Summercamps for teenagers – Worldwide Friends

Short description:

Let’s fight global warming. 12 days Adventure camp for 15 to 17 years old teenagers. Traveling around Iceland’s Ring Road while visiting the most beautiful places on the island, while also taking action, by participating in different activities that will benefit the local community! With exciting activities like: Horse riding, and discovering glaciers, black sand beaches, lava fields, hot springs, and pure nature. During the camp, the young people will give a special focus and have workshops about how to prevent global warming in their daily life.

Program

This camp will have a special focus on Global warming and how we can fight this danger in our daily life. During the camp our teenagers will also have some photography sessions to learn how to get the most out of the cameras while being creative in the process.
The teenagers will get a hands-on instruction and experience with the tools necessary to research, compose, capture, and refine digital photographic projects. We will mostly focus in nature when it comes to topic and we encourage our participants to be creative. Iceland is a magic country for photographers, so we are sure that our group will have a lot of great photos and memories when they return home after the camp.

General Information Click

Day 1: Airport pickups. Meeting with the participants

Detailed introduction of the program.
Getting to know each other.
City tour and dinner in Reykjavik

Accommodation: Hostel in Reykjavik

Day 2: Departure to South – Golden circle

After breakfast we will go for the number one tour in Iceland called the Golden circle. We will see Gullfoss the beautiful double “Golden Falls”; the active geothermal area of Geysir, where we can see Strokkur “the churn” spout up to 25 meters (70 feet) every five to seven minutes. A visit to the ancient Viking Parliament area of Þingvellir National Park tops it off before heading to the west to our first project in Brú.

Accommodation: Brú Sustainable Center

Day 3 to 5 : Volunteering Day!

We will participate in a Beach Cleaning activity! The plastic crisis is one of the major environmental challenges of our times. Plastic pollution impacts our health, water, tourism, fishing, and overall ecosystem. Plastic debris has accumulated in natural habitats from the poles to the equator. This program takes a bottom-up approach, focusing on how an individual can change their perception of plastic, understand responsibility, create motivation to contribute to combatting the crisis, and, ultimately, ideally change their plastic behaviors. We work with the local community as well helping with the reforestation of the areas nearby.

Accommodation: Brú Sustainable Center

Day 6: Horse Riding & Visit to Seal Museum

The Icelandic horse is as local to this volcanic land as its people. Being one of the purest horse breeds in the world it is also considered one of the friendliest animals ever. One of the Icelandic horse's most notable attributes is its five gaits! In the afternoon we will visit the Seal Museum in Hvammstangi, a museum designated to provide you with the information you need to fully enjoy the seals you can spot around Iceland´s shores. Finish the day relaxing in the local geothermal swimming pool! .

Accommodation: Brú Sustainable Center

Day 7: Travel to the East

We will start the day early. Having many stops along the way; Akureyri the capital of the North, Godafoss waterfall. Dimmuborgir is a strange lava landscape. Its name means “Dark Castles,” owed to the interesting rock formations jutting out of the ground, resembling a fort from an ancient city. Then there are the Námaskarð mud pools, also located to the east of Lake Mývatn. Marvel at the yellow and brown colours of the clay along with the gray-filled mud pools. It looks like a movie scene from another planet!

Accommodation: Worldwide Friends House

Day 8 & 9: Volunteering Day!

Our main activity in the east will be fighting lupines! As well as path maintenance, invasive plant removal is essential to nature and landscape preservation. In Iceland, there are few non-native plants that have become invasive and are in competition with indigenous flora. The most known is called Lupin (Lupinus nootkatensis). It is used to improve the quality of the soil in enriching it with nitrogen and allowing the long roots to stabilize the loose ground. This plant was introduced in Iceland to avoid soil erosion and to help forestry. The spread of plants went out of control, taking over large areas in a short space of time. Lupine has a negative impact on biodiversity by taking over local species.

Accommodation: Worldwide Friends House

Day 10: Studlagil Canyon & Vöx Baths

With the largest number of basalt rock columns in Iceland and a stunning blue-green glacial river to contrast, Studlagil is one of Iceland's hidden gems! Afterwards you will experience the age-old Icelandic tradition of bathing in a natural geothermal pool. Vök Baths is located on the bank of Urriðavatn lake, only a few minutes from the town of Egilsstaðir. At Vök Baths you will find, floating geothermal pools with infinity view, two onshore hot pools, a sauna and a cold water spray tunnel.

Accommodation: Worldwide Friends House

Day 11: Travel back to Reykjavik

Travelling through the west to Reykjavik. Several stops to enjoy nature on the way; Glacier Lagoon, the world-famous Black Beach, and many more.

Farewell party.

Accommodation: Hostel in Reykjavik