My group was on the first winter ex which was from Monday March 9th till Wednesday the 11th. It was only me and Rene in our cooking group so we had an easy time preparing and buying food. It was also really easy to pack. We decided to go for Chicken Alfredo the first night, and a hearty chili mix made from dehydrated veggies and chili mix. Both meals turned out remarkably well even though they were just dehydrated mix's. For lunch's we went with 2 bagels each for each lunch (we were to have 3 lunch's in total, so 12 bagels). That was probably the largest portion, the bagels, but I managed to get my water air tight barrel into my bag, so I just crammed everything into it, and it actually worked remarkably well and kept everything dry and still in there original shape. For breakfast we went super simple, portage, the classic campers breakfast.
I joined another group of 3 for the leading portion of the trip. In our leader group we had, Mooda (2nd year ODA), Dan (1st year), Peter S.(1st year), and myself. We were in charge of leading the second day. For each day that each group lead, they were supposed to lead the group to two checkpoints and then to base camp, for the third group instead of base camp they lead us to Wilderness Tours (our take out point).
Our entire group consisted of two leaders, and a mix of four ODAN'S, seven first year ODA's, and one second year ODA, total of 14 all together.
The overall trip there wasn't too much of hiccups, some people didn't enjoy my leading style. I guess I wasn't as cautious thinking as some others were hoping, and I guess I may have taken then on some rougher terrain than they wanted to risk. I may have used the phrase "Were just gonna Skirt around this hill here", apparently I used that line a lot, and there were a few hills. But we did manage to get past all the ups and downs and eventually found a nice spot of even ground where we set up camp.
The last day was a short one, it felt a little longer near the end though for me. My pack decided to break only a couple kilometers from WT, which made the rest of the hike very hard. But we made it, and I must say that was a great experience. The trip definitely gave me a better idea of how to pack and what to wear and bring for these kinds of trips. Plus it gave me an idea of what gear I still need to get. I am also happy I was on the first group where we actually used our snowshoe's and weren't having to worry too much about melting snow. Overall Great time, look forward to my chance to go on my own winter trip.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza, the 5th wonder of the world. Thea large pre-Colombian Archaeological site built by the great Mayan Civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula. They no longer allow you to climb anything any more, its all wearing away due to erosion and thousands of people walking/ climbing on it. Plus they found that some people were disgracing it, like vandalising. When I say vandalising I mean like grafting and breaking off pieces to take home, and some even went all the way to urinating on it. So they now have it surrounded by a simple chain, but there are people everywhere.
I was pretty blown away though regardless. There is a spot that if you stand in front of the stairs and clap there will be a ringing echo that kind of sounds like an arrow whipping by, but its just the sound deflection.
There was a giant Cenote where they apparently used to kill or throw 15 year old virgins into for sacrificial purposes. And which what knowledge they have they say that the parents of these kids were thrilled even proud to have there kid picked for this great task.
One of the most amazing sites must of been the Ball Court. Apparently this particular one is the largest one they have ever found. Its suspected to be the most prestiges because of this. It is said that the captain of the winning team will be decapitated. Supposed to be a honor, but I think its just kinda unnecessary, why kill the best player?
Chichen Itza was one of the most intense experiences of my life so far, there was a sense of energy there. As in you know something went down here along time ago, there is so much lost history of that place. The facts we have now are all just guesses and loosely put together facts. We can only hope to one day have a true understanding of how the Mayans really lived.
One of the most amazing sites must of been the Ball Court. Apparently this particular one is the largest one they have ever found. Its suspected to be the most prestiges because of this. It is said that the captain of the winning team will be decapitated. Supposed to be a honor, but I think its just kinda unnecessary, why kill the best player?
Chichen Itza was one of the most intense experiences of my life so far, there was a sense of energy there. As in you know something went down here along time ago, there is so much lost history of that place. The facts we have now are all just guesses and loosely put together facts. We can only hope to one day have a true understanding of how the Mayans really lived.
My Adventure in Cancun
Even though it wasn't really "Outdoor Adventure" type stuff, but it was an adventure for me in other ways. I got to see a completely different culture where it is very different than here. I was really lucky as in this trip was a gift from my mother for my birthday, and she allowed me to take one friend along with me. I decided to choose Piers, a friend from my program.
The biggest reason why I picked him is his previous travelling experience and knowledge of how to stay safe in foreign countries. I think because of him I didn't get nearly as ripped off on bartering on the street. Also knowing where good places to eat and not eat.
The first time we had the chance we took a ferry from Cancun to an island called Isla Mujeres, fairly close to authentic Mexican culture. The Cancun resort area is basically a Las Vegas rip off, where all the prices and attractions are all the same as here or the states. But on the island if you go to the right area's you can get amazing deals for cool souvenirs and good food. The first place we stopped at when they brought us the dip, it looked really healthy and filled with veggies and sauce, but we had heard that we should watch out because sometimes the kitchen may not clean the vegetables enough and we could get malaria, or something. So me and piers flipped a coin, we called heads, and it landed on heads, so we ate. After that we basically stopped flipping, the food was so good everywhere we went it was amazing.
There was this one small restaurant that we found where for 90 Peso's, which is about 9 Canadian dollars, I got three fairly large pork steaks, with a helping of steamed veggies, tortillas and dip, and some papas fritas (french fries). It was so delicious, and for a good price.
Its kind of scary sometimes how different we are to them. Our cultures are so vastly far between. You can see it in how they all sell things to us at markets, they rely on us rich North Americans to come down and buy there stuff for fraction of the price it would be here. Our culture supports many peoples lives down in Cancun. If we all stopped going there, there entire community could collapse. Next Post I will tell you all how Chichen Itza was. Prelude, it was AMAZING.
The biggest reason why I picked him is his previous travelling experience and knowledge of how to stay safe in foreign countries. I think because of him I didn't get nearly as ripped off on bartering on the street. Also knowing where good places to eat and not eat.
The first time we had the chance we took a ferry from Cancun to an island called Isla Mujeres, fairly close to authentic Mexican culture. The Cancun resort area is basically a Las Vegas rip off, where all the prices and attractions are all the same as here or the states. But on the island if you go to the right area's you can get amazing deals for cool souvenirs and good food. The first place we stopped at when they brought us the dip, it looked really healthy and filled with veggies and sauce, but we had heard that we should watch out because sometimes the kitchen may not clean the vegetables enough and we could get malaria, or something. So me and piers flipped a coin, we called heads, and it landed on heads, so we ate. After that we basically stopped flipping, the food was so good everywhere we went it was amazing.
There was this one small restaurant that we found where for 90 Peso's, which is about 9 Canadian dollars, I got three fairly large pork steaks, with a helping of steamed veggies, tortillas and dip, and some papas fritas (french fries). It was so delicious, and for a good price.
Its kind of scary sometimes how different we are to them. Our cultures are so vastly far between. You can see it in how they all sell things to us at markets, they rely on us rich North Americans to come down and buy there stuff for fraction of the price it would be here. Our culture supports many peoples lives down in Cancun. If we all stopped going there, there entire community could collapse. Next Post I will tell you all how Chichen Itza was. Prelude, it was AMAZING.
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