Hello all,
The over 25 hour bus journey to Bogota from Quito was not actually too bad! The border crossings were easy (despite so many people telling me I would be kidnapped by drug lords!) then I sat next to a really nice Colombian boy for 20 hours or so, so got to practice my Spanish!
Bogota is such a great city, I loved it and will definitely be back. The historical centre is so colourful and has so much charm. It is really arty with loads of great museums and things to see. Colombia has such a rich culture which the inhabitants are so proud of and more than happy to share with the travellers. I just wish it had a better reputation globally because the backpackers love it but before I came it was the place people at home were most nervous about me visiting yet I´ve felt safe the whole time. My bus friend showed me around which was great and I stayed in a hostel that a friend I travelled with about 4 months ago is working at which was really good fun. I met loads of great people and had so much fun exploring and salsa dancing (my new favourite thing, will have to bring it to Bristol!).
I then travelled up to Cartagena on the Carribean coast with a girl I met in Bogota called Adaline (from Australia). Another 22 hours on a bus but it was fine, the countryside we drove through is absolutely beautiful and I slept quite a bit recovering from Bogota! Cartagena is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. It is so colourful, clean and has such a relaxed atmosphere. There are constantly people dancing salsa on the streets or relaxing in one of the may stunning plazas. We went on a Chiva last night which is an open sided bus with a band in it filled with people drinking rum and coke! It stops at various places where we all got out and danced (either on the street or in a club!), it was so much fun as you can imagine!
Today we went to a volcano about an hour away from the city which is a natural mud bath. So surreal as the mud is over 2km deep but you can stand up and not sink at all! There are lots of people giving you massages and taking your photo, really strange but good fun. You then walk down the volcano to the lagoon to wash off (assisted by pushy women tipping buckets of water over your head and trying to strip off your bikinis! Of course all wanting tips at the end!). We then went to a beautiful beach for lunch and my first swim in the Carribean sea! So warm - makes a change from St Mawes!
I am absolutely loving Colombia and we are off to Playa Blanca on Tuesday to sleep under the stars in hammocks then further up the coast. I have been here for nearly 6 months now, I can´t believe it but I still have so much to look forward to that home seems a long way away. Hope you´re not all getting bored of reading this now, it´s been going on a while!
Take care everyone and let me know what you´re doing xxxxxx (Oooh and hi to everyone on Mencap, hope its going well, sorry I cant be there)
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Final days in Ecuador
Hello,
I can´t believe how fast the time has flow! I was in the jungle for 6 weeks and am now in Quito for the night preparing for my bus journey of over 24 hours tomorrow to Bogota in Colombia!
Last week we did Magic week at summer school (inspired by Harry Potter!) so we made hats, wands, spiders webs and fortune tellers and played lots of magic related games! It was really good fun. So sad to say goodbye to the children but I tried not to make a big deal out of it because I didn´t want to upset them. And its strange to think that the project will just continue without me as I felt like such a big part of it but I guess its the same with everything.
On Wednesday night I went for dinner to one of the local family´s houses which was great. They cooked crb, platano and stir fried rice with chicken which was absolutely delicious! In Ecuador they eat eveything with spoons or fingers and having never eaten an entire crab before I was a bit of a ammature but they soon had me ripping it appart and sucking out the meat like a true ecuadorian! It was so nice to spend some time in their house with the whole family. It is so surreal, they live in a little wooden house with no windows or doors in the middle of the jungle but still mnage to have a TV and DVD player! Very strange! Another family organised a party to say goodbye on Thursday night which was so much fun. I provided the chilckens (live!) and the family cooked a delicious meal. We also had to drink this stuff called Chicha which is made by chewing and spitting out uka! Pretty disgusting as it is just warn spit but it is a delicasy so it would have been rude to decline it! We danced under the stars in the middle of the jungle in out wellies all night! So much fun! (Although I drank this juice which made me very sick the following day so the family are mortified that they poisoned me!)
Overall I absolutely loved my time in the jungle and I would love to go back some day (as I say about every place I´ve been!). I know I must seem rediculously over enthusiastic about everywhere I go and what I´ve been up to but I promise you I am not over exaggerating, you all have to come here to see what I mean!
Anyway, 6 weeks left then home! xxxxxxx
I can´t believe how fast the time has flow! I was in the jungle for 6 weeks and am now in Quito for the night preparing for my bus journey of over 24 hours tomorrow to Bogota in Colombia!
Last week we did Magic week at summer school (inspired by Harry Potter!) so we made hats, wands, spiders webs and fortune tellers and played lots of magic related games! It was really good fun. So sad to say goodbye to the children but I tried not to make a big deal out of it because I didn´t want to upset them. And its strange to think that the project will just continue without me as I felt like such a big part of it but I guess its the same with everything.
On Wednesday night I went for dinner to one of the local family´s houses which was great. They cooked crb, platano and stir fried rice with chicken which was absolutely delicious! In Ecuador they eat eveything with spoons or fingers and having never eaten an entire crab before I was a bit of a ammature but they soon had me ripping it appart and sucking out the meat like a true ecuadorian! It was so nice to spend some time in their house with the whole family. It is so surreal, they live in a little wooden house with no windows or doors in the middle of the jungle but still mnage to have a TV and DVD player! Very strange! Another family organised a party to say goodbye on Thursday night which was so much fun. I provided the chilckens (live!) and the family cooked a delicious meal. We also had to drink this stuff called Chicha which is made by chewing and spitting out uka! Pretty disgusting as it is just warn spit but it is a delicasy so it would have been rude to decline it! We danced under the stars in the middle of the jungle in out wellies all night! So much fun! (Although I drank this juice which made me very sick the following day so the family are mortified that they poisoned me!)
Overall I absolutely loved my time in the jungle and I would love to go back some day (as I say about every place I´ve been!). I know I must seem rediculously over enthusiastic about everywhere I go and what I´ve been up to but I promise you I am not over exaggerating, you all have to come here to see what I mean!
Anyway, 6 weeks left then home! xxxxxxx
Sunday, 12 July 2009
More news from the jungle....
Hey there,
Sorry its been a while...so much to fill you in on! soooo since last time I wrote school term has finished. We gave the kids an exam and I felt so awful but they get examined in every other subject so we had to do the same and they did alright! They spell things as they sound though so one is juan and three is zri! But they did alright and it was really encouraging to see how much of what we taught them they remembered.
Our project runs a summer school at each of the three schools where we organise loads of activities from 8.30am until 12.30pm to give the children something to do as otherwise they literally do nothing for their 2 months of holiday. Last week we made papier mache pigs, maracas out of plastic bottles, played endless running around games, tug of war, limbo etc. As a result I have completely lost my voice! Too much shouting in Spanish! The other volunteers are so nice but none of them speak much spanish so it is up to me to explain things - good for my spanish, not so good for my voice! It is pretty difficult to plan activities for the children of all ages factoring in the crazy weather as it could be beautifully sunny one minute and pouring with rain the next. I always find myself explaining "in England it rains loads, well not as much as here, and it gets quite hot, but not as hot as here!" We did an England day last weeks which was so much fun and pretty sureal seeing the children walking home through the jungle holding Union Jacks!
Last week I went with one of the local families to help pick fruit from their land in the jungle (kind of like an alotment, each family has some land where they can grow crops). It was such a gret day despite the torential rain! We climbed down into the jungle and picked two huge bags of corn which we lugged through the mud to their little house to feed the chickens. I couldn´t believe how much effort it was just to feed their chickens, it really gets you thinking about how lucky we are. We then went deeper into the jungle with their horse to pick papayas, bananas and cocoa which the poor horse had to carry all the way back up the hill. I went home for lunch then returned to their house to make Colado out of the corn which is a sweet drink with cinamon - really nice! As we were making it three tiny squirell monkeys were sitting on the roof so we fes them which was amazing! They are so sweet!
The other day one of my friends was in the shower and she suddenly screamed and ran out. We went to see what she was making so much fuss about and there was a HUGE tarantula on the ceiling! So scary and so funny because there were 5 of us girls screaming and running around the house whilst poor Nick (the guy who set up the project) tries to calm us down and get rid of the tarantula! Luckily he managed to but all the new volunteers are paranoid now!
This weekend I have stayed in (right now in Puyo, the town about an hour and a half away) and helped Nick with some things around the house. I finished painting the big dorm room and helped make some more cupboards. Yesterday morning I went on a walk into the jungle with the dogs and it was such a clear day that there was the most incredible view of these two volcanos over the rainforest which you hardly ever see because they are usually covered by clouds. I walked down with one of the families who were off to their land to pick fruit. I arrived at the amazing river where I swam and read for a bit - such paradise!
So all is going well, I only have another week here which is so sad and I will miss the children so much. I am absolutely loving here and will definitely be back one day...Off to Colombia next, to Bogota then up to the coast to do some diving. Every place I go to I don´t want to leave, I think that says alot for this incredible continent!
I really can´t wait to tell you all so much more about everything and show you photos! Hope you´re not getting too bored of these updates! In 2 months time I will be home! Time flies!
I miss you all and hope everyone is well and happy. If any of you bump into my Mum or Dad please give them a big hug from me.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sorry its been a while...so much to fill you in on! soooo since last time I wrote school term has finished. We gave the kids an exam and I felt so awful but they get examined in every other subject so we had to do the same and they did alright! They spell things as they sound though so one is juan and three is zri! But they did alright and it was really encouraging to see how much of what we taught them they remembered.
Our project runs a summer school at each of the three schools where we organise loads of activities from 8.30am until 12.30pm to give the children something to do as otherwise they literally do nothing for their 2 months of holiday. Last week we made papier mache pigs, maracas out of plastic bottles, played endless running around games, tug of war, limbo etc. As a result I have completely lost my voice! Too much shouting in Spanish! The other volunteers are so nice but none of them speak much spanish so it is up to me to explain things - good for my spanish, not so good for my voice! It is pretty difficult to plan activities for the children of all ages factoring in the crazy weather as it could be beautifully sunny one minute and pouring with rain the next. I always find myself explaining "in England it rains loads, well not as much as here, and it gets quite hot, but not as hot as here!" We did an England day last weeks which was so much fun and pretty sureal seeing the children walking home through the jungle holding Union Jacks!
Last week I went with one of the local families to help pick fruit from their land in the jungle (kind of like an alotment, each family has some land where they can grow crops). It was such a gret day despite the torential rain! We climbed down into the jungle and picked two huge bags of corn which we lugged through the mud to their little house to feed the chickens. I couldn´t believe how much effort it was just to feed their chickens, it really gets you thinking about how lucky we are. We then went deeper into the jungle with their horse to pick papayas, bananas and cocoa which the poor horse had to carry all the way back up the hill. I went home for lunch then returned to their house to make Colado out of the corn which is a sweet drink with cinamon - really nice! As we were making it three tiny squirell monkeys were sitting on the roof so we fes them which was amazing! They are so sweet!
The other day one of my friends was in the shower and she suddenly screamed and ran out. We went to see what she was making so much fuss about and there was a HUGE tarantula on the ceiling! So scary and so funny because there were 5 of us girls screaming and running around the house whilst poor Nick (the guy who set up the project) tries to calm us down and get rid of the tarantula! Luckily he managed to but all the new volunteers are paranoid now!
This weekend I have stayed in (right now in Puyo, the town about an hour and a half away) and helped Nick with some things around the house. I finished painting the big dorm room and helped make some more cupboards. Yesterday morning I went on a walk into the jungle with the dogs and it was such a clear day that there was the most incredible view of these two volcanos over the rainforest which you hardly ever see because they are usually covered by clouds. I walked down with one of the families who were off to their land to pick fruit. I arrived at the amazing river where I swam and read for a bit - such paradise!
So all is going well, I only have another week here which is so sad and I will miss the children so much. I am absolutely loving here and will definitely be back one day...Off to Colombia next, to Bogota then up to the coast to do some diving. Every place I go to I don´t want to leave, I think that says alot for this incredible continent!
I really can´t wait to tell you all so much more about everything and show you photos! Hope you´re not getting too bored of these updates! In 2 months time I will be home! Time flies!
I miss you all and hope everyone is well and happy. If any of you bump into my Mum or Dad please give them a big hug from me.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)