Field trip

Im a bit antsy getting up this morning. A long day awaits, but mainly I don?t quite trust Big Blue, our truck to get us all the way out to the field house many rugged kilometers distant. At the same time I?m thrilled to get away in the wilderness, high up in the windswept expanses of the paramo.

We packed the truck and met Stu and his family in the morning. Stu, Patricia his wife, Caleb, Jacob, and Nadine, all between the 8 and 2 ½ stage and quite adorable. Filling up with fuel off the carreterra I?m already having doubts from the belching exhaust fumes and the stench of gasoline emanating from the engine. No worries to spare though and before we know it were weaving through misty green quilted fields and looking down on the world of the valley below. Passing the twin lakes of kocha wari and kocha warmi far below, lake man (wari) and woman (warmi) in Kichwa. Having existed for long centuries they have finally begun to fill in with silt transforming into wide expansive silver green marshes. The mountain winds ripple through the reed beds below in shimmering waves.

The track gets worse and worse and the going slower and slower as we grow farther and farther from any settlements approaching the high paramo and the edge of Sangay National Park, our destination. We stop in the paramo to take in the view stepping into the scream of the winds. Stu then unloads his truck of two pintsize mountain bikers, otherwise known as his young sons, and yes truly they are making off through the gnarled ruts ahead of the land rovers. A sight to behold and some fearless little kids no doubt. I cannot image what Stu?s kids will be like when they grow up. Stu dragged them up over 15,000 ft the other weekend. That is higher than most of us have ever been and his kids, including Nadine (aged 2) are already off to an incredible start!

...And then. Right as we descended the worst, most ferociously muddy pockmarked rutted part of the road, crossing a small creek into Sangay the clutch stalled and went out never to start again. As I had feared Big Blue has broken down again, that makes 2 for 2, otherwise known as a 100% break down rate. There is nothing to do for it though and after getting the students piled in the back of Stu´s truck we returned to unload the gear trucking it the the last few miles by horseback.

Beautiful, rugged, remote, wailing misty winds and broken down vehicles. Welcome to Sangay!