Raleigh International gives young people between 17 and 25 years old and volunteer staff over 25 years old the chance to live and work on expeditions abroad. Not only do they develop personally and contribute to the country they are working in but they learn to work together with people from different cultures.
Rebecca Riddy signed up as an expedition translator on a Raleigh International expedition in Chile for 3 months. This is the second of her 'emails' back home reporting on her experiences. We will post further details of her exploits as she emails via remote South American Internet Cafes
Rebecca in Chile: Raleigh
International expedition translator
In the south of Chile
22/02/2001
Hello again,
Yesterday I got back to Coyhaique, field base
after 14 hrs in the back of a landrover from the south of Chile where
I have been kayaking for 3 weeks. I am worn out – it was tough! I
was one of five members of staff, the other four were men, three instructors
and a medic. We had twelve venturers aged 17 to 26 from all kinds of backgrounds.
We started in Yungay, a dump of a place with an army barracks and not
a lot else. I did a fair amount of sweet-talking the lieutenant there
to look after some stuff for us while we were gone, got permission to
let off some out of date flares to show the venturers how they worked,
and to build a not particularly private longdrop for us to use. The marine
group also started there so it was quite crowded until they left a few
days earlier than us.
We spent a few days waiting for the kayaks to arrive which was a pain.
The truck that was supposed to bring them down couldn't in the end. When
they did arrive we did some capsize training and Spanish and other stuff
to pass the time as the weather was too rough to set off. It is extremely
rare to see the sun down there due to the proximity to glaciers, and lots
and lots and lots of heavy rain.
We finally set off a few days later and headed towards Tortel (a lovely
little place where Prince William was filmed in that TV documentary),
about 28 km away. After a few hours the wind had got up to 30 knots, right
in our faces. A very hairy first day of paddling with a group of complete
beginners. We got half way to Yungay before making it to a windswept beach
where we could get out and carry the boats up away from the reach of the
tide. We had no tents so rigged up shelters with tarpaulins against a
partially-built house. We dug a few trenches as the mud was saturated
and couldn't absorb the water. Quagmire. The forecast the next day was
for 40 knot winds so we stayed put, some going for a walk.
The next day was beautiful, one of the best days paddling I have had.
Bright sun, no wind and lovely scenery in the fjords. We camped on the
beach in pretty Tortel and then the weather changed again. Heavy rain
and wind turned the camping area to mud and later that night we were woken
by the sea washing up under the shelter. A spring tide that was very high.
So in the middle of the night, we built new shelters on the patch of high
ground that wasn't inundated. The next day the wind was still up but as
we had to move camp, two staff went out on a reccie of the nearby river
delta to see if there were any high beaches we would be safe on, and I
spent a morning talking to everyone I could in Tortel about places they
could suggest. The reccie came up with somewhere up the river we could
get to when the weather improved and my investigations came up with a
small raised area on the other side of the beach from where we were.
Morale was low with the venturers by this stage, and things were definitely
not going according to plan. Huddled under a tarp we explained that we
would have to revise the route, which they were disappointed about. We
set to putting up new shelters in the storm and thankfully did not get
flooded out that night.
The next day we moved to the place that had been found on the river. Quite
eerie, deserted wooden shack and basic barn with just a roof which we
slept under. We were stuck there for three days with more high winds which
made paddling dangerous. This soon came to be known as the mud hut and
three girls developed trench foot from the conditions, mud, cold, wind
and wet. Blisters, swelling and postules which made walking difficult.
We finally did leave and made it to a fantastic beach on the way to the
glacier, that a local fisherman in Tortel had told me about, on our way
to the Steffen glacier which we were heading for. The sun was out when
we arrived and people felt great elation. There were even wild raspberries
up in the garden of a house that still stood there! A great night and
the next day the weather was still good enough to continue to the glacier.
A hard paddle which we reached after 4 hours. The last stint was against
the flow of a big river coming down for the glacier and was exhausting.
We had to get out and drag the boats the last bit and after five mins
of walking in the glacial water our feet were extremely painful.
We set up camp on the riverbank, in sight of the glacier but it was apparent that kayaking up the river would not be possible. Two people went on a difficult reccie to suss it out. The verdict was that it was possible to part-kayak and then walk, so the next day we got up at 6.30 am to set off. However the weather was awful, as the trip already had risks of people getting hypothermia attached to it and the increased height of the river meant capsizing was more likely (which we couldn't really have dealt with) plus the route meant walking for two hours in the icy water where it wasn't paddleable we called a halt.
We set up the radio and contacted Tortel to ask their advice
about people living locally who may be able to take us by boat. They told
us about a family on the other side of the river and gave us their frequency
which we tried but they didn't answer. People really wanted to get to
the glacier so we decided (a few staff) to go across and try and ask them.
The scariest thing I have done so far, crossing a strong glacial river
knowing that if I fell in to the water it was 0 degrees C,and I would
only have a couple of minutes to get out. I was shaking like a leaf and
cried with relief when I got back. I had reached the limit of my nerve.
Anyway, we did eventually get to the glacier. Some other people turned
up in a boat and for £2.50 each we got there! Two crossings in the
boat and then two hrs walk in wellies each way. The view from the foot
of the glacier was stunning and it was quite an achievement to get there.
We had made it to our goal!
We then spent four days paddling back, spending three nights at one beach
with an official day off! That day the venturers delivered a breakfast
of porridge in bed to the rest! One of the nights we spent on solo Navaho
missions. Ummm, splendid idea. Not. Venturers (and me) were spread
out on surrounding beaches and islands for personal thinking time. It
started off fine with the sun out and then a storm came in and venturers
found themselves being flooded by the sea. I had a venturer come to find
me at 10 pm with her buoyancy aid asking for help as the shelter she had
built had been washed away. My god! We got it sorted out though.
The next day was foul and we headed out for the final stretch. Huge waves
and strong wind behind us made the kayaks very difficult to control. We
were so relieved to make it back to Yungay!
I have found out that I am the office based interpreter for the next three
weeks. I wanted to be on a community project and will still try to negotiate
to do half of the phase here and half elsewhere, i.e. swap with someone.
I am very tired and feeling a bit traumatised I guess, quite emotional
so it will take me a few days to get my head round all that has happened.
If I am here, should be able to get in to town to check emails from time
to time, one good thing I guess.
Rebecca
Further information
Raleigh International currently runs eleven expeditions a year. In 2000-2001 expeditions are going to Belize, Brunei, Chile, Costa Rica, Ghana, Mongolia and Namibia. The three-month expedition is part of a longer programme involving training weekends and workshops. These workshops concentrate on personal development and global awareness. After an expedition, there is the chance to join Raleigh International support groups all over the world, to continue the Raleigh experience and to help others take part.
You can see updates about this and other projects on the Raleigh International website.
© travel-quest.co.uk 2001
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