Blog written by Simon 'The Gangsta' STRAETKER (Pangaea New Zealand Expedition Young Explorer and Pangaea Ambassador)

It’s good to be back! Not even a year ago that we left Serbia after an incredible Geberit-Pangaea School Project in two primary schools in Kraljevo in 2011. Last year our main intentions were to follow up on Geberit’s sanitation, educating the kids about water, sanitation and environmental issues. Not only the country, the people and the culture left a lasting impact on us Young Explorers but most of all the enthusiastic kids with whom we did clean ups and made posters (https://www.mikehorn.com/en/yep/geberit-pangaea-kraljevo-school-project/) motivated us to come back.

Well now we are, filled with world-changing energy and 4 new members to our team. Leni Gründl, Rebecca Berker, Dmitry Sharomov and Vladimir Siljkovic were fascinated by the last year’s project and decided to join us. Today, being our first day in Kraljevo it could not have been any more successful! Intending to socialize with everyone we haven’t seen a while, the schedule for today wasn’t too busy. However the fascination about our ‘come-back’ quickly circulated among the students and within less than an hour we found ourselves in classrooms, interacting with the kids and discussing the recycling system that we introduced last year. As the kids were really excited to see us and also wanted to hear about our latest projects, we ended up visiting more than 9 classes and speaking to more than 200 students. The energy among the kids was once again incredible and as I said before: ‘It’s good to be back!’

Stay tuned for the next day’s updates, tomorrow 130 kids will join us for another great clean-up.

Blog written by Zuzanna

We woke up quite early to arrive in the village of Grabie at 7 o’clock in the morning with all our equipment and obviously the raft. It is so big and heavy that we had to transport it in pieces. First the
‘bananas’ = floats, then the wooden part of the deck and some food and water supplies. The cars (driven by our fathers, without whom the raft would have never ever been made) couldn’t reach the shore of the
river so we carried our stuff for about 300metres. Seems like nothing, but it created quite a delay.
With a bit of help from outside and a huge interest from the locals, we managed to put everything together within a couple of hours. The raft finally looked like a raft :)! The biggest news TV station arrived at the moment of the launching. They filmed us moving in to what will be our house for the next 6 weeks. What an exciting moment!

The day full of attractions ended with a campfire, sausages and singing. The night was surprisingly warm and the next morning, we started (as the Selection Camp’s tradition says) with a run. Then a quick breakfast, important safety recapitulation and we started the expedition!!!

The way went smoothly, we have a kayak to check the water route, as the raft is difficult to navigate, and, to be honest, slow as hell. Today there weren’t any difficulties, the river was calm, the weather
pretty good (only 3 hours of rain) and the river bad still regulated. The level of water is so low, we saw many water level measurement stations on our way and their results were quite shocking. Despite the easy route we arrived at the planned campsite late in het evening. From today until we reach Tarnobrzeg, we won’t have any computer, so expect news from the raft no sooner than on the 8th of June. Ahoy!

Blog written by NaÄ‘a 'Nadja' VUKAŠINOVIĆ (Pangaea Africa Expedition Young Explorer)

The word is out that Young Explorers are coming to Kraljevo! Past couple of weeks a lot of people have asked about them, when are they coming, how long will they stay and can they meet them. Many people told me they want to get involved in all actions that will be organized. It was a great pleasure seeing all these people so excited to welcome Young Explorers into their hometown. The fact that I will see the team very soon after months of preparations, seems so unreal! We will have a lot of work and kids are eager to act with Young Explorers once again.  

Highlight of their visit to Serbia will definitively be the Eco-camp! In my opinion, Tara is the prettiest national park in Serbia. It isn't a very popular touristic destination so it hasn't been urbanized. Untouched nature that you can find up there, leaves you breathless. It will be an unforgettable experience exploring it with Young Explorers. There are many places to visit such as point views, ancient monasteries, lakes and habitats of endangered species and each one of them has its beauties. Eco-camp is an excellent idea because kids will get a chance to actually explore the nature and learn a lot about conserving it along the way.

Blog written by Zuzanna

Our trip was supposed to begin in the historical capital of Poland, the city of kings, Krakow. Unfortunately, the weather cheated on us: the level of water in the Vistula river was too low to pass the 'Przewóz' water-gate. This water-gate is well known among kayakers and sailors as the most tricky place on the whole river. Even Marek KamiÅ„ski, Polish explorer, mentioned it in his guide as 'a true nightmare'. It was constructed years ago and now it is unnavigable at low water levels. This is why we had to make a decision that we will not sail through Krakow, but start our expedition just a few kilometres outside of the city, in a village called Grabie, where there is a very comfortable stony beach. Instead of starting the trip on Friday, we moved it for Saturday the 2nd of June.

Friday: the day began with a thunderstorm and since morning, the weather was only getting worse! There will be definitely more water in the Vistula river now :). Such an unpleasant weather surely scared away most of the people who usually go for an afternoon walk to the Vistula boulevards. At least we know that even if we had gone through Krakow, probably no one would have seen us = no occasion to spread the
message. We did some promotion in Kraków anyway. A bunch of school friends went to the streets during the night and sprayed the Baltica logo and website address on pavements in the city centre. Organising
that small event helped us improve coordination and communication between team members. Every minute we learn something else!!!

We had a lot of fun preparing 'furniture' and 'moving in' to the raft! For example, we built a table out of 3 old, useless plastic boxes and a piece of OSB. The table is multifunctional, it serves both as an kitchen surface and a small storehouse. We also found another use for plastic bottles! On the water it will be very hard to keep our things dry and in a proper order. Remembering that muesli is not eatable when it gets moist, we decided to put it into dry bottles that once had milk inside 🙂 Day by day, we are getting more and more creative.

So now we are all calling each other every half an hour to ask if something more is needed, if the other person could organise something else, if something something something… The so called 'reisefieber'
is very strong! 🙂 We already packed one car and tomorrow 7 o'clock in the morning we drive to Grabie. Even the raft-dog, Fleja, seems to be excited. What about you?

To find out more about teh Baltica Project ad it's mission click here:

The main idea of the project was to build a floating vehicle of recycled (and recyclable) materials only. Well, I think we made it! The Baltica project team is still working on the construction of the raft, but we are planning to finish it tomorrow.

There are several major construction materials out of which we build the Baltica raft. First of all, plastic bottles. They were collected in various schools in Kraków. In each school, the collection was preceded by a series of workshops and presentations on the subject of the project, the importance of water in human life, the Vistula river.

The response was different, depending on the school and the age group to which the presentation was addressed. Some kids were extremely active and interested in what we are doing, some kept on repeating
'this can not be done'. Well, we will prove that it can be done! At one of the schools, we asked the kids to draw how they imagined our raft. Their ideas were truly amazing, crazy and inspiring! I think we all discovered that working with children can give a lot of satisfaction and it is the best way of bringing a change to the world.

We packed all the collected bottles (didn't have time to count them properly, but according to our calculation we have something around 2 thousand of plastic bottles!) into plastic bags that are normally used for potatoes or onions. Did you know that around 34 bottles fit in one bag? We do know it now! We made over 50 bags like that! Each bottle cap had to be tightened and at the end of the 'packing-day' we had
blisters on our hands :). Then we used salvage mesh-fence for stiffening the construction. We got the mesh-fence from different people, always for free and always in a pretty poor condition :). At the end of the rafting it will be totally useless and we will take it to a scrap-heap. So this mesh-fence had to be separated into pieces 1,5m wide and 2m long. Then we put the potato bags full of bottles, rolled the mesh-fence and
eventually combined several pieces together to get a 'banana' in effect. This 'banana' is how we call a 5m long float. The whole raft will be built of 7 such floats.

So now we only need to attach the wooden deck (made of pallets we got for free) to the bottles… Friday is the launching day! We are very busy completing the equipment, media work and obviously the construction but I believe we will make it on time. The river is waiting for us to come and I count minutes and seconds until the start of the adventure!

To find out more about teh Baltica Project ad it's mission click here:

Blog written by Simon Straetker

It was only two months ago, that I submitted my one minute application video for the so-called Zeitgeist Young Minds Program of Google. Back then I applied because I thought it was a cool thing and because I was quite inspired by the promotion video (http://youtu.be/3K_9SrHIcQ0). Back then I didn’t know much about what I applied for. Back then I had absolutely no idea that I would get to meet people like war photographer Paul Conroy, previous Greeks Prime Minister George Papandreou or the United States 42nd President, Bill Clinton. The only thing I knew was, that I would get to fly to London with nine other young international entrepreneurs to meet the ‘world’s leading innovators and thinkers’ – but that can be anyone, anyway.

So what is Zeitgeist all about?
As the world’s third-largest company, Google hosts two Partner Forums every year, one in the U.S. and one in Europe. They invite about 300 of their greatest business partners from around the world to join them for two days of sharing ideas, discussing global problems and meeting other people. What makes Zeitgeist (spirit of times) so unique is the simple fact that the event is attended by some of world’s most prestigious innovators and thinkers of the given days. During this year’s Zeitgeist event, speakers included well-known polar adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, singer Annie Lennox and outstanding Egyptian citizens who were majorly involved in the country’s revolution. Google Zeitgeist is about captivating the spirit of times and bringing it together at one place for two days.

The Young Minds Program, in which I participated, has always been a core element of Zeitgeist events. It is about connecting young entrepreneurs with the world’s most successful business leaders, giving the young the opportunity to learn from the old – well, let’s say the experienced. My personal gain from attending this event was huge. Not only that the atmosphere and the other nine Young Minds were incredibly inspiring, we also got to spend some privileged sessions with British musician Akala who taught us all about language and good ways of communicating as well as Israeli investor Yossi Vardi who spoke about project funding.

Attending Google Zeitgeist 2012 (http://youtu.be/VeEnG-S3yjc) has definitely been my greatest experience of the given year and I would love to see some of you guys participating in Google Zeitgeist 2013. In my opinion the application process has been fairly easy, as it’s just about uploading a 60-seconds video that describes your activism. So if you’ve got a great project to share, don’t keep it for yourself. Apply for Zeitgeist 2013!

Keep checking www.zeitgeistyoungminds.com for the new application process to open.

Blog written by Saraya D’Ath

Last Friday two brave turtles, extracted from their tanks in the industrial area of Cairns were transported on a boat to their new homes. That is the lovely Fitzroy Island in tropical North Queensland.

The volunteers, help to transport two juv green turtles out to their temporary housing out on Fitzroy Island! With media channels and the public eye watching. On this same day a hawksbill turtle called Harry was released back into the wild after spending some months in the rehab centre.

In 2011 major natural disasters occurred along the Queensland Coast, such as; cyclones and floods. Consequently sea grass beds were ruined leaving hardly any food for the sea turtles to feed off. So far this year there has been no severe natural disaster, which has allowed the sea grass beds to re-generate. Many of the turtles brought into the rehab this year are based on more traditional injuries- irresponsible fishing practices.

The benefit of transferring the healthier turtles out to Fitzroy is the cleaner salt water in-take for the tanks. The interpretive centre which will be used as an educational centre to inform people about Cairns Turtle Rehab, what the organisation does and how you can get involved. The extension rehab and interpretive centre will be a unique tourist icon for Fitzroy Island, in hope that more people become conscious of their actions (ie. littering) and create awareness of the human impact on the Great Barrier Reef and its marine life.

A video clip from the event: http://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2012/05/01/3492626.htm#.T587-W5XZZA.facebook

Check out the Save Our Sea Turtles website: http://www.saveourseaturtles.com.au/

“Like” our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Save-Our-SeaTurtles/308458645861723

Blog written by Robert Finney

Our final morning at Chateau d'Oex! We woke up for an early breakfast before the long-awaited decisions were announced. As we gathered for a final time, the suspense built as certificates were handed out. One by one, the names of those selected were called and everyone clapped for their friends. We found out only seven people would be invited to Africa.

It was bittersweet for those who made it because just as strong a group could have been composed from those who didn't make it. We're all part of the Pangaea family and it was extremely difficult to say goodbye. For those who were selected, we'll see each other in Africa. For those who weren't, we'll have many opportunities to continue to be involved in Pangaea projects together. All is quiet as only several young explorers remain waiting to depart to all corners of the globe.

The following candidates have been selected to go to Africa !

Nora Bergner, 15, of Freinsheim, is a Grade 9 student at the Werner-Heisenberg Gymnasium in Bad Dürkheim, Germany.

Tanguy Buchner, 17, of Nice, is a Grade 12 student at Centre International de Valbonne, France.

Sebastian Engelhart, 16, of Hong Kong is a Grade 11 student at Island School of Hong Kong, China.

Oliver Engelhart, 16, of Hong Kong is a Grade 11 student at Island School of Hong Kong, China.

Robert Finney, 19, of Oceanside, California is a 2011 graduate of United World College USA in Montezuma, New Mexico and will be a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in the fall of 2012.

Nadja Vukasinovic, 15, is a first year student at Kraljevo Gymnasium in Serbia.

Kate Wootton, 20, of Ashburton, Canterbury, is a fourth year student at Canterbury University in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Warm welcome to the special guests of our loyal sponsor, Geberit:

Laura Baehny, 16, of Basel, Switzerland and Anika Hollaender, 17, of Hamburg, Germany. 

Blog written by Nora and Montana

THE RAID! Today we found out that all the stories of about the PANGAEA raid are actually true. It started at 10 o'clock in the morning, when we got the coordinates of our checkpoints. The two competing teams — Bamba and Panterra — had high energy. Everyone wanted to get a head start on the mountain bikes. Competition spread out as the hills kicked in. After mountain biking stage, the two teams had to climb the mountain via ferrata. Unfortunately, the hike was cut short due to an avalanche risk. However, it was an unforgettable experience because it was for many of the young explorers their first experience hiking with snow, so it was lots of fun filled with many slips and slides on our bum.

Following the via ferrata, we came back to our checkpoint where we left the bikes. Our next challenge was to hike a narrow trail covered with fallen trees while carrying our bikes. The check point that followed was crucial for Team Panterra. The group was able to reel in Team Bamba who had a two hours lead on them. The checkpoint consisted of a team building challenge that required teammates to climb from one big wall (about 10 feet or 3.5 meters) to another, to another, without touching the ground, while using only a plank of wood. After a small break with cake and juice we had new energy to head for the next checkpoint, also a teambuilding activity.

After numerous hours of hiking both teams had the motto of "just keep moving.” One foot at a time gets the job done. One of the best breaks from hiking was the flying fox — 250 meters downhill harnessed to a zip line. There is nothing more invigorating in the universe than feeling on top of the world and flying to a nearby mountain ledge.

Nature was on our side; we had perfect weather, sunshine, and a refreshing temperature.

The race slowed down once we had to return to biking. We were faced with a challenge of mountain biking uphill for several hours. This caused many of the weaker bikers to be pushed to their limit. Eventually, both teams arrived at the camp site within 20 minutes of each other. It was delightful to eat warm soup and rest in the tents. It was an extremely special day, and we really appreciate all the staff  that made it possible. Also a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Michael Scholl who spent the whole day supporting us.