Monday, March 30, 2009

More Jungle Pictures

Here are some more pictures from the jungle and a couple of recording audio clips for the videos we're working on as well.

In the Jungle

Last week I had the really neat opportunity to visit Rick and Sharon LaBouef.  I did a lot of work on creating a video in the Shuar and Quichua languages.  We also got to fly into the jungle.  We flew in Wed. evening, showed a movie, spent the night in the jungle and few back to Shell on Thur.  Here are some pictures from the time in the jungle.

Monday, March 23, 2009

My trip to Shell

Instead of heading home after the hike to "El Altar", I got on a bus and went to Shell on the edge of the jungle.  It was quite a pleasant change to come down from the rain and the cold to the rain and the warm.  I'm sitting on the porch right now watching planes take off, seeing an orange tree and watching exotic butterflies flutter by.
 
On my way to Shell, I got some great shots of some neat Andean peaks.  Here are a few shots of El Altar, Chimborazo, and Tungurahua.  Tungurahua is an active volcano.  Note the smoke coming out of the top.

El Altar

How much can a person write about a 3 day hike up a mountain?  There's so much I could share, but I'm not feeling very wordy right no, so I'm afraid this won't be very long.
 
We left last Thur. morning at 4:00am for the mountain in a chartered bus.  There were a total of about 25 high school youth along and about 5 adults.  We rode in the bus until about 12:30pm and then began hiking.  After almost 5 hours of hiking up hill we arrived at our camp site.  After pitching tents and having supper, we settled down to sleep.  It was rained most the night and many got cold and wet in the tents.
 
Friday morning after breakfast we left to continue hiking further up the mountain.  We began the trek in good weather, but soon it began to rain and fog began to roll in.  After a good 2 hours of hiking up a very steep trail, the path began to diminish, and the fog began to thicken.  There was no way to continue on.  We called all the kids together and had a time of prayer, praise and Gerardo gave a devotional.  Right at this point, the fog began to lift and an amazing view unfolded before our eyes.  There below us was the dazzling blue-green lake in the center of the crater, and surrounding the lake were the rugged, snow capped mountain peeks.  It was breathtaking, and that much more than just he altitude.  It was so exciting to see the Lord so directly answer our prayers and roll the fog away.
 
From that point we were able to continue climbing up to the snowline.  After hiking up some very steep, rugged rocks we made it to the snow.  The altitude was about 14,500 feet at this point.  What fun to see the kids play in the snow.  For most of the people on the hike, it was the first time for them to touch snow. 
 
After being in the snow, we hiked back down to camp.  There we dried sleeping bags over the fire and ate supper.  That night, it did not rain as much and everyone seemed to sleep better.  The following morning we ate granola and began the hike back.  Due to all the rain, the trail had drastically deteriorated.  We walked in mud up to at least our ankles all the way back.
 
Part way back down the mountain, we learned that our bus that was supposed to pick us up had been in an accident.  That complicated matters.  We had no option but to return in a public bus.  Thankfully, the Lord worked out those details as well.
 
Thanks to each for your prayers.  We had some excellent devotionals with the youth, and no major injuries.  God is good!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Hike home

While we were up on the mountain, it rained.  The trail home was a mess.  Here are some pictures.  It was a good three hour hike through the mud.

Up to the snow line

After hiking the first day, we spent the night in tents.  The following morning we continued hiking up to the snowline.  At around 14,500 feet we made it to the snow line.  What fun to watch the kids play in the snow.  Most had never seen snow before.