Inca 41
Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia 2006
The Team:
Terry
Alex
Henry
Nick
Thomas
Christopher
Nicola
Miranda
Camilla
Sarah
Frances
Amy
Claudia
Joanna
Samantha
Josh
Jez (Leader)
Kat (Leader)
Extracts from their Diaries
From: Thomas
Sent: 25 June 2006
To: VentureCo HQ
Subject: Inca 41 Expedition
So after all surviving the trip down the worlds most dangerous road the next challenge was to survive CK´s birthday which was being held a day early as we headed out on the Choro trail the day after her real birthday. The highlight of the evening has to be when it was time for the cake, it's a tradition that the birthday boy/ girl has to take the first bite from the cake before it's been cut, which all sounds fine, not with us lot. The next day we headed out onto the Choro trail, walking up a hill with a hangover is not fun. The trail was one that not many people were looking forward to except Josh and so we all gamely set off on 3 days of downhill which can only be described as bad for the knees, hence why when most people were soaking up the sun in Corioco we were walking around the pool with pained expressions. Hotel Esmeralda where we were staying had several glorious advantages, the meals were all you can eat buffets, there were TV's in the rooms and a pool and sauna which were well used for our aching muscles.
The part of the trip that I know I was dreading the most was the 16 hour bus trip to Rurrenbaque but thankfully the bus had a TV and the time passed sooner than expected and with all the buses we have taken on this trip you just get your head down and get on with it. When we arrived we were met with something that we hadn't experienced for a while, rain. I suppose it was to be expected as we were in the rain forest. The first leg of our trip into the pampas was a 3 hour jeep ride down a mud road. So after arriving on the banks of the Amazon we climbed into 2 wooden motorized canoes for a 3 hour trip to our campsite, passing Cayman, monkeys and the odd river dolphin. We arrived at camp and soon settled in as you do with these places. Before long the cards came out and Rafe, Chris, Nick and Frankie started playing the by now infamous 500´s much to everyone's enjoyment, we even managed to catch up on diary entries which were lagging behind. The second day of the tour started with the group going Anaconda hunting. Much to everyone´s amusement Kat with Jez on her back sank almost upto her thighs in the pampas swamp. Unfortunately the weather was cold which meant that all the snakes were in their hole but the fact we all got stuck in waist high water made up for this. The rest of the day was spent doing Piranha fishing where Jo showed that she had a talent for snaring the little critters. The last day was spent searching for river dolphins to swim with. This may seem like fun but you had to remember that we were in the amazon the same river where we had been piranha fishing and cayman hunting. We all went in and it was well worth doing although everytime that you felt something it was "what the hell was that" and the staring eyes of the cayman on the bank made the trip short lived. The next morning we flew back to La Paz, it took us 16 hours to get there and just 40 minutes to get back. Just as we settled in for the flight it was over and somehow Frankie managed to be sick on the plane with no one even noticing not even Josh who was right next to her.
As Jez has said in his previous diary entry you can literally buy anything in La Paz and we once again spent time in the market before Chris and I decided to goto Subway of all the places, we took the smart move and took a taxi which took 10 minutes, Nick, Sam and Alex walked and took an hour.
Our next stop was Puno back in Peru where we went on a 2 day tour of Lake Titicaca, it was amazing to see the Uros islands which are made from reeds and while getting a talk from Leo our guide the islands literally moved up and down with the wake of the passing boats. We were all able to indulge ourselves in buying items made by the locals as with most places rugs seemed to be high on the shopping list.
That night we stayed with a family on one of the islands Alex, Josh and I stayed with Nicholas and his family and although we had only met them for a very short time we were welcomed into the family. That afternoon we took a walk up to one of the temples on the island to see the sunset before another meal with our family then to a party which the families of the village organized for us. We were all given native dress to wear for the boys we wore a poncho and a hat, I hasten to add we wore other clothes underneath. The girls were dressed up in shirts, skirts and shawls and to be honest it was quite funny seeing everyone dressed up. The Party was awesome and we danced the night away to listening to soft melodies played on panpipes and drums.
Off again, this time to Tequila island (I know this is the wrong spelling but it sounds right) We walked around the island had lunch and then for the few hardy souls ( Jo, Amy, Alex, Claude, Rafe and I) jumped into lake Titicaca probably not the best of ideas as it was freezing and trying to get out proved a little taxing. After our brief stay in Puno we were off to our final destination, Cusco where Jez and Ck have been planning our nights out for about the last week.
So, after the train journey and several games of 500's we arrived in Cusco where our first stop was the Hostel Anita. Rafe, Nick, Alex, Chris and my-self headed out to the shops and paid to jump off the third highest bungee jump in the World as well as being shot around by the largest slingshot in the world. That night was our first experience of the wonders of Cusco and if you play your cards right and chat up the right people its very cheap well to be truthful free! The next 2 days was taken up by bungee jumping and paragliding which were awesome. One thing that can be said about Cusco is we spent a lot of money so when it came to the Inca trail our bank balances took a relieved sigh. Bright and early on Saturday morning at 4am we were met by our guides for the trek and we took a bus from Cusco to Ollantaytambo, an ancient Inca ruin which is up there with my favourite I have seen in South America. Still one thing confuses me, if the Incas were as clever as we are told then why do they build granaries halfway up or on the top of mountains. After breakfast we took the bus for the remaining time to Kilometre 82 where we got out passports stamped and had the classic group photo at the start of the Inca trail. Our first day of walking was pretty easy until lunch when we started the uphill section. The second day was spent finishing the climb to the top of Warmiwanusca (4200m) and pretty steep just like Punta Union pass all over again. From the pass we descended to the Pacamayo valley (3300m) where we had an early lunch consisting of a nice three course meal.
Day 3 was spent continuing on the trail and through the cloudy forest we were able to see our first glimpse of Machu Picchu. That evening we took a 5 minute walk to the ruins of Wiñaywayna which are by far the best ruins seen to date as the blend of nature and Inca buildings both seemed to work perfectly together. That night we sat around eating our food and generally chilling out before Machu Picchu. You may be mistaken for thinking this was in our tents but no we were in a restaurant eating toasties, pasta, chicken and chips and enjoying an ice cold coke which slid down a treat. Then bed as we would be up very early tomorrow.
Day 4, the day of the Picchu we all got up about 4 as we wanted to be at the head of the queue to get into the final part of the trail, so that we could get to the Sun Gate or Intipunku for sunrise over Machu Picchu. When we got to the checkpoint we had to wait for about an hour but none of us could go to sleep as we had started the 24 hour challenge, no sleep until tomorrow morning 4am. To be honest it was amazing and was something that the whole trip had built upto and now we were there, it was well worth it, as the sun rose over the lost city it was probably for me one of the best moments of the entire trip and seeing it with 14 other people who started off as strangers but ended as the best of friends made it all the more special.
Once we got back into Cusco there was time for a shower and to do some laundry befoer we had dinner and then hit Cusco for our penultimate time. The night was a good laugh and a good time was had by all, we all partied hard so hard some people fell asleep on the sofas of Uptown one of the clubs and by 4 am most people were ready to hit the sack hard. The next day for me was a little hard, people were moving on and it was weird to think how much people had changed and how a group of strangers had turned into a group who got on like a house on fire. So for one last time Inca 41 went out for a group meal where Kat and Jez handed out some awards, these are some of the clean ones.
Chris for the first crash and burn
Tom for winning the trek
Josh for doing the least amount of laundry on trip
Jo for being the most in demand
Sarah for drinking illegaly for 4 months
The next morning was a sad sight to behold at Cusco airport as Inca 41 parted. The last goodbyes were said and as Sarah, Chris, Nick, Sam, Alex, Kat and I stood outside the barrier having recieved our flags from Rafe, the tears started to fall. It was weird back at the hostel, as we packed up I kept thinking I was going to bump into them.
So from Otavalo in the North, San Pedro in the South, Puerto Lopez in the West and RRBQ in the East, Inca 41 has finished and as I sit here in Buenos Aires 3 weeks later I still remember it as if it was yesterday. So on behalf of the group many thanks to Kat and Jez for leading us all the way.
Adios from Inca 41
Claudia, Chris, Jo, Amy, Josh, Terry, Miranda, Sarah, Sam, Alex, Nick, Frankie, CK, Henry and Tom
From: Terry
Sent: 25 May 2006 18:08
To: VentureCo HQ
Subject: Inca 41 Expedition
We started off in Banos. Yes, that does mean toilet, but I'm sure it's more the equivalent of our 'Bath'. The expedition started off quite chilled as we relaxed by the hot volcanic springs in Banos. Josh and I decided against this lazy approach to a gap year up climbed a nearby mountain, 5 hours up and 30 mins down. Banos itself was a change from Quito, it was much smaller and there were a lot more indigenous people around trying to get us to buy Pollo. A few of us took a tour up into the mountains after dark to see an active volcano spewing lava into the air - quite spectacular. The stay in Banos was short lived, as we were using it as a base for our trip to Tena. A very small town in the cloud forest - a stark contrast to the mountainous scenery we were used to. The first thing that struck us all was the heat, it was really quite hot and humid. In Tena we had the chance to go rafting. Rafting was phenomenal; 6 hours on the river fearing for our lives as our crazy Ecuadorian guides crashed us into huge rocks, deflated the rafts and pushed us into the river! We all survived though. Just. Claudia had a close shave but it was all good fun. Swimming in a large tributary of the Amazon was amazing and made better by the fact the water was so warm. It was Nicks Birthday that night and it was a lot of fun, but I think everything that happened that night should stay in Tena. Memories we all carry and should never forget. We had our first encounter with Amazonian wildlife here too. Miranda and I were relaxing in a hammock, almost asleep when I suddenly saw something move on the ceiling. One exaggerated cry later and Miranda had fallen out of the hammock in fear of the MASSIVE tarantula that was above our heads. Watching the tarantula move around the building provided us with much amusement. An awesome sight and a few people didn't sleep to well that night. I wonder why? After returning to Banos for a night or so we grabbed our stuff and headed off to Cuenca. All well fed on the typical scrambled eggs and bread we had come to expect. Otherwise known as the Americano. We separated off to explore the city which included a visit to the doctors, a scenario best explained by the individuals themselves. Cuenca still holds the record for providing the best ice cream in the world EVER, it's worth the flight to South America simply to taste the delights of these Ice Creams. Cuenca wasn't all about food, there were some large impressive Inca ruins. Unfortunately our visit was slightly restricted due to Good Friday, but we could get good views from the streets. The city itself was quite nice in comparison to all the cities we had visited so far. There were very posh and expensive shops, good modern architecture and people wearing suits. The main park was beautiful, we chilled there all afternoon, very much like a park in London.
Crossing the boarder into Peru to get to Mancora (a nice little coastal town we were destined to hit next) was one of the funniest experiences so far. To cross the boarder, we had to pass through an INSANE boarder town, possibly the busiest place in the world. There were hundreds of people shouting at you, offering anything from good exchange rates to Salchipapas. To get through the rowdy crowd we hired the help of two stout Ecuadorians to carry our bags to the rickshaws. We then had to march in formation around them to shield our bags from any would-be thieves. The route into Peru was across a small wooden bridge, most of us managed to get through. We were the lucky ones. It was a long and bumpy ride to the small undeveloped town of Mancora, but once there everyone breathed a long sigh of relief as we had a few days at the beach. The beach itself was fantastic. Rafe, Ck and Alex hired surfing boards and managed to embarrass us all, while Miranda learned to do butterfly. The waves were very good, the water not very cold and it was really quite pleasant. Mancora wasn't all about the beach though, there was quite a good market which sold a lot of jewellery, CK went a little crazy. But in a good way. Henry, Chris, Tom and Nick all got matching Tattoos (henna of course). We often went down to the sands after dark with our head torches and played possibly the most amazing sport ever invented, Crab Chasing. The beach was literally covered with hundreds of crabs, a lot of them very big and the challenge was to catch them. No crabs were harmed in the creation of this sport, they were returned to the sea and only caught if it could be done without stress or injury (to the crab at least, josh was nipped a few times). Mancora had a few clubs and bars, they were all hit relatively successfully. Mancora is quite a touristy beach in reality, with palm trees, dudes selling fresh coconuts that they'd cut in front of you so you could drink right out of them, surfing, golden sand and endless sunsets. We loved it! After a very relaxing time at the beach in Mancora we had to pack, who´d of thought you´d have to pack whilst traveling, "I swear it wasn't in the small print! Though it wasn't that bad as we were off to Huanchaco ANOTHER BEACH!!!
Though only in Huanchaco for one night, there was a lot to do. As soon as we got there a group of us went out into the desert to see the Moche temple of the sun and moon. The Moche were a civilization that was here about 1000 years before the Incas, in like 600AD. Our second day in Huanchaco was spent on a VentureCo organized trip to Chan Chan, the largest mud city ruins in the world. There were a total of 9 MASSIVE palaces in Chan Chan, each with its own plaza and huge gathering main square.
Aside from the large old lumps of mud, Huanchaco proved to be a great place to meet the locals. They showed us good restaurants and gave us good tips of what to see and do in the town. Wandering around in small groups or even by yourself is a great way to see the towns in South America. A fine example of one of these towns is Huaraz (the town we were using as our base for the Santa Cruz trek). Our time there was mainly spent preparing for the trek, on our first morning we had a warm-up walk up some hills to a monumental cross overlooking the town. The walk was quite funny. We just couldn't walk. Everyone struggled with shortness of breath due to the altitude which is to be expected, but this was no where NEAR the Punta Union Pass at 4750m which is where we'd be in a few short days.
The Santa Cruz trek is a 4 day trek through the Santa Cruz mountains in Peru. We had mules for the ill people so they didn't have to carry their bags but the rest of us braved it reluctantly. The first day was only 6 hours of walking along a valley between two mountains, it was quite steep at the beginning and a few people found that a little hard because of the altitude that we were at. That night was a real gap year experience. The second day started at 6am. We went for about 3 hours across what looked like prehistoric grassland until we came to another pass between mountains which we had the choice to go up for another 4 hour trek to the snow line, or carry on to the campsite. I went the distance and once up the top we saw a frozen glacial lake and a huge glacier. The third day was spent climbing the Punta Union Pass itself at 4750m. Once at the top there was quite a good feeling of satisfaction, coupled with the fact that from there on it was downhill! We came within about 5 meters of a golden eagle and saw quite a lot of cool stuff! The morning after the last night in tents was supposedly a quick 2 hour walk to where we would be picked up. Once at the top though we no longer had to walk, we hired mountain bikes and cycled the whole way back home.
After the trek we came back to Huaraz and spent a day there just recovering and getting our equipment back in order before heading off to Lima. We had a couple of free days there. After our free days in Lima we got a very long bus to Pisco, and guess what - it broke down in the middle of the desert! We had to wait there for 2 hours whilst another one came from Lima to pick us up. Sarah and I were on security, and so had to wait outside the bus watching all the bags as we saw lots of Peruvians angrily arguing with the driver and each other. We arrived in Pisco very late.
The next day, we got a bus to Nasca. Nasca again isn't the most amazing town in the world, but it was more built up than Pisco. Nasca is of course famous for the Nasca Lines. We got up early the next morning to board a light aircraft that was going to take us on a 30 min tour of the lines. It was incredible to think that they are still there. A few more museums later we eventually arrived in Arequipa. The first morning there, a few of us took a tour of a monastery, which is still partly in use today. In the afternoon we visited the Museum which I assume is one of the main reasons why a lot of tourists come to Arequipa: The Ice Princess, Juanita. Juanita is the world famous Incan mummy (as seen on discovery channel) who was sacrificed by the Incas on the top of a huge mountain.
We were now off to Chile and had to get up at ridiculous o'clock to get taxis to what promised to be an easier border crossing than that from Ecuador to Peru. It was quite weird. Everyone was split up into taxi groups and the taxi drivers were going to take us through the boarder. They had amazing old American cars, anyway it was a good 20 min drive through the desert on the straightest road, we arrived in Arica. From here we went to San Pedro where we went for a small tour of the surrounding area; we saw a small ruined salt mine and ventured a little into the valley of death which we were going to come back to the next day. We eventually came to the 'Valley de la Luna' to climb a sand dune made by the Incas to watch the sunset over the desert. It was pretty cool. The sun turned the surrounding rocks and desert purple and pink, very cool.
San Pedro is a crazy town. On our second morning, everyone hired mountain bikes and sand boards and went off down the 'Valley of Death' to the sand dunes. That afternoon we had no time to rest as a few of us had hired horses to go and explore the desert and valleys.
It got colder and colder as we headed off to Bolivia and the Uyuni salt flats tour. The first day of the Salt Flats tour involved crossing the Chilean-Bolivian border. This was the most hilarious boarder ever- literally just a shed and a barrier. Once in Bolivia, we began the 3 day jeep tour of Uyuni. The first day was basically through the very high and cold glacial lakes and mountains. We also visited a hot spring curiously in the middle of a frozen lake. Once past the desert, we came to some geezers and hot mud pools. The second day of the Salt Flats tour was mainly across desert and we saw a massive rock called the 'Rock Tree' because it was shaped like a tree. Everyone enjoyed climbing on the crazy random rocks in the middle of this barren desert at about 4500 meters. The third set of mysterious rock groupings we visited was home to a family of 'Green Bunnies'. The accommodation for the second night was awesome. There was even table tennis. In the middle of nowhere! Bolivia is crazy.
The third day was actually on the salt flats themselves. The initial parts of the salt flats were wet, which was weird as they are only supposed to be wet in December. I'm glad they were as it meant that a very very large stretch of flat salt was covered in about 1cm of water and so the sky was reflected PERFECTLY in the ground.
From the Salt Lakes we went to Potosi - the highest city in the world, at 4060m. We were here for a tour of the famous silver mines. In the mines it was indescribably hot, dusty and dark - the average life expectancy is apparently only 40-45. Potosi was only a quick stop off on the way to La Paz. We had several free days in La Paz to prepare for the Choro Trail, our next real trek. There is a lot to do in La Paz, it's a very vibrant and busy city - everyone in the group loves it. You can buy ANYTHING in the street and if you go to the Witches Market you can buy things you wouldn't even think of buying such as Llama fetuses. At this point everyone decided it would be a good idea to cycle down 'the world's most dangerous road'. We started at 4060m above sea level and would hopefully finish at 1300m. It was a very terrifying and exhilarating experience. Finally the Choro trail looms. Three days of constant downhill, trekking in the forest rather than on ice covered mountains. It promises to be fantastic and we have a Pampas Tour of the Amazon that to come as well. See you on the other side.
- Terry
From: Inca 41
To: VentureCo HQ
Subject: Inca 41 diary - part 4
Date: 19/04/06
Our 13 hour bus journey to the coast was our first proper Ecuadorean transport experience. We hadn´t asked ourselves the question ´How many Ecuadoreans does it take to change a punctured tyre?" before, but we discovered the answer by the end of the journey. It´s about 17. One to hit the engine with a spanner, another to work out that the problem is actually with the tyres and not the engine, and 15 more to pull over on the side of the road and cheer on the proceedings and generally get in the way.
When we got to Puerto Lopez in the end, we were definitely delighted to see the sandy beach and to swim in the warm sea. We weren't so happy with the roosters behind our hostel who squawked constantly from 4 in the morning for 6 hours solidly.
We were doing two main projects. One was carrying on from the previous Inca group, helping to build a house for future Venturers. Having a permanent VentureCo base at Puerto Lopez will allow Venturers to work on projects in the area for many years to come. However suspicion abounded within our group that we were really building Dave and Mark's retirement home!!
The second project was helping to build a kitchen for a day-care centre at the other end of the town. On our first day Alex showed his particularl skill in demolition, as he ripped apart the old kitchen
Building on both sites was a pretty physical affair- we were either digging, sawing, carrying, or bending poles most of the time. The sole electric tool for both projects was a saw that the foreman had hooked up to the mains by climbing up a ladder and clipping a wire to the overhead cable. Needless to say we stuck to using our hand-saws!
We spent days digging trenches that a JCB in England could have done in a matter of hours. It was quite a humbling sight to see the 12 year boy who worked on the site earning $30 a week to do more work than we did. The problem was it was impossibly hot. We dripped with sweat as we dug in the baking heat - Jez (our leader) dripped with inhuman amounts of sweat, Henry wasn't far behind.
When we´d finished work we went swimming in the sea, or played beach football against skilful Ecuadoreans, with Tom leading the way in showing them how to do good old fashioned English slide tackles. In the evenings we went the town´s only bar, owned by a wannabe Bob Marley, with a vast selection of 2 cocktails - Nick particularly loved the limey Caipirnha. Weekend trips found us going to Montanita, a hippy surfing town where washed out westerners stand on corners selling cakes especial.
By the second week of building all our clothes were caked in dirt, and our hands were blistered. All that is apart from Sam who shrieked with delight when she discovered a slight blemish on her palm which she claimed proved she had actually done some shovelling. Around this time we also discovered CK´s gun, aka ´The Canon´, possibly the largest and most scary bicep in existence. We gave her a wide berth for a few days. If CK was Miss Muscle on the building site, then Frankie was Miss Weird Noises. She kept us all in hysterics with the bizarre sounds that came out of her mouth while she tried to pound the pick axe into the earth, making no visible impact on it all.
The state of national emergency that was going on it Quito at this point didn´t affect us at all- Ecuadoreans in Puerto Lopez were too busy lying on the beach to riot. Getting bored of the beach on our last weekend, we hired mountain bikes and went off to Agua Blanca, in the national park. They were possibly the worst bikes ever made, as Chris will certainly testify after his whole gear mechanism fell off the middle of the road, and he had to get a taxi the rest of the way home.
By the end of the 4 weeks we could certainly see the progress our work had made on the house as the walls were starting to come up, but I think we were all happier working in the Guarderia (day care centre), where we had got to know some of the kids after playing with them, and had managed to get the kitchen finished. I think progress had also been made in our cooking skills- we cooked for ourselves every day for the first 3 weeks, going to the market at 7 in the morning to pick out the raw chicken that was least covered in flies, and then trying to cook it with whatever random assortment of vegetables had arrived in the market that day. The over enthusiasm of some members of the group may have left the hostel in a slight state before we left, and though we all had a great time at the coast, by the end of 4 weeks I think we were all keen to get travelling again.
From: Terry
To: VentureCo HQ
Subject: Inca 41 diary - part 3
Date: 12/04/06
The day finally arrived when the group had to split. Spread out across the country; Quito in the high Andes and Puerto Lopez down on the coast. Our projects were about to begin. Those of us who stayed in Quito were working predominantly in a school on the very poor outskirts of the city. We were all ready to flex our newly acquired Spanish skills on our various work sites: "El Martillo sirve para claver clavos en la Madera!!!". oh yes, thank you Selva Alegre.
We had been given a brief of what the next month would entail; our main task was to build a greenhouse in an allotment which ajoined the school (so that the kids in the school would have more than just bread and rice to eat at lunch) but we also had to paint a mural and build a wormery (to provide fertile soil for the greenhouse).
Waking in Selva Alegre for the last morning was an emotional experience. we spent a while just admiring the place which had been our home for the last 3 weeks, before saying "Adios" to Fernando, Alberto and Nicholas and cramming into a mini-van which was going to take us on a tour of where we were all going to be living for the next month - OUR FAMILIES!
It has to be said, we were all slightly intimidated and anxious about what it was going to be like - but also excited - it promised to be interesting... if nothing else. The group was actually scattered around the city quite a lot: but it didn´t take long for us all to become accustomed to the various buses and trolly-buses we had to get to reach our worksite and even the associated etiquette: Amy embracing it so much, she often continued wearing her bag on her front whilst walking around!
On our first day at site we met Leo. There is no need to say more. Leo was our foreman, our guide, our teacher, our friend. Over the course of the project many of us grew to see him as a kind of father figure, Josh would go as far to say his God. But honestly, he is the nicest guy in the world and we all looked forward to seeing him. His laugh will stay with us always.
The greenhouse itself was finished in record time. Though that's not to say it was easy. We worked flat out for days - all for the kids. All now proficient in sawing and stripping bark, we could build greenhouses around the world (contact Kat for more info). We all decided it would be a good idea to do a world map for the mural, and also some pictures of vegetables to tie it in with the greenhouse, so the kids of the school actually knew what it was. The world map was supposed to be used to teach the kids where all the continents of the world are, as in this cut off area of downtown Quito, they often don't have a good sense of world geography. In fact it probably taught more to certain members of our group... Jo was officially dubbed a walking disaster as she ended up painting more of the floor than the wall - probably because she never wore her contacts. We all had the opportunity to teach the children in the school as well; Josh and I were swarmed by the kids whilst trying to teach them the names of animals in English. Chaos! So we played football with them a lot…
After many weeks of very hard work, we finished just in time - final touches on the mural done seconds before our finishing ceremony. The kids put on some traditional dances for us and presented us all with a hand-made doll for all our work - it was a genuinely profound gap-year moment, we all felt that we had actually made a difference to the school and the children as the headmistress was very appreciative and we found it hard to imagine how the project would have been done without volunteers.
Fridays were spent doing 'care in the community' projects, which ranged from installing irrigation systems in fields to laying the foundations for another greenhouse in a day. It did mean that we had a break from our regular worksite and saw a lot more of Quito.
The benefit of staying in Quito was that we had the city to enjoy in the afternoons after work. Visiting museums, going to football matches (GO LIGA!), taking part in local Capoeira classes, the National Ecuadorian Symphonica, spending 2 hours in hail on the top of a very questionable train around Cotopaxi, going to a local gig in which I was invited up onto the stage and grabbed a guitar to jam with the band. Everyone knows 'Sweet Child O Mine' it seems! To be honest, we have also spent a lot of time in Xocoa's - which is just the best thing ever (chocolate fondu and pie de limon - how very local).
Luckily we have had all the weekends off and have made the most of it. We visited the hot springs in the mountains and fully believe that there is no way it can be good for you - everyone felt very ill afterwards, Josh especially as he literally sat in a kettle for 20 minutes. Insane. On the second weekend we felt we would be polite and pay the guys at the coast a visit. It was hotter than a really really hot thing. Everyone got sunburned so badly it wasn't even funny. Josh's legs basically fell off.
We enjoyed the beach, but it was nice to come back to Quito and its afternoon showers. The third weekend was organised by Sarah and Amy and we went to Pasochoa which is the closest part of untouched forest to Quito, for some night-walks. We managed to get the accommodation cheaply as we volunteered on the Saturday and built, yet again, another greenhouse. The room we stayed in was basic to say the least - it gave us our first opportunity so far to use our sleeping bags.
We had a good final night (Leo came out!) Josh and I spent the afternoon creating a cu stom tshirt with the help of a hilarious German dude: LEO "THE LEGEND". It was a very emotional night for all.
We all enjoyed Quito, and feel a certain fondness for this South American city. We will be sad to leave it, but are very excited about starting our expedition next week.
So until later,
Terry
From: Jo and Claudia
To: VentureCo HQ
Subject: Inca 41 diary - part 3
Date: 027/03/06
Wednesday was our first and last Salsa lesson with the boys taking a bit of time to grasp both the routine and the girls - excluding Miranda and Terry who were natural (dance) partners. Unfortunately this is where Kat received her worst injuries of the trip so far by dancing with the rather uncoordinated Jez. Although it took some time to get into, a fun time was had by all. Now every time we're out and Salsa music comes on, we're the first on the dance floor.
On Friday the group split with 7 heading off to attempt reaching the summit of Cotopaxi while the others stayed behind to celebrate Kat's birthday and do a bit of mountain biking on Cotopaxi. At the ridiculous hour of 6.30 the Cotopaxi crew set off picking up ice-axes and boots on the way. At
11.30 they began their 6 hour acclimatisation trek to 4500m while those at Selva Alegre were finishing their Spanish lessons.
After Kat received surprises from Sarah and Amy with flowers, balloons and a card signed by the everyone, the group headed out to dinner where they were joined by Kat's very exciting Mystery date courtesy of Chris (Inca 42's leader). Unfortunaley for Kat, but hilariously for everyone else, the supposedly 'goodlooking' and 'Kat's age' man turned out to be 40, boring and sadly no Sean William Scott. While half of the group enjoyed their dinner, the others were trying to sleep in a rat infested barn halfway up Cotopaxi.
On Saturday morning the groups were briefly reunited again as one group began their decent on ountain bikes and the others began their climb to the refuge. Josh was the only one to go over the handlebars (confirming the bet) so all in all a successful day. After a quick lunch in the refuge the Cotopaxi crew went to a nearby glacier to try out their ice axes and crampons with Alex proving to be a natural. They then went back to the refuge and were suppered and in bed by 7.00.
Getting up at midnight for breakfast was a first for all of the group. After donning balaclavas and gloves the group headed out at 1.00am to begin the climb. Huge congratulations to Nick, Chris, Alex and Henry who made it to the top (Chris and Nick so quickly that a shortcut has been suspected!) Well done to Henry who looked like a ghost afterwards and apparently has not been the same since-an
amazing effort. Even those who did not make it to the top agree in was an amazing, once in a life time experience enjoyed by all.
Towards the end of Spanish lessons we began to go out with our teachers and a couple of times in our Spanish lessons we've had trips to local markets. The first of which was to what we thought was a 'harmless' fruit market. At first we enjoyed being shown all of the different fruits. Little did we know that around the corner was the food court and the meat market.
The food court contained all sorts of food ranging from dried blood to whole pigs!! None of us were brave enough to try anything this time...maybe next time?! The meat market was incredible and brought more surprises- they had almost every type of meat available- cows tongue, cows feet and pigs ears and noses, all of which were on display alongside huge chunks of meat hanging from hooks-
definitely an experience we'll never forget.
>Wednesday 8th March was International Women's Day and Terry being such a gentleman went out with his Spanish teacher and bought all of the girls a rose each!
On the last Thursday before projectsaccording to VentureCo tradition, every Inca Venture group has to experience the Cheva Bus. The Cheva Bus is simply a small open-topped bus that plays loud music, takes you on a tour of the old town and plys you with alcohol. Jez and Kat gave the group the theme of 'bad taste and hats' so in order to make sure we were appropriately dressed we all headed off to the local clothes market where we managed to find some hideous stuff. Henry was the king of foul clothing when he managed to find a luminous green, fitted jumper- seriously it could have stopped
traffic!! Our leaders Jez and Kat did us proud by appearing in matching super-hero outfits- capes and water guns included...the capes even had a J and K sewn onto the backs!! Unfortunately it was pouring with rain and with it being an open-topped bus we were all completely soaked through by the time we reached 'Level'. Nevertheless the Cheva Bus night was definitely the night that the group got to know each other a bit better....
Our last day of Spanish wasn't entirely productive with all of the group being chuchakie, however the boys and CK managed to play the teachers at football, while others played basketball.
After 3 weeks of being a whole group, half left for the coast to tackle a development project in Machalilla National Park, leaving 7 here in Quito. It felt weird not having the whole group around
>but the excitement of starting our urban development project kept us distracted. At the restaurant that evening the Quito group had the option of guinea pig. Again none of us tried it but im sure there will be plenty of oppurtunities on later on.
Goodbye from Quito,
Jo and Claudia
From: Sarah & Amy
To: VentureCo HQ
Subject: Inca 41 diary2
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 02:00:28 +0000
Hola! Buenos dias from Inca 41, all now fluent in Spanish after just over a week of lessons.
Despite swatting up on Spanish we still managed to fit in some trips and activities.
The group made a trip to the middle of the world - Mitad Del Mundo. After a few cheesy photos with the big yellow line we went to the real equator which was actually 200m away. We did a few experiments to prove we were actually on the equator including the water down the plug-hole test, the balancing an egg test, and the defeat of Tom's not so little guns - apparently you loose your strength on the equator.
The weekend was our trip to Mindo in the cloud forest. After two sweaty bus rides under the armpits of some particularly unhygienic locals we arrived in a drizzly mosquito-infested Mindo, which was
actually really beautiful. That night brought a few people the best steaks of their life and then our first night in the "treehouse" - our hostal - which was like a wooden structure with few external walls that made for an intresting night's sleep. Much to everyone's excitement there were hammocks again! Which Scossip (Sarah) made a very valid, but unsuccessful, attempt to sleep in all night.
After a not so restful night for most people we headed off on our first jungle walk. Very sweaty and a bit puffed out the group made it up the hill and through the clouds - literally. When we reached the cascadas nearly everyone braved the slide, which was no walk in the park with a 7ft drop into the river and just one rope to stop us being swept over the waterfall.
A hungry group ate dinner and a drink for 2 dollars 50 centavos followed by pool and joining in with the local carnival celebrations, involving mass water and foam fights led mostly by Josh.
Amy was woken on Sunday morning with a happy humming bird in her face, while others had been bitten alive by mosquitos, proving the true treehouse-ness of our accommodation! Rather itchy, we all went tubing, which is basically the inners of truck tyres loosely tied together that you ride down a river on - via many a rapid and many a rock! The group took great pleasure in the names of their leaders - Stalin, Amsterdam, Edwin and Washington. Go team Stalin! After a second go the group were divided into screamers and swearers. But it was all very safe, honestly, and only one of the rings exploded on the way down, giving an already petrified Kat a small heart attack.
Back in Quito we had a holiday from Spanish lessons. Everyone mostly caught up on diary writing, email writing and sunbathing, with the excuse of revising Spanish. The universal language of football came into play with a game of England vs. Ecuador and the Inca 41 team were thoroughly thrashed, losing them 1 dollar 50.
Monday night was another wild night in Patatuse with foosball, Boogieing and more cuba libres. Tuesday morning we woke up....feeling fantastic and ready for our Spanish tests! These were completed with varying levels of success. We visited Quito's old town for some welcome culture and churches. Four of us travelled in style in a not-at-all embarrassing horse and carriage! Pizza night followed, and darling Kat and Jez made us pancakes…mmm delicious.
Adios,
Amy and Sarah
From: Tom & Chris
To: VentureCo HQ
Date: 22-02-06
Subject: Week 1: Cultural Orienation and Language School
It's been pretty crazy so far, moving from hostel to hostel and a weekend away in the northern market town of Otavalo in between. Now for the first time the group actually knows where it is, and what time zone we´re in and CK has even managed to get all our names right for the first time!
It started off with a bang, literally in Alex´s case, as Terry´s massive weight crashed down on him through the bunk bed on our first night! We'd joked about the beds being a bit dodgy, but this took a bit too far - Tez and Alex in the same bed after only a day together was just a bit much to take!
Early start on Friday morning for the bus trip to Otavalo - our first real Ecuadorian road experience, excluding Alex´s several near death experiences with the Quito´s drivers - he´s yet to learn that walking randomly across the streets here isn't as safe as it is in his Derbyshire countryside!
Having just about survived the three hour bus journey, cramps setting in and numb rear ends as standard, we got to the idyllic hostel, Casa La Luna, 40 minutes out of the town centre. After a couple of walks that proved just how totally unready we are for the treks, we headed down to the market on Saturday morning. The biggest indigenous market in South America, it was amazing, with everything there to buy, from 4 foot sombreros to crazy face masks, all as useless as each other, but that didn't stop any of the girls from buying far more than seemed humanly possible or necessary!
The main buys from the market have to be the happy pants, brightly coloured, stripy trousers - again, that didn't stop any of us, and we all ended up with at least one pair of the incredibly ugly things. The other big thing of the day was Nick, Tom and Chris´ purchase of cowboy hats. Initially they thought they looked pretty cool, until the inevitable comparisons to Brokeback Mountain emerged, causing a lot of grief for the guys and a lot of hilarity for everyone else. They claim they´re pretty happy with the comparisons to Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, and all the abuse hasn't stopped them from wearing them almost everywhere they go!
We´ve found the group clown for the trip - Miranda has racked up no less than three spectacular falls so far, managing to fall off a chair, a bit of acrobatics from the patio and severely injuring her foot in a game of TOUCH British Bulldog!
Back from Otavalo now and we've settled into our new rooms in the hostel, the Brokeback Boys obviously bunking up together! Spanish lessons have started with varying degrees of success - Nick is already holding his own chatting about the political situation in Bolivia, whereas Alex has yet to master a simple "Hola", and Chris´s attempt at a Spanish accent defies belief!
Henry, aka Rafe, has somehow managed to survive his two encounters so far with his teacher - he looks more like the Grim Reaper than the normal friendly Ecuadorians we´ve met so far.
Monday night brought about the first time that Inca 41 could go and have a "quiet drink" as Jez puts it in his slightly understated way!
Meanwhile Jo and Chris have provided the first inter-group romance, somehow managing to be the only two people who didn't realize what was going on between them despite serious hints from Claudia and Sarah, who had a bet on them from day one. They managed to totally ignore everyone else in the group as they had their cosy chats at every opportunity, and yet still claimed total innocence the whole way through until a combination of Claudia and Amy burst the bubble by revealing to them both how obvious it looked to everyone else.
On the long awaited night out, Nicola proved herself to be the real dancing queen of the group, Frankie blew the competition away on the pool table and Jo broke Chris´ heart by pulling a random Quester.
All looking forward to having the full group together for the first time today, when Sam arrives, and the first complete weekend away at Mindo, with the life-threatening tubing.
All for now from Quito, we´ll keep you posted about all the budding romances….oh and our Spanish as well!
Tom and Chris