Silver & Salt Tour
$2524
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Tour Overview DAILY ITINERARIES BIG THINGS GALLERY ACTIVITIES
INCLUDED / NOT INCLUDED AVAILABLE DATES Tour Information and FAQs
COUNTRY INFORMATION IS THIS TOUR RIGHT FOR YOU? OPPORTUNITIES TO GIVE BACK
ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

Go BIG wants to help!

There are so many ways to give back to leave the places visited better off because you were there, or to leave a better person because of your experience.  Often it's both!

Go BIG has partnered with multiple organizations that protect children, animals, and landscapes.  If schedules permit, and pre-approval is granted, micro-volunteering opportunities can be available in certain areas of the tour.  The goal for these volunteering opportunities is to allow for Go BIG travelers to be introduced to some incredible organizations that are making a difference for individuals, communities, landscapes, animals, and the world as a whole.  The hope is that these opportunities will inspire future engagement with these organizations or similar ones.  Each organization is unique as are the opportunities available to engage with them.  Some of the opportunities will allow for seeing completed projects that the organization was involved in, some will allow for meeting of the staff members, others will allow for direct involvement.  The specific engagements possible for one tour date may not be available for all tour dates, and we will do our best to provide maximum engagement for those that are interested.

*All of the giving back opportunities are completely optional.  Take part in some, all, or none.

Volunteering Opportunities

Give some of your scheduled free time to volunteer.  We will organize it and provide transportation for you.

With People

at an orphanage or community support organization.

With Animals

at wildlife rescue & rehabilitation centers or domestic animal shelters.

Charitable Contributions

Give Stuff or Give Money

Go BIG buys requested supplies and delivers them utilizing our tour transportation.  Deliveries are made during non-tour itinerary times.  Tour guests can take part by monetary contributions for the supplies or by joining the delivery team if they are so inclined, but taking part is completely optional.

Education

Go BIG’s philosophy: Preservation through education and mindful travel.  Tourism when done right, helps people (both traveler and host) appreciate what they have as a resource to be preserved.

Learn

Help yourself to a new perspective by getting to know some of the charitable organizations Go BIG supports.

Teach

Help spread knowledge and goodwill by giving a mini lecture of a subject that you know well.

Empowers Local Stakeholders

  • Employs local guides
  • Contributes to local businesses
  • Supports local charities
  • Encourages local preservation projects
  • Provides consultation regarding local conservation
Make contribution

Charitable Donations

Share your time

Volunteer w Animals

Volunteer w People

Spread knowledge

Educate Yourself

Educate Others

How We Give

Independent Carbon Offsetting

We at GBT feel it is important to try to counterbalance any environmental footprint increases caused by travel-related services - we bypass the current voluntary carbon offsetting marketplace and offset our footprint independently.

The total greenhouse gas emissions caused by the consumption of fossil fuels during an event expressed as a carbon dioxide equivalent.
A system that allows for an entity to compensate (offset) the greenhouse gas emissions that they directly or indirectly create by purchasing credits from those supplying projects that remove or reduce greenhouse gases. One "credit" equals one ton of greenhouse gases reduced, sequestered, or avoided. Once a "credit" is used it becomes an "offset" and is no longer available. There are two types - compliance which is mandated often by governments and voluntary which are self-imposed and non-regulated.
Footprint calculation: is used to determine the greenhouse gas emissions associated with a particular event. Credit valuation: the value of a particular project as expressed in the amount of greenhouse gases not emitted into the atmosphere due to a particular project's implementation. Project valuation / accreditation: The process of assessing a project's potential impact for reducing atmospheric greenhouse gases. Efficacy monitoring: how effective a particular project is once implemented as an offset. Third-party sellers / traders: the brokers that match projects to to be used as credits and entities including individuals looking to offset their carbon footprint.
There have been many great concepts that have been applied in real world settings. The projects from those concepts are now mature enough to be giving back reliable data about their efficacy. GBT realizes that good intentions do not guarantee good results and believes in the potential of the marketplace. We are making our own assessments of what has worked and what has fallen short. So we feel that the marketplace is currently in the "wild west" stage and is heading in the right direction - it just isn't quite there yet.
We have a hybrid approach to the marketplace; we utilize the ______ carbon footprint calculation to determine The impact of our and our guests expressed in terms of carbon units we then invest in or donate directly to the projects and organizations that we feel are having the greatest impact on offsetting our footprint. we offset our share of the total footprint from tours and suggest to the guests that they contribute to offset their portion of the footprints including their flights to and from the destinations.

Give Big Organization

Mission

To nurture community pride in the areas' unique ecosystems bolstered by community outreach initiatives that are grounded in environmental understanding based on research and education.

Vision

A community of foreign and domestic members that strive to balance growth with preservation in stewartship of the environment.

GBT Mobile Outreach

HOW WE REACH OUT

Introduce NGOs

We highlight the innovative projects of partnering NGOS throughout the tours' tineraries (see organizational descriptions below).

Distribute Donations

We utilize GBT transportation to deliver donations and requested supplies to in need and often remote communities and organizations we have partnered with.

HOW TO HELP US HELP OTHERS

Ongoing Needs

  • Gas to get us to the locations
  • Wages for shuttle drivers
  • Special-request items
  • Specific project needs (including construction materials)
  • Donations (including school supplies, clothing, and sporting equipment)

Community Outreach Hub

We are currently in the process of establishing a physical presence in the Dominican Republic - a community hub - to magnify our impact.

The hope is that it will serve as a template for similar hubs to be introduced in other countries in which GBT operates.

THREE OPERATIONAL PILLARS

Education

  • Language studies
  • Marine biology
  • Basic Sanitation
  • Environmental education
  • Reef restoration
  • Permaculture

Training

  • Mentoring
  • Job recruitment
  • Local guide training
  • Small business management training
  • Computer training
  • Resume assistance
  • Primary job placement
  • School entry and scholarship applications assistance
  • Micro-industry introductions (cacao to chocolate, coconut products, craft making)

Volunteer campus

  • Event coordination
  • Animal rescue shelter
  • Permaculture projects
  • Environmental research
  • Donation storage
  • Recreational facilities
  • Administrative office
  • Presentation facilities and equipment
  • Housing and cooking facilities for volunteers (guest instructors / lectures / researchers / translators / administrators)
Supported Organizations
In order to support a wide range of interests for tours in different parts of the country and different times of year we look for and support a wide range of organizations.  We support charitable organizations ranging from those that work with children, underprivileged adults, in-need animals, historical/cultural preservation, and environmental conservation.  The structure of the organizations are as diverse as their focuses, each approaching issues from their own perspectives.  The organizations are: international and domestic, faith-based and secular, multinational and country-specific, some work in specific cities or regions and others are nationwide, and some are open to the public and others closed.  We encourage you to look through the descriptions provided by the organizations and to visit their websites to better understand the incredible work that they do.
La Paz
Helping Hands Foundation
community support organization
We, at the Helping Hands Project Bolivia, have been working with students of limited economic resources from La Paz and its surrounding areas since 2004. We have been supporting them throughout their studies and helping them to take their first steps into the world of work. So far, we have worked alongside more than 300 young people enabling them, with the help of our sponsors and supporters, to realize their dreams of an education and to achieve independence.
La Paz
SOS Children's Villages Bolivia
family support and youth training
We are a non-profit, non-governmental and independent organization that works for the right of children to live as a family. In the world, we are the largest organization for direct care to children.
La Paz
Plan International
promotion of children's rights and girl equality
We are an independent humanitarian organization, with no religious or political bias, focused on children's rights. Our fundamental pillar is the commitment to children and adolescents, so that they have a life free of poverty, violence and injustice.
Sucre
Hogar Tata San Juan de Dios
orphanage
In a remote lowland village surrounded by trees and expansive green fields resides the ninth NPH home, Casa Padre Wasson. The Bolivian family began in April 2005 at a small home in Santa Cruz. Now it has expanded to their own property on the countryside with 12 family-style homes that house almost 100 children (five homes for boys, five for girls and one for the babies), and four additional houses that host volunteers and employees.
Northern Bolivia
Armonía
environmental conservation and education program
Armonía has multiple conservation programs across Bolivia that couple environmental protection with improved livelihoods and living standards for the Bolivian people. Our programs combine 3 main elements to guarantee long-term success: protected areas, educational campaigns and improved livelihoods.