I don't know if you are a Disney movie fan, but I am for sure; and yesterday it occurred to me that one of our monitors said "This looks exactly like the beginning-shot of Beauty and The Beast". I know it sounds strange - a place that shines with so much magic that it is comparable to one of the greatest fairytales in history; but it exists! Yosemite National Park is without any doubt one of the most beautiful and sacred places on the globe. The power of massive grey rocks combined with the vitality of the fresh green grass and the rainbows under the sparkling waterfalls leads every tourist into thoughts of fairies, goblins and dwarfs. Well, if they exist somewhere then for sure in Yosemite. But since nobody is so sure about that let us focus on the wonderful creatures that are really allowed to call this peace of heaven their home: Black bears, Mountain-lions, squirrels, a ton of birds and many more fascinating creatures. Black bears are the pride of Yosemite and so the first part of our adventure was a talk about those majestic creatures. For sure we all hoped to see one or two of them but the bears did not seem that social on Tuesdays. Oh well, instead of bears we got to see something even more majestic; but therefore we first had to hike a trail through the forest. This trail included an innumerable amount of stairs and rocks to climb. But it was worth it! Halfway through the hike you could see it: A gorgeous waterfall, splashing over rocks and painting a rainbow into the water of its river. In front of us lay a moving painting by one of the greatest artists ever: Nature. The waterfalls of Yosemite wake the longing for freedom, they let you forget about the problems of our earth. As I said before: It is a purely sacred and peaceful place.
Anyhow, we climbed the stairs, we reached the top of the waterfall - We lived the adventure! But it was not over yet. Arriving back in the little village at the foot of the rock-formations we had two options: Biking through the park or going rafting. Most students decided for rafting and had the chance to feel like Huckleberry Finn for a moment. Even though the river was a level 1 rafting tour, most of us had problems to not hit some stones or keep the raft straight the whole time. This challenge tested our team-work skills as well as out arm muscles. But, oh my - what kind of view we got from the river: Huge mountains surrounding us, embracing the forest and its wild life with their giant arms of stone, like a mother protecting her baby. There was no single cloud at the sky and you could see the sun looking over the mountain-tops. People got off their boats at the little beaches that framed the river to swim in the clear but ice-cold water. Alright, some also used the opportunity to splash water at their friends who were still in the boats - Good thing that we all had a change of clothes with!
After eating dinner in the park our busses started heading home - Time for us to look out of the window and reflect on what we had seen that day. While the rocks and mountains softly vanished and became one with the horizon of california the sunset painted the sky orange and then handed the paintbrush over to the night who colored the sky dark blue. And suddenly there were words for what Yosemite really was: A strain of music in the night. I understand now, why Bernardo, our coordinator, said, that Yosemite was his favorite place on this trip. Las Vegas and LA are impressive - but they are just illusions built by human hands - scars on the face of the world. Yosemite is a natural wonder that was not deformed by the people. It is not a scar - it is an eye of the world.
Larissa Sander - Germany
Anyhow, we climbed the stairs, we reached the top of the waterfall - We lived the adventure! But it was not over yet. Arriving back in the little village at the foot of the rock-formations we had two options: Biking through the park or going rafting. Most students decided for rafting and had the chance to feel like Huckleberry Finn for a moment. Even though the river was a level 1 rafting tour, most of us had problems to not hit some stones or keep the raft straight the whole time. This challenge tested our team-work skills as well as out arm muscles. But, oh my - what kind of view we got from the river: Huge mountains surrounding us, embracing the forest and its wild life with their giant arms of stone, like a mother protecting her baby. There was no single cloud at the sky and you could see the sun looking over the mountain-tops. People got off their boats at the little beaches that framed the river to swim in the clear but ice-cold water. Alright, some also used the opportunity to splash water at their friends who were still in the boats - Good thing that we all had a change of clothes with!
After eating dinner in the park our busses started heading home - Time for us to look out of the window and reflect on what we had seen that day. While the rocks and mountains softly vanished and became one with the horizon of california the sunset painted the sky orange and then handed the paintbrush over to the night who colored the sky dark blue. And suddenly there were words for what Yosemite really was: A strain of music in the night. I understand now, why Bernardo, our coordinator, said, that Yosemite was his favorite place on this trip. Las Vegas and LA are impressive - but they are just illusions built by human hands - scars on the face of the world. Yosemite is a natural wonder that was not deformed by the people. It is not a scar - it is an eye of the world.
Larissa Sander - Germany
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| The ranger gives us a talk about protecting their bears! |
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| GORGEOUS scenery on our hike to Verna Falls |
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| rafting! |
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| The students set sail on their journey down the river |
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