, Don Breen, was there for a different reason.

The former military pilot flew missions in Vietnam during the war and found it particularly emotional to return there for the first time in 35 years. The Birmingham, Ala., resident and Presser's former roommate at Tulane University lost his wife to suicide while he was away at war, and on the final day of last month's trip, he contracted Bell's Palsy, which has temporarily paralyzed some of his facial muscles.

Nonetheless, Breen says the water buffalo -- and the difference it'll make for the family -- made the experience worthwhile.

"It was an overwhelming experience and the highlight of my trip," he said. "It was a drop in the bucket, but the right kind of drop."

Vietnam Links:
Philanthropic Travel Vietnam
Halong Bay World Heritage Site
Old Quarter Hanoi
Investing in Vietnam

Learn More:
Friends of Ngong Road Schools: Philanthropic Travel Kenya
Now is your Moment: Philanthropic Travel
For those to whom much is given; much is required: Philanthropic Travel
TheGlassHammer.com Philanthropic Travelers
Vacationing in Generosity: Philanthropic Travel
Life Changing: Philanthropic Travel
Your First Philanthropic Travel Experience
Approaching the Omega Point: Philanthropic Travel

Philanthropic Travelers:
Barack Obama: Philanthropic Traveler
John Legend: Philanthropic Traveler
Teach your Children Well: Philanthropic Travel
The One's Who Do: Philanthropic Travelers

link to entry | comments (0)

Evolution Through Exploration

Most living things belong to a particular soul group and are born knowing their purpose in life. An animal will spend its day foraging for food, taking care of itself and its young, and creating a home. No one tells an animal to do this, yet it instinctively knows how. Humans, for the most part, are not born consciously knowing what their purpose is. Purpose gives our life meaning. When you discover your purpose, you can live your life with intention and make choices that serve your objective for why you are here on the planet. Finding your purpose is not always easy. You must embrace life wholeheartedly, explore many different pathways, and allow yourself to grow.

Your purpose is as unique as you are and will evolve as you move through life. You don't need anyone's permission to fulfill your purpose, and no one can tell you what that purpose is. Finding and fulfilling your purpose can be a lifelong endeavor. To figure out what your purpose is, ask yourself what drives you - not what forces you out of bed in the morning, but what makes you glad to be alive. Make a list of activities that you wish you were involved in or think about a career path that you would love to embark upon. These are the endeavors that can help you fulfill your purpose and bring you the most satisfaction.

Picture yourself working on projects that don't interest you or fulfill your purpose, yet they help satisfy your basic survival needs. Imagine how living this way each day would make you feel. Next, picture yourself devoting your time to projects that spark your imagination, inspire, excite, and satisfy you. More often than not, these activities are some of the ways that you can fulfill your life purpose. Time spent on these endeavors will never feel like a waste. Live your life with purpose, and you will feel significant and capable because every action you take and each choice you make will have meaning to it.

Related Links
Becoming a Philanthropist
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
The Wisdom of Stone Soup
Zambia: Exquisite Safaris School Project
Affluent Parents Dedicated to Instilling Philanthropic Values in their Children
Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Donor Tours
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Why Exquisite Safaris?
Daily Om

Learn More:
Stepping Into Consciousness
Going Away To Go Within
Evolution Through Exploration

Philanthropic Travel Foundation NGO Services

Emotional Endorphins
Philanthropic Adventures: Family Foundations Introduction: Family Giving and Philanthropic Travel
Our Journey, our Pilgrimage
Charmed Life?
Teaching your Children Philanthropy

link to entry | comments (0)

Botswana: Okavango Delta Cheetah Hunt

Story and pictures: David Chamberlain

GT, our expert Exquisite Safaris tracker kept pointing there! there! and I didn't see where! where, until the Toyota pulled up next to the termite hill. I was expecting to see something exciting while scanning at a distance of 200-300 meters distant.

The moment I rested my eyes and re-adjusted my position in the open air vehicle I happened to glance 6 feet to my left and noticed the first male cheetah. (OK, so I'm a little slow -nothing we all didn't know already).

His two partners sat on their own termite mounds at 50 and 75 meters distant. It was quite obvious they were interested in a large female Kudu 150 meters in the original direction of my focus -not the least bit distracted by us.

Gareth, our guide/driver told us to hold on tight, while GT gracefully entered the Toyota from his tracker chair on the front bumper. The second GT sat next to me in the rumble seat, the chase was on!

HOLD ON TIGHT there are no ROADS in SIGHT!

Three of the world's fastest animals weaving a course, tails rotating wildly in opposite direction, dirt, stones and bushes absorbing the thrust of 12 paws at full throttle; while the Toyota hurtling through meter high grass, was doing all it could to keep them in sight.

A quick chase to contact, 30-45 seconds as one Cheetah grabbed the Kudu's throat and the other two clamped their jaws on the thorax and hindquarter in the shadow of our vehicle, all involved hyperventilating madly in the Kudus final moment.

The excitement of a Cheetah hunt can never be forgotten; if you are lucky enough to witness one. Silence & concentration, stealth and speed; the brutal reality of witnessing survival of the fittest. A bit of over-stimulation at 7am to say the least.

Unfortunate as it may be for the Kudu, the experience of witnessing such a drama in one of the last remaining wild places on Earth is an African memory that will live with you forever.

In Africa, the quality of your guide is directly related to the quality of your luxury wilderness experience.

Exquisite Safaris Botswana delivers the highest standard of personal services in camp and on game drives. For example, it is not possible for a guide to drive through the bush, spot game effectively, and educate guests on what they are seeing simultaneously. Exquisite Safaris employs a tracker-driver team which greatly enhances your chances of enjoying the rare sequences of cheetah and wild dog hunts as well as other animals both big and small.

Thanks go out to GT our tracker and Gareth our driver/conservationist for locating and keeping us an eyewitness to this incredible Okavango Delta Cheetah Hunt drama!
.

``
Make an appointment with an expert.

Join us on Facebook and get to know us on Twitter

Learn More:
Philanthropic Journeys & Living Legacy
The Advent of Philanthropic Travel by Mark Lovett
Financial Times/FT.com: Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travelers
Vacationing in Generosity: Philanthropic Travel
TheGlassHammer.com Philanthropic Travelers
Your First Philanthropic Travel Experience

Philanthropic Travelers:
The One's Who Do: Philanthropic Travelers
John Legend: Philanthropic Traveler

link to entry | comments (0)

Okavango Delta Safari Report July 2006

Okavango Delta Safari Reports

Camp One
Two Male Lions were found feeding on a bull elephant.
Another two large male lions with full black manes were seen in the day (very shy), but seemed far bolder at night. These males are new to the area & are presumed to have come from the southern areas.
Two lionesses (one with collar) were seen regularly.
Another pride of four (2 lion & 2 lionesses) seen frequently.
A very relaxed female leopard was seen on the cut line heading south. She was actively scent marking her territory.
Two male cheetah found along road sunning & grooming themselves on top of a termite mound. They were followed the whole day & eventually seen killing a Roan antelope calf.
Tracks of a female cheetah & cubs also seen in the area.
Pack of 6 wild dogs (2 male, 1 female, 3 pups) seen at the airstrip hunting & killing impala.
Report of another 3 wild dogs on the airstrip road.
Increasing elephant activity around the camp, occasionally keeping guests trapped in their tents as they continuously feed on Marula trees shading them.
Many young elephant calves accompanying females in the large breeding herds.
As the waterholes in the woodlands start drying up large herds of buffalo move up to the river, with bulls fighting & one cow giving birth.
Two separate herds of buffalo approximately 1000 seen.
Two Southern African rock Python sighted
Spotted hyena seen around camp.
Chameleons & both species of jackal found at night
Excellent general game in the area
Porcupine & 2 honey badgers seen along the Old Road

Camp Two
Pride of 2 large male joined 4 lionesses found on their zebra kill.
Another pride of 8 lionesses seen hunting at night, but were unsuccessful.
Pride of 10 seen feeding on giraffe between the airstrip & the boat station.
On the same day another pride of 6 were seen at the airstrip resting in the shade.
Three brief leopard sightings this week, possibly due to prevalence of lion activity in the area.
Three male cheetah seen making contact calls and eventually joining another one in the area.
Same coalition of male cheetah seen resting at the Bat-eared fox den and later found with full stomachs.
Brief sighting of some wild dog at night, which then moved into the Mopane woodlands.
Several bull elephants seen at various pans including right in front of the camp for most of the day.
Numbers of hippo at the pan in front of camp – they seem to like basking in the sun daily from mid-morning to mid-afternoon
Bradfield's Hornbill, Malachite kingfisher, wattled cranes, saddle-billed storks, Bateleur eagles among the bird sightings.
A rare sighting of an aardwolf along Cheetah Rd.
Hyenas seen at night as well as genets and African wild cat
Abundant herds of tsessebe, as well as wildebeest, zebra, lechwe, warthogs impala & giraffe

Camp Three
Two lionesses were hunting on the boundary road & in the evening were seen eating a baboon.
Lion & lioness located along the vlei road. The male was trying to mate, but the female wasn’t interested.
Four lionesses found at Skimmer pan resting one night.
Same lionesses found north of the camp hunting & killing a full grown warthog.
Two days later they followed the buffalo herd & killed a calf.
Very relaxed young female leopard found along the river road hunting at night.
Large breeding herds of elephant (approx.1000) found at the Twin Pools area.
A few aggressive elephant bulls in musth also seen.
Three different herds of buffalo, also approximately 1000 each, coming into the area.
Pack of hyena were feeding on elephant carcass around 10km Pan.
Chameleon seen basking in the warm morning sun.
Pair of mating warthogs found on Flea road.
Saddle-billed storks, wattled cranes, plovers & sandpipers.
Pearl-spotted, giant eagle & Barn owls seen on night drives
Snouted Cobra & Black mamba found on separate occasions sunning themselves
Night sightings include hyenas, civet, porcupine, genets and African wild cat

Exquisite Safaris Botswana is the most game rich pristine wilderness in all of Africa. These three camps are situated in a private reserve the size of Rhode Island. You will be one of only 16 people in each camp. Experience Africa as it was hundreds of years ago in this private concession area.

Due to limited capacity reservations are recommended 6 months prior to travel, holiday season reservations are required 6 months in advance.

Learn More:
Multi-Generational Philanthropic Travel: Exquisite Safaris
2007 World Travel Market London: Luxury Travel with a Conscience
Travel Philanthropy: Creating Peace
The Fable of Stone Soup
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Approaching the Omega Point: Philanthropic Travel
Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide
Fast Company Magazine on Philanthropic Travel
PersonalLifemedia.com on Philanthropic Travel
Philanthropic Traveler funded High School opens near Victoria Falls, Zambia
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
Affluent Parents Dedicated to Instilling Philanthropic Values in their Children
Giving while Living: The Deeper News About the New Philanthropy
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on the Strategic Steps Out of Poverty

Philanthropic Travelers:
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Chellie Kew
Milton & Fred Ochieng: Philanthropic Travelers
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler
Angelina Jolie: Philanthropic Traveler
Oprah Winfrey: Philanthropic Traveler
Palm Beach Life Magazine: Philanthropic Travelers

link to entry | comments (0)

Philanthropic Travel by Exquisite Safaris

Inle Lake, Burma (Myanmar)

Philanthropic Travel the Ultimate Luxury

Learn More:
Multi-Generational Philanthropic Travel: Exquisite Safaris
2007 World Travel Market London: Luxury Travel with a Conscience
Travel Philanthropy: Creating Peace
The Fable of Stone Soup
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Approaching the Omega Point: Philanthropic Travel
Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide
Fast Company Magazine on Philanthropic Travel
PersonalLifemedia.com on Philanthropic Travel
Philanthropic Traveler funded High School opens near Victoria Falls, Zambia
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
Affluent Parents Dedicated to Instilling Philanthropic Values in their Children
Giving while Living: The Deeper News About the New Philanthropy
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on the Strategic Steps Out of Poverty

Philanthropic Travelers:
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Chellie Kew
Milton & Fred Ochieng: Philanthropic Travelers
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler
Angelina Jolie: Philanthropic Traveler
Oprah Winfrey: Philanthropic Traveler
Palm Beach Life Magazine: Philanthropic Travelers

link to entry | comments (0)