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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Where do I even begin to describe the unbelievable week we’ve had in the outback. From riding camels (yes there are camels in Austrailia), to sleeping in swags under the stars and cooking our entire meal over the campfire, we’ve truly had the authentic outback camping experience. It all started last Thursday when we were picked up bright and early by our enthusiastic guide Tamara in her safari car, nicknamed… Read More
Last Sunday marked the end of our time at Ziwa, and we were all pretty upset to leave. Most of us agreed that it was our favorite volunteer opportunity so far. Working with the Rhino Fund was not something that I was super excited about, but I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed my time there. Getting to see the rhinos was cooler than I imagined and having Felix… Read More
Salutations from The magical city of Udaipur!! Although it has been only a few days since the last blog post, many significant events have transpired in the meanwhile. We had an UNBELIEVABLE couple of days in Jaipur, staying in homestays. On our second homestay adventure of the trip, we were split up into pairs and were able to share the experience with a buddy. Being the only two boys, Matt… Read More
This morning we returned to Puerto Maldonado via three hour boat ride after an amazing week.
We stayed at a guest house called El Gato (named because there used to be a lot of panthers in the area) run by a family who has lived there for quite a while. It is the last community before the Tambotata Reserve- a huge preserve that is almost entirely untouchable land. During the… Read More
Kamwene everybody! Just wanted to share some of our favorite photos from the last two and a half months. Thanks for following along, and thanks a ton for sharing all these wonderful people with us. It has been an amazing journey and it just keeps getting better. Tomorrow we begin Student Directed Travel. The crew has big plans including waterfalls, monkeys, long dusty rides on rough bumpy roads, tropical paradise,… Read More
At our visit to HEPAC (Home of Hope and Peace) we learned about border issues and the work that the organization is doing to stabilize and better life on the Mexican side of the border in Nogales. We learned that is important to improve the quality of life in Mexico so that Mexicans will not have to feel like they need to risk their lives illegally immigrating in the desert.… Read More
Greetings from Vietnam! It’s hard to believe that we’re in our final country of this three month long adventure. Ho Chi MInh city is amazing so far. The city is remarkably clean and the French influence is evident in both the architecture and excessive sale of pasteries and baguettes. This morning, as a whole, we visited the War Remnants Museum. The entire museum was dedicated to the Vietnam War and… Read More
Hello family, friends, and concerned parents and grandparents, we have had a great time during our second half of being in Xela. All of us continued with our one on one spanish lessons in the morning and cultural activites in the afternoon. We worked closely with Christian, one of the men who works at the school, who helped organize all of our activities. He facilitated a cooking class one day… Read More
