Almost two years into our time in Ecuador, we are still learning and exploring.  This week, we went into the mountains near Baños to investigate an idea for an addition to some Gapper programmes.

Baños is much loved of our Gappers – it arrives in the programme after some hard project work in the Amazon, and offers a break and some serious adrenaline pursuing.  Slowly, the time there has stretched as each group of Gappers tells us they love the place and want more time there.  Our latest idea is make it a good bit longer but include a completely different idea alongside the chill out time in town.

Baños sits in the shadow of Tungurahua, a very active volcano which periodically spits lava and smoke from its caldera.  Our plan is to work with a foundation who are trying to conserve the natural habitat on its slopes.  These forests are home to bears, tapirs, rare frogs, orchids, rare hardwood trees and some incredible views; all of which are under threat.  (Don’t worry, between their land and the scary bit of the volcano are deep valleys so there is no danger of lava flows arriving in the night.)

Part of the 2.5 hour climb up tio the lodge.

The forests are dense with vegetation; among which are rare trees that we are planning to work to preserve, creating nurseries using saplings and reforesting with mixed forest to replicate the natural, virgin forest that dominates these hills.  There are waterfalls and springs that are the very beginnings of the Amazon river – the water in them is going all the way to the Atlantic through the Amazon jungle.  Through the climb up we ate strange fruits, some of which were actually quite nice.  We saw a footprint of a tapir, and his bed; not him though.  We saw orchids clinging to the sides of trees and a spider that had died because he ate a mushroom and it took over his body from the inside (that’s the reddy/yellow looking thing in one of the photos below).

The lodge is simple, but “cool” for want of a better word.  You are up in the hills, cooking is on an open fire and the views are incredible.  This is a unique place and being there is extraordinary – the loss of a few creature comforts is a small price to pay.  There is mobile reception, which is frankly just depressing.

Above the lodge you reach the paramo – from there you can see Tungurahua and the glaciers of Cotopaxi and Chimborazo (the peak of which is the closest point on earth to the sun).  This is Ecuador at its best – a bewildering array of environments, beauty, friendly people, a few splashes of the weird and wonderful and then the chance to chill out in a great little town and have some man made adventures.

We recently ran a school trip for the British School of Nanjing, China, to our camps in Borneo.  The lead teacher, Richard, worked hard with our team to pull the trip together and then accompanied his students on their Borneo experience.  Here are a few words and some incredible pictures which Richard has pulled together after his trip which i think give a really good summary of some of the sights, sounds and experiences his team of students had.  Thanks Richard, and thanks to the team for their hard work on the projects and look forward to seeing a team from BSN next year.

I visited the school in Beng Mealea, Cambodia, recently where the majority of our focus for project work is currently being put.  It was still very dry on the ground but rain had started on the previous afternoons, so it was looking as if the long dry spell, and inherent hardships, were finally coming to an end for the community.   We have at last lifted the roof off the left hand classroom at the school which was suffering from falling tiles due to a lack of cross-beams in the roof.  In order to put more beams in the whole roof was lifted off, old broken roofing sheets replaced, and then all put back together again.  The job took over a week to do and of course had to be done by outside contractors due to its  complexity and height.  Thanks to everyone who donated towards this part of the project.  Now we can really start to work on making the classrooms amazing places to learn from – I will keep you posted on progress.

The roof from the interior, showing additional cross beams and new sheets

The new roof from outside

First few courses of bricks laid for the new teacher accommodation block

The younger kids were doing their numbers, using small shells on the floor to write the number

 

In the past 3 months, Safuan, our architect intern from Arkitrek have been working on our long term plans for a more sustainable and environmental friendly /green building project by continuing bio-crete brick mix experiment on site apart from working on the final phases of the Community Centre at Camp Bongkud. At the final stage [...]

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This weekend we had a little expedition up Iliniza Norte, to recce it for groups.

Just south of Quito is “The Valley of the Volcanoes”, which is dotted with active, dormant and extinct volcanoes of varying heights.  The most famous, and the highest active volcano in the world, is Cotopaxi, but there are many others and most of them are climbable.  We have it in mind that there maybe great experiences out here that we can offer visitors to Ecuador.  So, I dusted down the boots and got myself out there.

OK, I live at 2,400 meters above sea level, but even with that, a one day ascent of a mountain over 5000 meters has got to be a little tiring.

The walk in was gentle enough, with the mountain sitting at the head of the valley looking increasingly ominous. 

I am not entirely sure why I look so pained – perhaps it was some sort of  premonition into the agony that was to be experienced struggling up the scree slope you can see behind me.

After the walk in, things started getting a little more serious rather abruptly.  The views, between gaps in the hail and fog, were fantastic, and it is from up at height that you really get a sense of truth of the name Valley of the Volcanoes.  However, we also saw a  lot of this:

After the scree slope, there is a fair amount of easy scrambling, first to reach the summit ridge, and then to move along it; with some interesting drop-offs on both sides – most of which we had to imagine rather than see fully.  At this point you get a strange sense of dislocation – you are scrambling along a ridge at 5000 meters above sea level, having woken up in your own bed.  It takes 5 or 6 days to get to these altitudes on Kili’.

Our little band of climbers reached the summit after around 4.5 hours.  We had in the group three Brits, an Argentine and an Ecuadorian guide.

(The man in the middle of this photo is Kevin Irvine, whom Stuey, Rory and I worked with something like 15 years ago.  He is out in Ecuador teaching at my childrens’ school: now that’s a coincidence.)

The result of all this?  Iliniza Norte is a fantastic mountain, the views are incredible, it is achievable in a day, and there is a real sense of being in a place that you can only be through your own efforts and that you are not going to be everyday, month or even year of your life.

I hope that we can get our Gappers up there, once they have had a little time at normal Ecuadorian altitude to prepare, and maybe for some of them that can lead on to Cotopaxi itself.  It is often used as a warm up /acclimatisation to that mountain and that is our plan: I’ll report later this month on the success or failure of that.

Camp Maqui has played host to Camp Ecuador’s first “local’ school: local in this context meaning Latin American, they still had a full day’s travel from Venezuela.

The group from Monagas School, from the plains of northern Venezuela, spent five days at Camp Maqui, and a few days with the Otavaleños.  The environment in Santa Marianita is totally different from that around Monagas, which means, although we had the unique experience of all our clients speaking Spanish, they had an experience totally different from there normal lives.

In the middle of the week we had a sports day with Santa Marianita school, at which we provided lunch and the group devised some competitive games and prizes.

The group also helped out with the on-going project of the Guarderia at Camp Maqui, working hard on the loo block and the open area around the playground.  The building is so nearly finished now and we are excited that soon we will be able to open it and use it after all these months.

Their time in Ecuador also included a few days in the Otavalo area, exploring the culture and the making of artisanal products. The idea behind the programme with the school was to give an educational, fun and productive experience and the lead teacher Kristen Ahlers, who travel with Camp Borneo when at her old school in Taiwan, said “the students were provided with a good balance of service/learning/science/vacation, and that this trip has created many lasting memories.”

It wad great to have them here and we look forward to next year’s Peru trip with the school.

Jambo! We arrived in campTanga on Thursday evening to be greeted with a feast. There was a large group of 20 or so volunteers from the Arab world who had kindly invited some of the local villagers along to their farewell barbecue at camp. They had been on a short trip volunteering mission with camps.

Our first night in camp couldn’t have been better, we met Anderson and Eliphas and straight away they made us feel completely at home. We were lucky enough to spend the evening with a few villagers who we are now seeing every day. The food has continued to be amazing thanks to Donald, the world’s greatest chef! Every evening is something to look forward to whether you are reading whilst relaxing on the sofas with the noise of the ocean and buzzes of the wildlife or something a little more extreme like a game of ‘Last Card’ with the camp staff which never fails to entertain.

We spent the whole of Friday in Mwambani, the village next door. We were greeted by the community as if we were family. We were taught how to thatch roofs, cook some traditional dishes and continually danced and played with all the children. As there is only three of us in camp, it has worked to our advantage as the villagers know us by names.

Our project for the month we are here is constructing toilets for the newly on going project, the Trust House. The house will double up as a nursery classroom and Tailoring lessons centre for the women of Mwambani. Although it is hard work for three girls, it is extremely rewarding and honestly fun! We have learnt how to mix, plaster and smooth cement as well as putting in the floors, building the doors and windows.

Painting and putting on the last touches is equally fulfilling as one gets to see their effort paying off. It really gives you a sense of achievement.

In the afternoons we teach English or a lesson on computing. People come from Mwambani and it’s  neighbouring villages too!. The lessons are relaxed and fun to be a part of. The pupils are of all ages and all eager to learn, constantly asking questions and giving their input. We thoroughly look forward to the afternoons because of them.

We are leaving Camp Tanga next week, the month has gone so fast! We can’t wait to handover the project to the village and see how much our hard work is appreciated however it is going to be extremely hard to say goodbye. We have never met such kind and welcoming adults and such fun, enthusiastic kids, all very hyper on life! We will never forget the time we have spent in Tanzania and would like to thank Camps International for giving us such an incredible opportunity.

Those lovely gappers who previously wrote about their Tsavo experience have blessed us with another great blog about their time in Makongeni. They call themselves the Chizi Fresh Team so lets hear from them…

Our 2 weeks in Makongeni village have flown by far too quickly! We were greeted by the staff with coconut milk on arrival (a local tradition given to visitors) which was definitely a great welcoming. Makongeni is a lovely close-knit community which has been extremely welcoming to us gappers at camp! We got stuck in to the community projects straight away which included; plastering, cementing floors and painting in the local primary school, planting seeds and learning how to make jewellery with the youth group as well as helping out at Rafiki Health Centre. In total, we spent 8 days at the primary school which allowed a strong sense of achievement as we saw our work develop.

Again, like our experience in Tsavo Camp the staff here in Makongeni have played a huge part in making this experience so incredible! Julius, our brilliant chef, has been feeding us up and giving us a taste of a few local meals such as Chapati and Ugali (sima) plus a few home comforts including burgers and chips – YUM! Whinnie gave us an excellent Swahili lesson going further in depth than what we had previously learnt. Dr. W always keeps us laughing, and Combo has been an excellent leader with regards to the plastering and flooring etc in the primary school classroom.

Gladys, the camp manager, has created an environment in which we feel totally at home. When we’ve asked her about something she’s jumped on the case without a moments delay, and as a result we’ve had a tailor made unique trousers exactly to our measurements, plus we’ve had our hair braided with the colours of the Kenyan flag and next week we are also getting Henna tattoos! Last night Gladys and Whinnie came up with an excellent game which had us all laughing hysterically. In addition to the wonderful staff here, the local guys who run the youth group have been so inspiring with regards to what they have instilled within the community. It’s been great getting to know them and being able to hang out with them in the afternoons, learning about each other’s cultures. We really don’t want to leave!

After a week of hard work, we were rewarded with amazing weekends! We were taken to the most breathtakingly beautiful beaches to relax and top up our suntans. On our first weekend, we had the opportunity to go scuba-diving or snorkeling which was slightly scary at first but a fantastic experience as we saw many tropical fish! On Saturday night, Gladys took us for a night out African style to a local nightclub called Shakatak, which was such fun to let our hair down! Sunday was a chill out day at the beach and in the evening we had a ‘family barbeque’ with all the staff at the beach and watched the sunset-perfection!

Overall, the last two weeks of our trip have been unforgettable and makes going home next week even harder for us. At least we have the pictures and memories to always remind us of our once in a lifetime experience. We love Makongeni!

 A few weeks ago, we were invited to attend the Global Issues Service Summit (GISS) in Nairobi. This annual, 3 day event, encompassed practical workshops, guest speakers, discussions, community service and drama, all related to conservation and the environment, water, art as social awareness, HIV/AIDS, peace and reconciliation, grass roots solutions and the digital divide… [...]

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They may be a small group but this certainly had no impact on the fantastic time that our 5 gappers had during their stay at Camp Tsavo. As they left to move onto Camp Makongeni they shared their adventure with us….

The 5 of us volunteers arrived at Camp Tsavo at lunch time after a gusty ride from the airport on our jeep! We were introduced and welcomed by Sammy K (‘The name’s on the belt’) and given a tour around our new home.

 Our first day was spent at Sasenyi School, a 40 minute drive from Tsavo Camp. As we pulled up to the school, we were greeted by waves and ‘Jambo’s’ from the students which made us feel warmly welcomed!  We began our work digging out the foundations of a recently knocked down classroom in order to re-build a new one. Steve, our group leader, managed to keep us motivated and entertained through the blazing heat by his constant funny outbursts … Sledgeeee HAMMER! These were consistent throughout the whole fortnight which always kept us going.

The hard work was followed by a more relaxing day making elephant dung paper. We were definitely hesitant to get stuck in originally but were equally intrigued as to how it was made and found ourselves eager to try it out. We were all astounded at how resourceful the local community are and how they have the ability to make things out of nothing!

For our R.R (rest and recuperation) days we would take the jeep to Voi which was roughly an hours drive from camp. We were able go to the local supermarkets, internet café, restaurants, souvenir shops and a swimming pool at Galaxy Hotel. On our first R.R, we visited a Massai village nearby to be shown around the tribes’ homes (bomas) and way of living. It was so surreal to see the difference between their culture and ours, especially when they began their tribal chants and dances in their brightly coloured garments and makeshift sandals. Furthermore, the extreme lengths the males go through to show their right of passage – burning circular marks onto their skin and removing their two bottom teeth at the age of five,not forgetting being circumcised without pain relief! OUCH!! They taught us how to make fire out of rubbing sticks together on top of elephant dung and grass, as well as teaching us about their Lion hunting tradition, whereby they show the slaughtered Lion’s tooth to the parents of the intended wife they want to marry in order to prove their worthiness.

Going to visit the Imani women’s group was definitely one of the most powerful and inspiring experiences of our lives. We were told by Mama Mercy how ‘Imani’ meant faith, which is most definitely an appropriate name to give to such a humble group of women. This group was started by Mama Mercy originally due to the growing rate of HIV/AIDS within the community. She began to provide these jobs which meant a sustainable income for women who otherwise would have fewer opportunities to be able to support themselves and their family. It empowers women to be self sufficient and has also stood up for girls with the controversial tradition of arranged marriage in young teen girls. We were all led by the women to plant seeds in their field which will allow them to sell the crops in three years time.

A 5.30 am start to the day awaited us in order to get to Tsavo East national park on time for our SAFARI! Thanks to Steve’s excellent observation skills, we were able to see; Twiga, Ndovu, Pundamilia, Mbuni, Duma – (Giraffes, Elephants, Zebras, Ostriches, Cheetahs and many more).

Highlight of our day = Monkey snatching one of the volunteers sandwiches at the picnic park!

The heaven’s opened as we sat in the open jeep on our long journey home. Despite it being fun at first it was a shock to be so drenched after such a hot day but luckily the staff at Tsavo took care of this and had teas and coffees laid out for our arrival back home. This became a common occurrence and they consisted to exceed our expectations of hospitality and made us feel more at home than ever.

Climbing Mt Kasigau was a challenge we weren’t expecting! A four and a half hour trek up the mountain was topped off by a 500 metre vertical stretch to the peak. An overwhelming amount of exercise sent us all to sleep at the top of the mountain when we were suddenly awoken by our guides warning us of the torrential rain to come! This led to a humorous slide down to the bottom and we were SO happy and proud of ourselves to finally reach the end of the challenge.

Throughout our stay, we spent a few more days at Sasenyi School plastering classroom walls and planting trees that will be used for health purposes for the students within the school. We became more and more familiar with their way of working and it was a breath of fresh air to see such happy students that were more than eager to help out … they showed us how it was done. We felt so privileged to be surrounded by such good natured people and loved the opportunity to talk to them (and practise our Swahili).

Above all of the amazing experiences we have had over the last two weeks, the best thing about camp Tsavo is the extremely friendly, accommodating, funny, welcoming, happy and supportive family of staff that work here alongside us. They have truly made our trip unforgettable and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to start our trip to Kenya! Although we are excited for the next adventures at our new camp, we will be so upset to leave our Tsavo family behind!

WE LOVE CAMP TSAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!