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 ninth 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: Travelling Time!

27/05/2001

Hola again!
I arrived in Guayaquil this afternoon, from Lima which wasn't too nice. It was my third flight in as many days, what a jet setter!

I made the trip to Macchu Pichu a few days ago from Cuzco. I had planned on doing the Inca Pinca but time ran out in the end so I did it the lazy way. I had about 5 hours walking round the ruins, had a guide for 2 of them which was really good. Can't help thinking it would have been better if they had left it all overgrown, partly hidden by forest rather than all the mown lawns around it. It is impressive though. Very clever those Incas. All the buildings get the sun in the day, there are intricate water channels everywhere, the hillside is landscaped to provide microclimates for different crops at different levels, lots of temples, observatories (incl. one with pools of water for viewing eclipses!) and meeting places. They reckon about 700 people lived there for about 150 years before the Spanish turned up and scared them off in to the forest.

I spent a very nice day in Cuzco doing some of the many ruins and generally walking around in the sunshine. I had a really good last night out with Be and Sandra, a Dutch girl we met, ignoring a 4.00 am start the next day for a flight to Lima . Cocktails and a Mexican. As it turned out I need not have got up so early. The South Americans are so bad at time keeping, the airline staff didn't turn up at the airport until half an hour after I was told to!

On the flight to Lima I sat next to a very friendly Peruvian who insisted on helping me find a taxi to my hotel in Lima and then came with me to make sure I got there OK before catching a bus home! I did find the Peruvians very friendly (those that weren't trying to sell you something anyway!). Very nice genuine bloke.

On the way to the airport this morning in Lima I had a very chatty taxi driver who told me all about the corruption in Peru and the forthcoming elections on 3 June. It's illegal not to vote, so apparently about 35% will mess their ballot papers up instead, to protest about the lack of decent candidates. The last president, Fujimore (part Japanese), did a runner to Japan with lots of state money and still hasn't been brought to justice.

It's much hotter here than Lima. 25C and very humid. Guayaquil has a reputation for robbery so I have nipped out of the hotel with just a bit of cash. The hotel is very nice for $12 – they no longer have the Ecuadorian sucre as it kept getting devalued, a shame, they use dollars now. Guayaquil looks like a drab and polluted city so I am glad I am just here for today. My friend Shaz who I did Raleigh with arrives in Guayaquil from Quito by bus later today which I am really looking forward to. Jill, another Raleigh'er would have been coming with her but missed her plane to Quito from Rio!! Shaz and I will hopefully get a plane to the Galapagos in the morning. We will just turn up as apparently tour companies block book lots of tickets and then people don't turn up. We will look into the tours for when Jill arrives. I have until Mon 11 June so hope to do a week's boat tour and a few days diving from the main island, Isla Baltra. It is going to be extortionately expensive, but I doubt very much I will be coming back here.

I will stop now and go back and watch Crocodilo Dundee which is on the TV this pm!! I don't think I will have access to email on the Galapagos, for the next two weeks that is. I fly back to London from Santiago on 14 June – less than three weeks to go! Take care

Besos
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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