July 1, 2004

San Jose Safari week long summer day camps

If you are a parent with children between the ages of 7 and 10 years, searching for a full week of unique fun and educational experiences for your child this summer, check out the Friends of Guadalupe River Park & Gardens’ San Jose Safari Day Camp. Your child will “trek” through San Jose on an adventure of discovery at several of our city’s premier cultural institutions.

The Friends of Guadalupe River Park & Gardens are collaborating with History San Jose, Mexican Heritage Plaza, San Jose Museum of Art, the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory and Don Edward’s San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge to present a full week of unique educational experiences right here in our own city!

Campers will meet every day at 8:30 a.m. (Wednesdays at 8 a.m.) at the Guadalupe Garden Center, located at 715 Spring Street in San Jose. On Monday, all the activities will be presented on site by the Friends and will include a discovery hike of the Guadalupe River, water experiments, a wriggly moment with composting worms, archeology digs and more!

On Tuesday morning campers will board a bus for a day at the Mexican Heritage Plaza to experience Mexican art and culture (children who sign up for the first week of camp will meet the internationally renowned Mariachi de America from Mexico City and watch them in action!). Wednesday’s destination will be a visit to a bird banding station on Coyote Creek and a chance to explore wildlife and marshes at Don Edwards Environmental Education Center in Alviso.

On Thursday the bus will take campers to the Museum of Art for an eyes, brains and hands-on artistic experience, and on Friday campers will visit History San Jose, where they will discover how a child’s life in old San Jose might have differed from their own! Campers will return to the Guadalupe Garden Center each day and be ready for a ride home at 5 p.m.

This new day camp will be held three times this summer, during the weeks of July 12, July 26 and Aug. 9. Each camp will feature the same activities. The cost to attend is $225 per child, which includes all activities, snacks and bus transportation to each participating site. Campers will need to provide their own bag lunch each day of the camp. Some partial scholarships may be available to qualified families. A 5 percent discount is also available for those who register by June 15. Special thanks to the Air Systems Foundation for a generous grant to underwrite the cost of transportation.

Contact Education Coordinator Kary Wilson at education@grpg.org or 408-298-7657 for more information – or to sign up – for a San Jose Safari Summer Camp.