Izi joined the gap year and life team last month and helping gappers and families organise their trips for 2012/2013. She comes with a great camps history having stayed for 3 months in Camp Kenya in 2005 so has a lot of insider knowledge. Great pic here the one with only one eye is Izi!

My Name is Izi Dragonetti

The best thing about working for Camps is the welcoming and relaxed atmosphere that greets you everyday, oh, and also being a part of something worthwhile!

Ideally I’d like for Camps to send me to all of our destinations. Then I will truly be able to speak with authority about the projects we run and the uniqueness of each destination. But if I had to pick…Borneo or Cambodia!

I think probably the best and most memorable place I have been is Kerala, India and in particular the backwaters of Cochin.

I think my favorite  camps project is probably Camp Kenya, simply because I have been a gapper there in the past, and I feel quite protective of the project work I was involved in.

My best advice for someone considering taking a gap year would be to JFDI. Also go on your own and travel light! follow the gap team on twitter @campsgapyear

Naomi was on one of our school expeditions to Tanzania this summer she wrote to me yesterday to share her experiences of our leaders in Tanzania…It sounds like they had a fantastic time and a lot of it is due to Vicks and James so a big thank you to the pair of them. I have found a photo of Viks but you need look no further than the cover of the Camps International brochure. Here’s one of James.

Hey, I’m Naomi Walker, In July this year I went to Tanzania on a school expedition and it was honestly incredible! I can’t thank you enough for giving me the opportunity! My experience was life changing and that phrase is used way to often but I honestly believe it was! My team leader(s) were Victoria Gillbard and James Rose! They made the expedition incredible, we had such a brilliant time and the friends I’ve made are those for life!

The day before we got to Tanzania, Viks suggested we wrote letters to ourselves of which she would then post to us in a few months, at the time it seem random and almost stupid but I did it anyway after all TIA (this is Africa), today I received that letter and wow, it was incredible! Admittedly I started to cry but to me that just shows the amazing time I had! I wrote about our team, I wrote about the in country staff, I wrote about the projects and mainly I wrote about Vicks! I just thought I should tell you the amazing impact she had on my expedition, I honestly feel as if she helped me through everything and that she made the trip what it was, she puts her heart and soul into Africa and if one person belongs there its her! she was always there for me; as a leader and a friend and so was James! I couldn’t have wished for two better people to be there for us! Thank you so much for the experience, camps international is outstanding!xxxx

Having started to make a list of things I absolutely had to include in a blog about my incredible summer expedition to Tanzania, I realised that it was going to be about 10 pages long and that the list itself made pretty interesting reading. So here is (most of) my expedition, broken down into tasty bite sized chunks for easy digestion!

• Had a very long journey.
• Arrived at Tanga ocean camp.
• Met our amazing project coordinators.
• Went Seaweed harvesting with the local Mammas.

 

• Made energy efficient stoves.
• Constructed a kitchen out of mud and sticks.
• Learned to speak Swahili.
• Made new toilets at a local school
• Donated 50 maths sets to year 5.
• Played ‘shake your hand’ with 100 children (you had to be there…).
• Went swimming in the Indian Ocean.
• Had a sports day against the gapers.
• Taught English in Mombani village.
• Went to the local market in Tanga.

• Completed a Padi Scuba Diving qualification.
• Went diving at a coral reef.

• Dressed as Old Greg for fancy dress night
• Made friends with another group.
• Donating crocs, pens, books and games to the children in Tanga.

• Learned to cook chapattis and samosas with the Mammas.
• Made Makuti (bamboo roof panels) for a Mamma to sell.
• Played with the local children and gave them toys to play with.
• Went snorkelling.
• Had a barbeque and saw some traditional dancing.

• Went to camp Miti Merefu in the bush, had breakfast watching Giraffes.
• Had a walking safari, saw Zebra, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, gazelles and 100 other animals.

• Dug out a huge waterhole next to a massive treehouse.

• Collected loads of firewood.
• Had bucket showers and used long drops
• Visited a Masaai village, carted off to their mud huts and made traditional jewellery.

• Bought more jewellery!
• Made elephant dung paper.
• Saw and took part in a Masaai dance.
• Visited a rural school, taught English, maths and physics and donated Frisbees.

• Played Ukulele around the campfire.
• Went on safari in Tarangire and Ngorongoro National Parks.

• Became OBESSESSED with Zebras.
• Stayed at Haven safari campsite.
• Went to Mbokomu camp in Moshi.
• Worked on the dining hall at Mbokomu school.

• Laid a new cement floor.
• Started levelling the football pitch.
• Celebrated Sarah’s birthday!
• Had an R & R day at a painting market in Moshi.
• Played a lot of Pass the Pigs and Bench ball.
• Did several power ups.
• Visited Tuleeni Orphanage.

• Bought and donated 2 chickens, loads of food, crocs, educational posters, clothes, toys and books to the orphans.
• Had a meal out in Moshi.
• Very early start and the flight home (with 100 other Campers singing on the plane!).
• 100 other things I didn’t write down!
• The most important one – met amazing people! My team were amazing, the Camps International staff were incredible and all of the local mammas, teachers and other villagers made the whole experience very very special.