(Marcel, Johnny, and Todd)After months and months of vigorous training, meaning no training whatsoever, the brave 'Croation Haulers' (sponsored by coincidently the Croation Hall--thanks Johnny) embarked on their 4 day journey logically in a lake canoe. Hoping that size alone would make up for the speed of the other weightless racing canoes. They couldn't have been more prepared, except if they had paddled intertubes or carried 100 lbs of food instead of 50.
Luckily they had a supaat kroo (kriol for support crew. we've been here for 9 months. and that is what we have to show for it.) The support crew-me, nicole, cat, ashley, alli, shirly, jackie, and matt, were supposed to go ahead, drop off supplies, and set up camp etc. As of the morning of the race, however, the support crew did not have a way to get to the campsites or the drop off points. But thanks to Alli's swooning, just as the 94 boats took off on the first morning of the race, we (the crew) climbed in to fancy, air conditioned SUV's of the British Military. After that moment, they pretty much took over, doing everything from feeding us dinner, giving up their chairs and patrolling our camp as we slept, while we ate their candy bars and cheered while they threw stuff into our teams canoe. It couldn't have worked out more beautifully!
The race started on a lovely foggy morning in Cayo ...
The mornings were always the best part of the day. Everyone would be freaking out running into each other waiting for the gun to shoot and at least 3 boats would flip with in the first 30 seconds. As the day went on, the space between boats would get longer and longer. The first boats getting in anywhere from 2-7 hours before the last boats.
Every night after paddling all day, we fed them lots of food and talked about why the crap they decided to do this. The nights were a lot of fun though. This is one of our more beautiful camps as you can see by the pile up of natural beauty in the background
And it ended in the scenic Belize City. A warm welcome.
And they actually did it. We still are not sure why, but someone had to represent for peace corps. After four days and about 28 hours of paddling total.
14 comments:
Warning!Warning! Watch out for Kalar.
I have been waiting for a description of the epic canoe race. Looks awesome. Way to represent the US. Was it 62nd out of 70 that I heard?:) That does sound like quite the adventure. It used to take us 10 days to canoe 180 miles in Alaska and that was with current. How many hours of paddling was it and what the hell are you eating at your junkyard camp? Was there a lot of undeveloped country along the river?
That is so awesome! Sounds like a fun adventure!
my goodness. that looks frightening.
ash i saw a lot of your fam this weekend at cody's homecoming. love them. i think you & your cousin joy look so much alike. i had a pang of missing you when i saw her.
i got some great pics of craig & cody reuniting it was priceless. :)
love you much - jill
xoxo
Beautiful Belize City, holy cow! they've figured it out over there. Why even mess with those complicated garbage cans anyway.
P.S. you probably would've won the race if you used that old turbine in the junkyard camp picture. Jet boat baby!
A little horrifying. I'll send you some anti bacterial soap straight away! Just don't tell me that you saw mothers bathing their babies in the river down stream from the toxic garbage...
Now thats scenic! Canoes,Garbage, and filt that spells good times! Actualy the race looked relly fun. That some serious milage! Supenniceniceness!
That is a little scary!! I hope you didn't pick up something from the water! I'm glad you had a good support team cheering for you on the side!! Way to Go Ash!! Looks like a lot of crazy times in Belize!!
Wow you just achieved a new level of "hard core". Did completing the 170 mile canoe race give you more satisfaction that beating the last level of Super Mario? You are so multifaceted. Oh and Ash how do you join the support "kroo". I would like to be a member, and you should make "kroo" t-shirts.
Todd,
That canoe trip definitely beats skiing in BC...just keep telling yourself that. Really, looks like good memories. Were you ever one of the boats that flipped in the first 30 seconds? Can fish survive in that water? What an adventure!
This reminds me of an old Belizian song i once learned...
Trash, trash on the ground,
Look at all this trash i found!
I think ill do something good today,
I'll pick up the trash and throw it away.
Belizians never learn. But i think that song gets stuck in my head more than any other song ever has. It taught me something Ash. I guess thats all that matters.
nice. great adventure indeed.
that's gonna make runs on Idaho rivers seem even more pure.
wow. That might be the neatest thing ever. Of course I mean the bargaining with the British military and working your way into a nice situation there. Way to support. The canoeing sounds fun for about 2 hours--then mostly not fun; but nonetheless impressive.
HEY ASH,
JUST FOUND THE BLOG AND WANTED TO SHOUT HELLO. I THINK THE LAST TIME I SAW YOU WAS WHEN I SAW YOUR HEAD HANGING OUT THE WINDOW SHOUTING HELLLLO FROM THE CAR AS WE PASSED EACHOTHER ON THE FREEWAY.
IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR ADVENTURE CONTINUES! MISS YOU AND TAKE CARE!
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