The 100 Best Volunteer Vacations to Enrich Your Life Part 9

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

INEXSDA, Budeska 1, Prague 2, 120 00, Czech Republic, 420 222 362 715, www.inexsda.cz.

BALKAN SUNFLOWERS.

work with kosovo refugees.

ALBANIA, KOSOVO, AND MACEDONIA.

For once in my life, I won't live in an artificial bling-bling world.

-Lisa Holstenson, volunteer with Balkan Sunflowers.

33 Wam Kat, the Dutch peace activist who started Balkan Sunflowers (BSF), a gra.s.sroots volunteer group, the first to work in Croatia's refugee camps after the 1999 NATO intervention that finally brought an end to the deadly struggle, is the perfect example of what one person can do. His near-daily electronic diary from Zagreb detailing the atrocities of the ethnic cleansing that was devastating innocent lives inspired people from around the world to send money, to show up, to say, "No, this is unacceptable." He covered the events long before CNN and the BBC arrived on the scene.

International volunteers began flocking to the political hotbed. As Kat, the father of three, remarks, "People came to realize that this was no political abstraction, but real people like you and me. They decided they wanted to help in a way transferring money could not."

Today, as the dust settles from this horrific chapter in world history, thousands of these "real people" still live in refugee camps, and still suffer the consequences of unbridled prejudice, a bombed-out homeland, and resources that are stretched thin.

Although Kat has since retired from BSF, the nonprofit he started is going strong with projects throughout Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia. Volunteers are still needed, mainly to work with Kosovar kids by organizing soccer leagues, art projects, English lessons-anything "to make life easier and more fun."

"Trying to help these children regain their trust in the world and faith in humanity is part of our mission," says Sherine Zagho, an Egyptian volunteer with BSF.

Over the years, BSF volunteers have done everything from install playgrounds and restore parks to pa.s.s out teddy bears and host theater troupes. One volunteer translated Dr. Seuss books into Albanian. As another volunteer says, "They throw us in the deep end," which means it's up to you, the volunteer, to be creative, to come up with an idea and to implement it. Any idea is fair game. A BFS youth video program resulted in presentations at two of the world's leading film festivals-Sundance in 2001 and Cannes in 2007.

The volunteer commitment is normally six months, unless special arrangements are made, living with host families and sharing meals with them. The volunteer should raise money to support his/her stay in Kosovo and should check with Balkan Sunflowers on this amount, as it depends on current conditions and whether or not the project he or she joins has funds to support their partic.i.p.ation.

As for the name Balkan Sunflowers, it was inspired by an earlier act of Kat's. In 1994, when sandbags were piled around the bunkers in Zagreb, Kat secretly added sunflower seeds to the heavy bags. In the spring, when the weather warmed the ground, the giant yellow sunflowers sprouted throughout Zagreb, creating a poetic antiwar statement.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

Balkan Sunflowers, Youth, Culture and Sports Hall #114, Luan Haradinaj Street, Prishtina, Kosovo, 381 38 246 299, www.balkansunflowers.org.

THE POWER OF ONE.

When Wam Kat was 18, his doctor gave him one year to live. He decided right then and there, he'd squeeze an entire lifetime into that year. Thirty-five years later, he's still going strong. His list of exploits include: Co-founded the European Youth for Action (EYFA) environmental network to address the effects of acid rain on local forests.

Smuggled computers, modems, and faxes into Eastern Europe to report on the as yet hidden political situation.

Organized Ecotopia, a yearly summer festival to promote environmental awareness.

Co-founded a mobile vegetarian kitchen, Rampenplan, that provided food and other services to political activists.

Serves as a town councilman in Belzig, Germany.

Published a political cookbook called 24 Rezepte zur kulinarischen Weltverbesserung, which translates as 24 Prescriptions for Culinary World Improvement.

ECOMUSEUM DE CAP DE CAVALLERIA.

excavate a roman fort, harbor, and village.

MENORCA, SPAIN.

Archaeology is the peeping Tom of the sciences.

-Jim Bishop, American journalist.

34 Even though Menorca has more beaches than its bigger sister, Mallorca, it hasn't been a tourist destination for long. Until 1969, when the San Climent airport opened, the economic drivers of this laid-back Spanish paradise were dairy farming and shoemaking. By 1993, the entire 9-by-32-mile island was declared a biosphere reserve. Even those few tourists who do come tend to agree with the tourist literature that declares: "If the Mediterranean were a book, Menorca would be a beautiful poem read out in a whisper."

Menorca's strategic location in the center of the western Mediterranean Sea cast it as an important player in the annals of history. At one time or another, this Balearic Island was occupied by the Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, British, and French, all of whom left traces of their existence on the isle.

The Romans arrived in 123 B.C. and, for the 600 years that followed, Sanitja harbor on the north end of the island served a pivotal role in the immense Roman Empire, receiving ships from such far-flung locales as Africa, France, and Italy. This historic legacy is being uncovered, piece by piece, by archaeologists with the Ecomuseum de Cap de Cavalleria who are busy excavating an ancient Roman fort, village, and cemetery.

Every summer and fall, when the island's famous breezes aren't too brisk, volunteers show up from around the world to help preserve the island's natural and cultural history, while mastering important archaeology techniques along the way. Excavation projects range from the fort and Roman camps to cl.u.s.ters of Roman tombs outside the town of Sanisera. There are even two-week underwater explorations of the submerged ruins of Roman and medieval shipwrecks. In 2009, the underwater field school will explore waters near the port of Sanitja. In addition to Roman ruins, the area has ruins of a Muslim mosque and English defense tower, leading experts to believe that divers may find vessels from these time periods.

HOLD THE MAYO.

American literary genius Ambrose Bierce (18421914?) claimed that mayonnaise was one of the sauces that serves the French in place of a state religion. But he failed to mention that it wasn't the French, but the residents of Menorca who invented the rich, egg-based condiment in the first place.

In 1756, the Duke de Richelieu-along with 20,000 French troops-landed in Mahon, Menorca, to root out the island's British rulers. While there, the duke's chef happened upon the local allioli recipe, which he proceeded to duplicate and serve at the victory banquet back in Paris. Mahonnaise, as it was first called, was an instant smash success.

Other gastronomies the island is known for: Spiny lobsters. Menorca's port of Fornells is so famous for its caldereta de langosta (lobster stew) that King Juan Carlos is said to sail over frequently to partake.

Menorca gin. Thanks to the British, who controlled the island twice during its long history, Menorca gin is the island's drink of choice. The 18th-century Xoriguer Gin Distillery, located at Moll de Ponent harbor, features enormous copper stills bubbling with the alcoholic drink's signature juniper berries.

Little-known fact: During the Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome, the Carthaginians recruited Menorca's famous Balearic slingers, slingshot mercenaries who could hit a forehead from a football field away. These formidable men were paid handsomely in wine and women. Today the island's residents are paid mostly in euros, for less heroic exploits.

Amateur archaeologists divide their two-to six-week stints between excavations and lab work, lectures, excursions, and dives-for those who choose the diving track. They stay in a dorm in the former capital of Ciutadella, a quaint town with winding cobblestone streets, ancient cathedrals, and lively squares.

Partic.i.p.ating in the summer and fall fieldwork ranges from $1,750 (for two weeks) to $2,400 (for 20 days) and includes shared lodging, insurance, and three meals a day.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

Ecomuseum de Cap de Cavalleria, Apartado 68, 07740, Es Mercadal, Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, 34 971 359999, www.ecomuseodecavalleria.com.

GEOPARK NATURTEJO.

clean fossils in portugal's first unesco-sponsored geopark.

CASTELO BRANCO, PORTUGAL.

I've seen and met angels / Wearing the disguise of ordinary people / Leading ordinary lives.

-Tracy Chapman, singer-songwriter, "Heaven's Here on Earth"

35 At last count, there were 57 geoparks (UNESCO-sponsored geological heritage sites) in Europe, Brazil, China, and Iran. According to UNESCO, "A Geopark is an area with a geological heritage of significance, with a coherent and strong management structure and where a sustainable economic development strategy is in place. A Geopark creates enhanced employment opportunities for the people who live there bringing sustainable and real economic benefit, usually through the development of sustainable tourism."

OOPS!.

At Cape Espichel, south of Lisbon, there's a popular shrine to Our Lady of the Mule. According to a 13th-century legend, the footprints up the steep cliff were made by a giant mule that rescued the Virgin Mary from Lagosteiros Bay, carrying her up the cliff to safety. In 1976, a paleontology professor from Lisbon's Nova University identified the footprints, however, as those of a giant sauropod of the late Jura.s.sic t.i.thonian age.

Other significant finds in Portugal include a nest with scores of black dinosaur eggs, several containing embryos, and one of the world's longest tracks left by giant plant-eating sauropods. Located in Serra d'Aire National Park, near the Roman Catholic sanctuary of Fatima, this spectacular find on the floor of a limestone quarry includes more than a thousand elliptical brontosaur footprints. This 482-foot track that looks as if a herd of dinosaurs pa.s.sed through only yesterday was cla.s.sified as a natural monument in 1996. It's one of a dozen such sauropod tracksites in Portugal, representing one-third of the world's total known Jura.s.sic sites.

Located in Portugal on its border with Spain, Geopark Naturtejo-one of UNESCO's most recent additions to the global geoparks network-has a Trail of Fossils, an Ichnological Park, and a Paleontology Museum in the 750-year-old village of Penha Garcia. Volunteers come each summer to help maintain the 490-million-year-old trilobites and other marine fossils found here. They work with the Amigos do Geoparque, a group of locals working to preserve the paleontology found throughout their region's steep rose-and-gray jagged rocks.

Volunteers live in an old stone farmhouse near Penha Garcia with unforgettable views of Portugal's Beira Baixa plain. During their two-week work camp, volunteers maintain the paleontology museum, guide tours of the fossil trail, and clean million-year-old fossils.

In their spare time, they visit Gardunha Mountain, the historical village of Idanha-a-Velha, and Monsanto-an ancient, fortified hillside village built amid gigantic boulders. They kayak, go bird-watching, cook traditional Portuguese bread, and swim in Penha Garcia's natural swimming pools.

Every other year, Geopark Naturtejo also plays host to the weeklong, all-green Boom Festival (www.boomfestival.org). This global art, music, and culture celebration attracts young electro-raving campers from all over the world. This completely sustainable festival is held on the sun-drenched sh.o.r.es of Lake Idanha-a-Nova during August's full moon and uses generators powered by recycled fuel, solar power, biological water treatment systems, and composting toilets.

In 2008, Geopark Naturtejo won the "Educational Programmes" award at the Skl International Ecotourism Awards. Skl International is an a.s.sociation that supports tourism around the world.

The two-week work camp, including meals and accommodations in the Penha Garcia farmhouse, is free.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

Geopark Naturtejo, Rua Conselheiro Albuquerque, No. 4, Cave C, 6000-161 Castelo Branco, Portugal, 351 272 320 176, www.naturtejo.com.

WORLDWIDE FRIENDSVERALDARVINIR

support icelandic arts by playing a ghost or a viking.

ICELAND.

Not only must we be good, but we must also be good for something.

-Henry David Th.o.r.eau, author and transcendentalist.

36 Ask Icelanders about ghosts and elves or what they call the huldufolk (hidden folk) and 80 percent will tell you they believe in them. Half of Icelanders claim to have spoken to an elf and one out of four have seen one. The main road from Reykjavik to Selfoss bears left for no apparent reason a few miles beyond Hverageri to avoid an elf hill. And Icelandic streets, even new ones, are aligned to avoid elf hills and dwarf rocks. Attempting to build over a huldufolk site is asking for trouble: Bulldozers will fail and hammers will break, so you'll save yourself loads of heartache if you just go around it.

Unsurprisingly, during the summer when tourists come to this volcanic land resting on the edge of the Arctic Circle, hidden folk and ghosts play an important role in connecting visitors with Icelandic lore. In Stokkseyri, a village of 500 on the south coast, there's even a Ghost Museum-complete with a Ghost Bar made from driftwood where the American rock band Foo Fighters drank ghost shots (Sea Ghost, Mora Milk, and Skotta, to name a few) with local garage band Nilfisk.

Since many of the villagers spend their days fishing, somebody has to play the specters and apparitions that haunt visitors who come to Stokkseyri to kayak and enjoy the black-sand beach. Veraldarvinir, a nonprofit that arranges dozens of work camps throughout Iceland each summer, recruits volunteers to play spirits in the Ghost Museum's maze. For three weeks, volunteer actors live in Stokkseyri, a.s.sist the museum staff, and play the parts of shepherd ghosts Starkaour and Egill, nude ghost Vigfus Eriksson, the schnapps-quaffing Brennivin ghost, and many others.

If you'd rather play a Viking, Veraldarvinir sends volunteers to the town of Hafnarfjorur, a much larger town near Reykjavik, to work in its Viking Village. And, yes, you'll wear a Viking costume, display ancient Viking arts and crafts, and, if you're up for it, demonstrate battle skills of the brave and adventurous Vikings who settled Iceland around A.D. 874.

LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT ICELAND.

It's a country of active volcanoes, with one erupting every five years or so. People are so used to them that in June 1998 when Reykjavik was rocked by a major earthquake, the ballet dancers at the National Opera performed right through it without missing a step. Did you know that: Neil Armstrong practiced on Iceland's lava fields before his 1969 mission to the moon.

Iceland, named by Viking Floki Vilgeroarson who lost his cattle during a long winter there in A.D. 870, is frequently left off European maps, deeply offending the Icelandic people's strong sense of national pride.

Whenever a new concept or invention is imported into Iceland, the committee for the preservation of the language comes up with an Icelandic word for it, often from the Icelandic sagas. Satellite, for example, became gervitungal, manufactured from the words "artificial" and "moon," while telephone is simi, which means "long thread."

As for being a troll, everyone knows that trolls, like elves, are invisible (except when they want to be seen). Veraldarvinir volunteers in Reykjanes, near the meeting of the Eurasian and American continental plates, are helping Nordan Bal, a well-known Icelandic art group, build a "home for trolls," a cave with oversize furniture, dishes, and other necessities for 10-to 12-foot-tall trolls. The cave is near the former NATO base which has been turned into a center of art and filmmaking.

Nonactors can volunteer for other Veraldarvinir work camps that clear brush, organize festivals, and work with children.

These two-and three-week work camps run from 80 to 130 euros ($100$165), including food and lodging (bring a sleeping bag).

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

Worldwide FriendsVeraldarvinir, Einarsnes 56, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland, 354 55 25 214, www.wf.is.