Hamp & Sam started this summer off right - with some exploring!
Hamp brought his lovely Norwegian girlfriend and partner in adventure back to the States after Folk School for a few weeks together of touring the American West. They camped in the Great Sand Dunes National Park, toured a reptile rescue farm, visited Crested Butte, watched the sunrise at Arches National Park, and went skydiving in Moab!!! (for anyone who remembers Jason's passion for jumping out of planes, you know he would be so proud of his son's first dive!)
Hamp wasn't even home from taking Johanne to the airport when Sam (and I!) took off for Belize with the Ecology Project International group. 18 teenagers with 3 chaperones for 9 days doing biological and ecological research in the rain forest and the barrier reef is an incredible notion. Hamp went on an EPI trip in 2021 to the Galapagos and I vividly remember how excited he was when he got home to share stories about what he learned... so I was so grateful when I had the opportunity to be a part of this year's trip and see first hand the amazing experiences that Sam shared with this awesome group of friends.
The first half of the trip was studying marine biology and barrier reef health on Tobacco Caye, a small island off the coast. The staff at the Marine Station were amazing but the real heroes were our EPI instructors who kept the kids busy with great lessons and group games that made it not even feel like learning... and it doesn't hurt when your "classroom" looks like this:
The next half of the trip was at the Toucan Ridge Ecology & Education Society (TREES) ecolodge where we studied the ecosystem of the rain forest, including river health, bat species, turtles, and all the amazing plant life.
As incredible as all of the education and research was, my favorite part was watching Sam be all-in for this experience. I may not have gotten an earful of adventure stories when he came home, but I did get to witness first hand how much he LOVED playing volleyball at both locations!
Seriously though, he may not grow up to be a biologist or a researcher, but no doubt this trip has helped continue to nurture him as an explorer, a learner... and a good team mate!
