Pictures galore
Pictures to accompany “small town living”… Read More
Blog
Traveling with benefits
Living on the other side of the world… An idea I would never have seen coming a year ago as I put an end to my tenure in high school. To live day in and day out in a different part of the world generates so many positive experiences with so many different incredible people. The worst part of my days are when the majestic wild dolphins living in Koombana… Read More
Our final days of Thailand flew by in a daze of heat and adventure. After and exhausting day of long bus rides and an overnight, 11 hour sleeper train, we finally arrived in Ayutthaya at 5am from Chiang Mai. We then stumbled to our hostel, with the help of three Tuk Tuk’s, confused and tired. After settling in and a quick nap, we started our long day of adventure throughout… Read More
Holi Camel!!
A lot has happened this past week and a half and like a toddler with a tower of Legos, I’m about to break it down for y’all. After a month and some time we’ve finally been through our first desert city here in India which was Jaisalmer and boy did it get hot. We finally got see how a gingerbread man/woman in an oven feels like but aside from the… Read More
Small town living
After surviving innumerable twists and turns of Otavalos mountainy roads, the group stepped off in the small town of Pucara, comprised of 35 families in total. After being fed a filling meal of rice, beans and meat, it was time for the welcoming ceremony.
Sitting in a row, we watched the villagers speak, welcoming us to the town and inviting us to participate in a set of traditional games. Despite… Read More
Abriendo Mentes!
Hot dirt brushes along steaming pavement, dogs pant, sweaty children play, the devious sun beats relentlessly down on anything brave enough not to seek shade. I hide out in the relative coolness of the office where the remnants of air conditioning still linger from an earlier meeting. The weeks here in Potrero, Costa Rica seem to have come and gone more quickly than my initial, fleeting hope that it might… Read More
Bula From Fiji!
We’ve made it to Fiji! After a few hiccups (missing bags etc.) we finally arrived in Nadi and boy was it HOT! After a brief ride through the streets, and checking in at Bamboo Backpackers, we were eager to find a way to escape the heat. Fortunately for us, there was a pool, right on the beach, and it naturally ended up being where we spent most of our down… Read More
Swimingly
WOW. We are about halfway through now. evryone is having the time of their lives. we just got back from a short stint in playa gigante. our first stop in the country of Nicaragua! it is very hot here much hotter than everywhere we have been so far the stuggles have just brought us together more and helping eachother through homesickness makes us all feel more like family. we are… Read More
Kolkata
Hello World!
Greetings from Kolkata! It is Paulo Alfaro writing on behalf of the India Shanti Group!
For the second straight week I have been appointed Blogger. As always, every week here in beautiful India has been a completely different, challenging, unbelievable, yet fascinating adventure. Since arriving in Kolkota the past Sunday, we have been volunteering for Missionaries of Charity. An non-profit organization established by the great Mother Teresa a… Read More
G-22
Last week we were at an amazing eco-hostel and sustainability project called G-22. It was started by architect Alfredo Maul when he returned to his home country of Guatemala from studying and working abroad. It focuses on staying sustainable in an ever-changing urban environment. He uses many innovative practices like composting organic waste and collecting rainwater, even reusing use sink water to wash dishes and flush toilets. Alfredo used many… Read More
City of Sails
Auckland, the City of Sails, heart of New Zealand’s city life, as well as a nice change from the rest of our trip. For the past month, we’ve roamed beaches, milked cows and collected chicken eggs, hiked legendary peaks, mountain biked and trekked (or tramped as the kiwi’s say) through the vast expanse of National park. We’ve learned about permaculture from people who treat it as a lifestyle, as well… Read More
Photos from G-22
Blog with more details to come soon! But photos are from time with G-22 in Guatemala City – learning about community and sustainable development in an urban setting. (And playing!)… Read More
Rishikesh Phool Chati Ashram
We just completed our week long yoga retreat at the Phool Chati Ashram lead by Lolita Ji. Our days lasted from 6am to 9pm and while at first the days seemed extremely long, as we got into the rhythm of the Ashram lifestyle things began to pick up and now looking back it seems a week wasn’t enough. We began our days with meditation and neti pot cleansing to clear… Read More
Amazonian retreat – ecotourism and bullet ants
It takes several arguments with disgruntled bus travelers and a boat ride across the Arajuno River, for us to reach the rocky beach of the Arajuno lodge. Quaint wooden cabins are spread out in front of us amongst patches of grass and towering bamboo stems. It feels like a microcosm of rustic urbanization. Between the wooden walls, colorful hammocks, and surprising satellite reception, it’s very easy to forget that we… Read More
Foxes’ NGO – Mufindi
Five incredible weeks at Foxes’ NGO, and I’m still not sure exactly what label to give the organization where I’m working – besides “NGO”. It’s non-governmental, sure, but it’s a lot of other things, too. And all of them are worth writing about.
What is this place? An orphanage? Yeah, kind of – though we don’t use that term, since it tends to paint a sad, Western, “institutional” picture –… Read More
“Back to School”
I hadn’t been to school in quite a while, so I figured that it was about time to head back for a little bit. 😉 And the past two weeks have certainly been one of the best “back to school” intros!
The two schools at which I am both teaching and learning is found amongst the lusciously green, rolling hills of south western Uganda, in the small village of Kitanga.… Read More
Wildtracks…
Hello world and welcome to another post of the cool side of the blog. your host Valiant Val!
As you know, and actually as you probably don’t know Valencio is currently in the beautiful country of Belize, where the water is warm and the sky is blue as a really… blue sky…. What did you expect.
Any who back to business, Valencio is working hard and doing things right. Not… Read More
Mangos and Monkeys
Project Bona Fide. Permaculture farm on a volcano, on an island, in a lake, in the heart of the tropics. Imagine one of those early fly over scenes from Jurassic Park and you’ll get the gist of it. As I’m writing this I’m watching the silhouetted volcano fade in front of a sky that’s literally traffic cone orange. The orangeness is just ridiculous. But so is everything about this island,… Read More
Dolphins in WA!
Giddy from down unda’!
It’s been six weeks since I arrived in Bunbury, Western Australia, (aka “The Dolphin City”), and I can’t believe how fast the time is passing.
I’ve been lucky to be doing my FVP at the Dolphin Discovery Centre, a volunteer-based organization on the coast of Australia. Because of the warmth and safety of this one small bay, hundreds of wild bottlenose dolphins roam free. It’s the… Read More