Why Eurocamp?

Our camp is great

During the morning, we spend lots of time either on the sports fields, near the water or in the forest. Some people might prefer swimming while others prefer playing football. Have you ever played pétanque or cricket? Be sure that during all these activities only English is used! After lunch, there is a rest period followed by the main focus of the whole day – the summer camp game! Every day one part is completed through games, competition, and teamwork. It is very exciting – one day you will be fighting against each other, the next day searching for stuff in the forest and another day you will be creating a theatrical play. We are always in one of the English-speaking countries. We have visited England, Australia, Hollywood, Scotland, New York, the British-Asian Empire and London. We have dreamt the American Dream, visited the Tasmanian Devil down under and searched for treasure at the end of the rainbow in Ireland. We went to Texas and lived amongst the cowboys and the kings of oil, we joyfully yelled "Aloha!" in Hawaii, we drove down the most famous road in the world, the classic all-American Route 66, we better discovered the country of Loch Ness Monster, we experienced an American-style adventure in California, and last year we ventured to Alaska, the largest and least populated state in the United States. This year, we are going to go as far as man has ever gone and take a closer look at the most amazing adventure anyone has ever taken. Perhaps the most famous quote of the 20th century will tell you a lot: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." These words became an instant hit at the time and a symbol of a dream come true for many generations. So, do you know where we are going this year? Yes, it will not be any closer than straight to the Moon! We'll be commemorating one of the most significant events in human history, when more than 50 years ago, man first set foot on the surface of a foreign space body. The APOLLO program was officially launched in 1961 by the US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, when in a speech before Congress he set to "achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon". This was achieved on 20th July 1969, and Apollo 11 crew member Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the Moon. By December 1972, 11 other Americans had followed Armstrong. "The moment when I stood on the Moon and looked down at the Earth was unforgettable. I saw a world without boundaries - religious, racial, linguistic, political, and any other boundaries that we humans build," recalled American astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man to set foot on the surface of the Moon. Astronaut Cernan also took the Czechoslovak flag on this mission. And do you know why? Because his grandmother was from Nuzice, in southern Bohemia, not far from our camp! You've probably heard a lot about the APOLLO space program, and you may have seen the thrilling movie Apollo 13 with actor Tom Hanks. But did you know that if it weren't for a very simple fix, the astronauts who first set foot on the surface of the Moon in 1969 might not have made it back at all? Or that Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard tried his hand at golf on the Moon, leaving three golf balls on its surface. All in all, there are all sorts of things left on the Moon by the astronauts, such as parts of the landing modules, lunar rovers, equipment for scientific experiments and the American flag, but also garbage and lots of astronaut footprints. Those footprints will probably be there for a very long time, maybe as long as the Moon exists. There is no erosion, volcanic activity nor plate tectonics on the Moon to erase the footprints. This also explains why the ubiquitous lunar dust is one of the biggest problems for manned missions to the Moon in the future. That's because its grains are not grinded down by erosion, so they remain both very jagged and sharp, allowing dust to settle everywhere and penetrate literally anywhere. And would you have thought that the Moon has a distinctive smell? When the astronauts returned to the lunar module that day, took off their helmets and smelled the lunar dust, they smelled a scent reminiscent of wet ashes in a fireplace or gunpowder. Oh, and why, during the Atlas rocket's flight to the Moon, the technician at the Houston control center didn't forgive the joke, turned on the microphone and asked one of the men, "Hey, Wally, are you Turtle?" You're not going to guess, are you? What you might find even more interesting, however, is that in Jules Verne's 1865 science fiction novel From the Earth to the Moon, many similarities can be found with the actual flight of Apollo 11! Verne sent his book's heroes to the Moon with a cannon called the Columbiad. The real Apollo 11 command module was named Columbia. Verne's cannon was stationed in Florida. Apollo missions were also launched from Florida. Another similarity is the crew, which in the novel and in the APOLLO program consisted of three men. According to Verne, the landing was into the ocean, just like that of Apollo 11. Well, that is something, isn't it? The night fires and dance evenings at the disco are great as well! Experience all of this and much much more. Come and join us for TEN DAYS WITH APOLLO.