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. Post Raleigh expedition, Rebecca is travelling in South America. This is the eighth of her 'emails' back home reporting on her experiences. Check out her previous emails sent to us via remote South American Internet Cafes!

Rebecca post Chile: Lake Titicaca and Peru

22/05/2001

Hola,
I am in Peru now, in Puno on Lake Titicaca and they are sure into their panpipes, you can hear them everywhere!

Over the last few weeks I have moved around a fair bit. I was in La Paz for a while which is a very busy city, 3,500 m up, so I got breathless walking up the steep hills. It's built in a big dip surrounded by mountains.

We went up to the Amazon Basin in the North of Bolivia for a week which took a lot of patience (which I didn't have). The airline was rubbish, kept us waiting for a whole day at the airport till they told us the flight was cancelled as there weren't enough passengers!

Did a 3 day pampas trip there to the wetlands, and saw pink dolphins, turtles, caymen and alligators, pirranhas and lots of lovely birds. Got quite sick from the water they gave us on the trip which they said was boiled but obviously not for long enough! Then flew back to La Paz with only 4 of us on the plane, and it still took off-amazing!

In La Paz I got altitude sickness which lasted for 4 days, which I think it was combined with a tummy upset. Yuk. Went to the very good Coca Museum there which was fascinating. Facts like Freud was the first well known person to sniff cocaine and died of nose cancer, and that there was cocaine in coca cola into the 20th century.

Had a great few days in Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. Went for a long day's walk in the sun on Isla de la sol, appropriately named, where the Inca's believe life began. It has nice ruins etc. Got a bit of sunstroke there and threw up in the evening!

I came over to Peru the other day. Much more hassley here. I am on my own now as Be has more time and is taking it slower. Had a great day on the island of Taquile yesterday, 3 hrs by boat across the lake. All the people, 3000 in 6 families, dress traditionally live in the traditional way by Inca law, no lying, stealing or laziness. All the men knit and you can tell whether a man is married by what hat he wears and how he wears it!

Today is not going so well. The 7.30am bus I should have been on to Cuzco has been cancelled because of the strikes, so I am flying there via another city as there is no direct route. The strikes sound serious!

Must rush. I have found some nice Brits and Yanks in the same boat so am going with them. Got a plane to catch!

Cheers 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 Raleigh projects on the Raleigh International website.

© travel-quest.co.uk 2001

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