When we arrived at Torres del Peine, it was so cold that we could see our breath and we almost decided that it was too cold to hike but, we went anyway. We bought our tickets, then boarded on a catamaran and went up the lake to the beginning of the hike. It was really cold but after a little while we started to shed layers. We also bumped into the U.S family that we had met a couple days back at the ice bergs, who happened to be doing the same hike as us. We kept hiking, had some good conversations with other hikers, crossed bridges and took amazing photos. The pictures were amazing because there was so much nature in Torres del Peine. There were waterfalls, lakes, beautiful mountains and huge trees. 
Torres del Peine national park hikes are some of the top ten hikes in the world. We knew that we were going on a 17km hike but sometimes, it felt long. We were also quite hungry so we were glad when we arrived to the campsite to have lunch.
There was a nice viewpoint that would have taken us an hour to get to but we had to be on time for the boat so, we went to a closer viewpoint and still managed to get nice pictures. 
Then we went back down and Amelie and I ran ahead. It was one of the best hikes I have ever done because of the awesome views, and for the challenge at the beginning with the climate. When we finally saw the chalet where we had started, we were thrilled. We all got back on the catamaran and went back down the river to our terrible car.
Author: annasagem
Laguna Cajar, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile by Anna
As soon as we arrived in San Pedro de Atacama, we saw a tonne of Tourist Centres that had an image of people floating in a salt lake. So the next day, we decided to go. When we arrived, we saw so many flamingos, some were taking off and some were arriving. They were such a nice shade of pink. We made our way to the beautiful Lake, it was a really nice color blue and a section was open so we could swim in it. 
The water was neither hot nor cold it was the perfect tempature, and as soon as we got in we started to float. It was like floating on a cloud. It was so fun because we took lots of funny pictures and we didn’t even have to worry about trying to stay above the surface. 
The funniest part of all was when we exited the lake, we all looked like snowmen because of the salt. We gathered our bags before the big tourist bus took over the lake, we took a freezing cold shower and then moved on with Day 1 Atacama.
Water Rafting, Ecuador by Anna
Water Rafting, a highlight of South America. We got up at seven o’clock on a Wednesday morning, and we went to the Tour Center. When we got there we had to put on our wet suits. Mine was very uncomfortable but, i found it a bit more comfortable then canyoning. Then we got in a car and drove for around twenty minutes before arriving at the river. When we arrived, there was a long demonstration on how to Water Raft including, what would happen if we fell into the river, were to sit, how and when to paddle and also the levels. The levels where: 1 was easy and tiny rapids, 2 was a little bit more rocky but still tiny rapids, 3 was rocky and a little bit bigger rapids, 4 was big rapids and really rocky, 5 was steep and huge rapids, and the highest level was 6, waterfalls. 
He said that we would be in 3s and 4s. So when the instructions were clear, we all got in boat. 
I liked it because we worked as a team, our guide was hilarious and funniest of all the different faces my parents made. It felt like a roller coaster going down those big rapids. 
All of it was so fun and fast we nearly fell out of the boat a couple times. We were mostly on 3s but there was one 4 that was so much fun. Near the end of the activity it started to rain but it was still loads of fun. Definitely recommended!
Otavalo, Ecuador by Anna
The best markets ever! When we got there we were done with buses and travelling so we settled in at our hostel. After a little while we made our way downtown to check out the markets because we had heard that the markets were amazing. We saw around fifty markets with souvenirs, ponchos, hats, carpets, scarves and a tonne of other things. We had a quick look around and we were also told to come back on Saturday for the huge markets. We left after getting Elise the cutest poncho for only eight bucks, and we loved to bargain down the price. 
We went back to our hostel and went out for dinner at a bar with a DJ playing all of the old songs that my parents found awesome but I found………..weird. 
The next morning we went out for crepes, (we were so excited to eat them after months of eggs!) 
then we headed to Parque d’el Condor. We had to hurry because there was a show that started at 11:30 but there were not a lot of people so we had good seats. The show was pretty cool because there were condors, owls, falcons, harpies, and eagles. They would fly so far. 
After the show we walked around a bit longer and saw a lot more birds. Then we slowly made our way down to a waterfall. It was so nice. 
We also went to a little Indigenous experience which shortly turned into a very steep hike. 
After that we went out for dinner at a pizza place which had good food. The next day we woke up early and we all got into a jeep, that took us up to the top of the Cuicocha volcano. When we got to the top, we hiked around the Laguna Cuicocha. It was fun but the altitude was hard to hike in. 
After the hike, we got bikes out of the van and started to bike down, down, down for 18 kilometers. We started off on a trail that was a bit challenging for me, but apparently impossible for my dad, so my dad and sisters stuck to the road and i went down the trail. it was fun but i had a few big wipeouts. We then met up and continued to go down.
Then, we went out for lunch. After that we finished the night with a nice walk around the town. On Saturday morning we went to the markets. We were so surprised because they had blocked the whole main square and ten or twelve blocks more for the markets. 
We looked around for a bit and we shopped until we had to hop on a bus and go to QUITO! The capital of Ecuador. It was really interesting to see all of the Indegenous boys with braids and all of the girls with typical Ecuadorian dresses on. We had a pretty nice experience we had in Otavalo.
Corcora Valley, Colombia- By Anna
Cocora Valley Hike: a very hard experience. On our first day in Salento, we had a nice breakfast with a German couple who had done the Cocora valley hike. They showed us pictures and it was funny to hear what they had to say about it, the lady said they meant to go on a two hour hike but then half way through the hike her husband led them on the wrong trail and ended up going on a five hour long hike. She was not happy about that. So of course we now had to do this long long hike. We called our friend Freddie the taxi driver to pick us up and drove off. When we got there, it looked like it was about to rain. We were hoping it wouldn’t and then we began the hike. At the beginning we saw wax palms, they are like palm trees but were so much taller and they produce wax. 
We were all happy until it started to rain and go up hill like the Grouse grind. Boy we were muddy and wet. 
We also came across some very funky bridges like one that looked like a tree had fallen over a river, some very slippery ones and another bridge the Elise thought would be fun to turn into a catwalk and didn’t know that a stranger was filming her. After that, we all had a laugh. 
When we got to the end of the trail we chose to go check out the humming bird garden. When we got there, there was so many humming birds and the bonus was that you could get very close to them and they wouldn’t move. 
We were starving so we got a snack and tried cheese dipped in hot chocolate and it was absolutely disgusting. Amelie and Elise also played with their hot chocolate. 
After snack, we kept on going until we reached the top. We actually sang ourselves to the top. When we got to the top, these people tricked us, saying “ sorry you can’t come up this way”. We thought that they were telling the truth but thank goodness they were not. At the top we took pictures and in this one we are mostly all smiling but those were definitely fake. We were exhausted. 
Then it was time to go down. Wow, that was fun and exhausting!
The soccer game – Anna
The soccer game was awesome. We ordered a taxi and while we were waiting for it to arrive we got our Medellin shirts on. When the taxi pullled up in front of our hostel, we all were wondering were on earth we were supposed to go when we got there. The only directions we had was to go to the red zone and we were like “ huh?” So we got out of the taxi and walked around the red zone. 
The red zone and the green zone were different zones that you had to go in depending on which team you were chearing for. This was so that the two teams wouldn’t fight. The teams were the Medellin team vs the Columbian team so it was a big deal. We finally found our friends from Blink the Spanish school that we were going to and had dinner with them. After dinner we headed towards the stadium. In line we were so excited but then we heard the bad news.The zone that we had got our tickets for was a zone for fourteen years and older and they told us that we had to go to the family section. It was so frustrating. So when that issue was sorted we went to the family section.When the game started the players entered the stadium with some guys spraying blue and red smoke/paint. It was so cool!
After that the game started there was a ton of footwork, a lot of injuries, and goals. Every time someone faked or actually got hurt, we would joke around that a Jeep would come on the field to get the injured one. They would bring him to the side line and he would jump out of the Jeep and run back onto the field and we would always say “oh there goes the ambulance”. At the end of the game, the final score was 2-1 for us. Woohoo! 
As we made our way out of the stadium, we saw some drunk people balancing on a safety bar on the highest level. If they had fallen they would be doomed. 
No goal!
Panama- By Anna
Our unexpected journey to Panama was amazing. We arrived on the 18th and took a shuttle to our hotel that was also kinda like a hostel. We drove through the city we were surprised on how much it looked like Vancouver but also looked like a mix of New York and Miami. We also passed one of the nicest buildings I have ever seen.
When we got there we unpacked a little then we went out for pizza. After pizza we toured around Panama for a little. We came across some pretty cool things like a church from 400 years ago 
and an Argentinian bar that had horse saddles for seats and the walls were covered in flattened bear bottle caps. It was a nice night! 
The next morning we went for another walk around the city and even found some random swings under a bridge and we had fun on those for a while. 
Later that afternoon we went to check out the canal it was so interesting. We saw huge ships going through, we got to watch a movie about it , and go for a walk in the museum. It was a great experience! 
That night we went out for dinner at a restaurant with a roof top bar and we had the best Pina Colada’s ever and we were pretty convinced that they had made them with ice cream, desert before dinner. Yay! The next morning was a blast and quite exhausting. We started out renting a six seater bike and we biked all the way around the ring road which is a bridge that goes around the old city. 
Then we went to go visit the First Nations Embera tribe. We went for a walk, we got eaten alive by mosquitos, we had a good lunch of plantains and fish and we even got to watch their traditional dance. It was a blast!
Turtles- By Anna
On the 2nd of September, our plan was to go see the hundreds of turtles coming to lay their eggs on the Ostional beach. We got in the shuttle that was going to take us there and it was private so that was great, and we had to go pick up one couple who were from Germany and got the show on the road. Around ten minutes into the drive we had to stop because there was a problem with the air conditioning and it was making the windows foggy. So foggy that our guide had to call a guy to bring another van but shortly after that we noticed that all it was was that he had pressed the wrong button. Wow what a waste of time!
When we got there we were tired of travelling, after driving through a river and over the worst bridge of all time and I’m telling you it was an actual river. We got out of the shuttle and walked down to the beach. We were amazed at how many turtles were on one beach. There were some laying their eggs, some coming up to the beach and even some going back into the ocean after laying there. It was amazing because we got to see some digging their hole and laying their eggs and managed to even capture some on video. It was also hilarious watching Elise take videos of wild dogs on the beach when there were millions of turtles. We were lucky because there were so many buried eggs that turtles had layed, that when a new turtle layed its eggs in the same spot, they dug up some of the other eggs. So we got to feel and hold them. They felt so mushy and weird it was gross but my sisters kept on holding them. And the reason that they only lay their eggs here is because they only like the volcanic sand that is different than the normal. Wow what an experience!
First week in Costa Rica – by Anna
We arrived in Liberia,Costa Rica at lunch time on the 25th.We met up with this Costa Rican man named Eugenio who was going to tour us around Costa Rica for a week.We were all starving so we stopped at a nice restaurant and had lunch there and we even tried plantain for the first time! It tasted weird.
After that we drove for awhile to get to Rinconsito lodge in the mountains of Costa Rica.on our drive we saw lots of birds and a couple of spiders.And my mom even held it but barely survived she was so scared.
The next day we went for a nice walk in the Rainforest.We saw some interesting animals like agoutis, a ton of birds,spiders and even MONKEYS! There were howlers,spider,and white faced monkeys.And we also found geothermal pool it smelt like rotten eggs. But looked so cool!
On the 27th we packed up our luggage and we drove to Faro Arenel lodge.On our drive we listened to Eugenio’s creepy story of when he came face to face with a bushmaster snake.We also stopped at a school it was way different then North Van.Then we stopped at a waterfall and we saw two men playing the xylophone.We had fun making boomerangs and taking magnificent photos with the waterfall.That was definitely one of my highlights in Costa Rica.When we were almost at the lodge my dad spotted the Arenel volcano with a cool cloud over it which turned into a little reunion with some friendly Costa Rican kids so we got out our Canadien pins and they all got one.That night we went out for dinner at a fancy restaurant with live music.The next morning we woke up with a huge day planned.First we would go hike a third of the Arenel volcano then go in the hot spring river.That morning it was pouring so we decided that we should go early before it gets worse.But around twenty minutes into the walk it started to pour cats and dogs we were soaked! the trails became rivers it was more rain in that day then there is in a full week in North Van.But the bad thing was that my mom had put her phone in the backpack that was not water proof so the bag got soaked and the phone got soaked and broke what a good start to our travelling year! It was a rainy afternoon! Later were supposed to go in the river but we negotiated with them to let us go to the water slide hot springs instead so we did. Yes! That night we had a wonderful pizza dinner it was so good!
One Family, One World, One Year 