Camp Wayak

While driving westbound on Avenue Benito Juarez early in the morning, something was stirring inside of me. I was excited about where I was going, and my 11-year old daughter next to me was excited too. We were going to summer camp!

The invite to come and spend time at Camp Wayak was a special one for me, because I would watch my daughter’s first experience at camp. The project is the work of Alex Garcia, who grew up in Torreon in northern Mexico. Every summer since she was nine she would go to camp in Texas, but little did she know this would shape her for her life’s mission: to bring the knowledge and happiness of the camp experience to all kids. She is still living her dream, literally, here in Playa del Carmen with Camp Wayak.

“Wayak” means dream in Maya and Alex has dreamed of a way to create a camp experience for all kids, no matter their situation. In July, she had a weeklong camp at Rancho Linda Vista that was co-sponsored by Explayarte and was so successful that parents were asking for another one. She refused as she wanted the camp experience to be authentic and rich with adventure and did not want to dilute it by having a repeat one too soon. Well, the parents and kids won, and another shorter, but just as rich camp was planned for August 1-4.

Summer Camp Wayak is just the introduction to the project Alex is proposing year round.  She wishes to bring the camp to the school setting for a shorter session, just a few days. She hopes to find sponsors and scholarships to help provide the camp experience to schools whose kids would not normally be able to afford a camp experience, such as low-income areas or Maya villages. She wants to create a community where people and companies can bring their strengths and gifts to share with the children so they can find what their passion in life is. Through her vision, she wants to bring the arts, cooking, and most of all, the sense of community and connection to all of our “future”, because everyone deserves that camp experience at least once in their lives. This is her wayak come true.

Are you an “older kid” who has never had a camp experience? Alex plans to bring the vision to adults as well, because everyone deserves this opportunity of fun and learning. Be on the lookout for her adult camps too.

To learn more about Camp Wayak visit Facebook/CampWayak or call Alex directly at 984-142-8088