Daintree Conservation Week!

carpediem South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Salutations! We just finished a great week in the Daintree Rainforest! We started off by staying at a local ice cream company, where we participated in a reforestation project while enjoying fresh exotic fruit ice cream. We planted over 100 trees in the course of two days! After the ice cream company, we traveled down the road to the Botanical Ark where we stayed for two days! Previously a cattle… Read More

Outbacking It

carpediem South Pacific- HONGI
Our group had an eventful week in the outback! We started off our days emerging from our cocoons (also known as “swags”). There is no easy way to explain what they are, so if you are confused click the following link- https://www.google.com.au/search?q=swags&rlz=1C5CHFA_enNZ710NZ710&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=618&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjOn83ui7XQAhWITLwKHfgqCREQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=roll+up+swags . Although it took a little convincing, almost our entire group put our underlying fear of the unknown creatures of the outback aside, and slept underneath the stars… Read More

Fall in Scotland

carpediem Latitudes Year
Blog from Alanna T Hello to everyone who is reading this latitudes blog post! While most students have their group semester in the fall and their latitudes semester in the spring, I decided to have my group semester in India in the Spring and head of on my own in the fall. It took me a really long time to decide where to go and what organization to be with,… Read More

Student Directed Travel Adventures!

carpediem East Africa- NKULA
Blog from Reed & Paiton Our week of student directed travel started early: at 5:00 AM as we boarded a public bus from Njombe to Songea. The purpose of student directed travel is to give students the opportunity to learn, on their own, travel without training wheels (Adam and Mary). We, the students, had to plan what we did, where we slept, how we got there, and how we managed… Read More

G’day

carpediem South Pacific- WALKABOUT
For our student directed travel time in Fiji, we stayed in a house on the coral coast and relaxed after our village homestays. The house had an amazing view of the ocean and plenty of room for activities. After leaving the house we said “Moce” (goodbye) to Fiji and hopped on a plane to Brisbane! After a day in the city, we hopped on a train Chenrezig Institute for a… Read More

20 Million Trees

carpediem South Pacific- HONGI
Saturday November 5, 2016 probably around 6:00pm, the group headed out to a pizza place for dinner. The end of another fantastic week, we were ready to head to Australia and start planting some trees. Not knowing anything about what we would be doing, our lovely OE’ s gave us the mountainous task of dividing the group. Many discussions took place, a vote was made. Zack, Stevie, Teddy, Kate, Tara… Read More

Open Hearts: Ohana Amani

carpediem East Africa- NKULA
Blog from Reed & Paiton Habari za leo? Nkula has arrived in Njombe, Tanzania. After spending nine days at Ohana Amani Retreat Center, we are feeling rejuvenated and ecstatic for the final month of our trip. After traveling through three countries and immersing ourselves in a myriad of communities, it was wonderful to receive the opportunity to pause and reflect on how our journeys have impacted us thus far. We… Read More

Fijian Adventure

carpediem South Pacific- HONGI
Week six of our journey began with an early morning and a flight out of Auckland, New Zealand. The flight went by quickly, as did the day. We made our way to our downtown hotel in Nadi, Fiji. There the group had an opportunity to walk around for a bit and take in some of the new culture we will be around for the next two and a half weeks.… Read More

Kolkata and Mother Theresa’s Homes

carpediem India- SHIVA
Blog from Sergio Calcutta!!!! So first we flew from Leh to Dehli, then Dehli to Calcutta. We spent the whole day in airplanes and wandering, arrived here at around 10pm to find such a different environment compared to our last one that we would be exposed to for the upcoming week. After a lot of calmness, silence, fresh air, and cold, we were welcomed that night in Calcutta with loud… Read More

Learning the Fiji Way

carpediem South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Bula Vinaka! We are very sad to be leaving the beautiful village of Nakuku tomorrow. Our group came to this small Fijian village with the goal of building a footpath, but we have learned and accomplished much more. Our first day we were welcomed into the village by means of a formal ceremony, and then were split up into groups of two to meet our host families. After settling in,… Read More

Fiji village

carpediem South Pacific- HONGI
Today. we had an amazing day exploring a breathtaking beach with our family and friends at the village. We played countless games of vollyball, swam like fish for hours, played some beach soccer and ate some tasty sandwiches for lunch. We then headed back to the village for preperation of a bountiful dinner as usual. The next day was spent with our home stay families, talking, laughing and exchanging life… Read More

Holistic Living Retreat

carpediem East Africa- NKULA
Blog from Jo and Audrey As kids, the majority of us were enthralled with Disney movies. We loved them (well, most of us did.) They made up such a large portion of our lives and many of us even went so far as to center huge parts of our lives around them. One favorite Disney movie among some members of the group is a little old film called Lilo and… Read More

Ladakh, Trek, and Photos!

carpediem India- SHIVA
Blog from Grace. Photos from Jon & Anya Finishing our week at SECMOL was bittersweet. The school itself was so interesting how it taught students from various villages not only school, but how to sustainably live off the land in an eco-friendly way. The cultural exchange between the students our age was fascinating to experience. During conversation class, which was a 15 minute talk between a student and volunteer, about… Read More

From Rishikesh To Ladakh

carpediem India- SHIVA
Blog from Rachael J. As I’m on my bed that is closer to the floor than I expected at SECMOL (The “Student’s Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh”) where I’m trying to string together the many similes so the reader can actually feel what I am talking about. I try to think of an onomatopoeia that distinctly describes the many noises or the lack of noises that I hear while… Read More

Safari & Wildlife Connection

carpediem East Africa- NKULA
Blog from Reed & Max. Photos from the Overseas Educators. Greetings from the town of Njombe in South Western Tanzania- It has been an adventure filled week since we last touched base so we have a lot to share and will do our best to keep it nice and short although there are no guaranties. When we last touched base we were part-way through our Kiswahili school and homestays up… Read More

All the rest of NZ!

carpediem South Pacific- HONGI
Adios Student Directed Travel! Let’s take a moment to admire how much ground we covered, meals we ate, places we stayed, and the people we’ve befriended along the way. Go Hongi! Now moving on. Our new host, Tiaki, took us to a retreat cottage. Upon arrival he introduced us to Rob, an elderly man you could just look at and tell he was filled with wisdom. We helped him cut… Read More

From NZ to Fiji!

carpediem South Pacific- WALKABOUT
Bula! We have arrived safely in Fiji, after our unforgettable experience in New Zealand! The few days we spent at the marae with the Ngai Tahu iwi (tribe) was the perfect way to finish our journey in the South Island. Manaia, our host at the marae, taught us about a chemical free way to cultivate potatoes, the history and spirit of the land, and the future of the Ngai Tahu… Read More

On To Tanzania

carpediem East Africa- NKULA
Blog from Paiton and Brent. Mambo! Hello from Morogoro, Tanzania! We started this week in Rwanda, and a lot has happened since. At the beginning of our week we journeyed to Huey for a coffee tasting. After sampling some of the pride of Rwanda, we embarked on an educational trek about the life of the coffee bean from cultivation to cup. We learned that Huey Mountain Coffee Company supplies beans… Read More