School Newsletter May/June 2009

Flag of Ecuador:

Kms cycled: 10,300 km

No. of punctures: 4 (Miss Jordan’s bike)

Problems with the bikes:

Miss Jordan’s bike: Broken chain, broken gear hanger and derailleur. New bottom bracket, springs on the hub broken.

Dave’s bike: Broken frame near to the gear hanger.

Countries visited so far: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.

Current location: Popayan, Colombia.

Capital of Ecuador: Quito

Dear Schools,

We hope that this newsletter finds you enjoying the warm weather that we have been hearing about.

Since we last wrote to you, we have completed cycling the length of Ecuador, which took us one month and two days. Ecuador is a beautiful country which has the equator passing through it. It has three geographical regions; the coast, the mountainous Andes and the jungle. It is also famous for the Galapagos islands.

We have found out that Ecuador is a VERY, VERY HILLY COUNTRY! We have just worked out that we have climbed a total of 122,000m so far on our seven month journey. That is like cycling up Everest (8848m) 14 times!

Our Highlights of Ecuador

Although Ecuador has been a challenging country to cycle through, we have had so many highlights and learnt a lot about the country in the process. We would like to share a few of these experiences and facts with you!

Highlight no. 1

We enjoyed watching the iguanas that walk freely around the parks in Guayaquil. They were enormous and we got very close to them!

Iguana

Highlight no 2.

We stayed on a farm one night and were shown how chocolate is made from cacao seeds. Firstly, the pulp is scraped out and the seeds are left to dry in the sun for three days. Then, the seeds are roasted and ground up. This produces a thick substance that hardens and becomes bitter chocolate. We mixed it with hot milk and enjoyed a delicious hot chocolate.

Making Hot Chocolate!

Did you know that it was the Ancient Aztecs who first made this drink? The Aztecs prepared the original version of this beverage by crushing cacao beans, which they boiled with water and various spices, seasoned with pepper, and served cold.

Spanish explorers, stumbled upon this drink, stole the recipe, deleted the pepper from it, and substituted an equal measure of sugar to the crushed cacao beans and water before boiling it. Then, in the mid 17th century, a Frenchman discovered the art of making solid chocolate from finely ground cacao beans. The secret was out, and the rest is history!

Highlight no. 3

We watched a very interesting and colourful procession in a town called Riobamba. The procession celebrated “The Day of the Child.” Men, women and children danced through the streets, carrying banners educating people on children´s rights. It reminded me of our Global Week in BPSP especially the lesson on Children´s Rights under the UN Charter. To see the photos go to http://gallery.cyclingnomads.com/#22.0

Rights of the Children – All children have a right to life, a name, a cultural identify, a child development, health, a good education, integrity, family and participation.

Highlight no. 4

Meeting a Dutch family who were cycling with their two sons. One boy was 11 years old and the other 13 years old. They had cycled down from Los Angels in the USA. www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/4438

Highlight no. 5

My favourite part of cycling through Ecuador was being able to cycle through the jungle. We saw many interesting and scary animals! The monkeys in Mishualli were really funny as they tried to steal things from our pockets. I didn´t like the tarantulas too much as they are very big and hairy!

Just a few of the animals we discovered in the jungle!

Facts that we have discovered- Bananas

Did you know that there are over 1000 different types of bananas in the world?

Here in Ecuador, bananas aren´t just eaten on their own as a fruit snack. Plantain bananas need to be cooked before being eaten. The plantain bananas can be sliced up, fried and turned into banana crisps, other varieties are boiled, stewed or baked and put into soups. My two favourite types are the grilled bananas served with chocolate, and the delicious yellow, baby bananas which are really sweet on their own.

Different types of bananas!

Along the coast of Ecuador we cycled past plantation after plantation of bananas. We found out that Ecuador is the number one exporter of bananas and it is said to produce some of the best tasting bananas around!

Unfortunately, we have been finding out that Ecuador has one of the highest deforestation rates in Latin America and that 90 percent of tropical forest have been cleared to make way for the banana plantations.

On top of that, the banana workers suffer from long hours, low pay, forced overtime, exposure to dangerous pesticides and lack of job security. Apparently children still work on the plantations. I found out that in Ecuador, approximately one in four children are working. In 2003, an estimated 69,000 children from the age of 10 years old worked on the plantations for about $6 a day. Some of the big banana plantation companies have now started to tackle this issue to protect children. However, may adults still have to suffer from working in terrible conditions. To try and change this, people in the USA and the UK would have to either accept higher fair trade banana prices or stop buying Ecuadorian bananas in order to make a stand.

Next time you are buying bananas, why not check the label to find out where they are from? Do you already buy fair trade bananas?

The Equator

Did you know that the equator passes through 14 countries?

The equator or Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World in Spanish) was worked out in the mid 1700s and after the country became independent of the Spanish they decided to name their country after the discovery of the Equator which runs through their country.

Dave and I were very excited to stand in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere at the same time as this marked a big point in our cycling progress so far.

Sitting either side of the equator, Ecuador

Where are we now?

We have now entered Colombia, our sixth and final country within South America…we will update you next month about how we get on!

Don’t forget you can visit up on our website: www.cyclingnomads.com

Or to see all our photos so far go to http://gallery.cyclingnomads.com

To donate online please visit:   www.justgiving.com/cyclingnomads

Further resources for follow up work:

Interested in the Rights of the Child? Why not use Baden-Powell and St. Peter´s Global Week lesson plan and resources. They can be found at http://www.cyclingnomads.com/Global%20Week.htm

Want to find out more about fair trade and bananas? Check out Oxfam´s Cool Planet website http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/fairtrade/index.htm or try http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/category.htm?30

Would you like to know a little more about the Equator? Have a peek at http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/eq/Equator

Cycling Nomads are sponsored by: