Weather Cancelation: Whooping Crane Camp! Goose Island State Park

Meetup made an "Update" that screwed up the ability to accept payments when you RSVP. Hopefully this is fixed soon. In the meantime, payments can be made via Paypal or Credit Card. You can also pay fee-free via your bank's Zelle feature to "contact@neoproject.org" or at this QR code link. After you pay, please message me so I can add you to the attendee list. The event will show full, but it is not. I will manually add you to the attendee list after you pay.

Come camp with us at beautiful Goose Island State Park during the annual Whooping Crane celebration! The cost of this camp is $35 per tent. If you need to borrow a NEO tent, please let us know. NEO will provide fishing poles and give a fishing lesson. If skies are clear, we will bring out our telescopes as well.

Please post how many adults and children under 18 are in your group in the comments area.

In addition to general campground activities, you will also have the option of attending a private whooping crane and coastal bird rookeries photography boating tour, a scenic drive or hike at the nearby Aransas Wildlife Refuge, and a trip to the Texas State Aquarium!

Whooping cranes are the largest North American birds standing at about 5 feet high with 8 foot wingspans! During this camp, we plan to get a look at birds of the only wild whooping crane colony in existence at their wintering grounds on the Texas coast. There are only a little over 500 whooping cranes left in the wild, so this is an amazing opportunity.

PRIVATE WHOOPING CRANE PHOTOGRAPHY TOUR - separate RSVP
We have chartered 2 private boats to take a small group of us on a boating photography safari to the Whooping Crane and coastal bird rookery islands on Saturday. We have done this multiple times in the past, and it is always amazing! There are limited spots available for this, and the cost is $135 a person. If you are interested in this opportunity, please RSVP HERE: https://www.meetup.com/neohouston/events/305673770

During camp we will have a variety of activities you can participate in. Your RSVP fee covers the cost of camping. Activities in camp are included like fishing, astronomy, etc. Additional activities like the visits to the wildlife refuge, Texas State Aquarium, and photography tour have additional costs you will need to pay.

We will provide instruction and safety guidelines for all activities. More details including a suggested packing list will come soon. No outdoor experience is necessary to participate.

If you represent a school, church, or youth group that would like to participate, please contact me directly at contact@neoproejct.org. Also, we do not want people to be excluded due to their financial circumstances. If you need us to help with your RSVP fee or food for the event, please message Jennifer. Thanks to generous donations from our members, we are sometimes able to help with that.

You may arrive in the park at any time on Friday and just enjoy the park. We will meet at the campsite at 4:00 PM to set up camp. Friday and Saturday nights, we will make a group campfire and bring out camp stoves to cook dinner as a group. Campers are responsible for bringing their own food, snacks, and drinks for the duration of camp. NEO will provide S'mores supplies for Saturday night.

On Saturday, some of us will leave early for the photography boating excursion. Those who stay behind will take a field trip to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge to do things like hiking, take a scenic drive, or do some birding or wildlife photography.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Sunday morning, we will break camp and be packed up by 11:00 AM. If you borrow a NEO tent and it is wet with dew on Sunday morning, you must stay to allow the tent to dry completely before packing it up. Once we are packed up, those who choose to do so will head to the Texas State Aquarium.

This is a limited-attendance event. Meetup made an "Update" that screwed up the ability to accept payments when you RSVP. Hopefully this is fixed soon. In the meantime, payments can be made via Paypal or Credit Card. You can also pay fee-free via your bank's Zelle feature to "contact@neoproject.org" or at this QR code link. After you pay, please message me so I can add you to the attendee list. The event will show full, but it is not. I will manually add you to the attendee list after you pay.
NO REFUNDS WILL BE ISSUED for this event (outside of what is listed in the posting) unless the event is actually canceled. If you need to cancel for any reason, you can give your spot to someone else or just consider it a donation to NEO. NEO pays for these events ahead of time and cannot get a refund if you cancel. Thank you for understanding.

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NEO is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to lead more outdoor-oriented lives for better health, well-being, and resilience. Much of our work serves schools and historically under-served communities. If you like what we do, please consider making a tax-deductible donation at neoproject.org/donate. There are multiple donation options available. Your dollars make a difference!

Thank you!