25/ 11/09
I haven’t mentioned much about what I have been up to in my free time in the afternoons.
Well, if we are lucky and it is not raining I sometimes like to go for walks with my camera, of just wonder round the community just enjoying what there is.
Recently, I have been spending time collecting recipes from people so that I can cook all these wonderful meals when I get back.
But, something that we have started to do more often on the Saturdays when we have most of the day off is play football.
Now, there are a couple of difficulties with playing football, or any other team sports involving circular objects for that matter, on top of mountains.
The 1st problem is space. Thankfully the community has cleared a plateau at the top of the community for exercises and other activities along with volleyball, so that took the form of a football field. It was a little smaller than normal and distinctly lacking grass, but with a couple of rocks marking out the goals a competitive game of footie could take place and that’s all that mattered. The game normally fields 3 players on each side but every now and then we manage to goad some extra players into playing for larger teams.
However, I think the biggest difference between Durika, mountain football and the traditional football, is very noticeable after a goal is scored. Here, instead of just running round the pitch like a glorified headless chicken, celebrating, you have to try and find a way to incorporate chasing the ball down the hill down the hill into your celebration. The other day Devin was made to chase the ball all the way down to where our cabin was! (That is a long way by the way) Fortunately, it got stuck by a rock because otherwise it would have rolled down the road or even down the valley!
But it does mean that the games are more even than traditional football, because the team that scores on a regular basis tends to find themselves running down and up the hill on regular basis, so after a couple of goals everybody is at the same level. Haha.
As you can guess its so much fun. I must admit that that is probably the thing that I miss the most about home (on the flat), being able to play team sports. But it is hilarious when the rules are ignored and end up resembling a game more similar to rugby than football (it tends to be the girls that get the most aggressive, hahah).
So there you have some of the things I get up to in my free time. However, it seems that all the exercise that I do during the day doesn’t sap me of all my energy. To be honest, I tend to feel as though I am totally spent before I go to bed. But, according to all the other members of my cabin (5 of them that is), I have been doing some extra exercise in the nights as well.
Last night I was having a full on conversation in Dutch to an invisible audience and the other night I was supposedly found punching my mattress. Devin said that a few minutes later, as if I was just making sure it was totally dealt with, I could be heard scratching at it. I sure showed that mattress. Haha
Needless to say, night times are quite eventful.
20/11/09
I’m alive!!! Whoop whoop!!! And I have all my limbs and extremities still firmly attached to my body so thumbs up there.
We arrived back yesterday at around lunch time and came up the community that evening. I didn’t think I was tired but as soon as I saw that the mattress was more than once centimetre thick, I was dying to sleep on it. Needless to say I slept so well that I would have made a baby look like a bad sleeper. And guess what, I GOT A LIE IN!!! Yeah I know I was fortunate enough to be able to lie in my bed until the ludicrous our of 6.20 (am that is). To give you some kind of prospective, that’s like an Abbotsholme boarder being able to sleep until 10am without a teacher yelling at you to get up.
Day 1:
Well, it all started on the Sunday. We got up at the usual time of 4.30am from our hotel (yeah, I know, it had satellite TV and everything. I’m not sure staying up late watching movies before a 5 day expedition is the best thing to do but then again I haven’t done it for almost 3 months so what do you expect).
We then got in the taxi (the back of a pick up truck) and began our journey.
The band of seven consisted of Eugenio, two of his friends, Nelson and Eberhart, Nata, Ram, Devin and me.
The bridge at the river had been too badly damaged for vehicles to cross so you get taken to the bridge, carry all your stuff across on foot and then load up in the taxi waiting for us on the other side. So practical, in England people would spend months fretting and complaining about the broken bridge and then wait for a new one to be built, instead of just doing the sensible thing.
Anyway, we were dropped off at the start (another bridge, this time made of cable wire and some planks) and started our adventure on foot.
.JPG)
It was beautiful! The sun was out but not too hot and by the time we had breakfast, we had amazing views of the two valleys on either side of the spur we were climbing.
It was fairly hard going as it was solely an up hill day and seemed to keep on going, but the place was so breath taking that you only noticed how tired you were when you sat down to snack of fudge or a hand full of nuts.
We were fortunate to hit the cloud at the hottest part of the day because our water stores were beginning to run low and it was the heat that made it so tough. There were no trees at all until the last hour, which meant we had very little shade. I think, for that reason, the 1st day was the hardest physically but boy was it stunning.
I mean there aren’t many places where you can have breakfast with birds of prey riding the thermals next to you. Then again having black and turkey vultures circling around you does make you wonder if they know something you don’t.
Tapirs also make there homes in those mountains at such altitudes so although we didn’t actually see any, we did see a great deal of their faeces. Normally, poo doesn’t excite me much but how often do you see some from a tapirs.
However we did come across other interesting animals.
Literally as we were coming into the ‘camp site’ and Nata was announcing, “Here we are” in the relieved tone we were all feeling, Ram (in front of me) suddenly stumbled.
It looked as though he had gone to step in a place which he then realized was a hole or something.
Looking round him to see what it was, I discovered, in actual fact, the hole wasn’t a hole at all, it was a meter long, thick brown snake. I see now why Ram had tried so hard to avoid stepping on it. It was beautiful with a darker brown criss-cross, diamond pattern on its back. Unfortunately it began to glide away as soon as we spotted it so I didn’t get my camera out in time.
That night, most of us slept in the make shift shelter, whilst Nata and Devin slept outside under the tarp. I say slept, the wind was so strong that they found themselves lying under the stars and getting rained on, on more than one occasion. So I don’t think they got too much sleep that night.
We arrived back yesterday at around lunch time and came up the community that evening. I didn’t think I was tired but as soon as I saw that the mattress was more than once centimetre thick, I was dying to sleep on it. Needless to say I slept so well that I would have made a baby look like a bad sleeper. And guess what, I GOT A LIE IN!!! Yeah I know I was fortunate enough to be able to lie in my bed until the ludicrous our of 6.20 (am that is). To give you some kind of prospective, that’s like an Abbotsholme boarder being able to sleep until 10am without a teacher yelling at you to get up.
Day 1:
Well, it all started on the Sunday. We got up at the usual time of 4.30am from our hotel (yeah, I know, it had satellite TV and everything. I’m not sure staying up late watching movies before a 5 day expedition is the best thing to do but then again I haven’t done it for almost 3 months so what do you expect).
We then got in the taxi (the back of a pick up truck) and began our journey.
The band of seven consisted of Eugenio, two of his friends, Nelson and Eberhart, Nata, Ram, Devin and me.The bridge at the river had been too badly damaged for vehicles to cross so you get taken to the bridge, carry all your stuff across on foot and then load up in the taxi waiting for us on the other side. So practical, in England people would spend months fretting and complaining about the broken bridge and then wait for a new one to be built, instead of just doing the sensible thing.
Anyway, we were dropped off at the start (another bridge, this time made of cable wire and some planks) and started our adventure on foot.
.JPG)
It was beautiful! The sun was out but not too hot and by the time we had breakfast, we had amazing views of the two valleys on either side of the spur we were climbing.It was fairly hard going as it was solely an up hill day and seemed to keep on going, but the place was so breath taking that you only noticed how tired you were when you sat down to snack of fudge or a hand full of nuts.
We were fortunate to hit the cloud at the hottest part of the day because our water stores were beginning to run low and it was the heat that made it so tough. There were no trees at all until the last hour, which meant we had very little shade. I think, for that reason, the 1st day was the hardest physically but boy was it stunning.
I mean there aren’t many places where you can have breakfast with birds of prey riding the thermals next to you. Then again having black and turkey vultures circling around you does make you wonder if they know something you don’t.
Tapirs also make there homes in those mountains at such altitudes so although we didn’t actually see any, we did see a great deal of their faeces. Normally, poo doesn’t excite me much but how often do you see some from a tapirs.
However we did come across other interesting animals.
Literally as we were coming into the ‘camp site’ and Nata was announcing, “Here we are” in the relieved tone we were all feeling, Ram (in front of me) suddenly stumbled.
It looked as though he had gone to step in a place which he then realized was a hole or something.
Looking round him to see what it was, I discovered, in actual fact, the hole wasn’t a hole at all, it was a meter long, thick brown snake. I see now why Ram had tried so hard to avoid stepping on it. It was beautiful with a darker brown criss-cross, diamond pattern on its back. Unfortunately it began to glide away as soon as we spotted it so I didn’t get my camera out in time.
That night, most of us slept in the make shift shelter, whilst Nata and Devin slept outside under the tarp. I say slept, the wind was so strong that they found themselves lying under the stars and getting rained on, on more than one occasion. So I don’t think they got too much sleep that night.
20/11/09
Day 2:
Ordinarily, in Costa Rica the mornings are the clear and hot ones that you associate with tropical holiday resorts, and its only in the afternoons that the rain comes. But climbing Mt. Durika is an extraordinary experience.
Waking up to cloud and spitting rain doesn’t fill you with the same kind of enthusiasm and excitement that you would expect on such an expedition. But since when has that stopped a group of Durikan hikers. So we walked… and got very wet!
We started along a saddle that had once been an ancient burial site for the indigenous people. After this though, is what they call the ‘Green Wall’. Some of us found ourselves thinking that the graves were actually from those who had died trying to climb the wall, because it is a 3hr scramble/ climb up an almost vertical wall. For a little more insight into the structure, you climb ----------meters in the space of ---------------. The trail isn’t so much a trail as a tapir’s tracks.
The jungle is extremely thick and Eugo effectively carved a new trail with his machete. Getting lost is a certainty, but with Nata and Eugo in your group, so is getting found again.
To make things harder, it was rainy and very muddy. Devin’s description of it being more like the ‘Brown Slide’ as opposed to the Green Wall, sounded a lot more accurate.
When you ask anybody about the climb of Mt. Durika, all of them will talk about the Green Wall, but they never mention the walk after the wall to the campsite. When you’ve finished the wall you are around half way and you still have a long way to go. Although the Wall is much harder physically, mentally the next bit is much tougher. You never seem to be getting any closer and there are no indications as to how much further there is to go. Everywhere looks the same! You have to climb over fallen trees or thick, high roots, or crawl under low hanging branches or even high thick high roots, all with a big rucksack on.
Needless to say, the flat area we called our campsite, which looked no different to anywhere else, had never looked so inviting.
The tarp was soon up and we began the laborious process of peeling our wet clothes from our shivering bodies. But we had done it. The final ascent up to the summit was only 200 meters from the camp and the summit itself was within 2hrs hiking. Having said that, we had to take the GPS’s word for it because we couldn’t see 20 meters, let alone 200.
But a mug of instant coffee and a block of fudge had us all in good spirits.
As you may know from you own camping experiences, but there isn’t a great deal to do other than sleep when it gets dark, so through out the 5 days we were up at 5 and in bed at 6. I say in bed as opposed to asleep for reasons such as that mentioned in the 1st day, or the fact that your mattress is 1cm thick and prevents you from ever getting comfortable.
Not only that, but rain falling onto a tarp sounds like rain falling on the roof of a conservatory. So it could just be spitting but sound like a torrential down pour to us sitting underneath. However, the rain did have its uses.
Although it didn’t help our clothes dry which were hanging outside, it did allow us to get water. There are no good water sources by the camp so you simply place pans and mugs in strategic places to catch the murky water. Yummy!!!
Snuggling into our sleeping bags we hoped that the rain would abate for tomorrow’s final ascent.
Ordinarily, in Costa Rica the mornings are the clear and hot ones that you associate with tropical holiday resorts, and its only in the afternoons that the rain comes. But climbing Mt. Durika is an extraordinary experience.
Waking up to cloud and spitting rain doesn’t fill you with the same kind of enthusiasm and excitement that you would expect on such an expedition. But since when has that stopped a group of Durikan hikers. So we walked… and got very wet!
We started along a saddle that had once been an ancient burial site for the indigenous people. After this though, is what they call the ‘Green Wall’. Some of us found ourselves thinking that the graves were actually from those who had died trying to climb the wall, because it is a 3hr scramble/ climb up an almost vertical wall. For a little more insight into the structure, you climb ----------meters in the space of ---------------. The trail isn’t so much a trail as a tapir’s tracks.
The jungle is extremely thick and Eugo effectively carved a new trail with his machete. Getting lost is a certainty, but with Nata and Eugo in your group, so is getting found again.To make things harder, it was rainy and very muddy. Devin’s description of it being more like the ‘Brown Slide’ as opposed to the Green Wall, sounded a lot more accurate.
When you ask anybody about the climb of Mt. Durika, all of them will talk about the Green Wall, but they never mention the walk after the wall to the campsite. When you’ve finished the wall you are around half way and you still have a long way to go. Although the Wall is much harder physically, mentally the next bit is much tougher. You never seem to be getting any closer and there are no indications as to how much further there is to go. Everywhere looks the same! You have to climb over fallen trees or thick, high roots, or crawl under low hanging branches or even high thick high roots, all with a big rucksack on.
Needless to say, the flat area we called our campsite, which looked no different to anywhere else, had never looked so inviting.
The tarp was soon up and we began the laborious process of peeling our wet clothes from our shivering bodies. But we had done it. The final ascent up to the summit was only 200 meters from the camp and the summit itself was within 2hrs hiking. Having said that, we had to take the GPS’s word for it because we couldn’t see 20 meters, let alone 200.
But a mug of instant coffee and a block of fudge had us all in good spirits.
As you may know from you own camping experiences, but there isn’t a great deal to do other than sleep when it gets dark, so through out the 5 days we were up at 5 and in bed at 6. I say in bed as opposed to asleep for reasons such as that mentioned in the 1st day, or the fact that your mattress is 1cm thick and prevents you from ever getting comfortable.
Not only that, but rain falling onto a tarp sounds like rain falling on the roof of a conservatory. So it could just be spitting but sound like a torrential down pour to us sitting underneath. However, the rain did have its uses.
Although it didn’t help our clothes dry which were hanging outside, it did allow us to get water. There are no good water sources by the camp so you simply place pans and mugs in strategic places to catch the murky water. Yummy!!!
Snuggling into our sleeping bags we hoped that the rain would abate for tomorrow’s final ascent.
20/11/09
Day 3:
It seems that this is the occasion where a little bit of rain and cloud stopped Durikan hikers.
Going to the summit and seeing nothing but cloud and rain that is trying to poke your eyes out, isn’t the most amazing experience. So instead we stayed in camp and did… well, not an awful lot.
Bringing my cards helped pass several hours, and other random games such as the slapping game where you send the tap round the circle contributed to the passing of the time. But it proved tricky in the limited space available.
That and eating took us until dark and thus, bed time. We actually managed to beat the record of staying there and waiting of 36hrs, and smashed it with a whopping 44hrs. Not bad.
So that was day 3.
It seems that this is the occasion where a little bit of rain and cloud stopped Durikan hikers.Going to the summit and seeing nothing but cloud and rain that is trying to poke your eyes out, isn’t the most amazing experience. So instead we stayed in camp and did… well, not an awful lot.
Bringing my cards helped pass several hours, and other random games such as the slapping game where you send the tap round the circle contributed to the passing of the time. But it proved tricky in the limited space available.
That and eating took us until dark and thus, bed time. We actually managed to beat the record of staying there and waiting of 36hrs, and smashed it with a whopping 44hrs. Not bad.
So that was day 3.
20/11/09
Day 4:
We had decide that no matter what we would climb the mountain that day. It was going to be optional so anybody who wanted to go would have to be ready early that morning.
Eberhart, an orchid lover, wanted to stay by the camp as there were many more there than at the summit.
So the 6 of us set off after our breakfast to finish what we started. Its amazing, one minute you are walking through thick mysterious jungle and the next you find yourself standing in a bizarre tundra. In the pace of 2 meters you are in a totally different environment and there is literally a distinct boundary line. On the map it almost looks man made.
But once out of the trees you experience the full force of the wind. Not that we were dry from the 2 days before, but we got very wet once again. Also, the actual walking was pretty hard going. Ducking, crawling, scrambling and tripping were all part of it, along with extricating yourself from the shrub/ bush you’ve just fallen into.
But eventually, I saw the remnants of what I think is an old communication tower, and 100 meter on… the summit itself. We had made it! It had taken 3 days of walking through open grassland, thick jungle, tricky tundra, up slippery ‘walls’, all through wind, rain cloud or sweltering heat. But we had made it.
And the views… well they were the same as the last 2 days, but that didn’t matter. We walked down out of the wind, stocked up on sugars and contacted the community via walkie-talkie.
One of our other missions was to replace the old log that had been there since 1988.
It did make me smile to see this impressive, wet and battered link to history and previous achievements being replaced by a ‘Finding Nemo’ not pad that if you moved it in the light, ‘Marlin and Dory’ would swim across the front cover. But as I mentioned before, Costa Ricans are practical people.
We all wrote our little pieces inside (which is easier said than done because the pen was very temperamental with only a single drop making it give up and die). And, after some group photos we wrapped up warm and headed back down the mountain.
I was amazed to find that animals could live up there. Tapir tracks (and even more poo) could be found, as we also followed fresh puma tracks for a period of time. But seeing the peregrine falcon flying high above us astounded me. How could it survive here?
There were also humming birds! These tiny birds, who didn’t quite know what to make of these humans, manage to fly from plant to plant in search of food without getting blown off the mountain. I mean that was something we were struggling with (especially Devin who’s poncho was acting like a kite) and we weigh a great deal more than they do.
After misplacing ourselves a couple of times we made it back to the camp. We were all freezing and decided that packing up and leaving would be far better than changing, eating and then changing again before going back down.
It took slightly longer to warm up than usual and it was about 20 mins of walking before you could sagely say you could feel the tingling sensation in your fingers once again.
Eventually we found our way back to the Green Wall. The next hour saw us sliding down the vertical wall. Nowhere was safe, hand holds would snap leaving you staring stupidly at the piece of wood in your hands as you slid down the mud slide. On more than one occasion I allowed myself to simply slide until I came to a natural stop.
One time I rounded a tree and out of the corner of my eye I saw Devin holding something up. Changing my focus from the location of my feet to the camera in his hand was all it took for my sense of balance to fail me. I can’t really complain because the photo of me slipping over is a good testament to the difficulty of the decent.
As you can tell, it was fantastic fun and once you had gotten over getting muddy the first time, the next times didn’t seem to matter, in fact they were hilarious.
It was coming down the wall when the cloud slid away and the sun took its place. The rays shone on the vines and algae making it look like it was made of gold.
Once back at the 1st campsite we were able to wash for the 1st time in 3 days and enjoy a bright warm evening before the clouds came in once again.
We had decide that no matter what we would climb the mountain that day. It was going to be optional so anybody who wanted to go would have to be ready early that morning.
Eberhart, an orchid lover, wanted to stay by the camp as there were many more there than at the summit.So the 6 of us set off after our breakfast to finish what we started. Its amazing, one minute you are walking through thick mysterious jungle and the next you find yourself standing in a bizarre tundra. In the pace of 2 meters you are in a totally different environment and there is literally a distinct boundary line. On the map it almost looks man made.
But once out of the trees you experience the full force of the wind. Not that we were dry from the 2 days before, but we got very wet once again. Also, the actual walking was pretty hard going. Ducking, crawling, scrambling and tripping were all part of it, along with extricating yourself from the shrub/ bush you’ve just fallen into.
But eventually, I saw the remnants of what I think is an old communication tower, and 100 meter on… the summit itself. We had made it! It had taken 3 days of walking through open grassland, thick jungle, tricky tundra, up slippery ‘walls’, all through wind, rain cloud or sweltering heat. But we had made it.
And the views… well they were the same as the last 2 days, but that didn’t matter. We walked down out of the wind, stocked up on sugars and contacted the community via walkie-talkie.
One of our other missions was to replace the old log that had been there since 1988.It did make me smile to see this impressive, wet and battered link to history and previous achievements being replaced by a ‘Finding Nemo’ not pad that if you moved it in the light, ‘Marlin and Dory’ would swim across the front cover. But as I mentioned before, Costa Ricans are practical people.
We all wrote our little pieces inside (which is easier said than done because the pen was very temperamental with only a single drop making it give up and die). And, after some group photos we wrapped up warm and headed back down the mountain.
I was amazed to find that animals could live up there. Tapir tracks (and even more poo) could be found, as we also followed fresh puma tracks for a period of time. But seeing the peregrine falcon flying high above us astounded me. How could it survive here?
There were also humming birds! These tiny birds, who didn’t quite know what to make of these humans, manage to fly from plant to plant in search of food without getting blown off the mountain. I mean that was something we were struggling with (especially Devin who’s poncho was acting like a kite) and we weigh a great deal more than they do.
After misplacing ourselves a couple of times we made it back to the camp. We were all freezing and decided that packing up and leaving would be far better than changing, eating and then changing again before going back down.
It took slightly longer to warm up than usual and it was about 20 mins of walking before you could sagely say you could feel the tingling sensation in your fingers once again.
Eventually we found our way back to the Green Wall. The next hour saw us sliding down the vertical wall. Nowhere was safe, hand holds would snap leaving you staring stupidly at the piece of wood in your hands as you slid down the mud slide. On more than one occasion I allowed myself to simply slide until I came to a natural stop.
One time I rounded a tree and out of the corner of my eye I saw Devin holding something up. Changing my focus from the location of my feet to the camera in his hand was all it took for my sense of balance to fail me. I can’t really complain because the photo of me slipping over is a good testament to the difficulty of the decent.
As you can tell, it was fantastic fun and once you had gotten over getting muddy the first time, the next times didn’t seem to matter, in fact they were hilarious.
It was coming down the wall when the cloud slid away and the sun took its place. The rays shone on the vines and algae making it look like it was made of gold.
Once back at the 1st campsite we were able to wash for the 1st time in 3 days and enjoy a bright warm evening before the clouds came in once again.
20/11/09
Day 5:
The final day.
I was so excited to be so close to the end and talk of items we were going to purchase and mattresses we were going to sleep on when we got back, could be heard amongst the group.
The weather had even cleared up slightly for the occasion. In fact, that day was, for me, the most beautiful day of the expedition. We had some absolutely breathtaking views of mountains, valleys, cloud formations, 
rainbows and some good looking guys with wide grins on their faces in the foreground.
The whole day involved down hill walking so it was hard on our knees. The 5th day is also nicknamed ‘blister day’ for good reason. I was convinced that I had obtained at least 3 big ones but it seems that my feet have developed some kind of resistance to them. But it was still a little painful. As I said though, for me it was the most wonderful day.
The last stretch is flat along the river to the final bridge and I found myself quite a little way between the others. I loved this moment because although I had thoroughly enjoyed my time with everyone else, it game me time to reflect on what we had just done.
One of the many songs that had been stuck in my head on the way up is one Dad had told me about. Its called ‘The climb’ by Miley Cirus. I wouldn’t usually listen to much of her music but Dad had said it hat reminded him about something I had written earlier, and I had to buy it. Its about enjoying the climb and not worry about what the destination will be like or what’s on the other side. This is supposed to be metaphorical but it was very appropriate to this particular experience.
I keep getting this same message over and over again and I think its because its such an important lesson to learn.
If I had climbed the mountain in the way I used to go things, I would have tried to go as fast as I could so that I could get to the top and see the stunning views at the tope. If I had done that, I would have been terribly disappointed. At the top all we could see was cloud and rain, not what Eugo’s pictures of previous time had shown me.
But instead, I had enjoyed each and everyday for what it was, and because of that the whole thing was fantastic. Having the first and the last day be the nicest days, weather wise, and the summit wind and wet, just emphasised this.
So walking along that bank in the sun was so peaceful and relaxing and I think it allowed me to realise that the climb up Mt. Durika sums up my time here. Because, everything is beautiful in its own right.
The final day.
I was so excited to be so close to the end and talk of items we were going to purchase and mattresses we were going to sleep on when we got back, could be heard amongst the group.
The weather had even cleared up slightly for the occasion. In fact, that day was, for me, the most beautiful day of the expedition. We had some absolutely breathtaking views of mountains, valleys, cloud formations, 
rainbows and some good looking guys with wide grins on their faces in the foreground.
The whole day involved down hill walking so it was hard on our knees. The 5th day is also nicknamed ‘blister day’ for good reason. I was convinced that I had obtained at least 3 big ones but it seems that my feet have developed some kind of resistance to them. But it was still a little painful. As I said though, for me it was the most wonderful day.
The last stretch is flat along the river to the final bridge and I found myself quite a little way between the others. I loved this moment because although I had thoroughly enjoyed my time with everyone else, it game me time to reflect on what we had just done.
One of the many songs that had been stuck in my head on the way up is one Dad had told me about. Its called ‘The climb’ by Miley Cirus. I wouldn’t usually listen to much of her music but Dad had said it hat reminded him about something I had written earlier, and I had to buy it. Its about enjoying the climb and not worry about what the destination will be like or what’s on the other side. This is supposed to be metaphorical but it was very appropriate to this particular experience.I keep getting this same message over and over again and I think its because its such an important lesson to learn.
If I had climbed the mountain in the way I used to go things, I would have tried to go as fast as I could so that I could get to the top and see the stunning views at the tope. If I had done that, I would have been terribly disappointed. At the top all we could see was cloud and rain, not what Eugo’s pictures of previous time had shown me.
But instead, I had enjoyed each and everyday for what it was, and because of that the whole thing was fantastic. Having the first and the last day be the nicest days, weather wise, and the summit wind and wet, just emphasised this.
So walking along that bank in the sun was so peaceful and relaxing and I think it allowed me to realise that the climb up Mt. Durika sums up my time here. Because, everything is beautiful in its own right.
11/11/09
11/11/09
Three days to go until our 5 day expedition up Durika Mountain and preparations are in full swing.
The other day I got a glimpse of all the food we are going to be taking and I can’t quite work out how its all going to fit.
But the other preparation is hair cuts.
My hair was a mat of thick hair that I’d been wanting to cut for ages but there was always something that managed to scupper any plans. But today was the day we finally managed to get both Eugo and Devon and I, together, in his cabin at the same time.
In Durika, for the guys there is only really one style because it’s the only practical one, and that is ‘short’. So its just a case of how short. Devon wanted it almost all the way (ie, a number 1) but I wanted it a little longer.
My hair was so thick that it kept clogging the machine up but Eugo did a great job of ploughing through the jungle I called my hair.
Well, I asked for slightly longer than Ram’s, when I was finished, Eugo looked at me and said it was slightly longer than Devon’s.
So now I know what I would look like if I signed up for the army. But to be honest I don’t mind it and its sooo much better than long hair.
So mum, here I am, short haired and ready to rock (or climb a mountain).
Three days to go until our 5 day expedition up Durika Mountain and preparations are in full swing.
The other day I got a glimpse of all the food we are going to be taking and I can’t quite work out how its all going to fit.
But the other preparation is hair cuts.
My hair was a mat of thick hair that I’d been wanting to cut for ages but there was always something that managed to scupper any plans. But today was the day we finally managed to get both Eugo and Devon and I, together, in his cabin at the same time.
In Durika, for the guys there is only really one style because it’s the only practical one, and that is ‘short’. So its just a case of how short. Devon wanted it almost all the way (ie, a number 1) but I wanted it a little longer.
My hair was so thick that it kept clogging the machine up but Eugo did a great job of ploughing through the jungle I called my hair.
Well, I asked for slightly longer than Ram’s, when I was finished, Eugo looked at me and said it was slightly longer than Devon’s.
So now I know what I would look like if I signed up for the army. But to be honest I don’t mind it and its sooo much better than long hair.
So mum, here I am, short haired and ready to rock (or climb a mountain).
10/11/09
Well its 6 o’clock in the evening and Devon and I are in the Health Centre (which has become our hang out in the evenings because it has electrical light!).
This last week has been a good one (then again I haven’t yet had a bad one, but it’s a good way to start a paragraph).
On Sunday I was goatherding and once again it was so wonderfully chilled out. I love taking them along the ridge, it’s so much easier and they seem to enjoy the fact that I’m not always fretting and shouting at them. Also the views are stunning and you can take advantage of the fact that they can’t double back, to take some photos. The only difference between this time to the others is that we have a new addition to the family here in Durika..JPG)
On the Friday night the baby goat got its first views of its new life (I say ‘view’, when it gets dark here it gets very dark. If the moon isn’t out then it’s pitch black, so its views wouldn’t have been too exciting). But she is so cute. Anyway, from 2 days old she is taken out shepherding so that she gets used to following the crowd.
So when I set off I had 40 goats running ahead of me, with a wide rimmed hat stuck on my head, my camera slung over one shoulder, my machete over the other, and pine branch in one hand to whip the goats into shape and a 3 day old goat clasped to my chest by the other. I carried her for the first bit but I soon had her dancing round my feet and doing random, sporadic jumps/ spasms of joy. Having an adorable baby goat has its ups and its downs.
On the upside, she is great fun to photograph as well as laugh at when she does something stupid. Because she’s so small she often can’t even see over short grass let alone the long stuff they usually graze on, so she will often get ‘lost’ and start calling out in panic. In actual fact she is less than 2 meters away from you but to her you could be in the next valley. One down side is that although she weighs next to nothing, next to nothing starts to weigh next to a lot when you have been carrying her for the last few kilometres up the hill.
But the major draw back is, she’s so cute that she’s very distracting. On more than one occasion I was so busy trying to take yet another picture of the little fur ball and I wouldn’t realize that I couldn’t hear let alone see any of the other goats. In the, what I thought was only a couple of seconds, time, they had managed to munch and march either far ahead or down one side of the bank to where I didn’t want them to go.
But it all worked out in the end, but as soon as she arrived back at her pen she collapsed from her long day out. Bless.
Over the last 3 weeks I have somehow managed to avoid milking on the schedule. I really enjoy doing it but I had always had another job to do. So when I found out that on Monday that I was doing Milking I was delighted.
I got everything ready and started milking at 5.30am to be ready for the person shepherding at 6.30. That gave me an hour to get the 11 goats milked. It doesn’t sound too difficult but bearing in mind that I often get cramps in my hand when I milked, I was determined to go extra hard so as to get it done in time. But it went well, the only slight glitch was when one goat managed to unexpectedly move her leg, step in my bucket and tip out half the contents. But as they say, ‘there’s no point crying over spilt milk’, this time literally, so I just made sure nobody saw my mistake and surreptitiously continued. Its not that it mattered much, its just it wouldn’t do any favours for my milking cred.
Most of the goats aren’t producing half as much milk as they should be so they went really quickly, but, I think her name is ‘Subia’ or something, but she’s the mum of the baby, so has a lot of milk. The only problem is, she has tiny teats!!! It almost felt like you were milking her with your fore-finger and thumb!!! Needless to say the combination of a lot of milk and tiny teats meant that it took a lot longer than the others.
But despite all that, I did it in 40 mins which gave me another 20 mins to puff out my chest and feel good about myself.
But as a bonus, that afternoon, I was speaking to Eugo and he mentioned that he was very busy and also had to do afternoon milking. So, in relieving him of that job, I managed to milk 2 in one day. Smiles all round!
It’s really strange to think that we only have 4 days before we leave the community to start our adventure up Durika Mountain, and 5 days before we actually start walking. I remember Eugenio mentioning the trip in the taxi after I had just landed which was around 2½ months ago! So to now be counting down in days as opposed to months is crazy.
This afternoon, after our Spanish lesson, we went to Eug’s cabin to discuss a couple of things about the trip. He also showed us photos from previous trips. OH MY GOSH!!! If I was excited before, it was nothing to after seeing those pictures. They were absolutely stunning and they just made me want to pack right then and head off. I am so looking forward to doing it. I realize that it’s going to be hard, mentally as well as physically, but that’s what makes it so well worth it. So when Everhard (Eugo’s friend from Germany) arrives with my package, I’ll be able to get everything together and see how much space I have left for all the food.
As you can probably tell I’m quite looking forward to doing the expedition, but I have been trying really hard to enjoy the things that are currently taking place as opposed to looking forward to things in the future. But when you have something like this you just can’t help it. Also, recently, I think its probably because its only around 3 weeks to go, but I’ve been thinking about things I’m going to do when I get home or when I get to the airport. I know I shouldn’t, and should just live all the experiences that are here in the time I have left, but it’s very difficult to do.
But, I am love it here, waking up in the mornings to some of the views we experience and seeing some of the wonderful things here are just incredible. It is teaching me so much about all sorts of different things and I feel so much better off because of it. Abbotsholme taught me so much and one of the most important things it did for me was allow me to be who I wanted to be and become a person I am totally content with being. But what it also did was keep me in a bubble. The bubble allowed for so much but this gap year and this experience here is the opportunity I need to experience the things the bubble didn’t let me deal with.
Well, in a few minutes we are going to go up to the restaurant to watch a movie. I love watching movies especially with a group of people. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Disney film, film with a moral or simply a feel good movie, but just the action of watching a movie something I thoroughly enjoy. With that on top of a good week so far, just makes me smile.
Buenas Noches
-
Just to confirm, yes, we did get popcorn as well.
This last week has been a good one (then again I haven’t yet had a bad one, but it’s a good way to start a paragraph).
On Sunday I was goatherding and once again it was so wonderfully chilled out. I love taking them along the ridge, it’s so much easier and they seem to enjoy the fact that I’m not always fretting and shouting at them. Also the views are stunning and you can take advantage of the fact that they can’t double back, to take some photos. The only difference between this time to the others is that we have a new addition to the family here in Durika.
.JPG)
On the Friday night the baby goat got its first views of its new life (I say ‘view’, when it gets dark here it gets very dark. If the moon isn’t out then it’s pitch black, so its views wouldn’t have been too exciting). But she is so cute. Anyway, from 2 days old she is taken out shepherding so that she gets used to following the crowd.
So when I set off I had 40 goats running ahead of me, with a wide rimmed hat stuck on my head, my camera slung over one shoulder, my machete over the other, and pine branch in one hand to whip the goats into shape and a 3 day old goat clasped to my chest by the other. I carried her for the first bit but I soon had her dancing round my feet and doing random, sporadic jumps/ spasms of joy. Having an adorable baby goat has its ups and its downs.On the upside, she is great fun to photograph as well as laugh at when she does something stupid. Because she’s so small she often can’t even see over short grass let alone the long stuff they usually graze on, so she will often get ‘lost’ and start calling out in panic. In actual fact she is less than 2 meters away from you but to her you could be in the next valley. One down side is that although she weighs next to nothing, next to nothing starts to weigh next to a lot when you have been carrying her for the last few kilometres up the hill.
But the major draw back is, she’s so cute that she’s very distracting. On more than one occasion I was so busy trying to take yet another picture of the little fur ball and I wouldn’t realize that I couldn’t hear let alone see any of the other goats. In the, what I thought was only a couple of seconds, time, they had managed to munch and march either far ahead or down one side of the bank to where I didn’t want them to go.
But it all worked out in the end, but as soon as she arrived back at her pen she collapsed from her long day out. Bless.
Over the last 3 weeks I have somehow managed to avoid milking on the schedule. I really enjoy doing it but I had always had another job to do. So when I found out that on Monday that I was doing Milking I was delighted.
I got everything ready and started milking at 5.30am to be ready for the person shepherding at 6.30. That gave me an hour to get the 11 goats milked. It doesn’t sound too difficult but bearing in mind that I often get cramps in my hand when I milked, I was determined to go extra hard so as to get it done in time. But it went well, the only slight glitch was when one goat managed to unexpectedly move her leg, step in my bucket and tip out half the contents. But as they say, ‘there’s no point crying over spilt milk’, this time literally, so I just made sure nobody saw my mistake and surreptitiously continued. Its not that it mattered much, its just it wouldn’t do any favours for my milking cred.
Most of the goats aren’t producing half as much milk as they should be so they went really quickly, but, I think her name is ‘Subia’ or something, but she’s the mum of the baby, so has a lot of milk. The only problem is, she has tiny teats!!! It almost felt like you were milking her with your fore-finger and thumb!!! Needless to say the combination of a lot of milk and tiny teats meant that it took a lot longer than the others.
But despite all that, I did it in 40 mins which gave me another 20 mins to puff out my chest and feel good about myself.
But as a bonus, that afternoon, I was speaking to Eugo and he mentioned that he was very busy and also had to do afternoon milking. So, in relieving him of that job, I managed to milk 2 in one day. Smiles all round!
It’s really strange to think that we only have 4 days before we leave the community to start our adventure up Durika Mountain, and 5 days before we actually start walking. I remember Eugenio mentioning the trip in the taxi after I had just landed which was around 2½ months ago! So to now be counting down in days as opposed to months is crazy.
This afternoon, after our Spanish lesson, we went to Eug’s cabin to discuss a couple of things about the trip. He also showed us photos from previous trips. OH MY GOSH!!! If I was excited before, it was nothing to after seeing those pictures. They were absolutely stunning and they just made me want to pack right then and head off. I am so looking forward to doing it. I realize that it’s going to be hard, mentally as well as physically, but that’s what makes it so well worth it. So when Everhard (Eugo’s friend from Germany) arrives with my package, I’ll be able to get everything together and see how much space I have left for all the food.
As you can probably tell I’m quite looking forward to doing the expedition, but I have been trying really hard to enjoy the things that are currently taking place as opposed to looking forward to things in the future. But when you have something like this you just can’t help it. Also, recently, I think its probably because its only around 3 weeks to go, but I’ve been thinking about things I’m going to do when I get home or when I get to the airport. I know I shouldn’t, and should just live all the experiences that are here in the time I have left, but it’s very difficult to do.
But, I am love it here, waking up in the mornings to some of the views we experience and seeing some of the wonderful things here are just incredible. It is teaching me so much about all sorts of different things and I feel so much better off because of it. Abbotsholme taught me so much and one of the most important things it did for me was allow me to be who I wanted to be and become a person I am totally content with being. But what it also did was keep me in a bubble. The bubble allowed for so much but this gap year and this experience here is the opportunity I need to experience the things the bubble didn’t let me deal with.
Well, in a few minutes we are going to go up to the restaurant to watch a movie. I love watching movies especially with a group of people. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Disney film, film with a moral or simply a feel good movie, but just the action of watching a movie something I thoroughly enjoy. With that on top of a good week so far, just makes me smile.
Buenas Noches
-
Just to confirm, yes, we did get popcorn as well.
2/11/09
It seems that the trail down to the waterfall is a good place to spot wildlife.
It was closing on eleven and we were just contemplating heading back when we heard a rushing sound. We all stood up at once and looked out across the valley to see a wall of falling water heading straight at us. There was a 2 second delay of realisation followed by screams from the girls. We moved as one, sprinting up the trial to avoid getting soaked to the skin, to no avail.
However, as we were running back one of the girls jumped back in surprise. After managing not to collide into them I looked to see what her finger was pointing at. Just in front of use scuttled a large black tarantula. It was great hairy thing with brown hind quarters, about the size of my splayed hand.
It puts some sort of perspective to the so called ‘huge’ spider you find in the bath at home.
It was closing on eleven and we were just contemplating heading back when we heard a rushing sound. We all stood up at once and looked out across the valley to see a wall of falling water heading straight at us. There was a 2 second delay of realisation followed by screams from the girls. We moved as one, sprinting up the trial to avoid getting soaked to the skin, to no avail.
However, as we were running back one of the girls jumped back in surprise. After managing not to collide into them I looked to see what her finger was pointing at. Just in front of use scuttled a large black tarantula. It was great hairy thing with brown hind quarters, about the size of my splayed hand.
It puts some sort of perspective to the so called ‘huge’ spider you find in the bath at home.
1/11/09 Something interesting happened to me today.
Nata and I were working on the trail just before lunch and got a good stint in. But as we were working I noticed the big strangler fig that was just off the path.
Tree climbing has become an enjoyable pass time for me. I have spent some of my free time climbing the pines near our cabin which provides you with some great views over Buenos Aires and the valley it is situated in. However, I have also gone up the other strangler fig which sticks out above the canopy in front of the community.
The difference between climbing the fig trees and the other trees is that you climb up the centre of the fig where the original tree had once been.
Anyway, just before we went back I asked Nata if I could stay and climb it. He wanted to go back and fix the shovel he had broken, but he said I could stay a little longer and climb it if I wanted.
Climbing them isn’t particularly difficult it just takes time, but I made my way up steadily. The wonderful thing about the fig is that not only do you have loads of great hand holds, but you also have lots of ‘windows’ situated all the way up. These are simply large gaps in the wall of the tree so they give you some fantastic views. Also, the animals don’t seem to notice you spying on them from inside the tree so you can what them for much longer than usual.
¾ of the way up I was able to sit and watch what I think was a female ‘fiery tangit’, (which is actually yellow just to confuse you). It was wonderful because either she didn’t mind me being there or she hadn’t seen me because she went on minding her own business checking for bugs.
After she had gone I made my way all the way to the top. It was bizarre to find soil 20 meters above the forest floor in little crevices with plants growing in them. (oh, and just to clarify, the tree is much taller even than that, but you just can’t climb any higher up the inside).
At the top there was a great big gap, big enough for me to stand and lean out so that I was hanging outside the tree. I was deeply regretting not having a camera at that moment as the views were quite spectacular. It was at this point that I heard/ felt a heavy thud. At first I didn’t quite know what I thought it was. But when it was followed by slightly smaller thuds and I felt the tree sway a little I realized that I mustn’t be the only one enjoying the views from up here. I must have had company.
I couldn’t see anything from my side of the huge tree and it felt as though my neighbour was some where on the other side of the tree so I turned round to look out the opposite ‘window’. Looking through it, all I could see was a long brown bushy tail hanging in front of me. Leaning forward saw me staring straight into the eyes of a pizoté hanging upside down a meter and a half away.
There I was stuck, 20 meters above safety and literally face to face with a wild animal. Some of the community calling them racoons didn’t help my imagination much either. It was going wild as they always do in a nerve wracking situation. I had visions of this vicious racoon launching itself from its branch and savagely attacking the helpless me until I was scratched to death or fell down to a messy end.
The creature must have been stunned with surprise to find such a good looking guy (sorry I just had to slip that in, he he) so high in the canopy. So we just stood there looking at each other for a good 5 or 6 seconds before his wits caught up with him and he ran off down the vine he was on. I must say I’m glad my imagination had been a big exaggeration and in fact they are quite timid creatures, but try telling my imagination that.
During my time here I have seen a couple of them, one only a couple of meters away, but never this close and it was interesting to see it up close.
Well anyway, I’m quite relieved to find that the phrase ‘they are more scared of you than you are of them’ applied in this situation, he he, but my panic was quite unjustified.
Interesting huh?
Tree climbing has become an enjoyable pass time for me. I have spent some of my free time climbing the pines near our cabin which provides you with some great views over Buenos Aires and the valley it is situated in. However, I have also gone up the other strangler fig which sticks out above the canopy in front of the community.
The difference between climbing the fig trees and the other trees is that you climb up the centre of the fig where the original tree had once been.
Anyway, just before we went back I asked Nata if I could stay and climb it. He wanted to go back and fix the shovel he had broken, but he said I could stay a little longer and climb it if I wanted.
Climbing them isn’t particularly difficult it just takes time, but I made my way up steadily. The wonderful thing about the fig is that not only do you have loads of great hand holds, but you also have lots of ‘windows’ situated all the way up. These are simply large gaps in the wall of the tree so they give you some fantastic views. Also, the animals don’t seem to notice you spying on them from inside the tree so you can what them for much longer than usual.
¾ of the way up I was able to sit and watch what I think was a female ‘fiery tangit’, (which is actually yellow just to confuse you). It was wonderful because either she didn’t mind me being there or she hadn’t seen me because she went on minding her own business checking for bugs.
After she had gone I made my way all the way to the top. It was bizarre to find soil 20 meters above the forest floor in little crevices with plants growing in them. (oh, and just to clarify, the tree is much taller even than that, but you just can’t climb any higher up the inside).
At the top there was a great big gap, big enough for me to stand and lean out so that I was hanging outside the tree. I was deeply regretting not having a camera at that moment as the views were quite spectacular. It was at this point that I heard/ felt a heavy thud. At first I didn’t quite know what I thought it was. But when it was followed by slightly smaller thuds and I felt the tree sway a little I realized that I mustn’t be the only one enjoying the views from up here. I must have had company.
I couldn’t see anything from my side of the huge tree and it felt as though my neighbour was some where on the other side of the tree so I turned round to look out the opposite ‘window’. Looking through it, all I could see was a long brown bushy tail hanging in front of me. Leaning forward saw me staring straight into the eyes of a pizoté hanging upside down a meter and a half away.
There I was stuck, 20 meters above safety and literally face to face with a wild animal. Some of the community calling them racoons didn’t help my imagination much either. It was going wild as they always do in a nerve wracking situation. I had visions of this vicious racoon launching itself from its branch and savagely attacking the helpless me until I was scratched to death or fell down to a messy end.
The creature must have been stunned with surprise to find such a good looking guy (sorry I just had to slip that in, he he) so high in the canopy. So we just stood there looking at each other for a good 5 or 6 seconds before his wits caught up with him and he ran off down the vine he was on. I must say I’m glad my imagination had been a big exaggeration and in fact they are quite timid creatures, but try telling my imagination that.
During my time here I have seen a couple of them, one only a couple of meters away, but never this close and it was interesting to see it up close.
Well anyway, I’m quite relieved to find that the phrase ‘they are more scared of you than you are of them’ applied in this situation, he he, but my panic was quite unjustified.
Interesting huh?
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