We completed the jungle trek, which was filled with bugs. We were not aware that we would be sleeping in hammocks in the middle of the buggy jungle. However, we all prevailed and came out of the experience stronger and a little itchier. There were tons of cool plants and animals that our guide, Pedro, showed us. In some cases, the team would try a fruit, drink a natural tea, or hold an animal. Another highlight was when Pedro decided to make a swing out of vines and we all did our best Tarzan impersonation.
After the jungle, the group had an absolute blast white water rafting. The cold water didn't dampen our spirits.
Currently, we are on our way towards Saraguro, our mountain trek. We will moving from town to town until we reach Saraguro on Friday.
Until then, keep following!
The Challengers
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Back in Tena before we head out...
¡Hola! We are back in Tena after our trip to Misahualli. We have left los monos (the monkeys) behind. Yes, there we monkeys that stole from us! They never got anything from us but the tried to get a bag of bread!
Our project is done. We were all sad to leave because we all built great relationships with the local kids. We all had our favorites (for the most part Lester or Roger Chimbo). It was truly an amazing experience. However, they were running out of things for us to do and we got sort of bored.
We are now in a Hostel in Tena and showered! Finally!
When we leave Tena Friday morning, we will be heading to the jungle and then a white water rafting trip. We are all looking forward to it.
Thank you for your comments. We love to read them.
We will try to get pictures and videos (we have videos of the traditional Kichuwa dance that we saw on Wednesday) on the blog, but it might have to wait until we get home. The computers in the internet cafes are slow and we pay by the minute.
Alan, most of us are keeping journals and records of what we see and experience. We will definetly get some of that writing on here when we can.
Hope to see hear from you guys again soon! We will update when we can!
The Challengers
Our project is done. We were all sad to leave because we all built great relationships with the local kids. We all had our favorites (for the most part Lester or Roger Chimbo). It was truly an amazing experience. However, they were running out of things for us to do and we got sort of bored.
We are now in a Hostel in Tena and showered! Finally!
When we leave Tena Friday morning, we will be heading to the jungle and then a white water rafting trip. We are all looking forward to it.
Thank you for your comments. We love to read them.
We will try to get pictures and videos (we have videos of the traditional Kichuwa dance that we saw on Wednesday) on the blog, but it might have to wait until we get home. The computers in the internet cafes are slow and we pay by the minute.
Alan, most of us are keeping journals and records of what we see and experience. We will definetly get some of that writing on here when we can.
Hope to see hear from you guys again soon! We will update when we can!
The Challengers
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Missahaulli
We are currently in a small village outside the town of Missahaulli. The village we are staying in is so remove that we had to travel from the town by canoe. It is amazing. The kids loves us. We are playing games, singing, dancing, teaching them English, and tons of other activities. Monday we will starting our project. We bought supplies to build a roof for their bathrooms and other supplies to do smaller projects like painting and gardening. It has been an incredible experience. We will update you soon!
The Challengers
The Challengers
Friday, July 3, 2009
Kopal
We are currently at a small restaurant on the way to Tena. We are about to snack on nachos and guacamole. We are all amazed that my blackberry has service. Hope to update again soon.
The challengers
The challengers
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Moving out...
We are getting set for bed with our bags packed and ready to go. We will be leaving early in the morning to head to Tena. Our mission will be to head to Tena and get provisions to last us the time spent at our project. We will be outside Tena in a town called Missahaul doing our community service project at the school. We will be camping outside the school on a field adjacent to the building. After a five and a half hour bus ride we hope to be ready to get to work.
Today, we set up numerous arrangement for the rest of our trip. We spoke with local guides that will be assisting us on our treks. Also, we managed to find many of our contacts that we needed to pay for future treks and got those payments out of the way. That is a nice feeling because now we are carrying much less of our budget.
The ¨Old City¨ was also something that caught our attention. We managed to find an hour and a half to head over to the Old City and sight see for a bit. The architechture and colors were magnificent. The city is surrounded by hills and mountains, so the views were quite awe inspiring as well.
We are looking forward to moving on to our next phase. Unfortunately, we will probably not have the opportunity to update the blog for a few days. We will try our best to keep you posted.
The Challengers
Today, we set up numerous arrangement for the rest of our trip. We spoke with local guides that will be assisting us on our treks. Also, we managed to find many of our contacts that we needed to pay for future treks and got those payments out of the way. That is a nice feeling because now we are carrying much less of our budget.
The ¨Old City¨ was also something that caught our attention. We managed to find an hour and a half to head over to the Old City and sight see for a bit. The architechture and colors were magnificent. The city is surrounded by hills and mountains, so the views were quite awe inspiring as well.
We are looking forward to moving on to our next phase. Unfortunately, we will probably not have the opportunity to update the blog for a few days. We will try our best to keep you posted.
The Challengers
Plan for the day...
Here´s our plan for the day...
Go shopping and haggle our tails off to try and find the best deal for food, supplies, and fuel. Our New York hustling skills may be in full effect today.
We need to buy our food for our project phase, which starts tomorrow. We will be heading towards Tena to help improve the elementary school there with new walls and a bathroom. The team is excited to head over there.
We need to buy our maps to find everything as well.
The city is gorgeous with old and new artifacts. We are all adjusting to the altitude. We are at 2850 feet. Breathing is difficult at times but we are adjusting.
Will post agin soon!
The Challengers
Go shopping and haggle our tails off to try and find the best deal for food, supplies, and fuel. Our New York hustling skills may be in full effect today.
We need to buy our food for our project phase, which starts tomorrow. We will be heading towards Tena to help improve the elementary school there with new walls and a bathroom. The team is excited to head over there.
We need to buy our maps to find everything as well.
The city is gorgeous with old and new artifacts. We are all adjusting to the altitude. We are at 2850 feet. Breathing is difficult at times but we are adjusting.
Will post agin soon!
The Challengers
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
We´re here!
We are safely here in Ecuador! After a long day and two flights, the challengers are in a hostel and ready to go to bed. We have an exciting day tomorrow of shopping for supplies for our community service, contacting our in'country agent, and registering with the U.S. Embassy.
Sorry that this is a short entry, but it is 1 a.m. here and we are all ready for bed! We will post some more updates tomorrow.
·The Challengers
Sorry that this is a short entry, but it is 1 a.m. here and we are all ready for bed! We will post some more updates tomorrow.
·The Challengers
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