A Strenuous Journey

      We sing a song at the beginning of each meal, and one of them begins with “Goin' up to the mountains, I ain’t coming down till the morning. Goin’ up, set my soul free, I ain’t coming down in chains.” Looking back unto this song, we realize how true it is. There is a light feeling in the group, a “freeness” now that we have come down from the highlands by bike and on foot. In each one of us there has been noticeable change, an important change. As our expedition closes there is a new sense of maturity in the group, developed over the past month of adventuring. On our expedition there was an energy of not only surviving, but also thriving in those twenty-five days filled with challenges but also many moments of self-discovery - pushing ourselves more mentally, physically and emotionally than we thought we ever could. The days of expedition are filled with an exciting energy, one that Thomas and Marcea definitely bring out even more. Throughout the expedition we have had our teachers switching out after a week or so, having each of the Dammer brothers joining us for a specific segment of the expedition based on their interests and specialties. This was such a great way for us to be able to learn from so many amazing people, each of who had special ways of teaching.

Explorations

         Since the last blog update, we have had an insane amount of notable things happen. We transitioned to the homestead of Edwardo, a quaint English man with a quiet personality, who was mentioned briefly in the last post. The ride to his house was an amazing transition from trekking to resting. The sky tore apart as we loaded ourselves into the back of a truck and Malena, Tashi, Alessio and I stood in the downpour washing the days of crusted dirt off of our bodies. We spent a few magical nights in Edwardo and Patricia's home, camping on the front yard, eating dozens of pieces of homemade breads and jams as we regained our energy. Edwardo’s wife is a talented basket weaver, so we were lucky enough to be able to have her as our teacher for even just a few days, learning the traditional craft. At first it was a struggle to create the form of a small basket, but soon we were all weaving the thin vines together with a smooth flow. Everyone was talking about what they were going to be using their small baskets for, some said pencil cases, while Malena talked about using hers as a cookie jar, which was definitely the best idea thrown around.

         We continued our movement to a beautiful coffee plantation nestled next to a fast flowing river, the Rio Lindo. There, we took our time bathing and appreciating the cold water flowing around our bodies. Colton, Lilah and Christian were ecstatic to be near coffee, a luxury we weren't used to, and they savored cups of it at breakfast with big grins on their faces. We rested ourselves in the hammocks after a coffee planting, harvesting and roasting lesson led by the owner of the property, Pablo.

There are countless new species for us to learn about as we travel

         The next morning we were greeted by our old friends; the bikes. They had carried us to the hot springs the week before and were now ready to get us moving for three more days to the river Mulate. The river was at an elevation of 600 meters while we were at a whopping 2000 meters, which makes the biking sound like a downhill breeze. Let me assure you that it wasn’t! The next three days were the hardest biking days we experienced throughout the previous twenty days. It was both a mental and physical push up the never-ending hills, and just when we would see a bend that we thought indicated a downhill, it would always end up being a steeper hill to climb! On the second day there was an hour gap between Alessio and Tanner, who led the pace, and the sweep because of the time consuming hills.

An excerpt from Tashi’s journal describes it well:

“Body hot, sticky hair, and sweltering sun. Legs that never cease that constant motion as if the world lay on your shoulders. Continue to pedal, to ignore the pain. Butt, back and thighs fall in dismay as another slope taunts you from behind the bend.”

         We all met in the town for lunch - it was a Saturday and everyone was out and about. In each town there is a sports arena where a game is played called “Equ-volley.” This game is basically volleyball with a higher net and only played with a soccer ball. Our energy was restored quickly, and Aidan, Tanner, Alessio and Tashi immediately jumping in to play with the locals. They picked up the game quickly, laughing and yelling with a new spring in their step. 

         The last scheduled biking day was a long one; we awoke before daylight in order to leave with the sun, as we had to cover about 70 kilometers or as Colton says 70,000 meters. During those 70 km we descended into the cloud forest, racing our bikes over the pebbled rocks, the visibility so low that you would only be able to see the bike in front of you momentarily until it slipped away into the fog. It was our mission to avoid the giant mud puddles and sharp bends, both of which had the potential to throw you off your bike. Some of us were luckier than others with that, but everyone rode on safely and smiling. Another highlight from that day was biking along the road and promptly bathing ourselves and our sweaty clothes in any passing river. The coolness of the water was amazing and would motivate us up that next hill until finally we arrived to the canyon of Rio Blanco. Everyone was overjoyed, warm dinner was waiting for us and we were more than ready to say goodbye to our bikes.

         That’s when the teachers dropped some news onto us, Rio Blanco was running too low and we had to decide weather or not to bike to our new destination 20 km away. Thirteen miles doesn't sound like much but let me tell you after three consecutive days of biking uphill we weren't so keen on the idea of having to bike out of the current canyon. But as a group we decided that it would be the best thing to do. We would be completing the expedition, leaving from Palugo and arriving to the river completely by the power of our own bodies and our movement. So we went on, pushing ourselves out of the canyon and over the rolling hills to the nearby watershed of Rio Mulate, where a fuller more alive water source was waiting for us. We set up camp and practiced using our new boats, bright yellow gnu’s, and a gigantic kataraft. There was happiness in the air: we had made it to the river, to the next part of the journey. It was wonderful to soak in the water and get to know this completely new environment.

Glad we weren't on that bus!

         We started off the next morning with a strong feeling of being alive. We went upstream in groups to run a few more technical rapids in the gnu’s and to remind our bodies all the intricacies of paddling on white water. The kataraft is comparable to a monster truck or to a tractor, plowing over the waves, but since the water was so low we had to push the “tractor” over some of the rapids lacking water. The ride was super enjoyable and short to the campsite that day, and we paddled class two and three rapids as we traveled downstream. We were most impressed by Jonathan and Christian, who had never been paddling in a boat in their lives! We set up camp that night above a small beach on a small grassy piece of land. We collected fruit and relaxed, swimming over to the small waterfall on the other side of the bank to take showers, the water shooting over the cliff on to our bodies, us shrieking from the refreshing cold.

Tashi and Emma, enjoying the afternoon

Gunwale up!

Each moment on the river is such a joy

It takes a team to get things done around here!

         That night, Thomas and Mathias gave us the option to stay another day at this wonderful campsite in order to have a day before expeditions ends to rest, have a skills check, and practice our movement in the boats. There were mixed feelings about it from our group. Some of us wanted to continue on while others thought we should rest when given the chance. So we did a blind vote, which resulted in 6 on 6, a dead tie. But fear not, Waldorf school had taught Aidan some creative decision-making and he proposed a three-stage game to decide what we would do: 1. rock paper scissors 2. tug of war and  3. coin toss. The group opting to stay took a grand sweep of all three categories, so we stayed the extra day.

         The girls woke up early to be able to look at the beautiful wildlife by the river, seeing toucans and toads and even an otter, which were curiously watching our morning yoga with Morgan on the beach. Up at Palugo there aren't a lot of wild animals for us to observe so this was a luxury. The morning was spent carving new spoons, swimming in the river, reading our book, journaling, and working on academics.

"Yoga on the beach"

         In the afternoon we worked on soloing canoes and honing our fire making skills. The fires illuminated the surrounding beach as the sun began to set creating a glow on the faces of those successful with their work. We sat around the cooking fire that night sharing, laughing and talking with one another. It felt like the difficulty of the expedition was behind us and there was a lightheartedness in the air.

This river is flipping amazing!

         The next day paddling was a long one but still so enjoyable. We had decided as a group to leave behind nearly all the personal and group gear to lighten the load of the kataraft. This included leaving behind our tents, our sleeping pads, our sleeping bags, and even our eating bowls. We only had one more night of expedition and believed we could survive the night without any of those luxuries. We hit many rapids with technical difficulties but on the flat parts Thomas would lighten the mood by jumping in the surrounding gnus, creating big water fights that ended with everyone in the water at many points through out the day. We got much further than anticipated without even noticing, about 15 km, and we chose a campsite right near where the Rio Blanco and the Rio Mulate converge. This confluence creates a massive, powerful body of water churning and splashing.

Mathias and David expertly carving their way down the river

         Some animals, including African Buffalos and an army of ants, whom had created ant highways across the fields, inhabited the campsite. We all cuddled up that night in the cold underneath the single tarp we had brought. Most of the night was spent awake, trying to stay warm next to the others, with buffs and hoods covering our whole faces. Eventually the sun rose and so did we. We loaded up the kataraft with our limited gear and set off for the huge water of the two rivers. The rapids were a lot bigger with the combination of the rivers, and the pace was much more sustained than the stop-and-start of the previous day. We came upon a huge rapid and Alessio and Colton were the first to volunteer to go down. They chose a risky route directly down the center of the thrashing swelling water. At one point we saw Colton fall out of the boat, everything except for his leg and than in a blink of  an eye, he was back in the boat, and successfully made it the rest of the way down. We got to our take out point early, and were greeting and treated by Don Francisco, the father of the Dammer brothers. He spoiled us with yucca bread as we loaded up the truck and piled on to an amazing charter bus with plush seats. We all fell asleep in an instant, exhausted. The five hour car ride slipped away like a dream, going in and out of sleep, until we arrived at home base, Palugo, where a warm meal and fresh sheets were awaiting our tired bodies.

Enjoying the rapids with Mathias

Feeling victorious

         We are recovering from the strenuous expedition, and we also have so much ahead of us during the next two weeks. We are going to be involved in big building projects around Palugo, and we also have a three-day, two night solo that we are all greatly anticipating. It takes a long time to receive and send letters out (about two weeks) so don't fret if you haven't heard from one of us recently, letters are on their way! Time seems to be truly flying by, and we can’t believe it has already been thirteen weeks since the start of semester. Wow!

Your scribe,

-Rosy Bell