Travel report 25; Sharing the end.

The last one and a half month of my journey were a bit different than all the others. Was it first already strange that I (I who appreciate my free time so much) decided to do volunteer work and even for a much longer time than everyone (including myself) ever expected, I then still had a goal.

After my sad ending at Villa Tunari, it seemed that I lost my goals to go for. I thought to had 2 new goals: First a girl I had met before in I.W.Y. and second, to help in a new animal refuge that a friend of my is helping to start up in Ecuador.

Part of the reason that I lost my first goal was because I didn’t pay enough attention to the girl. I liked her, but apparently my heart was still more with the park than with her. I still wanted to finish some things I was involved in; like the big donation for Waira’s cage. Partly because of that I failed to notice how much the girl liked me already. This made that my New Years eve became special in a different way as I had hoped and planned…

I ended up getting the money, but "giving her away" to an other former volunteer of I.W.Y.. He is a good guy I had worked together with and together with him and the girl we decided to walk the Choro Trail around La Paz.

This trail brings you through a long valley down to Coroico. For those who don’t want to take the bus or bicycle on the death-road to Coroico, this is a nice alternative.

It was a good hike with nice view and on this hike it became more clear that this guy gave "my girl" the attention she wanted. The attention which I hadn’t gave her. Now I’m usually not fast with girls, but this time I can’t blame it on that. I decided to stay aside and this became the tone of the last few weeks of my trip. I shared lives of different people with different goals, but all of this time I was just a visitor, without a real goal of myself.

I shared the "simple" live of a great, 23 years old, girl in Lima, to find out that I have no right to complain about things that go wrong during my travelling. Not even when I found out that my flight-ticket home became 200US$ more expensive…

No, I had to struggle with money to survive the last days of my trip, with the questions: What to do when I’m back home; what kind of job; stay in Holland or go travelling, or volunteering again and where???

She has to struggle every day to survive, to earn enough money (only about 25 cent an hour) to live from, to learn how to work with computers and how to speak proper English. This way she can learn more about the world around her and maybe she can teach others, children, to learn the same. She doesn’t have the luxury to think of which country to go to for holiday. Her dreams are to visit Huaraz and Cusco, to learn more about the history of her own country.

I felt happy and at the same moment embarrassed that this girl gave me a tour through the best parts of Lima. That I ate with her the food her mother had cooked for us and that they didn’t want to accept anything in return. I tried to do really careful with my money these last weeks, because I thought that I didn’t had that much anymore, but they really don’t have much money and still want to share everything…

Just before I left Lima I took the girl, with a story, with me to the bus-station. Here I bought her a return-ticket, on her name, without a date, to Huaraz. The smile that this gave on her face is un-payable J

After Lima I went straight to Ecuador; Baños, Mera and the beginning of the new Animal Refuge.

The plan for this refuge started in September when the owner of Santa Martha animal refuge asked for help to buy 100 hectare of land close to the more tropical village of Mera. At this moment my friend Jennifer (who I had met in I.W.Y.), her friend Alex (who was in I.W.Y. before us) and an English guy, Toby where doing volunteer work at Santa Martha. The three of them decided to help the owner, Jonny.

Unfortunately Jonny had to pull out, because he needed the money more to keep Santha Martha running. But the three animal friends didn’t want to give up that easy and decided to go on with the three of them. Luckily Jonny is still helping them with his contacts, knowledge and advise, but it is a difficult and ambitious task to fulfil…

However the park tries to release most of its animals back in Nature, it also gets a lot of animals which can not be released anymore, because of their health or because they´re too much accustomed to humans. With keeping all these animals the park will become too small.

Santa Martha is also located in a farmers area, close to Quito, at an altitude of about 3000m, which means that it can become pretty cold there. Especially during the nights this is a problem for some of the animals.

These problems together make the purpose for starting the new park so important. Realising the new park will certainly be a live-improvement for all the different species in the park. From Ocelots and bears to Leon’s, from different monkeys and birds, to even snails, snakes and a giant Galapagos turtle, a small selection of the animals who will get a better live when the new park can open its doors.

At this moment the friends trying to earn more money, working on the land and trying to make it more accessible, while their lawyer is finishing the last legal matters.

They had to make sacrifices to start this project, dedicate at least the next years of their live to help animals and they still have a long and difficult way to go, before their park can be fully operated. I’m proud of them and wish them all the luck and strength they need, Suerte! (luck!).

I’m now (13-2-2005) just a few days back home in Holland. It looks and feels still as home, but I don’t really feel "at home" (yet?). I’m trying to find a job, what seems to be a little more difficult than expected and try to fit back in, what others will call, a normal live… But what is a normal live? I liked my live of the last one and a half year and I felt really alive.

I know that I need a job so I can support myself, especially with only 80 Euro on my account, but I don’t really feel like staying in Holland, starting a new career, a relation, buying a house and settle down, like "normal" people. If this is normal, than I’m happy that I’ve always said that I’m not normal ;-) Only this gives me some other dilemma’s to solve: What do I want? What do I really want? A challenge, something I can dedicate myself to, something I can lose my heart in; Travelling, Working, a girlfriend?

I would really like to become a guide who organises independent hikes, tours and/or vacations. But with my background and only a small demand, this is not easy. I’m also surprised how much I liked the volunteer work so I would like to go back to Ecuador, Bolivia or maybe even Thailand (where I got earlier an offer from), but than I need to be sure that I can lose my heart in it again…

Can I maybe find a combination? Or will than happen the same as with the girl I had a "half" eye on? Too much questions. But I still like to try to see things from the positive side and the positive thing about this is that it is a challenge ;-)

Did this trip of one and a half year changed me as a person? Maybe some people will say: yes, but I don’t think so. I’ve always been stubborn and dedicated to do the things I want or stand for. The travelling and working with people have always been in me and I’ve always liked animals as well. But now it all came out in a more different way. I think I’m still the same, maybe only a little more aware of who I really am.

Most of the people who read this are travellers themselves, so they know what travelling does with them. To all the others and especially the ones who convinced me to write my stories in English as well, thanks for that, I want to say:

The only problem can be to come back in the "normal world" where people don’t understand how you could have fun being careful with your money; sleeping in small hostels with smelly rooms, travelling in packed busses, which are not 5 minutes but sometimes even hours to late; Getting lost, even robbed; Or pay to work 7 days a week, ten hours a day and get shit on.

Then when you get back home, you complain that you want to go back to all this? Yes, be careful, for most people a trip like this seems to be only the start…

I want to thank everyone for reading my stories, replying on them and supporting me in my writing. I’m trying to make a book out of it and maybe I will try to find a publisher (anybody has contact, tips?).

I found it great to do and will try to do the same the next time when I go travelling. If you want I can keep you posted again, but I don’t want to make any promises yet.

I would like to keep in contact with most of you, but understand that this is a little difficult. I can make you one promise on this: If you send me an e-mail you will always get a mail back and if I ever get my own house you are all welcome, but not at the same time please J

P.S. For who wants to know what’s now going on in Inti Wara Yassi in Bolivia? The last news I got is that they have only about 20 volunteers, who has to work very hard to give the animals the best they can. One of them, who has experience in construction work and who made the new cage for Waira, plans to go to the New Land to place this cage on location, so Waira can finally go out of her small cage. I wish him and all of them a lot of luck.