e-woldhuis: October 2017

Saturday morning started at 5:30am with a quick wash and get ready for a two day outing to a place that my phone thought was Peru.

This was a camping trip with team mates David and Sandry who did a great job organising a time for young people to get together and get to know each other. This is yet one more ministry that was held in the area of Cariamanga which is a priority for SIM Ecuador.

The trip started with an 8 hour drive from Loja in a red Loja city bus with rechargeable beat box blaring away and a whole bunch of young people singing on the top of their voice every second song. It was a truly latin bus ride.

We past by two other towns to pick up other people so we could get to know and encourage one another. So far so good.

We then had a ride on a ranchero or chiva, which is a converted truck made to hold up to 35 people. We jumped into this truck which then took us through breathtaking views until a town called something I can’t remember.

A small panorama to capture some of it's greatness.

In the ranchero

Walking up you can see the rock face next to the lake.

Mattias at the lake.

From there it was back in the bus which got a whole lot wider than I remember because the road hugged the edge of the cliff and at points we went fast just to get through a corner and avoid falling off the edge.
We then arrived at the National Park which was around 3200 to 3300m above sea level. We got out of the bus and started to walk up to Laguna Negra which was at 3560m above sea level. It was absolutely amazing and we were not only impressed with the views but the trout we saw in the water. Mattias and I both ended up very muddy and cold as a result of our adventures, but it was all worth it.

Sitting on a rock

Standing on rocks is fun.

Walking down from the lake

After heading down David decided that it would be best to get a smaller ranchero down the hill, because it would have been too dangerous at night in the big bus with the tight curves and steep drops. But let me tell you, I think the ride in the smallest of rancheros with all our gear on the roof and around 8 people up there as well and another 20 people in the bottom section was way worse than anything else. The eight kilometres took around 30 minutes and was the most fearful ride I’ve ever taken. Mattias and I prayed frequently.

Jesús, David y Jesús sitting in the ranchero - hanging on for dear life.

Once we arrived at the campsite mattias and I lay down on the ground and looked up to the stars and reflected on how small we are yet we are people that God is interested in. We ate freshly caught trout and a lot of rice and yuka (taro). Yum
Afterwards we set up the tents in a gale forced wind that made tying down very difficult. I was glad that we had some good mats and sleeping bags because it was looking like we were in for a cold night.
We went and played a couple of games of UNO and afterwards went to bed.
It was a cold night and Mattias slipped down the tent all night because we were on a downhill angle for the night.

The Trout

The campsite

The next morning we woke up to hear that there was someone missing and a group had gone off at around 11pm to find him and came back around 3am. He had been on the bathroom the night before when the truck left. We were very thankful that he had been looked after by the people in that little refugio.
After a breakfast of coffee and bread John gave a talk on being and making disciples. An encouragement for these young people to live for him in all they do.
Afterwards we then headed up the hill the the ranchero, with none of the gear, which made it feel much safer.
Once we got up to the refugio we walked around 3kms up hill to a laguna that was just wonderful.
The last km was uphill and very steep. I was glad to have a small pack and a warm jumper. The lake was 3560m above sea level.

On the ranchero

This was the highest point.

The was a strong wind here

A panorama of the lake.

We then headed down to the bus and everyone was very tired from the walk and height. As we were waiting for the rest of the group to arrive at the main road we noticed that it was talking a long time. After a while Mattias and I decided that we would start to head down. We found them waiting a bit further down the road, they'd taken a different track downhill. After losing the guy the night before it was not surprising that some decided to start a new way down (thankfully we didn't lose anyone else). It was a good opportunity to talk to Mattias about the importance of staying together and not making new tracks just to save a little time.
All in all it was a great walk and a great time to spend together in God’s creation. It was great to be able to encourage people from a different part of the province and see the young people interact together.
We then had a lunch of two minute noodles, a tin of tuna and mayonnaise. Afterwards we headed back down to the bus and made the 6 hours journey back to Loja. What a wonderful time.