Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A TEENSY SAMPLE TO WHET YOUR APPETITE
There are lots of perks to signing up for Volunteers for Peace work camps. The two
best are dirt-cheap trips to foreign countries and geographically diverse coworkers.
Even if you choose a work camp near your own home, you're guaranteed to hear
accents from across the globe. At a recent VFP work camp in Wells, Maine, for
example, volunteers hailed from Germany, Northern Ireland, South Korea, Japan,
and Serbia. During their two-week work camp, these international volunteers main-
tained the 7 miles of trails through the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve
coastal reserve and helped with the annual Laudholm Nature Crafts Festival, a two-
day arts-and-crafts festival.
As for the dirt-cheap part, how does $250 for a two- to three-week vacation
sound, room and board included? Granted, you won't be staying in a four-star hotel
and, of course, you're expected to donate some elbow grease, but what could be
more meaningful and fun than contributing to the betterment of the planet?
Because this topic focuses on the best vacations in North America, here are a
few more examples of recent work camps on this continent:
•
Each fall, the snow geese migrate to Cap-St.-Ignace, a small town on the
St. Lawrence River in Quebec. A work camp of international volunteers
came for three weeks in early fall to lay out a paved path for cyclists,
Rollerbladers, and hikers, and, of course, to witness the spectacle of tens of
thousands of snow geese.
•
A work camp in Flagstaff, Arizona, asked volunteers to construct trails,
build fences, plant native species, and work on other aspects of wildlife res-
toration. Free time included a trip to the Grand Canyon.
•
In Willits, California, volunteers worked at the Mendocino Ecological
Learning Center learning about permaculture, ecological design, and natur-
al building. Daily yoga was included.
•
In Zihuatanejo, Mexico, volunteers living in beachside cabins collected
data on sea turtles.
•
On a ranch in Oaxaca, Mexico, volunteers built dorms, kitchens, dining
rooms, and classrooms for a children's home for orphans.
