20 Journeys 9 CHANGE CHILDRENS LIVES IN GUATEMALA I’ve never seen anyone so pleased to see two packets of Blu-Tack,’ Steph Thorns records in her online diary about working with children in Guatemala (guatemala.thorns.info). The life of this former hospital project manager was transformed after she volunteered to work with indigenous communities near Antigua, helping in rural schools where there would otherwise be no formal education. Steph is now retraining as a community health nurse with a view to going back. Her trip to Guatemala was organised through the charity-support organisation Global Vision International (0870 608 8898; gvi.co.uk). You pay a contribution of £920 for a minimum of a month’s volunteering, mainly teaching and playing with local children aged from two to 15; no formal teachertraining skills are required. Side benefits include the chance to learn Spanish and experience South American life. See responsibletravel.com for other possibilities including working with a radio station in Ghana and renovating schools in Tanzania. 10 11 RIDE THE ROLLERS IN HAWAII Surfing might be a lifestyle, but it often begins with a holiday. For an idea of the way it can change people and what it’s like to be a newcomer, track down a copy of Caught Inside: A Surfer’s Year on the California Coast by Daniel Duane (Lonely Planet). Hawaii is where the best waves are, rising off the coasts of Oahu and Maui to heights of 70 feet. You’ll need at least 10 years of regular surfing before you can master the crazy rollers of Waimea Bay. In winter the waves have to be seen to be believed but in summer, even novices can try their luck. Pure Vacations (01227 262264; surfexperience.com) offers surfing packages to both Waimea Bay and Waikiki that start from £278 person, plus flights. Here you can join a local surf school, or hire a professional guide from around £43 a day. Other destinations include Woolacombe. The company issues a stern warning: ‘Remember you are here to surf not PARTY’ - those early morning starts have shattered many a dream. FOLLOW A SAINT INTO THE TURKISH WILDERNESS 12 Follow in the footsteps of St Paul through the wilds of Turkey’s Taurus and Sultan mountain ranges, with ancient ruins and dramatic peaks and canyons along the way. A new 500km footpath traces the apostle’s missionary journey from Perge on the Mediterranean coast to Yalvac, near Antioch, overlooking the Anatolian plateau. It’s been created and waymarked by Englishwoman Kate Clow. For more details, including how to order her guidebook, see stpaultrail.com. Exodus (0870 240550; exodus.co.uk) offers a nine-day trekking package, guided by Clow, from £500. Even more ambitious is the 1,000 mile Via Francigena linking Canterbury and Rome. This is a DIY pilgrimage - no tour operators run packages - but you can get route maps, information on accommodation and support at francigena.ch and giovannicaselli. com/francigena. TALK TO THE ANIMALS IN THE KALAHARI DESERT Sitting in the Kalahari desert counting meerkats is one of your options among the 140 scientific and conservation projects organised worldwide by the charity Earthwatch (01865 318383; earthwatch. org/europe). On this two-week expedition to the Kuruman river in South Africa you help ecologists studying the exceptionally co-operative lifestyles of these mongooselike creatures. Volunteers stay in thatched huts, working in small teams, and there’s plenty of spare time to appreciate the wonder of the desert. Accommodation, food and local transfers are provided but flights are extra, and the cost - from £1,495 per person - is a charitable donation that funds the research. Other expeditions available in 2005 include joining marine naturalists on a 39ft yacht studying basking sharks in the Inner Hebrides, helping conservationists monitor macaws in the Peruvian Amazon, and tracking zebras by four-wheel drive vehicle in the Samburu district of Kenya as part of an initiative to limit their conflict with human activities. Amazing Destinations 151
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