Sam I Am kicked off our fourth week rounding out an eleven hour bus ride. We rolled into Otavalo at 6:30 in the morning for a free day to enjoy the city. From the bus terminal we groggily stumbled the eight or so blocks to our hostel. Luckily, we found it to be equipped with hammocks, delicious breakfasts, and the best damn showers we have encountered in Ecuador thus far.… Read More
Blog
Quick Update
Heyo from the other half of the group. We spent the week on the beautiful Lake Bunyoni, where we dug a garden, dug out a space for a compost bin, and assisted in after school activities. Jill and Adam ran a P.E. course, Bridget oversaw an art class, Saxon did dance and became godfather to a chicken.
In our free time we swam, went canoeing, took a hike, and watched… Read More
3 days, 46K
Some pics from our recent 3-day, 46 K, trek in the Guatemalan Highlands, from near Xela to San Marcos…
Check out additional photos on our Flickr page!… Read More
Hello All!
Ā
Writing to you from the beautiful lake town of Taupo. We have begun our journey to the Maori village and stopped here yesterday for one night. We're all very grateful for the immense amount of work Emily put in to set up our transportation. We've been taking responsibility in our roles and supporting each other to develop the skills of a traveler so major kudos for Emily's dedication… Read More
Team Gorilla
We have now left Rwanda and have started our adventure in Uganda. Before we left though we were able to visit the Kigali Memorial Center where we learned about the genocide that occurred in Rwanda. The tour began by going through multiple gardens which very artistically helped convey the different emotions, actions and people affected by the genocide. Once we finished our time pondering through the gardens we entered the… Read More
aaaand pictures.
This is a shot of what Highfield Farm looks like from a distance but doesn't nearly do it justice.Ā That white house way out there is the place where we've been staying.
Ā
Sorry about the delay of photos… and if this last one turns out sideways,Ā but I hope you enjoy the few I've managed to get on here!
Ā
Sincerely,
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ryan Gasdia… Read More
Pictures!!!
Auckland skyline from Kelly Tarlton's.… Read More
Bugga.
Well, as you can see from the below blog post, there are no pictures. I have failed you! But i have not yet given up. It's pushing 2 am now, but I refuse to leave you –Ā ourĀ family and friends – without a single picture! I will try to make sure that before we leaveĀ today at 515 am that you will have at least one solid picture!… Read More
The Last Night At Highfield Farm
Well hello there! The days have flown by since my last posting. I'm not sure if it's the work schedule or the regular hikes through the hills, but time here has certainly taken an agressive pace.
Ā
It seems like it was just earlier today when we were getting the stuff out of our bags but now, as I write even, we are all working on cleaning and packing our bags… Read More
Goodbye Kolkata and Hello Mountains!
Namaste!
We just finished up our week at Mother Teresa house, and have an 11pm train to gangtok tonight. We’re all excited for the mountain air!volunteering at Mother Teresa has been challenging, but reallyrewarding and I think we’ve all taken a lot away from it. We said ourgoodbyes to people we’ve been helping and other volunteers, and weeven got sung a song that goes like this “We thank you thank… Read More
Relaxation on the Shores of Lake Atitlan!
Hi all! Well, here we are, almost done with a relaxing week in San Marcos, Guatemala. It is incredibly beautiful here! It really is like a relaxed, tropical paradise. It was so amazing to arrive here, especially after our crazy 3 day trek. All in all, our trek was a total of 48k, with some pretty ridiculous mountain climbing the whole way. We crossed rivers on tiny log bridges, walked… Read More
Organic Farm Week
Hello friends and family!
Ā
I'm writing you from a very pleasant cow farm a few hours drive north of Auckland, New Zealand. In fact, I'm writing this blogĀ with theĀ soothing voice of Willem in the background, reading off the prologue to Star Wars II (We are all jazzed about the plasma screen that this nice house is sporting).
Ā
We arrived just aĀ few short days ago and have spent… Read More
Second week in Cuenca
Dear readers of SAM blog, We started our second week in Cuenca off with an amazing hike through a national park in Cajas. We continued our Spanish classes, which took place in our classrooms and out in the city, where we visited markets, museums, a zoo, etc. After searching for the past week or so we were finally able to acquire a frisbee, which got a lot of use in… Read More
Bodhgaya & Beyond
The Bodhi Tempel where Buddha became enlightened in Bodh Gaya Luke and Noah doing the famous Indian “pinky hold” Luke’s birthday cake (that later got completely smooshed and was creatively put back together by Phoebe and Jess) Lydia on our boat ride on the Ganga to celebrate our last night in Varanasi and the fact that we had traveled so successfully for the last 2.5 weeks.
hi readers!
we just… Read More
Hi from Rwanda
Jambo from the beautiful Kigali, Rwanda. We arrived here Saturday evening after a much longer than anticipated plane ride from the Kilimanjaro International airport. We spent the previous week at the United African Alliance community center. Upon arriving we were greeted warmly by Pete (The Panther) O’Neil, and his twenty-one adopted children. We then settled into our comfortable sleeping quarters. It is safe to say that everyone was enthused to… Read More
Hello from Auckland! Our group has spent the past three days in Auckland New Zealand which has been pretty sweet. It is a drastic change from the village life we are used to but everyone is adjusting and having loads of fun.Ā There are so many things to do in Auckland and as a group we took advantage of this. On Friday a group of us (Me, Lucy, Kelsey, Hannah,… Read More
Sho Long Xela!
One week in Antigua, another week in Pasac, and now 2 in Xela! I can’t imagine living in a homestay for two weeks in a this big city.. especially after getting used to stone toilets and very, very ‘refreshing’ showers. I wonder what its going to be like?? I can’t wait to experience Chichi. I wonder if my family..WHOAAA there goes our two weeks in Xela! Yes, Xela came and… Read More
