Megan and David, our fearless Nkula Overseas Educators, just sent in these pictures from their time with The Olive Branch for Children working on literacy projects. Thanks Olive Branch for a fantastic week!
Nkula is now on their Student Directed Travel and has made it to the island of Zanzibar – we can't wait to hear more of their adventures.… Read More
One-upping my group members yet again, we spent the week and a half after Project WOO at Bona Fide permaculture farm, on Isla Ometepe. It's a volcanic island made up of two volcanoes, hence the two boulders. And they were some niiiiiiice boulders!
A typical day at Bona Fide consisted of getting up at six, starting work at seven, eating breakfast at eight, and doing three more hours of work… Read More
So finally, we made it to the ocean. The group was overjoyed, and understandably so, given that our only contact with large bodies of water has been Lake Atitlan. Our contact organization is Project Woo, an organization focused on community-driven development and regulating the effects of Voluntourism. We started off our week by helping some local fisherman haul in their fish nets. Unfortunately there were only eight or so fish… Read More
This week started out with some gardening in Ho Chi Minh City. We visited four different gardens across the city and spent the day planting herbs, making tea, and trying mystery fruits. We closed off our gardening sesh with a rap battle led by Sam and Audrizzy. Our new friend Vie even spit some rhymes of her own.
The next morning we set off on our next adventure through Nam'.… Read More
Our week in the Amazon was very rewarding and very challenging. Through extreme heat, bugs, fire ants, butcher wasps, and spiders, we were working on reforestation with our contact, Robin. We spent every day on his farm, which used no electricity save for a solar panel-powered satellite phone and chicken coop electric wire, and learned about the natural biodiversity of the Amazon and how vital it is for the area… Read More
The gang finished off Chenrezig (the Buddhist retreat) on a high note. Most of us liked a lot of what was being taught and had a good time.. Meredith enjoyed the week so much that she decided to stay there as a volunteer and take her studies further. The rest of the gang is very excited for her but we will all miss her company. After Chenrezig, we… Read More
On all of our Carpe Diem gap year programs, we politely ask that students leave their cell phones, computers, and any other wi-fi devices at home for the duration.
“WHAT?!! 3 MONTHS WITHOUT AN iPHONE?! OMG! WTF! LMFAO!”
The above response, though imaginary, is not far removed from what we sometimes receive. In the environment of today, “unplugging” is often seen as a radical gesture, something for neo-Luddites or social… Read More
From Dylan S.
So how can I explain the time I've spent in the amazon so far? Hot, sticky, sweaty, smelly, itchy, and wet… But despite everything I own growing a thick layer of mold, I've loved every second of it. I've been volunteering at Amazoonico, an animal rescue center near Tena, Ecuador. I wake up at 6:30 and work 5 days a week until anywhere from 5:00 to 10:30 pm. Mostly feeding… Read More
G'Day!
Our trip down under began with a few days exploring Sydney. We wandered around the entire city, going to museums, the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, China Town, art galleries, the Quay (pronunciation still uncertain), and even the zoo. We wanted to see the animals safely in the zoo before we had to yank them out of our sleeping bags in the Outback. During our time in Australia, we… Read More
Hello everyone!
We arrived in Noosa and had three days to just relax on the beach, hit the shops and cafe, as well as check out the National Park. It was a good time for us all to rejuvenate from our packed stay in Fiji.
We then went to Chenrezing Buddhist Institute in Sunshine Coast Australia. We've been here for a week learning the Buddhist lifestyle. We attended a… Read More
from Marley and Monica
Once upon a time, eleven wazungu went into the wild. These are the things they saw…. lions, tigers, bears oh my! Just kidding about the tigers and bears, but the lions were a thing. Oddly enough, two out of the three times we saw these lions, momma and papa were doing the “downtown shuffle”. In those moments we all felt that we were right inside of… Read More
I have been at the Healing House now for over two months. I have been experiencing and learning so much here.
It was at first a difficult transition. I came to Cusco believing I would be working with kids and young mothers in programs offered at the house. When I arrived I learned that these programs no longer existed, and no one there knew anything about them. From there I… Read More
After the bus took us out of the city of Cuzco, steep mountains began cropping up on either side of the road. We had entered the Sacred Valley. After watching the rural (compared to city) lifestyle move by in the window for about half an hour, we came around a bend and the bus came to a stop. A river rushed along the right side of the road, along with… Read More
Hello from down under!
I've spent the last month living in Bunbury a small city located in Western, Australia. While I am down here I am volunteering at the Dolphin Discovery Centre, one of the best places in Australia to see wild dolphins. When I'm working I can find myself doing random odd jobs around the centre, educating people about the 150 plus dolphins that can be found in the bay… Read More
This week there was an overthrow of the Audrey/Greg regime as the students took the reins for "Student Directed Travel". It didn't take us long to figure out what we wanted to do as soon as Amalia put bungalows on the beach and a National Park on the table. So, instead of heading straight to Vietnam, we decided to extend our stay in Cambodia and chill on the beach in… Read More
It’s been a week full of emotional highs and lows, which is really quite a fitting way to visit a country like Cambodia, whose people have experienced some of the most horrific extremes of human capabilities and yet still find ways to smile, laugh, and welcome visitors with open arms.
We started the week in the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, where we visited the S21 prison that was run… Read More
A week ago we parted from our host families and Rabulu village with tears and heavy hearts but excited for the fun times ahead. This past week was our free travel week, which means that the students decide everything, including the food, how we get around, activities, and even the places we stay. After a challenging search, we agreed to spend the week in the Vatia Beach Resort, in a… Read More
We made it to Australia!!!!
Spent the day of April 3rd exploring the beautiful city of Brisbane.
Now we are spending a few days in the beach town that is Noosa. We are attempting to surf, hang out, and get psyched for our next adventure which begins on the 7th.… Read More
We just completed our second week in Arequipa and I´m full of food…stories! This past Tuesday was my 20th birthday, which justified my hunt to try every cake in Arequipa. This wasn´t hard to accomplish, considering there is a pasteleria on every corner. What started off as a blessing, seems like somewhat of a curse these days.
Caroline, my roommate in Arequipa, was my honorary twin this week, and my… Read More
Rolling along with the food blog theme (considering food is one of the things we're enjoying most in South America), I wanted to share some of the weirder foods we've gotten to taste down here.
Cuy: I tried Guinea pig, which is a famous Peruvian dish but is available basically everywhere, in Pucara, Ecuador, where my homestay mother slaughtered one of her own guinea pigs to eat for dinner. Despite… Read More
