Live News Update 2007 - Inca and Amazon 49

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Inca and Amazon 49 - In Bolivia

The Team:

Extract from our diaries:

From: Inca and Amazon 49
Date: 20-07-07
To: VentureCo HQ

Getting to Peru

25/04/2007 - We had an early start to get a bus to Guyaquil, from there we got straight on a bus going to the Peruvian border. We arrived at the border at about 6.30pm, we had to get off the bus and walk across a bridge that is the border between the two countries, once on the other side we all squashed onto a small mini van that took us to Mancora.

26/04/2007 - Everyone had a lie in this morning, once we had ventured out of our beds
we went to check out the hostel, it backed onto the beach, the beach was literally 4mins away, nice. Mancora is a surfing town and other than surfing there is only shopping and eating to occupy you. In the afternoon a couple of the guys hired surfboards which was amusing to watch.

27/04/2007 - After breakfast we headed to the beach, Penny and Charlie decided to have surfing lessons, Dan and Chris decided to hire surfboards and try to teach themselves again. They had to do a warm-up on the beach, in front of everyone, then the instructor drew two surfboards in the sand so they could practice standing up from the lying down position, they even had to do the swimming motion before standing up, everyone was watching and laughing, as were they. They both managed to catch a few waves and almost stand up on their boards!! The highlight of the day was when Dan was attacked by a ´shark´, it ripped his t-shirt and cut his back.

28/04/2007 - We woke up early to get a bus heading to Huanchaca, the first bus went to Chiclayo but we had to wait for a bus to Trujillo, there was about a two hour wait so half of the group guarded the bags while we went for food, then we swapped. Whilst on guard duty we noticed everyone was looking at us which was a bit worrying, then a police van pulled up and a policeman got out, shook our hands and said they were going to stay near us for our protection as apparently the area is a bit dodgy, especially as it was starting to get dark. It made us feel safer and they got rid of a few suspect characters that came near us. Once in Trujillo (after another long journey) we got cabs to our hostel in the next town, Huanchaco.

29/04/2007 - We all split up this morning, most people went into town to have a wander around. We met back up with most of the group at lunchtime, in the afternoon we went to Chan Chan ruins and the museum which was interesting. We had to catch, or rather hi-jack, a bus to take us to the bus stop for our night bus as we were running late. We had to stop on route to pick up a member of our group who had been in hospital, they weren´t ready to leave though, so we left Nick and two other members behind in Trujillo whilst the rest of us rushed to catch our night bus, we almost missed it but luckily we were just in time, it was pretty close though.

30/04/207 -We arrived in Huaraz at 6am and got picked up and taken to our hostel, we went to bed for 2 hours before getting up and having breakfast at 8.30, full English, very nice. We went into town and had a wander around, we somehow managed to lose Dan for about 2 hours but while we were having a late lunch he saw us in the restaurant we were in, lucky really as he didn´t know where the hostel was. In the evening we went to a place called Pachamama where they had table football, ping pong, darts, pool and giant chess to keep us amused. We drank wine with our food and the guys had beer, it was a nice evening but we were all tired from the night bus so didn´t have a late night.

01/05/2007 - The remainder of the group arrived early this morning and had a few hours in bed before breakfast. We all went shopping in the market for the food we would need for the next 16days of project in the mountains and trekking. At 2pm the boys wanted to watch the semi-final of the Champions League so while they did that we started sorting out the camping equipment and then went back to town to wander around the normal markets. In the evening we had a briefing about what would be happening over the next two weeks and then all went out for a group meal.

02/05/2007 - We had an early start this morning so our bags could be put on the bus taking us to the first destination on the Inca Nanni trail. The journey to a town where we were leaving our project equipment took about 6 hours, once we had dropped the stuff off we got back in the van for a further 45 minute drive up a long and winding road to the village where we would be camping in for the night. After setting up our tents our guide, Edgar, took us around the ruins of Huanuco Pampa which were next to our campsite. Afterwards we headed back to our campsite to attempt cooking dinner, we had to collect water from a nearby stream before being able to cook anything. The temperature dropped whilst cooking dinner as we were over 4,000m above sea level and technically its winter out here. After dinner, and watching the moon rising we headed to bed as it was definitely the warmest place around.

From: Inca and Amazon 49
Date: 01-06-07
To: VentureCo HQ

Quito and Ecuador

After 2 weeks of intensive Spanish we fondly waved goodbye to our teachers and set off on the first of many bus journeys towards the coast. On the way we stopped off at Tena for some crazy whitewater rafting. Despite some 'men overboard' and what felt like 'near death experiences', fun was had by all and the adrenaline was certainly pumping. The highlight however was when we stopped off in a cave and were ambushed by travel fever, for some strange reason we decided to cover ourselves in mud and leaves. After Tena we headed to Baños, a touristy town where the main attraction is hot springs, whilst some enjoyed the warmth of the 30 degree pool a few thicker skinned ventures braved the 42 degree water which was a little uncomfortable.

In Puerto Lopez we made our way to the VentureCo house which displayed some impressive building skills from previous groups. We rolled out our mats and pumped up our thermorests to settle down for two weeks of 'floor living'. On the first day we sorted out admin groups which were pairs who would stay at the house each day to shop and cook for the rest of the group. The rest of the day was spent discovering the joys that Puerto Lopez had to offer. The main attraction being the near by beach complete with juice bar and beautiful sunsets.

We visited the project site on the second day which was a nursery in a small village ten minutes away. It was our job to make it earthquake proof which meant pretty much rebuilding the whole thing. Our two weeks of project were spent digging deep holes and trenches, collecting rocks from a not so nearby river bed, mixing concrete, mixing more concrete, mixing a little bit more concrete... making metal frames for inside the concrete pillars and generally getting pretty damn buff in the blazing heat. It was hard work but jolly good fun and interesting to see the building techniques used by the locals. All the hard work was made even more worth while on the last day, when the villagers cooked us lunch in the temporary nursery and we played with all the highly excitable kids. They were particularly keen on our cameras and Dan the big friendly giant. We finished off by painting our names and putting handprints on the nursery. When we left it wasn't exactly completed but was looking somewhat more earthquake proof and hopefully the villagers have been able to finish it off.

Away from the project life proved to be highly entertaining. After work the evenings were spent playing football and volleyball against the locals on the beach, swimming, hunting down the sacred Magnum Tacto and drinking many a fruit juice as the sun went down. Back at the house admin pairs proved highly successful and even added in a new meal time, the much appreciated after work snack. The food was a surprisingly high quality, particularly the Thai curry. Garlic proved to be indispensable, making an appearance in every meal, maybe even in the rice pudding. Lunches also had a regular theme in the form of tuna mayo which we all surprisingly developed quite a passion for.

Nights were spent in one of two ways, if you were a boy you went for a ´nap´ straight after dinner and were not seen for the rest of the night and if you were a girl you first went for a communal shower, (this first came about due to the near freezing temperature of our outdoor shower but became a daily bonding experience complete with herbal essences, exfoliating gloves and many a girly scream). Some of the girls then liked to frequent the one and only near by bar la playa where the ´digging´ dance was created, Spanish was practiced with the local men, and Pairs was played until four in the morning.

Once again we waved goodbye, this time with a sense of achievement, sun kissed skin and fond memories.

By Laura Feeney

Extract from our diaries:

From: Inca and Amazon 49
Date: 16-04-07
To: VentureCo HQ

Quito and Ecuador

We said good bye to the UK and set off to Latin America, via Amsterdam and the Caribbean, an epic journey, the start to an even bigger epic journey. The flight passed very smoothly, with the exception of an airport sprint to make our connecting flight in Holland. I am not sure this was necessary, but it acted as a good bit of exercise in between flights.

So we were in Quito, Ecuador and all the group had arrived from their various destinations. A strange, interesting and most definitely South American city.

Two weeks were spent learning Spanish, trying to dance Salsa, trying to climb a volcano and preparing for the next three months. Preparation included the Mont Blanc Challenge, The Fondue Challenge, the odd drink, the odd night out and some strange games at language school that involved pretending to be fruits. Everyone survived and it was time to move on to Puerto Lopez, congratulations to those who conquered Cotopaxi and good luck for the rest of the venture.