trekking and wrecking

Archive South America- INTI
Whats good family and friends, This past week or so we have been hiking along the Inka Trail. We passed through snow topped mountains, incredible waterfalls and then descented into the subtropical rainforest where we saw a coffee demonstration and saw all the flora and fauna of the region. We summited a mountain and saw Macchu Picchu face to face and tomorrow we are climbing up there to learn about… Read More

Dar Es Salaam Student Directed Travel!

Archive East Africa- NKULA
Hey there guys! So during student directed travel we went to the Udzungwa Mountains, after our time in Mang’ula we got up at 4:20 am on the 27th, walked over to the bus station by 5:00 am and boarded our crazy train to Morogoro. We finally starting leaving around 6:30 or so and then no less than 10 minutes into our trip there was a problem. A truck somehow managed… Read More

Home is Where the Swag is

Archive South Pacific- HONGI
G’day mates! We just spent one of our final weeks down under camping in the outback and exploring Australia at its finest. Our days were spent battling flies in the hot sun and our nights were spent sleeping under the stars in the fresh outback air. We all slept in what’s called a swag: a “waterproof” sleeping bag/mattress combo; essential for every authentic outback experience. Our perpetually energetic guide, Tam,… Read More

Prema

Archive South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Hello all you beautiful readers out there! Last week was yet another wonderful Carpe Diem adventure, this time we hopped into our rental van with Robbie and Katelyn at the wheel and set our sights on the Daintree Rainforest for a week full of yoga, meditation, vegetarian food and the occasional tarot card reading. A typical day at Prema Shanti looked something like this, We would wake up and go… Read More

STONE TOWN!

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
Mambo, family and friends! This past weekend, our group said goodbye to Uganda, and flew back to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. After one night in this crazy, busy city, we got on a ferry and headed to Zanzibar! As soon as we arrived at Stone Town, we fell in love with the island. The quaint, old-fashioned streets are filled with shops and markets, and there are no shortages of… Read More

Free Travel!

Archive Southeast Asia- SABAI
It is hard to believe that a week from today we will all be back home. This trip is flying by. Today we wrapped up our last day of free travel, which started just over a week ago. Planning an entire week’s worth of activities, transportation and accomodation for nine people (while remaining within a budget) turned out to be a lot more challenging than the group had anticipated. However,… Read More

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

Archive Indigenous America
To answer the question in the title, you don’t: there is nothing wrong with Maria.  She is awesome as is.  The Maria in question is one Maria Garcia: our tiny, feisty host during our time in Magdalena, Sonora.  We rendezvoused with her and her husband Joe at a Home Depot in Tucson on Sunday where we loaded up supplies and then headed down to Mexico.  We proceeded to spend several… Read More

Deer Park

Archive India- SHANTI
After Amritsar we headed to Deer Park Institute in Bir where we did a Buddhist study for a week. Deer Park was once a Tibetan Buddhist monastery but eventually became too small for the amount of monks studying there. At one point the monastery reached 400 monks and it was decided that a bigger monastery had to be opened. Dzongsar monastery was later opened which is now one of the… Read More

Remember When We Had 80 Days Left?

Archive Central America- MAYA
Now we have less than 8. We have had a lovely time here in Costa Rica. It is an incredibly beautiful country and words would only come short in describing the lush forests, vast sky, and playful ocean. It is a weird transition, though. We have gotten so used to being uncomfortable and dirty, living next to the earth, and sleeping and rising with the sun. We set the pace… Read More

The secret life of a gap year teenager

Archive India- SHIVA
Hello there and welcome to the secret life of a gap year teenager. So after our adventures in Jaipur our friend Rishiji , led us to the beautiful city of Udaipur (which he claims is ‘the venice of india’). Our first night we explored the beautiful lakes and architecture that’s sprinkled throughout the ‘old town’ and dined like kings and queens on a rooftop overlooking tiny island hotels, singing along… Read More

The Lantana Diaries

Archive South Pacific- HONGI
Hi all! Bex here with your weekly update! We’ve just finished up our week with the Conservation Volunteers of Australia (CVA)!  For this week we split into two smaller groups and worked on separate projects in separate locations.  Amy, Anya, Caitlin, Wade, Ryan, and I went with our project leader Stefan to Toowoomba, Queensland to help the conservation organization Friends of the Escarpment Parks rehabilitate Redwood Park.  Redwood Park is… Read More

G’day from Alice Springs

Archive South Pacific- HONGI
Hi friends and family! This past week our group was split in half by the Conservation Volunteers Association (CVA). We both stayed at two different campsites and worked on two different projects in the Aussie Bush. My group members were Shelby, Brandon, Gracie, G, and Cheridyn. We also were so lucky to be accompanied by Chris, a CVA leader and Captain Jack Sparrow look-a-like. For our project, we worked on… Read More

KIFARU Photo Update 2.0

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
    Lake Bunyonyi Arrival!   Paddlin’   Warrior Grant   Da Ladiess (and G-man..)   Mouse Bird!!   SNEC!!   Mixin Mixin. Jackalope workin hard   Jasper Prancing, Kellie Slacking 😉       Hornbill at Mabira Forest Reserve   Liam at Lake Bunyonyi   The Group at the Bahaii temple in Kampala (Liv is creepin’ over katie’s shoulder)   Rhinos IN the campsite, with rafiki bush buck  … Read More

Lovely Semuc Champey!

Archive Central America- QUETZAL
Hey ITZA friends and family! After a beautiful drive to Lanquin (which included a hilarious game of sharing embarrassing stories and the most breathtaking, glorious, bright, bold full rainbow that any of us have ever seen), we arrived safe and sound at El Retiro hostel in Lanquin, a little town right outside of Semuc Champey. We had a scrumptious buffet dinner, a delightful breakfast with dishes ranging from chocolate heaven… Read More

Free Travel in Uganda!

Archive East Africa- KIFARU
Before our group leaves Uganda and heads to the tropical island of Zanzibar, we have one week of free travel! This means that our group is in charge of all accommodation, transportation, and activities for the whole week! It is basically a test to see how much we have learned about international traveling and budgeting… Since we have had a jam-packed schedule for the past few weeks, we decided to… Read More

Udzungwa National Park

Archive East Africa- NKULA
Hello from Dar es Salaam! We just arrived in Dar es Salaam after spending a full day in Udzungwa National Park, in the southern part of Tanzania. After a 4am wake-up Monday morning, we took a 6 hour bus ride from Njombe to Mikumi and then a very bumpy 1.5 hour ride to a campsite outside of Mang’ula, the village near the Udzungwa park headquarters. After exploring the surprisingly vibrant… Read More

Ohana Amani

Archive East Africa- NKULA
Hi everyone, Becky here Sorry for the late post, but from November 16 to November 24, we were at Ohana Amani. This beautiful organic farm is home to two sisters, Curry and Chevy. They are the wonderful people who set up our home stays. We spent two days with them before our home stays. They helped prepare us with Swahili tips and information about what to expect. They also filled… Read More

Drinkin Sinh in Ho Chi Minh

Archive Southeast Asia- SABAI
We are quickly approaching the end of our trip, and we have arrived in our third and final country – the marvelous Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh city to be exact, where perhaps the greatest food to grace our earth originates: Pho. Before we ventured to this lovely city, we spent our last week in Cambodia. The week started of with some casual aerobic dancing in a park near the river… Read More