Jez Ivens

Inca 34

Ecuador / Peru / Chile / Bolivia - 2005

The Team:

Peter, Elliot, Richard, Daniel, Simon, Joseph, Ben, Chris, Lyndsey, Annabel, Charlotte, Sara, Lousie, Abigail, Kimberley, Rachel
Bridget (Leader)
Jez (Leader)

Extracts from our Diaries

The bags had been packed, the journies been made and the goodbyes been said at Heathrow Airport by Inca 34. Three hours from then they would be high in the sky on their way to the salsa swinging, Spanish speaking, spectacularly scenic nation of Ecuador. However, it soon became clear that their first challenge would not be the Inca Adventure but the Heathrow Departure!

Indeed, the tropical climate which they were awaiting really did seem 12000 air miles away at this moment as arctic like conditions swept across the whole of Europe. The word 'cancelled' appeared on all the departure boards and so the first camping location would not be the Andean foothills of South America but in the hallway of terminal 4. So they all unrolled their sleeping mats and unpacked their sleeping bags in the hope of being able to claim their places on the first flight out in the morning.

Their determination seemed to go unrewarded the next day though, as there was no flight to catch and so out of the departures lounge they trudged in their sandals and sunglasses into the cold and the snow, back to surprise friends and family.

However, out of a group of 16 venturers, only 15 were stuck at Heathrow, for one of them had made it across the globe. In fact, that was me, travelling alone because of my independant travel that I would be undertaking later and the relevant air tickets that this involved. So, landing in Quito that evening, I was expecting to soon be joined by the rest of the group in, "ooh, about five hours time". It was a bit of a shock then, to find out that the five hours had turned into five DAYS!

Still, I was by no means here alone, but with the gruop leader Bridget - an Irish "lady" who likes the three Ts - Talk, Tea and The Sunday Papers. Yes, for me, it almost seemed that the absense of the group was something that Bridget was taking on singlehandedly, making up for numbers with the fiery Irish personality.

And so, over the next five days we wandered between and wondered at the attractions of South America. We joined another Venture group for the weekend (me being the only male with eight other females) and did such masculine things like making jewellery and practicing slasa dancing. Also, even without the rest of the group, I was ready to start my Spanish lessons in earnest. Surprise was apparent on all faces, though, when 16 Spanish tutors turned up one morning to find only me. I would have liked to think that there was enough of me to go round, but others didn't seem to think so and 15 of them quickly left!

But it was the arrival of the group on Tuesday morning that Bridget and I were really awaiting. And arrive they did - in fact early as well, for our good intentions of meeting them at the airport were scuppered, as when we got there we were told that Inca 34 had already left! So back to the hostel we dashed wondering if we just weren't meant to actually meet them! But we did, and so now we could finally say "Inca 34 had arrived in Quito". (Thats usually the first line in most reports!)

The fact that most of the group had been travelling for about 30 hours, some without sleep but all extremely "knackered" was now of no consequence, for the bleary eyed and weary travellers were sat down to their four hour Spanish tuition sessions! You may think that this was a cruel and unsympathetic act which should not have been asked of them - but I will add that some mercy was granted and the lessons were shortened to only two hours!

The following afternoon involved a trip to a gallery of Ecuador's most famous artist and then a group lesson in salsa. As should have been expected, one could definitely sense a kind of reluctance on the boys behalf in taking part - but once those rythms were heard and those marracas were shaked, it has to be said that perhaps afew of them felt their hips swinging and were imagining themselves in a pair of Ricky Martin tight leather trousers and "Livin` La Vida Loca!" I shan't name names.

One evening we met with the other Venture group in Quito at a Columbian themed club. So we now had chance to practise all those salsa moves to the sound of bongo drums and only a few moves from the ´´Hey Macarena!`` crept in to the dance routine.
The highlight of the week was definitely the trip to Otovalo - the home of the biggest market in South America which dates back to pre-Inca times. And after a two and half hour bus ride and a camionetta trip up a long and winding road up into the hills, we arrived at a pictoresque lodge with fantastic views across the country.

On the following morn, it was down to the market we went to peruse and choose the bargains we could find. Everyone bought something, whether it be donning a small bracelet or undertaking the whole transformation from English backpacker to Ecuadorian native with poncho, hat, and jewellery!

The afternoon involved a walk to a nearby waterfall. The remarks made by the owner of the lodge that no one would dare to go in the water, it being so cold, were proved entirely wrong when every hardy member of our group stood beneath the waterfall, posed for photos and even had competitions as to how long you could stand underneath. Indeed, it was the best power shower that any of us had ever had!

The next day of the week was our first proper walk. It would be up a mountain to the grand height of 4335 metres (higher than Mont Blanc) and so our first test of our capabilities. But as would be expected from a young group of intrepid travelling Brits!, the summit was reached by all and with minimal problems. So what else can I say but, "Machu Pichu here we come!"

By Elliot

A few members of the group, unfortunately, have been ill, finding out that they indeed are not alone in life and at the present time are accompanied by amoeba and parasites in their tummies, not making them very well. This not being unusual at all and nothing a few antibiotics couldn't cure, we have had a busy week!

On Monday night we hit the local salsa club, or hardly salsa because on
Mondays they play English music. We embraced it and the party! Having the club to ourselves we danced the night away, very happily, some taking residence on the stage, otherwise known as the bar for most of the evening!

Tuesday, the depleted group due to illness, went to the Basilica, situated in Quito old town! The climb for some was slightly scary but the amazing views of the city more than compensated! On Wednesday, after more Spanish lessons, we went to Mitad Del Mundo! The Equator line. This is located about an hour from Quito. In the middle of nowhere, a theme park type settlement appeared, centred around the monument proclaiming the equator line. While a group of American tourists got in the way of our monumental and unique photo of the group at the equator, Bridget told us it wasn't actually the real equator line and indeed 50 years ago when the French built the monument, they did indeed build it 600m away from the actually line. There excuse 'recent improvements in technology'!

Friday afternoon, after Spanish, we set off for our second weekend away to Mindo, a small village in the cloud forest, two hours away from Quito. We arrived in Mindo early evening and were shown to our hostel. Bridget had told us not to expect the luxury of La Luna, our hostel at Otavalo, but Casa del Cecilia surpassed all our expectations. Set back from the main town square, the hostel was a wonderful huge tree house with a massive open air communal living area complete with hammocks, bamboo mats and fairy lights - perfect for chilling out, listening to music and watching the lightening storms all around the jungle.

Set back from the main town square the hostel was a wonderful wooden built house, totally open air, surrounded by luscious greenery and the comforting sound of the nearby river! It was absolute luxury and none of us felt like we were staying in a hostel, but more like a 5 star hotel. In the evening after supper the group relaxed, sheltered from the heavy rain, listening to music and chatting away, whilst at the same time being accompanied by the loud sounds of the beetles and crickets outside.

On Saturday morning we were either woken up by the gorgeously bright sun, or more annoyingly the local cockerel at the ungodly hour of 6.30am, but were more than happy to snuggle back into beds, under our mosquito nets for a much welcomed lie in.

After breakfast we embarked on our first jungle or forest trek to the famous 'casacadas' or waterfall in Mindo. The trek itself was more like a leisurely walk compared to last weekend in Otavalo. This was mainly due to the fact that Mindo is at a much lower altitude than both Otavalo and Quito, thus more oxygen. Consequently there was no need to stop every five minutes to catch our breath. However, it was the humidity of the forest we had to contend with this time. We hired a local guide to take us to the waterfall, and he intrigued us all showing us, where he could, the wide variety of plants, insects and often birds that existed in such an environment as this.

After two and half hours and slowly climbing up through the forest we reached the waterfalls_ uniquely grand! Hot with the humidity the river was all too tempting and we quickly stripped off and braved the absolutely freezing water. None of this slowly wading our way into the water! For most of us there was only one way in. Down the slide with an 8ft drop of it at the end that sent you flying into the water at a flipping fast pace! The entire group braved this, but for the 50 m drop off the actual waterfall into the plunge pool below, it was only for the more macho or incredibly insane members of the Inca 34 venture co group. Carter and Elliot! Elliot secretly snuck off and did the jump first without telling anyone in the group, his justification afterwards was to us as we stared in amazement. However, they then repeated the grand spectacular not just once but twice, as Lou classically actually forgot to take the photo of them, after spending what seemed like hours discussing and preparing the perfect shot!

Despite a few minor hiccups, one or two missed placed steps by Rachel and Lou on the way down to the waterfall, and a few bruises from plunging into the water a great speed, we started our way back home. All happy as Larry! We continued our way round the valley and took a cable car over the top of the valley, giving an absolutely spectacular view of the forest, allowing us to appreciate the immensity and beauty of the forest. Slightly tired on the way home, some of us, most of us, actually just the girls, managed to catch a sneaky ride home down the valley to the hostel, only leaving a few male members of the group to finish the one hour trek home...the poor loves made in the end, not far behind us.

Saturday evening we went out to a local restaurant called EL Chef, this was one of many restaurants located on the main high street of Mindo. El Chef made a welcome change to the standard chicken and rice meals we have in Quito! We all indulged by ordering 16 incredibly tasting, not to mention HUGE, steaks, yum! Some, not to mention Carter, would have had about another 3 but unfortunately, we had eaten them all! I don't think the restaurant had ever catered for so many people, and we literally ate them out of steak not to mention drink. We knew we had eaten all the steak because on Sunday afternoon before heading to Quito, we all smiled and sniggered and walked off excitedly to get another one, but were only to be disappointed. So we tucked into the Hamburgers and chicken instead, equally as tasteful.

Sunday gave another opportunity for us to cool down this time by tubing- seven tractor tyres tied together with ropes that you have to hold on to, you are then pushed down stream and have to avoid trees, big rocks, small children and any other obstacle that might get in the way! Still drenched from the tropical rainstorm, we were treated to before we got on the bus, we went back to Quito. Back to classes and city life-as far away from tranquil Mindo as possible!

In the week to come we look forward to being back in Quito, sorting out and preparing for our community projects, partying, Spanish, a bit more salsa, and generally continuing the incredibly time our group is having together out here, with VentureCo!

Abby

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter
Sent: 11 May 2005 23:17
Subject: journal for week 2 of Inca 34

Well after spending 3 weeks in Quito and getting to grips with our Spanish the group went its separate ways for a month. 8 were to spend the month working at a school in a small town called Riobamba. The other 8 were to go to the Sangay national park in the middle of the Ecuadorian mountains.

We (Pete and Anabel, your scribes) chose the "Rural" project and off we headed in the back of our cattle truck to Guaragualla, about two and a half hours from Riobamba. The journey through the mountains provided some spectacular scenery and spirits were high but as the rain kicked in and we all got decidedly wet we couldn't wait to get to our new home. We wouldn't be disappointed.

The community of Guaragualla was perched on top of a mountain side and had no hot water and electricity was very hit and miss but they did have a volleyball net which we thought we would try our hand at beating the locals but were made to look extremely stupid.

On Monday we started work on the bridge we would be building for the next few weeks. The bridge was to be made to provide a better access route for the locals around the area and would also help encourage tourism in the area as Guaragualla is used as a base to climb the Sangay volcano. Our job was to help carry materials that were going to be used to build the foundations of the bridge. The work also included carrying six 3 tonne logs down the mountain to be used as the top of the bridge so along we trundled with another sixty local men to try and move these logs. A few days and blisters later we had collected all the materials and were going to start work on building.

We were provided with tools to start work and as the days progressed we saw our bridge get higher and higher and despite a few hitches (namely the river overflowing onto the bank and flooding the foundations) we came through in fine style.

After we had finished all our work on the bridge we did some work around the village where we were staying. This involved some tree planting and pruning, painting murals in the nursery and various other buildings and cleaning up the "train spotting" toilets.

Weekend activities included horse riding and fishing which personally were not to successful but a good laugh was had by all (Bridget namely, after my horse collapsed on me).

Half way through we took a weekend trip to Riobamba where the thought of showers and some junk food were high on the list. The group was reunited for the weekend and we defiantly made the most of it! On Sunday we got up at "bollocks o clock" to go and ride on one of the worlds steepest railways down the "Devil's Nose" switchbacks. Sitting on the roof of a train carriage all day with little cushions as support was an experience and a test of our bum muscles. Apart from the derailing of the train on a bridge and nearly getting knocked out by an electrical wire we all returned unscathed if not a little sore.

So it was back to our house on the hill, (hotel California) where we thoroughly enjoyed the next two weeks of work and got very close to local community who couldn't have welcomed us with more hospitality and warmth.

When it came time to leave we were all very sad as the little community of Guaragualla had become a home from home for a month. So we heard our last "Buenos Dias" and headed back to civilisation where we would be starting our expedition.

The first day of expedition involved a mountain bike ride down Chimborazo. The tallest mountain in Ecuador. After taking a mini bus ride up the mountain which looked like the surface of the moon we got our safety talk, bikes and helmets and got told to watch out for dogs and pot holes! 50 km´s of biking 37 of which were downhill which we all though was a very good ratio. As the day wore on and we got nearer to the bottom the weather perked up to provide some awesome views of the mountain, Riobamba and the Sangay volcano on the horizon. It wouldn't have been right though if were to tackle the highest mountain in Ecuador on mountain bikes and not experience a few little hitches. Carter managed to get 3 flat tires, Elliot had a great wipe-out tour de France style, as did Annabel and Kim managed to bruise her thumb and get out of the last few km´s!!

After a hard day and some very tired legs we headed back for our last night in Riobamba which was spent getting to bed very early!
In the morning we headed to Banos where the thought of thermal pools to ease our aching muscles were highly anticipated. The weather in Banos was really hot and after our first of many meetings we headed straight for the pool equipped with our towels and hello kitty ball. In the evening we visited the hot pools which were well needed and had our photos taken quite a few times with some very over-excited local girls!
After replenishing ourselves and having a relaxed day we hopped onto another coach to Tena where we would spend a few days. White water rafting was the main thing on the agenda and it didn't disappoint. The day was beautiful and the water was cold! This wasn't a problem as we were going to be spending most of our time in it. We stopped off along the side of the river a few times to jump off rocks into the water, admire the awesome tropical rainforest cove, and cover ourselves in mud and…. well, mainly throw mud at each other. Amazing what joys young people get from a bit of mud. After a few days in Tena we headed back to Banos for a day where the group went to watch a fire thrower!!! And did some quad biking.

Cuenca was our next and last port of call in Ecuador where we had spent 7 awesome weeks. A tranquilo little town with plenty of shops and restaurants. Our last night in Ecuador was spent at some sort of Goth club with very interesting décor!! Bridget and Jez managed to get us in for free and as usual a good time was had by all. In particular Jo who was strutting his stuff to the local ladies. So with a few sore heads we packed our bags at 5 in the morning and started our mammoth bus journey to our next destination. Peru.

By Pete and Anabel

-----Original Message-----
From: Elliot and Lyndsey
Sent: 16 May 2005 21:07
Subject: RE: Journal - Santa Cruz

On Sunday, after much preparation we set off at 7am to begin our first trek, Santa Cruz. After a very windy but beautiful bus journey we arrived at the start point to meet ´donkey man´ (his official title) and our two mules. We were then ready to start walking. The first few hours were very gentle and enjoyable whilst we all got used to our heavy backpacks then we stopped for lunch and reached Hotel California aka our camp by about 5:30pm.

We woke up the next morning to find a cow trying to munch its way
through our food we had left in our tent which wasn't good, so 8 bread rolls down we quickly packed up and moved on. Monday was the longest and hardest day of the trek as we were climbing the Punta Union Pass which measured in at 4750m high! The whole group finally made it together at about 4pm, despite altitude sickness and very tired legs! The view was simply incredible and the feeling of satisfaction and achievement was huge. Especially as the climb up had been a big challenge for some members of the group. We spent some time admiring the surrounding snow topped mountains and glacial lake and even managed to see an avalanche! We descended down the other
side and finally reached camp, exhausted but elated at about 5:30 again.

On the third day we took a side trip to a view point of a glacial lake and then walked down the valley to camp, a more relaxed day, very enjoyable.

However as all the good food started to get used up lunchtime sounded
more like Wall Street, shouts of "I'll trade you a three oreos for a scoop of peanut butter" could be heard all over!

As we woke on our last day we all agreed that the trek had been
fantastic but we were all looking forward to a hot shower, pizza and a warm bed! Arrived at the end of trek at about 11am feeling very proud of ourselves.
Got the mini bus back to our hostel , Jo's Place and set about having
showers and sorting out clean clothes, a very high priority! Those of us who could manage it went out to celebrate the end of our first trek with several drinks and spent the evening requesting Britney songs in every bar we went to, always a recipe for a successful night out!

The next day, we got on a bus at 9:30am and got off it at 6:00pm in the capital of Lima. The fabulously starry nights that we could enjoy on trek (starry because there was no light pollution with there not being another person within a million miles) were now exchanged with the bright lights of a major capital - certainly not an unwelcome swap after a four day trek with nothing but what was on our backs! So how did we experience the new cultural curiosities that we were deprived of on trek? Why, we found the nearest Pizza Hut and McDonalds!

Of course, the following day was when we would appreciate the capital. So, first thing we set off to see was one of the first Christian influences and establishments in South America - the monastery and Catacombs of San Martin. It was a palace of opulance and splendour; but the most interesting part was to be found in the catacombs. These winding passageways and chambers underneath the monastery was what made up the first holy burial ground in Peru. In fact, so holy was this ground considered that there was an unprecedented demand to be buried there. Umm, a problem - how could so many people be buried in only a finite amount of space? So a solution was found which would solve the problem of letting more people enjoy a peaceful existence after death in the prescence of God. They started a production line. By this, they found that they could make more space by digging up the bodies which had been lying the longest, and tipping the bones in a deep shaft. In this way, everyone could enjoy a few years in a coffin and then politely move aside for the next occupants, and move into alternative
accommodation with a few other friends. Everyone was happy. Proved by the fact that as we peered down into the shaft, stacks of skulls were lying there with their permanent grins fixed on their faces staring back at us. (Spooky!)

The rest of the day was different for everyone, according to the
individual whims and desires. A visit to a museum explaining the entire history of Peru was one option, though a visit to Starbucks was another favourite!

So leaving Lima behind the following day, we moved on to Pisco - a
smaller port town. Not much time was spent here, only enough for an evening meal - but an evening meal with a difference! Our group leader Jeremy (The Chicken Master) asked for a handful of worthy and followers to see if they could complete the Quest of The Chicken Challenge. This Quest consisted of the attempt of each valiant Venturer eating an entire chicken in one meal - a challenge not to be taken up by the faint of heart. Indeed, only three others found the courage needed - but four in total was enough, as all managed to emerge victorious from battle!

A small breakfast was all that was needed the next morning to set us on our way to the Ballestas Islands where pelican birds, penguins and sea lions live. Other residents are the Inca Tern birds, whose droppings are so nutritious that they are harvested for fertiliser. In fact, so much do they produce, that before the droppings were removed, the islands rose 30 metres higher out of the sea!

Hitting the road again, we made our way to a Pisco distillery. Pisco is a popular local drink, and after trying it, we didn't think that its popularity would ever spread much further than the locality! But we weren't going to be in the locality for long; for, off the distillery tour we boarded the buggies! -the buggies that took you across the sand, to another far away off land. And this other land was the Atacama desert. Up the enormous dunes we charged and over the other side we would career down, skidding and sliding - beating Alton Towers any day. And then, who needs Courcheval to snow board, when you can sand board here instead. Mind you, I'm not sure that sand boarding looks quite as glamorous, as when a certain
speed was reached, a passer-by wouldn't think that there was a sand
boarder going down the dune, but a giant cloud of dust instead!

But, out of the dust and the void we all emerged, ready to search for
another void which would hold yet more adventures for us to find in the next episode of our Inca Venture!

By Lyndsey and Elliot (Inca 34)