Pile of Peanuts!

Challllllenge!

2011-03-09T14:28:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

We have been avery busy herd. 30 Takes Thirty is up for the $100,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant. This grant is awarded by votes. That being said we need you to VOTE! And vote DAILY! The direct link to vote is listed just below. Receiving this grant will mean so much to many students by providing them with amazing opportunities to grow and expand! For more information on 30 Takes Thirty please visit our homepage!

Pachyderm Party

2011-01-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

Countdown to the Pachyderm Party! The family fun day is Saturday, February 5th from 1:00-5:00 pm at E-Zone (120 North Queen Str. Etobicoke). This event is all ages. Notices are on our Facebook page and homepage.

We will also be giving away two of the 30 slots at this event!! Students interested in winning these spots MUST submit a letter of recommendation/nomination AND a 500 word essay on the following topic:

What diversity means to them. How would this experience benefit the global community as a whole?

The essays should be emailed to Admin@30-Elephants.com

The students must be between the ages of 13-17. They must be present with their parents/gaurdian at the event on February 5th.

Essay submissions are NOW OPEN. They must be submitted between January 1st - January 25th. Complete contact information should be listed in the email for the student, parent and writer of the nomination letter. You will get a confirmation email that you have been entered into the draft. YOU ARE NOT ENTERED INTO THE DRAFT IF NO CONFIRMATION IS RECEIVED. There is a $150 application fee (Only to be paid if you win. There are no additional costs)

How sweet it is!

2010-12-13T13:22:00.000-08:00

We should all strive to be this happy with doing the simple things in life! Elephant bathing is one of the activities we do on our excursion in Penang Malaysia!

At our "Pachyderm Party" (all ages event in February) we will be giving away two slots for the 2011 trips! For more information and instructions sign up for our news letter and/or contact us!

"30 Takes Thirty!!!" Campaign events

2010-12-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone that came to our campaign launch last month. Our next event is Saturday February 5th, 2011 at E-Zone between 1-5Pm Tickets for this event go on sale December 15th. Please visit our website and Facebook page for more information. This is an all ages event with special guests and all star DJ Starting from Scratch! Great prizes and tons of activities like laser tag, whirly ball, sumo suits and more!

Halloween Around the globe!

2010-10-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

Contrary to popular belief Halloween is not just a North American Festivity like Thanksgiving. Since we are a traveling herd here at 30 Elephants, we thought we'd share some of the traditions from around the world! Check out the listed link pumpkin patches and more!

Is your Koala Lumpy?

2010-10-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

What an amazing place! Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that is. Though my trip was brief, I was able to do the scouting I needed to without pause add this location as a 30 Elephants destination! The food was fantastic, the people are friendly and the place is bursting with culture. The mix of Thai, Indian, Malay and Chinese cultures (among many others), makes Kuala Lumpur a tornado or experiences.

The picture above is of my feet in the "fish spa"! This was my first time doing such a thing, but you stick your feet into the water and literally hundreds of Doctor Fish swarm your feet and eat all the dead skin and bacteria off!! After I fought hard to suppress my urge to scream, it began to feel like your feet are boiling (sans the searing heat).

I would recommend Malaysia to anyone. The journey may be long but once you are there, there is nothing you want for. Having something for everyone, I cannot wait to go back!

Kardinal supports "30 Takes Thirty!!!" campaign and 30 Elephants!

2010-09-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

Work, work and more work!!

2010-09-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day weekend! May the your hard work be prosperous!

"30 Takes Thirty!!!"......is coming.

2010-08-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

"30TakesThirty!!!" Campaign has started!!! Stayed tuned for more info on how we are improving the world one child at a time. We have some great supporters already! Do YOUR part.

Where are your parents!?!?

2010-08-17T14:05:00.001-07:00

Aside from the lack of security being ridiculously wretched. The fact still remains that your kids really do want to travel!

3 kids buy airplane tickets, fly alone in US

By Brendan Farrington, The Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Bored on a hot summer day, three Florida youngsters were just sitting around when one sent a text message to another with an adventurous idea.

"Hey do you want to go 2 Tennessee today," the message read.

"Sure," the other responded.

Not even old enough to get a driver's license, they took a taxi to the airport Tuesday, bought tickets with babysitting money and — unbeknownst to their parents, the three (ages 15, 13 and 11) — boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from Jacksonville to Nashville, according to a TV news account of the incident.

Nobody asked a question. Nobody asked for identification.

Not the taxi driver. Not the ticket counter. Not security officials or flight attendants or other passengers. So when they landed in Nashville with just $40 left and their destination, Dollywood, still hundreds of miles away, they finally called home.

The jig was up.

"I just wanted to fly," 15-year-old Bridget Brown, told WJXX-TV in Jacksonville. "I had the money."

Now their parents are wondering how the trip was possible.

Southwest Airlines said in a statement that the company's policy on minors is similar to other carriers in that it covers children ages 5 through 11 travelling alone, and that the 11-year-old in this case was accompanied by two older companions. The Transportation Security Administration does not require anyone under age 18 to show identification, but all bags are still screened.

It is still unclear if any of the three should have been allowed to purchase tickets. A Southwest spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment on that issue.

Messages left by The Associated Press on Friday at the families' homes were not immediately returned.

In an age of heightened security and terrorism threats, some are concerned that three youngsters could so easily board an airline without parental consent.

Richard Bloom, an aviation security expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said while this incident amounted to a childhood jaunt, it highlights legitimate safety implications.

"The moral of the story is, at least in other parts of the world, young people are engaged in weapons, planting bombs, testing security," he said. "The point is terrorist groups, insurgent groups, other kinds of transnational groups, what have you, they read the papers, they watch TV, they look at the security lapses. And they take that information as they develop their own terrorist operations and anti-government operations."

The three youngsters certainly had no problem hopping a flight.

Brown, with the $700 she had saved, took her 11-year-old brother Kodie and 13-year-old friend Bobby Nolan III to the airport in the early afternoon. She said she purchased the three tickets at the Southwest Airlines counter without any problems from the clerk.

"He said OK and told us how much it would be and then we paid him," Brown said. "Then he put the flight things on our bags, and then he said, 'You better run because you might miss your flight.'"

No issues at security, either.

"We just took our stuff out of our pockets, took our shoes off and walked through it," Nolan told the TV station. "And they didn't say nothing."

The three arrived in Nashville and, realizing their plan was flawed, finally 'fessed up.

Their parents came home from work and thought the kids were merely out playing. They had left messages on the children's cellphones that went unreturned. When their children phoned home from Nashville, they were stunned and scared.

Nashville airport spokeswoman Emily Richard said the children never left the airport property and were immediately rebooked on return flights that night. Southwest said it has refunded their airfare.

The parents are just glad their children made it home safely.

"I never would have dreamed my kids would have got on a plane without me or their mom," James Brown said. "But they did. It was very scary, very scary. Luckily, they're OK."

Newest Destinations

2010-08-16T07:57:00.001-07:00

We are in the process of selecting three new places to put on out menu, so to speak. Our current options are Australia, Rome, Greece, India, Costa Rica, Mexico and possibly the Galapagos island. All of these places more than meet our criteria. If you had to choose, what would be your top three out of those places and why?

Cullen Sighting!

2010-08-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

Our newest trip is sure you leave you breathless! The herd is currently offering Mini Trips to Forks, Washington to explore the setting of the super novels "Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, (Midnight Sun)" We are always happy when our students love to read but these books have made reading not only fun for teens and tweens but a MUST! I will not spend this entire time talking about 30 Elephants, as that's what the site is for. For those interested in the trip please go to www.30-Elephants.com and register! The more the merrier!!!
I was swindled into reading these books when my husband was trying to rile me up by saying it was better than Harry Potter (mind you he has never read either series) It is NOT better than Harry Potter. They cannot be compared.Two totally different types of stories.
I am so glad I did! For one, I am grateful for anything that helps me relate to my students and keeps me young at heart ;o) but this really is a great love story. I am hopeless romantic and as the valley girls say "oh SWOON!" lolol.
In honor this series, please post your favorite Twilight moments or stories!

A New Look

2010-08-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

Hola!

Welcome back! Thanks for following our trail of peanuts. 30 Elephants Ltd. was doing a bit of late spring cleaning. With a new site and blog we are all ready for back to school. Stay tuned! We will begin with a new travels tales and updates starting August 4th!