AAVE Trip BLOG » Africa
August 11, 2008
Africa #2 from Botswana
Posted by Annemarie in : Africa, General , add a comment
Greetings from Botswana!
Now that everyone in the group is happy and 100% healthy, we are having the time of our lives! A couple days ago we organized a spontaneous soccer match with local villagers in Gweta where we created two teams made up of both locals and AAVE participants. We had a BLAST, definitely one of the highlights of the entire trip thus far!
The following morning we woke up and took off for the salt pans of Botswana, and unique and amazing area of Africa, perfect for quad biking! We also kept ourselves entertained by playing rugby and ultimate frisbee, and flew kites around the salt pans, which we’re convinced is the absolute middle of nowhere. After a fun day of ATV’ing and playing games, we slept under the magnificent African stars, absolutely the best night of the trip!
We’re looking forward to the final week of our Africa adventure. (We tried to send pictures but had some computer problems in the process).
Loving the AAVE Africa Life!
Annemarie & the AF2 Crew
August 5, 2008
Africa #2 Summer Camp
Posted by Nate at AAVE in : Africa, General , add a comment
Hello Friends and family back home. So far so good! We are about to enjoy a lovely cultural dinner out for our last night in Zambia. The group is having a lot of fun and enjoying being spoiled in the beginning of the trip instead of at the end. We have done some amazing things already. We visited an orphanage before volunteering our time on site. The orphan kids sang and danced with us. I think it was an incredible experience for everyone. Every student in our group was great with the kids and loved holding hands and asking them questions. We got to play soccer, frisbee and we taught them a few American games. We have also spent time at the local market learning how to bargain for our gifts and hiked around Victoria falls today. Some even got to hold baby crocs!
The group so far is very mature and very helpful. They are enjoying themselves a lot and looking forward to the next few days in Botswana. We will be camping in Chobe National Park and where we will hopefully get to see lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras and much more.
Here are some comments from the kids:
Hey everyone! Having a blast in Africa so far. the visit to the orphanage and seeing Victoria falls has combined for a fantastic couple of days! -Mike
Camp has been amazing so far! Visiting the orphanage was a life changing experience. I hope the rest of the trip is as great as the first few days! - Warner
Hello Everybody! Great adventure and cool people. Took a picture of a big CROC. I absolutely loved the community service. Stop worrying! -Devin
Hey Mom and Meg! Camp is awesome! Having so much fun. We visited an orphanage which was remarkable and they accepted our donations. We went to Vitoria Falls which was also beautiful. Love, Erin
Hey guys! Having fun. Held a croc and saw monkeys in our camp. I had a great time with the orphan kids and they had lots of fun with the soccer balls. I’m drinking lots of CLEAN Bottled water! Don’t’ worry. Love, Emily
Hello All! This trip has been amazing. We helped build an orphanage and I’ve touched or been near a croc, monkeys, snakes and even a baby croc. I ‘m safe! P.S. Victoria falls is amazing! -Zach
Hey guys! Having a great time so far! We played with orphan children yesterday and helped build and orphanage (never worked so much in my life!). Went to Victoria falls today and held a baby croc! Got chased by a monkey; Daniel would of been in hysterics!). Miss you all billions. Love Alexandra
Hey! Africa has been a lot of fun. We played with the orphans at an orphanage in Zambia and helped build a new one. It was an amazing experience!! We also went to Victoria falls, which was beautiful. C you Later. -Colin
Until next time …
Annemarie & the Africa #2 Crew
July 21, 2008
Africa #1 - July 20, 2008 - Our last night
Posted by Annemarie in : Africa , 1 comment so far
Hello from Africa!.. and our last night of the trip. We are just about to head out to for our last dinner together! The students are great and extremely sad to be leaving each other. We had a blast at the spas yesterday and today the kids got to scream their brains out at the amusement park in Johannesburg. We also got to visit the apartheid museum, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed.
You will soon hear our amazing stories. Thank you for sharing your kids with AAVE!
I hope all is well in the back home! Much love, Annemarie
July 16, 2008
Africa #1 Pictures
Posted by Annemarie in : Africa , 1 comment so far
July 14, 2008
Hi everybody back home from Africa!!!
Posted by Annemarie in : Africa , 1 comment so far
I asked the students to write some quotes to post….. let everyone know we are doing well and having a great time! We just finished a beautiful boat safari and saw hippos and crocs….super close up!! We are going on a game drive tonight and will see more wild life. Tomorrow we will be doing a sunset cruise and celebrate Kelsey’s. B-day!
Quotes:
We got as close as one meter from a crocodile! - Dipesh
Oh my god one meter away from 3 crocodiles!!- Moe
We don’t want to come back home!!- Jose
Saw the croc’s up close, as well as monkey’s baboons and hippos- Matt
There was a lion and an elephant in our camp….Molly
We had to swim in the Ngepi river in a cage because of hippos and crocodiles- Kelsey S.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so amazed by animals in their natural habitat! the lion waking us up at night was definitely crazy! - Andrew
Today the boat safari was amazing! I love it here and all the animals are so beautiful. I’ll never forget this trip- Lauren
Everyday is a whole new experience. It’s amazing and everyone is wonderful!…Laura
I knew I would be seeing wild animals, but I never expected to see so many so close! and I think i’ll have to set up a tent in my backyard at home, I’ve gotten so comfortable camping! - Nicole
This experience is almost impossible to describe….I’m not looking forward to leaving!…Kelsey H.
I don’t want this trip to end. The things we’ve seen are amazing… Chole
Sleeping on the salt pans was a once in a lifetime experience! I have never felt so small in the entire world….you could see nothing for miles in every direction! africa has the most amazing sunsets….what a beautiful country! - Annemarie
That’s all I got! I hope all is well…WE ARE LOVING THE AAVE LIFE!
-ANNEMARIE
July 11, 2008
Hello Abbott and hello to our families from Africa!
Posted by Annemarie in : Africa , add a comment
Wow, our great adventure is going really well.
Our service work in Capture in Botswana was amazing. It is an extremely rural community that is rarely visited by westerners. The kids were amazed by our bus and cameras. Together with locals we put up a swing set and played soccer in the street. The service project was great, hard work and we teamed up to get it done!
We are now in Ngepi Namibia at our best campsite. It is right by the river where we are going to canoe Saturday. It has Green grass and beautiful green trees. We have been in very desolate desert so this is like we are in an enchanted forest. The tables at are campsite are cool, made of canoes,
We celebrated Nicole Bauthier birthday with some funny games, gave her a necklace and had a goofy relay race. We have two more birthdays to celebrate, Kelsey Siwek and Laura Alhach.
The awesome wildlife part is coming but most of us have seen Giraffe, elephants, warthogs and Kudu. The Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana was a huge highlight. Wide open spaces which we explored with quad bikes, We flew kites and danced under the stars. The weather at night has been cool.
We will try to call home in the next three days. We are really sorry there has been absolutely no opportunity to call and try to send you pictures.
We are loving the AAVE life!
Annemarie Carzoli
Chris Duncan
Julandi (Jules) Geringer
Darlington our well loved and appreciated cook
July 2, 2008
AF1
Posted by AAVE Leader in : Africa , add a comment
Hi from (Almost) Botswanna!
We all arrived safely and it was so exciting to finally be off the airplane and meet everyone! There is so much great energy here!!! and the land - wow!!! the scenery here and the colors are absolutely phenomenal!!! Johannesburg is quite an expansive city and we stayed in a great South African style lodge.
Can’t wait to explore more of Africa but really - it is so cool to be going to the border of Botswanna already!!!
Look at all the Apple-leaf and Tamboti trees. We kinda feel like we’re in a Dr. Seuss book!
Talk to you soon after we learn more about Tuli Conservation!
February 1, 2008
Summer Camp in Africa Exceeds Expectations!
Posted by AAVE Camper in : Africa, General , 1 comment so far
It was perfect as always. Communication was above par. The grouping of kids and leaders could not have been better. The “hand-holding” before the trip between the main office and us calmed all of our fears.
-Parent, Lisa Chriss-Swiedler, AF
My summer with AAVE in Africa was amazing! My trip leaders Cory and Juliandi were amazing and all of the other kids that I met were great. I learned a lot and experienced a completely opposite lifestyle. The food was better then I thought it would be, but having gone to Colorado with AAVE last summer I knew exactly what to expect: fun, fun and more fun. AAVE has given me another incredible summer that I will never forget!
-Camper, David Swiedler, AF
Everything this summer was so successful with AAVE on both of my trips (Africa 1 and Ecuador 2), but I especially found group bonding on both trips to be the most successful.
-Camper, Allison Reid, AF & EG
Extremely successful summer full of memories to last a life time! Great cultural immersion and group bonding!
-Parent, Mary Ann Guzy, AF & EG
I don’t think that I can say one negative or unsuccessful thing about my trip to Africa this summer with AAVE. It was mind-blowing to be in Africa in the first place, but I have to say that the rest of the teens I met this summer ultimately made the whole trip successful. I feel extremely blessed to have gotten to visit such a beautiful, unique, and diverse country. The people, the culture, the wildlife, the surrounding environment, everything was truly incredible. The experience was surreal. The trip leaders made the trip so much fun. I am ecstatic that I was able to meet such amazing people, and furthermore that I was able to do so in an amazing country as Africa. AAVE was able to give me an unforgettable summer, and if I could do it all over again, I surely would in a heartbeat.
-Camper, Cailee Gonzales, AF
It was successful in the sense that Cailee went and came back safely. The preparations prior to the trip were very organized. The personal calls from the trip leader, Cory, were very much welcomed and appreciated.
-Parent, Cynthia Gonzales, AF
The summer of 2007 was my favorite AAVE trip that I have ever done. All of the activities were planned with great concideration and each leader was absolutly amazing. And we also couldn’t have had a better group. Everything went perfectly on my trip this summer.
-Camper, Beth Bradley, AF
A #1 as always! Beth came back with raving reviews about all aspects of her trip. The “kids” were all great, the leaders exceptional and the place was absolutely amazing. This was her favorite of all her trips and she is threatening to go back next summer.
-Parent, Karen Bradley, AF
I think the way in which the leaders encourage teamwork and group spirit makes the trips and summers succesful and also the fact that the groups are not very big.
-Camper, Carlos Dexeus
This was a big deal for us, letting Hannah go to Africa at 15. AAVE made me feel comfortable enough to trust your leader and organization to take good care of her. When we were deciding if we needed to get her an escort at the airport to navigate from international to domestic, AAVE was very helpful in coordinating this with Cory so that Hannah could have a buddy and navigate the situation herself. Thank You Noah for watching out for her! We are very happy that Hannah took this trip and know her experience will unfold within her for a lifetime.
Parent, Nancy Kilham, AF
Matt had an amazing experience in every way on Africa trip #2. From the trip leaders to the kids themselves, Matt made many warm friendships. The photographs he has as lifelong souveniers (both in his own mind and on paper) bear testimony to the life changing journey he took. Every wish we had for Matt on this trip was granted…………..and then some! Thank you AAVE!
-Parent, Walter Jackson, AF
January 13, 2008
Africa #2A - South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Botswana!
Posted by AAVE Camper in : Africa, General , add a comment
AFRICA 2007 Families,
Flying in from varied locations around the world everyone landed safely in their first African airport with a couple smiling faces waiting to greet them. Our arrival in Johannesburg, South Africa, begins our 3 week journey, to that we are much enthused. Once all 13 students arrived we had a welcome party with an “authentic” pizza meal. Cory, Julandi, and Sibo are our three guides, all extremely experienced, hilarious and are fun filled with enthusiasm.
We set out the next morning to cross the border into Botswana and headed north to Maun, which is the gateway to the Okavango Delta. We played a quick game of cricket, thanks to Pranav and then headed out into our Mokoros (wooden dugout canoes) and started through the natural canals. We made camp on an island, where we started our game walks. We were out for about 4-6 hours, seeing tons of elephant, hippo, baboon and warthogs.
We then left Maun and headed for Sepupa, where we helped build a fence to help the local community. We also challenged the locals to a football match, which was EPIC. There were about 250-300 spectators lining the sidelines and cheering on their home team. The score ended up being 4-4 with Ben scoring 1 and Noah scoring 3. It was a truly incredible experience.
We headed further north through Namibia’s Caprivi Strip and back into Botswana’s famous Chobe National Park. We went on a boat safari and then a game drive, where we saw hundreds of kudu, giraffe, elephant and most importantly 4 lions feeding on a buffalo carcass. It was amazing.
Livingstone, Zambia arrived as our next destination. While most think of the location as just another place in Africa, all of us rowdy teenagers were brought in and pushed out with a sense of realization that we are a truly blessed bunch of people. The orphanage that was visited in this truly beautiful part of the world left the shadows of warm-hearted schoolboys and little proper ladies hovering over our hearts. Their voices of praise and song linger in our ears and the touch of their dry cold hands has imprinted stains in our palms. These underprivileged children opened our hearts, and with smiles and hugs we waved goodbye with the everlasting knowledge that we changed a life for the better.
And then along came a thousand tons of water…
Victoria Falls was next on our itinerary, Jaw dropping and mind-blowing scenery to which eyes are the beholder and words are inadequate.
From the fall we moved onward to the Makadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana. The Pans, which cover an area roughly the size of Portugal, are completely barren and their almost total lack of vegetation allows for unhindered panoramic views of the landscape and of the sky at night. The feeling of solitude and the remoteness of the scene were truly spectacular. While at the Pans, we tried our hands at archery, Quad-biking and power kiting.
Then we went to Tuli. It was wild. We were warned about the lions and leopards wandering around our camp and were therefore too scared to venture from our tents to urinate. We awoke to the sound of jackals and hyenas, which was interesting to say the least. At the end of our stay in Tuli we drove back to our beautiful, oversized and safe truck and drove to the Lost City tucked away in our below freezing sleeping bags.
The Lost City was the beginning of the end, planned to give us kids a rest. Our venture into the casino with the exit expanding into a small (yet locally large) water park left us all ready to slide into hypothermia worthy water. Fast food consumed, ice cream slurped, and souvenirs purchased left us just enough time to enjoy the water.
The end of our trip was concluded with a decent dose of roller coasters, annoying amusement park employees, and wimpy fast food. After the headaches were handed out to most everyone, the Apartheid museum calmed our nerves. Words find no formation and visually it must be seen with teary eyes.
The 21 day trip has become a haze of beautiful pictures and a continuous flow of inside jokes, foolish games and wrestling. From days in and days out, the little pleasures here and there, all 16 individuals scattered from around the world have easily and most comfortably enjoyed each others, as well as the host natives company.
Bon Voyage!
Ellen, Noah and the AAVE Tribe
August 1, 2007
Africa #2A - Group Picture
Posted by Jenny at AAVE in : Africa, General , add a comment
Greetings from Africa to Abbott and families back home,
Communication is a bit difficult from the remote places we visit. I assure you that all luggage is found, we picked up Akanksha’s luggage a few days ago.
Attached is is a group picture. We are having a wonderful time!! The group is coming together nicely. They are fun, mature and enthusiastic about all of our adventures.
Your kids are an absolute pleasure, thank you for sending them!! We are all enjoying our time and the adventures, cultures and challenges of this trip!!! I will be in touch soon with more details.
Cory & the crew
Africa #2: Cory, Julandi, Carlos Dexeus, David Swiedler, Hayden LaPointe, Tyler Starling, Cailee Gonzales, Isabella (Bella) Jacobs, Matt Jackson, Ellen Suderman-Talco, Pranav Sood, Akanksha Jayanthi, Hannah Kechloian, Benjamin Thepaut. Noah Wallis