Villa Nancy, Quito, Ecuador, day 558
Biking total: 50 days, 2428 km, 19’400 altimeters.
Climbing total: 208 days, 3100 km, 108’200 altimeters.
Sailing total: 300 days, 8873 nm, 26 altimeters (Panama Channel)
During the last days we reognized that the Indios has huge problems with global warming. They have to much rain in the region Bolivar what has a negative effect to the weaht production.
During a visit of a health center we saw also that there is hardly no medicine for this wonderful people, who lives up to 4000 m in the Andes! So we try to organize medicine for them and need your help: See at the end of the report, how you can ACT NOW!
After our school visited in Santiago 10 days ago we grinded our crampons for Chimborazo.- We have had the idea to climb the TOP on the 5th of June, that is the world environment day!
In the morning of the 4th of June we have had a school presentation in the school “Santa Marianita de Jesus Martinez Barba” in Chimbo and in the afternoon we climbed towards Chimborazo. We got again to the first hut on 4800 m, which we reached with the bikes. From there we hiked to the second hut on 5000 m and went further up to the glacier on 5200 m to check out the route.
We were alone in the hut. Sabine cooked two soups and a lot of pasta. At 23 h we got up. It was raining. At 1 a.m. we saw the moon and we started climbing. But after 15 minutes it was raining hard again and we got wet. Climbing up the moraine rain turned to snow. We decided to continue because smoetimes the weather improves during daybreak. Finding our way though the seracs and crevasses the sow accumulated more and more. We reached the ridge to the tOP and the cold wind was blowing hard. At dawn it didn’t stop to snow and the visibility was still interesting! – Again, we were forced to turn back, because the avalanche risk was getting to high to climb the top! The result: I got ill the next day…
Back in Chimbo we moved to Quito where we have had a public presentation infront of the Swiss Club and Humboldt-Accociation. Afterwards the Swiss Consul Peter Specker invited us to a Swiss restaurant where we got fondue and raclette!
The last three days we spent in the best school we met till now: PACHAMAMA; – the same name like our expedition vessel: The Pachamama International school is located in the Valley of the sun in Tumbaco. Its educational philosophy is to enhance the learning experience. Pachamama is open to students all over the world who would like to experience the biodiversity of its school and the beautiful country it is located in.
From the students we learned a lot about Ecuador’s biodiversity and culture:
Ecuador has the privilege of being a country with an incredible biodiversity in its flora, fauna, as well as in its culture. The country is among the 17 most mega diverse countries in the world. Because it has more than a half million types of insects and between 1.4 and 1.8 million species of living beings, among animals, plants and microorganisms. It has 11 unexploited areas for birds, six centres of biodiversity and plants unique to Ecuador; it has 27 nationalities of Indian and afro Ecuadorian people; it also has the ecosystem and biodiversity of the Galapagos Islands. The biodiversity is due to three factors: The Andean mountain range, the geographical location and the ocean currants. Ecuador has also a system of protected areas wich include 18 areas that cover 15% of Ecuador’s terretory and there purpose is the protection of the ecosystem and also scientific investigations and tourism.
We have done two presentations in this wonderful school and the children participated also at the TOPtoTOP-drawing-contest. With a local guide we plan a clean up with the students in the area of Cotopaxi. He mentioned that the weather is not predictibal anymore in the mountains and the in the last 20 years 450 km2 of glacier surface was melting away in the Andes!
ACT NOW with medicines for the Indios, – by Sabine:
“Here in Ecuador, we have visited several health centers, or, in Spanish,
centros del salud. Although I cannot imagine how to work under such adverse
conditions, I am going to join a nurse team at the End of June for some
days. As these centers are severely lacking medicaments, I would like to
bring along not only my working hands but also the pharmaceutics they need
most urgently: antibiotics, pain killers and vitamin pills for the children.
For this reason, please try to convince any hospitals or doctors you know to
donate some of the medicaments mentioned above. In June and July, several
Swiss ToptoTop-members are going to visit us in Ecuador. They could bring
the contributions along and we could then hand them over to the health
centers in Ecuador and also on the Pacific islands – we have heard that they
are operation under similarly difficult conditions.
We believe that such aid could be a great support and relief for at least
some centros del salud and their patients. Please respond to this appeal or
come up with your own idea how to help the unprivileged Indios, who suffer
most under the insufficient health system. For any further information (or
pictures to illustrate the problems we have seen) please contact Lea Firmin (leafirmin@gmx.ch),
who coordinates this action.”