Elevate the Gulf: An Urgent Service Journey

The Gulf oil spill affected an ecosystem and an economy that was still reeling from the devastation created during Hurricane Katrina five years earlier. Marshland ecosystems, coastal industries and local culture were ravaged by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that took over three months to stop and released as much as 180 million gallons of crude oil in to the ocean.

The Gulf Coast is at the center of economic, environmental and social systems in the region. From New Orleans to Mobile Bay, the coast plays a primary role in people’s lives that transcends race and socioeconomic status. People rely on the coast for their work, leisure and nourishment and continue to experience the unimaginable fallout of a contaminated shoreline and food source. We still do not know the ultimate consequences of this disaster.

Join Elevate Destinations on a journey of a lifetime, giving you the chance to help restore the ecosystem of the Gulf Coast and providing you a firsthand look at the importance of this system and the affect of the spill on its bounty.

About Elevate Destinations:

Elevate Destinations is a designer of Responsive Travel: travel that makes a difference to the countries we visit. We custom design extraordinary individual, group and family trips, giving a percentage of profits to the protection of natural resources and community development in destination countries. Visits to community projects as well as short-term service and volunteer opportunities are available to all interested travelers.

New Orleans, Louisiana and Mobile, Alabama, Spring 2011

Dates: April 24 – 30, 2011
New Orleans Warm-Up: April 22-24

Basic Package: $750
Basic Package with New Orleans Warm-Up: $1500
Upgraded Package: $1250
Upgraded Package with New Orleans Warm-Up: $2000
New Orleans Single Supplement: $500

Each traveller will also be asked to raise an additional $500 from family and friends that will be directly donated to The Ocean Foundation, the organization we are supporting on the Gulf Coast. Elevate Destinations will provide you with the tools to make fundraising easy.

On April 20th, 2010 over 185 million gallons of crude oil began a three-month gush into the waters off the Gulf Coast of the United States. So began a national tragedy that not only affected marine and coastal flora and fauna, but an entire fishing economy, culture and ecosystem.  The sheen on the water has dissipated, as has the media attention, but the long-term repercussions have only begun.

Join Elevate Destinations and non-profit partner, The Ocean Foundation, to support an area of our country that has suffered economically, culturally and ecologically.

This journey takes you into the Deep South to Mobile Bay at the mouth of the Mississippi River to help The Ocean Foundation restore ecosystems damaged by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and years of ecological destruction.

Trip highlights:

·      Join local non-profits and other volunteers to create oyster reefs and reseed seagrass that help filter ocean water and provide sheltered areas to nurture biodiversity affected by the spill.

·      Listen to the stories of oyster farmers and fishermen that have worked in the area for generations

·      Journey out onto the water to see the way the marshlands and reefs protect the coast

·       Venture into New Orleans and Mobile to learn about the social and cultural ways that the coast has been a prime factor in sculpting the mélange of cultures that exists on the Gulf Coast today

·       Cook with chefs that rely on the local harvest to create dishes that reflect the unique Cajun and Creole cuisine of the region

·       Learn about the losses the gulf has experienced, environmentally, economically and culturally and then help to rebuild

Please help us spread the word about this trip to make a difference to the people and the ecosystem of this precious region.

Elevate the Gulf: An Urgent Service Journey