4 days to take off..

Time flies.. in 4 days Bram and Tim are off for a new adventure. This trip has been put together by Tim, so Bram has not really made any indepth research to what they're going to do, see etc. Prefers to take it day by day, a wait and see attitude! One thing we've understood by now... it rains a lot over there. Every day. Rain season is between november through may, with a slight calmer period in december and january. Equador habitants say you should prepare for a daily 4 season weather ! The higher altitude cities and villages are quite chilly, so guys... leave your t-shirts at home. Even in the amazonas it can feel quite cold during the rainy season. So prepare your rugsacks for lot's of humidity, heat, cold, rain, snow and wind. My bet it'll be a little heavy.. ;-) And be up early.. at 6:30 in the morning you have the best chance for some sunny spells.

Here's a link to read more about Equador , its climate and other information http://www.hacienda-ecuador.com/Ecuador/index.html

Bram's been preparing himself in a reasonable tempo th last couple of
months, and seems very fit doing easily 20 running laps up and down his
"favourite vineyard hillside" in 30 minutes, knowing he could push 21 if he gives it a go.

Pina, our labrador, follows him on his training rounds, however after a couple of vineyard laps.. she settles down sniffing around. I mean, how stupid can you be, running the same lap up and down 20 times ?? ;-) As soon as Bram takes his hiking shoes out, she's all over him, jumping up and down, so excited for another run or a long hike with a very heavy rugsack.
Pina & Seera, chilling....
Needless to say... old Seera just looks at her, shakes his head and goes back to sleep. Smart guy.. Seera turns 12 in February by the way. Still going strong, but a little tired and sometimes pain in his limbs. For the last two years, we've said several times that we thought it would be Seera's last, but lately he's been great and it looks like he's going to be there for another season! I can not even imagine what it would be like without him... he's been with us since we moved to France. Like a piece of furniture to stay. Good old boy!

Gabriella's class is following Bram up the mountains, since they started school after x-mas. Bram was there last week and gave a demonstration, bringing along all his gear. Beforehand, they'd received photos and names of all the mountains he's been up on (and their cultural/social surroundings), to search for their countries, continents and altitudes. Very exciting and interesting, but also important to see the contrast to the poor life people live next to these attractive peaks. It's easy to turn a blind eye and stay in the western tourist comfortable quarters... not going out and look for real life. That's what I call living in denial.

Well, you think, that's all very nice talk.. but are you actually doing something about it? Yes, actually there's a real plan in place, with a non-profit organisation set up, to help. I'll tell you more about that in my next post. Stay tuned my friends...

xx Jen