September 21 Renaud:
  The glass skyscrapers are on the left, the old lively city is on the right, and "Freedom", our sailboat, is in the middle, cruising towards the much bigger vessels that are queuing to cross the famous canal. Here we go, a last look at this diverse Panama City and at 6 am we start our journey through a small bit of the big Pacific Ocean to Ecuador. It will take somewhere between four and seven days. After two hours under the battling rain and pretty, moving sea, a few of us already realize it might be long, especially for our stomachs. Fortunately, our captain Tomas has the good plan to make a halt in the Archipelagos de las Perlas after ten hours of sailing. Nice way to have a rest and to plunge in the warm and nice bay near the fishing village. We then spend a nice, quiet night before pulling the anchor up again, for a few days this time.

September 22 Dylan:
  Today we are leaving the Archipelago de las Perlas. With its multiple islands, remote beaches, and small but enchanting fishing villages, it fills the space of the pseudo brochure tropical paradise. And being here makes me feel as if Im in some sort of Robinson Crusoe wonderland. Our departure from the archipelago brings the curiosity of several dolphins about, as they symbolically dive, swerve and dance their underwater poetics to share with us what seems a message of good tidings for the journey ahead. The lofty, green shallows soon fall away as a sharp line of pure ocean blue crosses our path, bringing the depths of the Pacific before us. And what better way to greet or be greeted by the depths than to have the honor of several humpback whales showing themselves for us. At first a distant wisp of white, maybe a swell breaking? No. Its the unmistakable departure of water and air from the brisket of these mighty creatures. Like a giant ship in form and character, slow but fortress-like, in the minds eye, the titanics of ocean mammalia. We are blessed. Perhaps as yet we do not know it; everyone is healthy, in good spirits and the promise of adventure whispers a subtle message on the gusts of wind which touch us ever so slightly on the cheek.

September 23 Devlin:
  Today I had a blast. Apart from Dylan, I was probably the only one on the team, because the rest were suffering terribly from sea-sickness. We were hit by a storm today. The sea was turned on its head and we pounded through seven meter swells, battling into a 30 knot + gale. At times waves would break over the side of the boat, throwing us off course like a matchstick. Between Dyl, Tomas and I, we maintained watches throughout the day and into the night. As night fell we had to sail by feeling, sensing the gusts and swells. The wind was too strong for auto-pilot and we had to steer the boat physically. My most exciting part was working on the bow as it pounded through the swells. First I would be 10-15 meters in the air, then come crashing down and the bow would plunge under water. The spray and torrential rain left me totally soaked. This is why I am here. I'm living the dream.

September 24 Mercedes:
  The bad weather continues. I woke up at four in the morning with Renaud and Heidi to start our two hour watch. We were supposed to take care of possible light ships in our way and eventual course and wind changes. The darkness prevented the possibility to see the horizon and my headache and dizziness started getting worse and worse. I threw up four times before 6am and continued to feel terrible the whole day. By the end of the day I had thrown up nine times. Without eating nor drinking, I passed the day curled up in a ball, in the corner of the cabin wishing for the wind to blow the storm away and permit the sun to shine on us the next day. Even though I was sea sick, I found in between the phases of dizziness that passed me, the incredible feeling of not being within land...to be in the middle of only water.

September 25 Heidi:
  After having slept for over 25 of the past 30 hours, I couldn't handle the bed to which I had been relegated due to my churning stomach. So I made my way up to the deck...and the sunshine! What a pleasure to not feel so sick that food is repulsive! Almost everyone stayed on the deck, in the sun, enjoying the good weather. Spirits have been high, boosted by the ever-happy and positive Captain. His love of life, love of people, and love of the ocean make me grateful, once again, that our paths crossed with such an inspiration as Captain Tomas Golder. So far on the trip we have seen so much sealife... including dolphins, whales, manta rays, swordfish, a turtle, a shark, and tons of jumping fish. It has been really incredible, especially my experience at 2 am when the Captain woke me to see the dolphins in the dark. I had been asleep on the deck, watching shooting stars, feeling the spray from the ocean, the strong winds and the not-so-gentle rocking of the boat... and then we saw the dolphins. Their movement in the water caused the phosphorescence in the water to light their way and leave glistening trails of light in the water, like shooting stars darting and jumping through the water. I feel such a connection with these beautiful, intelligent animals; almost like they are my sisters and brothers of the ocean. I fell asleep on the deck and had the most peaceful sleep I have had in a long, long time. Like Devlin, I am living my dream.

September 26 Jess:
  What a day! The storm and all the rocking and swaying left me very ill the first few days of the trip. Even the Dramamine pills (motion sickness pills) weren't working very well...I was beginning to hate boats...all boats...all things that float. However, these past few days have proven to be much more enjoyable. The sun has been shining brightly, no clouds, beautiful seas everywhere you look, fish jumping right near the boat, whales crossing right by us, dolphins playing, and us, right in the middle of it all! I took a little swim today...with the dolphins! Well, kind of...you see, they were playing right near the boat so we jumped off and grabbed on to the rope hanging off the back of the boat, hoping that one would come closer to us. One of them came within five meters of me, not close enough to play with, but still, very very enjoyable and peaceful. With that, night came and led us into our last set of watches. The 12 of us split up into four teams of three and took turns, every two hours during the night, making sure that everything was okay. Though the trip started out very badly, now, I'm already beginning to miss the glorious seas....

September 27 Jay:
  I had been in bed sea sick for a long time. I couldn't eat, I couldn't talk, couldn't even go to a bathroom. (I was afraid that I may throw up while I'm taking a X...) I realized that nothing is easy in the world, again. But...after dark, there's sunshine. Eventually...we arrived to Ecuador!! Wow!!! I was so excited to be on the land again. The land...stable, no movement. No sea sickness, no throwing up, no staying in bed all day long any more! So as soon as we got to the harbor I jumped to the ground. And...what happened? It was very weird! I thought the land was moving like the boat! I still had a sea sickness, but it was more like land sickness. Later, I heard that it might last for a whole day. Anyways it was pretty weird and funny at the same time. I was walking like a drunken person. :) I hope I'll be fine tomorrow though. You know, I'm still not really good enough to type this website report...

Capt. Golder :
  Hello. I am Captain Tomas Golder, Director of our tourist company called Oceanic Marine Adventures - Ocean Fun Tours. We have had the great and wonderful opportunity to be part of the Pole to Pole 2000 team while sailing our 40 feet ship called Freedom. The sailing route: From Panama 79deg30'00"W and 9deg35'15"N, to navigate approximately 600 nautical miles to 120 nautical miles by the coasts of Colombia, until we get to the country of Ecuador 79deg36'00"W and 1deg2'00 ''N. This adventure is risky, my sea friend Didier Madrid and I have a unique experience to ponder as we cohabit 7 days of sailing day and night. The members of the team were very valiant and cooperative since we found ourselves in a great storm to the 5deg10'00"N and 78deg30'15"W. We had winds from the South West at 30 knots for an entire day. I am so pleased of having carried out this adventure with such a marvelous team which I will carry with me in my heart always. Ocean Fun Tours headquarters is in Panama, and we are always willing to take on an important voyage to wherever anyone wants to go in the world via the Ocean. God bless the Pole To Pole 2000 Team and you can always count on me and remember that they have for always a friend in Panama. Continue ahead.

September 28 - Naoki:
  I woke up on the FREEDOM, this time it wasn't rocking! I just remenbered we were in Esmeraldas. After we went through the entry formalities into Ecuador, we had presentation at the Navy high school in Esmeraldas. This was our first presentation in South America. We were given a welcome by students who were from 13 to 15 years old. They were polite and energetic, especially the girls. I was really impressed by their postive attitude. In the presentation all of us introduced ourselves in Spanish, and then we did it as usual. After it was over, we were surrounded by many students and we enjoyed chatting with them. We left the Navy high school in the afternoon, and the students guided us to the Bus terminal bound for Guayaquil. I was really thankful for their kind hearts. At last we start traveling through South America!!

September 29 - Renaud:
  Yesterday we had a few hours on the bus until we arrived in Guayaquil where our vehicles have been shipped with by boat. The landscape was more as the pictures I had in mind for Central and South America, with more dense vegetation and many fields of palm trees. We found a very nice hotel to spend the night for $4US and this showed us the cost of living in Ecuadorian style. Even if we're not working and if Pole to Pole is not really a luxury trip, everything is very cheap for us, much more than in Central America. Guayaquil is the biggest city in Ecuador, a harbor city not really beautiful from what I've seen. The guide book we got from Adventurous Traveler.com is much sharper than I am, talking about the hills you can see if you look up and the rats if you look down. I would rather say that this city is vibrating, everything is moving a lot everywhere, hard to understand who is doing what and why. And it's true it's not the clean-well-presented occidental city but I didn't feel bad there and I actually would have liked to stay longer but Quito seems to be quite attractive and time is another resource we don't have much of...

I nearly forgot the event of the day: Dyl, Heidi and Jess tried to get the vehicles back . . . BUT first we forgot some important papers on the copy machine thousands of miles away in Panama, second we needed a paper from the Consulate of Canada to prove we do not want to sell the vehicles in Ecuador. So we have to wait till Monday at least, which means the vehicles will stay where they are. We'll also have a fun thing to get over: we went in the boat with as little stuff as possible and the rest is locked in customs with the vehicles. Just to explain why we'll have to adapt, Quito is at 2800 meters high and the project will bring us up to 4600 ... It's Murphy's law. One day Dyl and I made a translation of it that I like: .... happens! I answer to this with a Latin American sentence: Es la vida! That's life: for the lazy ones who wouldn't have looked for the meaning of this important sentence, if there's any. Hasta Luego y pura vida.

September 29 - Dylan:
  Five thousand meters levitating above sea level proves to be a bit much in one day's travel. I found myself here below Ecuador's highest mountain - Chimborazo - due to some fairly problematic delays with vehicle importation in the nations capital, Guayaquil. Guayaquil is at sea level and the cabin that was my destination for this evening was at 5000 meters. What the hell, I thought, 15 or 16 thousand feet in a twelve hour period can't do me too much harm. In the bus ride from Guayaquil we climbed eight or nine thousand feet through low land jungle to cloud forest to high altiplano of the mighty Andes. It was a little shocking to me. I guess I expected more forest. After all, a British Columbia boy like me can't help but yearn for the beauty and wildness inherentin the `bosque` of all landscapes. The land is one of agricultural necessity; the people of these valleys and mountains, whose ancestors must have farmed here thousands of years before, continue to carry on their traditions. Every chunk of arable land is utilized, plowed, grazed, planted, or slashed and burned. One could say there is no waste here. But in my mind I struggle to see the hope for the forest on these elevated hillsides whose almost moonscape signature bids little promise for future forest, and perhaps agriculture. Every mountain slope I view for mile after mile carries the receding tree line and the expanding `hunger` of humankind's quest and need for agricultural expansion. Then, as I look upon the people working the fields - old women carrying loads most westerners would shrink beneath and young children exemplifying extroardinary maturity in the delegation of their chores - I really wonder if I am honestly able to, with my `norte americano` and western mind, truly perceive even a little of the reality of the situation here. There is a relationship between these people and the land which transcends my intellectual capabilities, a relationship I think I could only know if I were to hear the call of a hungry child and witness the ascetic beauty of the forest at once in unison. Somewhere between the family, the plow, and the forest these relationships would be calling me to make some choices. What would my choices thereafter be?

These thoughts elude me as the rain on the windshield of the taxi turns soggier, harder and soon snowier as we wind up the switchbacks to the Chimborazo Refugio. I must be loco, I consider, as enthusiasm bursts out of every ounce of my being for the snow which I so love. My driver is equally puzzled by my eagerness to stop and frolic in the winter display, no doubt he thinks I must choose an igloo as habitation in Canada if I could get so excited about a little snow? Chimborazo has three large peaks all covered in glaciers, which speak in afternoon squabbles as chunks of ice roll off the mountain. As dusk approached, I hiked up above the hut to watch the sunset. The skies opened briefly in a taunting way to send me the last glimmer of golden light across the sprawling altiplano to the west. The perfect moments of that evening were soon broken at this time as I began to notice the naseua and the headaches. These were to plague me for the next few days. I could hardly sleep that night and spent the next day in a love-hate relationship with the mountain, as I knew the elevation was effecting me. When I did leave it took me still a couple of days at sea level to get myself back on track. I continue to be tested...

October 1 - Devlin:
 Today we had a rest day in Quito. The town is divided into two main parts: old town and new town. We are currently staying in old town and most of it dates back about 400 years. It is quite possibly one of the most beautiful towns that I have ever visited. The architecture of the buildings is full of character and speaks of days of old. The streets are lined with a myriad of vendors and it seems you can buy anything. The churches in particular are breathtaking and I am struck by how people can build places of such beauty for someone they have never met before. I wandered into one such church to have some quiet time. After a while I was suddenly caught up in a service of which I understood nothing. I just stood up and sat down with the others. Nevertheless I had a great time and I found what I was looking for. Today I also became painfully aware of how difficult it is to keep a life going back home. Communication is poor and extremely costly at the best of times and it is impossible to communicate on a regular basis. I can only hope and pray with faith and trust that all turns out for the better. There is little else one can do. To those left behind: I love you.

October 2 - Merce:
  Armando Ruiz and Gerson Arias from Rumicocha Ecological Foundation came with us early in the morning to help the team to find the stuff we would need for the next days projects in the Ecological Reserve Cayambe Coca (all of our baggage with the equipment and clothes are still stuck in the vehicles at Guayaquil harbour.) Foundation Rumicocha's main goals are Protection and Conservation of the Reserve and Tourism Development Projects that will make it sustainable. Another project which involves both helping and advising people from the villages around the limits of the reserve, to find productive alternatives for living and promoting a better use of the natural resourses around the area. In Cayambe Coca Reserve, part of our job was erecting a huge sign in one of the entries and opening a tourist path in the mountains, crossing one of the representative ecosystems of it, the Paramo. Opening the path was an exciting hiking experience, we started at 4.200 mts with the scenary of the white peaks of Antisana Volcanoe in the south and the lagoon system in front of us to the north. There are at least 90 lagoons, some connected by natural channels under the earth. Walking in the middle of the bush, crossing high and thick reeds, discovering many of the lagoons and enjoying the cold and misty sunset, typical of this season, we arrived at the cabin where we were to spend the night in the absolute darkness. Especially for me, it was a rewarding afternoon, talking with Armando, the Biologist of the Foundation. He spent time explaining to us the adaptation of the species for these weather conditions: strong wind, high altitude, cold nights and long rain periods, all that resulting in specific plants biotypes. The majority of the vegetation is very short, with hard structures outside and a soft and cushion core inside, that permit it to catch the water and keep its life structures at constant temperatures. After that exciting day, little did we know the surprise that was waiting for us the next morning, when we woke up in an incredible mountain landscape, with waterfalls and the 6000 mts peaks of Antisana in front of the cabin, shining while the sun started touching its summits.

October 3 - Heidi:
  Welcome to the world of FRUSTRATION. Dylan, Jessica and I have been here in Guayaquil for the past few days, trying with all our might to get the cars into Ecuador so we can continue our biking. First of all, we were really dumb... we forgot very important car papers in Panama City. The second problem is that Ecuador wants us to pay outrageous import taxes in case we decide to sell Piggy and Beast here... why we would do that is beyond me but a letter from the Canadian Consulate is necessary. We did this yesterday, spending all day with the nice lady explaining Pole to Pole and our urgency. But more important are our papers since we kinda need them for the rest of the countries we are going through. So we have been patiently waiting for the people in Panama to send them to us, DHL or pigeon courier, whichever is faster. Apparently it is pigeon courier since DHL experienced a problem and all their packages south of Miami were delayed. So we failed to receive our package! today, thus delaying the frustrating process of importation, this time with the added headache that they are afraid we will sell our cars. It has been a hard time, not physically, but emotionally and mentally draining. I am frustrated at my inability to communicate with people as well as I would like and help share some of the burden that Jessica must take on because of her language skills. It is good to learn how important language and communication is... but it is a painful and slow lesson.

October 4 - Naoki:
  I shivered from the cold and I woke up unintentionally in the small cabin. We were in Cayambe-Coca reservation where the altitude was 3800m. This was the highest point where we slept in this journey so far. Mercedes and I love high mountains, so it was Paradise for us. But the other guys had a bad headache and felt dizzy. They were walking like ghosts who were very hungry. In the early morning, we went to put up a sign "Bienvenidos Reserva Ecologica Cayambe-Coca" at the entrance of the reservation with staff members of Fundacion Ecologica Rumicocha. Because of the high altitude, we were breathing very feebly everytime like lifting a scoop. In front of a sign, great landscape spread over the snow mountains. After putting up the sign, we jumped in the hot springs in Papallakita. It was a big swimming pool rather than a hot springs. We recovered from the fatigue of our journey.

In Papallakita we visited an elementary school as well. We were given a welcome by some cute students and they sang us short songs with dancing. It was pulling at our hearts very much. We have a full program today! In the afternoon, we visited a cheese factory. Altough I didn't eat a lot of cheese in Japan, I have come to love cheese after visiting this cheese factory. Several local people were engaged in making cheese, and all the cheese is handmade, by the way. We were given a piece of cheese made fresh, and it was so, so nice. I think it's very important to know where each food comes from and how it is made. We should ascertain what is a real food. At last, we went to see a huge waterfall which height was 150m. It was an amazing landscape. I could not see the bottom of the waterfall because of the deep mist. It was appropriate for the end of the day. I love Ecuador very much!

October 4 - Renaud:
 Early wake up again today because we have a nice 2 hour drive or more to reach Tena in the Amazon Basin. It happens in our now - much beloved Foundation Rumicoche's pick-up - bumps and turns are treating badly the small breakfast I've been able to swallow quickly before starting. We drive through the last pass and here is the huge, green Amazon Basin in front of us; my perspective is only limited by a volcano on the left and the Andes range on the right. Tena is a very touristic city, but still amazing. As yesterday, the rivers we followed to come down here are certainly some of the most beautiful, paddling playland I've seen. The real breakfast arrives and 40 minutes later we step into an Amazonian canoe on the Rio Napo. The engine is propelling us pretty fast downstream through this large river, bordered by the very dense vegetation of the rain forest. It takes us to an animal reserve where we can see monkeys jumping around in freedom, tapirs having a nap near a rock, a wildcat impatient in his cage, and bright and colorful parrots looking down on us as awful uncolored animals. Merce cannot help but to take the boa in her arms, I can't and only accept a small monkey that doesn't want to go down. A nice swim and we need to go back. The buses we hoped to take to Quito are very late so we jump once more at the back of the pick-up. After a long hour, rain pours down on us and we have to hide under the plastic sheet. I'm rolled in a fetus position and try to get some fresh air from time to time opening the sheet. I didn't feel sick on the boat but nearly puked in the truck. I'll stop half way where we get our bags back and will wait for the bus with the Koreans. To conclude three fantastic and very diverse days, this one was long but as passionate as the other ones. Thanks a lot to Guerson, Armando and Faust who know and love their country and can share those feelings, it's a huge gift for me.

October 5 - Jessica:
  I wish I could smile all the time. It's so easy to smile and be cheerful when things are going well, when everything is going your way. Today was a really rough day. Three of us, Dylan, Heidi, and I went to customs to try for the second time to pick up our vehicles. I opened my groggy eyes early this morning, knowing fully well that today would be a challenge. Border crossings are always a struggle and this one just seemed to be that much more complicated because of the shipping. We spent our whole day running from person to person, from office to office, questioning and pleading with the the officials to be frank with us. In my head I'm screaming, "But I'm with Pole to Pole, you have to be nice to us! You have to give us our cars back!" By the end of the day our Canadian Consulate letter still wasn't enough for the officials, the wording was wrong. The other papers we had managed to gather were wrong, small technicality here, another one there. We left the office with no good news and went to grab some food...the first food of the day. With long faces and solemn spirits, we sat down and Heidi decided we needed to find some way of venting. So after a bit of hat throwing, ketchup spilling, mayonaise smearing, and silly name calling, we all lightened up and decided nothing was worth a frown. Tomorrow we get a new letter and try again. With a new day comes hopefully a new answer.

October 5 - Jay:
  We are still waiting for the vehicles. Unfortunately, we had another holiday. (It's unfortunate because more holidays means more mileage afterwards.) Anyways, I went out to see what Ecuador looks like. It was a weekday so every store was opened. There were lots of people around the market yelling to sell something. It was pretty much like a Korean old style market. I looked around for three hours, buying nothing. I didn't have anything to buy but was very interested. It was fun to just look around and see how other people are living. And I'm sure that it's fun for them to look at the strange Korean with long hair, looking around very strangely. They looked at me very strangely as well. :)

October 6 - Dylan,Heidi & Jessica:
  Day 7 in Guayaquil. 8 am, bright and early we arrived at the Canadian Consulate hoping that they would be able to write us another letter, certifying that we would not be selling piggy and beast in Ecuador. Mrs. Marta was wonderful and immediately wrote and printed out the necessary letter. We headed off to the customs office for another day of what was sure to be filled with plenty of hassling and waiting. After waiting for six more hours in an office full of men running around, shouting, trying to get papers signed and stamped, we received our papers and were given 30 minutes to get to the port and reclaim our vehicles. We rushed over to the port and handed the official our big stack of papers, only to hear that we were missing one of the signatures (even though we asked several times if we needed anything else). The nice young man took kindly to our case and made the necessary phone calls to make it possible for us to retreat our cars. We were then handed the keys an hour after the official closing time and joyfully ran over to our cars, only to find several damages done to The Pig and objects stolen out of The Beast. Also, much to our dismay, but not surprisingly, neither one of them started and they had to be charged by a huge machine for about ten minutes. We started our twelve-hour drive to Esmeraldas to meet up with the rest of the team, after stocking up on plenty of caffeine and snacks for the road. We stopped for a few hours at midnight and then continued on, arriving in Esmeraldas at 11 the next morning. It's been a long week; very mixed emotions. What a relief it is to be out of the city.

October 7 - Renaud:
  Let's start the day at 00h, midnight where all days should start but usually don't when people sleep. Well at this time, we had missed a bus, and were in a cab to get to another terminal. We arrived to learn the next one to Esmeraldas, where we had planned to meet the vehicles' crusaders, would leave at 4. So we sat down and prepared ourselves to wait four hours in this place described in all guides as a place not to stay too long in even during the day. As usual I didn't feel that at all, especially being the seven of us. And then a shout "Santa Domingo" stops me from catching up the week late I have on my diary. This place is in our direction: we jump in the old bus, are a little bit concerned about leaving our bags in the back compartment, are lucky enough to have a seat, and just let the driver go. Indeed, you don't want to have a look at his piloting techniques! We arrive at mid point just on time for the next bus to Esmeraldas. Once again, being the first in, we have a seat and are not squeezed in the alley! After seven hours on the bus, plus two of us trying to find one, here we are! No sign from the others. They will arrive around 11 and we'll start checking what's missing and what's broken. The list is pretty long but major things like bikes, computers and expensive stuff are mainly there. Shoes, sunglasses, clothes, and some cash is gone; the vehicles are bumped but not badly damaged. I think I'm the only lucky one or I don't remember what I had but I think I'm not missing anything! So, the ocean is crossed, we're ready to start again, that's the main point. I'll be sad to leave this beautiful and so diverse Ecuador, but Peru and its Machu Picchu are waiting for us . . .

OTHER PICTURES & REPORTS: 

Nandaime to Panama

Puerto Escondidas to Nandaime

Los Angeles to Puerto Escondidas

Washington to Los Angeles

Ottawa to Washington

Thunder Bay to Ottawa

Vancouver to Thunder Bay

100 Mile House to Vancouver

Inuvik to 100 Mile House

North Pole to Resolute Bay

Training Camp