What can you expect from a Climbing HorizonsBelize trip? Climb Mayan temples, explore caves and Mayan ceremonial sites, hike the jungle, canoe  and kayak. Snorkel the reef and learn about coral! Try your hand at making home made meals and engage with the local community. Have a meaningful travel experience and know that your travel makes a difference! 

Join us on one of our upcoming trips!

Travel with a purpose! Climbing Horizons trips are for the active traveler who wants to do more than see sights.

Climbing Horizons is a Tax Exempt Non-Profit organization dedicated to the belief that we can make this world a better place through meaningful travel that serves a purpose. Our philosophy is based on the principles of ecotourism, offering trips that engage the traveler through meaningful projects that are beneficial to the communities we visit.The organization aims at educating Life Travelers about the host country, culture, Sustainable Tourism and the impacts such an industry can have on their host countries. The trips are fun filled and action packed and show the highlights of what the country has to offer. Climbing Horizons trips primarly visit nations where people live off the land and material possessions are at a minimum. These places are sanctuaries from Western Civilization and provide people with a much different view on life - one without money and possessions that typically cloud our view.

Life Travelers will have the opportunity to see the Beauty of such places and the Happiness of the people while learning about Responsible Sustainable Tourism. It is our hope that raising awareness  about these concepts also ensures that their way of life and culture can be preserved for all future generations to see. Each Climbing Horizons trip will also have a service compnent where travelers can engage in volunteer work that will help the host countries meet their basic needs (food, water, education). This is known as Voluntourism and is a great way to visit new places, help those in need and see the world from a different angle.

Climbing Horizons is all about changing your perspective and enabling the Life Traveler to see that one can "Climb Horizons" much as the Ancient Mayans did with their Temples in Belize.


The following video was filmed in January 2012 and aims at introducing the companies, and what we do, our philosophies and what you can expect from our trips. I hope you enjoy it! 

  

Please email us at climbinghorizons@gmail.com for more information.

UPDATE: JANUARY 2012

The new kitchen has been built! It is a brand new building with a new oven, sink, cleaning and cutting table, shelves and storage. It has woodwork and hand crafted items from the local Mennonites in Belize. The CSULB January 2011 group was lucky enough to finish the project by painting the outside of the kitchen. Below is a picture of the new wood burning oven in use for teaching the students how to make corn tortillas. This oven also has a chimney so that the local workers are not constantly inhaling smoke (unlike the old kitchen). Thank you to everyone who contributed to this great cause!

CLICK DONATE BELOW TO MAKE A CHARITABLE DONATION THAT IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE!

Why Project Kitchen for Belize?
Having personally experienced the power of tourism to positively affect a traveler, I set up a study abroad program in Belize. I wanted this study abroad experience to be meaningful to the student in terms of both personal and academic development. But more than that, this travel experience was supposed to model how tourism can positively impact the environment, local people and local economies. With the help of Beyond Touring’s Laura Howard we set up a trip that could model ecotourism, including service to the community of Indian Church Village, as well as sustainable jungle and reef explorations. Ecotourism can be defined as: “Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people” (TIES, 1990). Since January 2009, more than 45 CSULB students have been to Belize and Indian Church Village through the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies and Beyond Touring. Every time we stay at Indian Church, we are welcomed with open arms and return back home changed because of the people we met and relations we formed. This project came about as a direct response to those trips. These students saw a need and acted on it. We wanted to positively impact this village even further by helping raise the money needed to replace and improve the kitchen that feeds us while there and proves to be one of the only sources of outside income to the village. Became a part of the power of tourism and help us accomplish our goals!

Dr. Carolin Lusby