Awesome Adventures specializes in creating adventure travel programs that benefit the local communities that we visit and the environment that surrounds them. Each program has been carefully chosen to provide the maximum benefits to the recipients while providing a high quality adventure opportunity for our travelers. Incorporating the concept of "voluntourism" while at the same time selecting vendors and suppliers who offer "green" practices and programs, we strive to minimize the negative impact of our journeys while maximizing the positive benefits gained from each expedition.
Our tireless research and a global network of connections help us identify those areas and organizations bested served by the resources that Awesome Adventures offers, and forms the basis of how we actually create our expeditions. With destinations worldwide and programs that address a broad range of needs, there is a trip for every adventurer and every budget. From the mountains to the sea, from working with local villagers or creatures great or small, the greatest challenge our travelers should face is the decision of which expedition to participate in first!
Awesome Adventures' goal is to provide travel opportunities to people of all abilities. An Accessibility Rating () has been given to each trip and is scaled 1-5 (1 being "most challenging" and 5 being "easy").
What is "Sustainable Travel"?
Unlike the world of 50 years ago, today nearly everyone travels, to destinations near and far. The world has truly become a much smaller place than it it was just a generation or two ago. Travel by its very nature has an impact - often negative - on the environment, on the cultures and on the economies of local people who play host to tourism throughout the world. This is why sustainable travel - travel that leaves the world a better place for us having been there - is essential to help maintain a healthy balance between providing a means to enjoy the journey while at the same time protecting the very resources that attract us to lands near and far in the first place.
The impacts of travel and tourism
Whether or not we like to think about it, the sheer process of travel depletes natural resources and causes pollution. Creating and maintaining the infrastructure for tourism often brings negative physical impacts on the environment... (Read More)
Our Sustainable Trips
Costa Rica
Casa Zelendon Artificial Reef Project Rebuilding the Reef Systems of the Pacific Coast
LENGTH OF TRIP: 8 Days / 7 Nights
Accessibility Rating:
PROJECT: Design, build and install artificial reef systems and fish habitats to support sea life in coastal areas ravaged by recent storms and environmental issues. Additionally, grow and plant live corals to stimulate continued natural reef development. During summer and fall months, turtle nest monitoring may be included.
Egypt
Surveying Ancient Cultures Above & Below the Sea 6,000Years of History in 2Weeks: Cairo,Luxor & the Red Sea
LENGTH OF TRIP: 15 Days / 13 Nights Accessibility Rating:
PROJECT: Experience educational tours of ancient Egypt in the cities of Cairo and Luxor. Work with in- house educators of Quseir Dive Site Management (QDSM) and stay in local eco-camps located right on the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea to survey and document the local marine life. Participate in the construction of new shore diving sites by working with QSDM on beach and reef clean up as well as the logistics for surveying, identifying and marking the dive sites.
Fiji
Kadavu Island Koro School Improvements Educational Support Programs & Renovations for Fiji's Schools
LENGTH OF TRIP: 10 Days / 9 Nights Accessibility Rating:
PROJECT: The remote island of Kadavu is far removed from the population centers of the Fiji Islands. As a result the communities on the island are restricted in their accessibility to basic amenities and services.The Matava Foundation was created to enable goodwill-based outside organizations such as Awesome Adventures to visit the island and undertake projects dedicated to improving the quality of life for the native people.
Florida Keys
Florida Bay Mangrove Madness Restoring the Mangrove Estuary & Florida Bay Grasslands
LENGTH OF TRIP: 4 Days / 3 Nights Accessibility Rating:
PROJECT: Kayak-based expeditions in the Florida Keys mangrove estuaries to remove debris and discarded fishing line and other hazards to marine life in the area surrounding Florida Bay. In 2012 our project scope will expand with the addition of boating expeditions in Florida Bay to participate in Seagrass Restoration in Everglades National Park.
Guatemala
Tecnico Maya Vocational School Project Building Green & Teaching Others in Guatemala
LENGTH OF TRIP: 8 Days/7 Nights Accessibility Rating:
PROJECT: Construction of a vocational and technical school for the scenic village of Comalapa, Guatemala, utilizing 'green architecture' design and recycled waste materials as the primary building materials. The project provides training and an opportunity for schooling for the local community, while addressing a long-standing waste accumulation that surrounded the town.
Haiti
Les Ceyes Orphanage & Medical Center Project Lending a Helping Hand to Rebuild Southern Haiti
LENGTH OF TRIP: 9 Days / 8 Nights Accessibility Rating:
PROJECT: The Awesome Adventures team will work alongside the villagers of southern Haiti in the construction and renovations of the Orphanage and Medical Clinic in the seaside village of Les Ceyes. Our group will work alongside organizers of the Tree of Life Foundation who have been bringing groups of volunteers to Haiti for over 10 years to work on numerous community projects near the Southern coast of Haiti.
St. Croix
Be a Farmer in Paradise! Organic Farming & Sustainable Practices for Reef Preservation
LENGTH OF TRIP: 8 Days/7 Nights Accessibility Rating:
PROJECT: Learn and practice minimal-impact farming on the only all-organic farm in the US Virgin Islands. Participate in educational seminars on topics such as herbalism, sustainable land utilization and organic farming practices. Conduct a beach cleanup, construct hiking trails, and assist with other improvements to protect the natural resources, rain forests and offshore reefs of this beautiful Caribbean island.
St. John
Trail Reconstruction in Virgin Island National Park
LENGTH OF TRIP: 8 Days/7 Nights Accessibility Rating:
PROJECT: Virgin Island National Park covers 60% of the island of St John in the US Virgin Islands including 5000 acres of submerged lands and coral reefs. 700,000 tourists a year visit St John to hike the trails within the National Park and to frequent the pristine beaches. Trial maintenance is high priority within the National Park due to the high volume of visitors hiking over a limited number of trials through dense vegetation and forest lands.
Africa Helping the Next Generation of the
“Rainbow Nation”
LENGTH OF TRIP: 9 Days/8 Nights Accessibility Rating:
PROJECT:South Africa is famous for Big 5 Safaris, the annual Sardine Run migration and endless jagged coast. The true jewel of South Africa is the people. The “Rainbow Nation” is a mixture of nationalities and cultures. The children of South Africa are the next generation of the keepers to this great land and there are numerous regions of the country where the children require assistance to ensure their future.
) has been given to each trip and is scaled 1-5 (1 being "most challenging" and 5 being "easy"). 
