April 29: Donations, Beaches, and Head Colds

So last week I reached out to my Facebook friends and said I wanted to get to $500 by the end of April.  I was at $485 and hoping someone would donate $15 to help lift my spirits.  Within a few hours my hopes were exceeded and two of my friends donated $50 each.  With another $15 donated today, I’m up to $600– that’s enough for 10 water filters!  So thank you to Jenny, Bickey, and Telly!  Even if someone donates a little, it’s an instant rush of positive reinforcement, and instead of thinking about the pain of walking 20+ miles a day this summer, I’m reminded of what I love and what this project represents to me.  The spirit of adventure and giving back!

In other news, my faithful training buddy Rachel and I packed up our neglected camping gear this past weekend and took a two hour train ride down to Vigo, where we had hoped to catch a ferry to the Islas Cíes, and its famed Best Beach in the World.  I MAY have read the schedule wrong, but the ferry was only running once that day, and we missed it.  No worries, as we never shy away from the little challenges that traveling sometimes throws our way.  We immediately sat down, got out our Google maps and scrolled through looking for nearby green spaces where we could pitch a tent.

We found a green peninsula, looking a little like Italy’s “boot” across the ría from Vigo, and bought a couple of tickets on the ferry to Cangas.  From there we walked west, finally stumbling upon a hidden beach and a wooded area which made a perfect campground.  We lazed in the sand the rest of the afternoon, cursing at shade-throwing clouds, and giggling through a couple of glasses of whiskey and water.

 

Sunday started with blue sky and the sound of waves from our tents.  However, I had passed the night fitfully, a new victim of a serious cold.  Determined to have a good day though we walked over to Playa de Nerga, and I’m so, so, SO glad we did.  This wide, white beach looks across to the Illas Cíes, and on a beautiful Sunday the beach was nearly empty.  In missing one paradise, we stumbled upon another.

April 22: The Trouble With Blogging

Something I’m really looking forward to on this walk is writing about it.  Traveling has always been my best source of inspiration.  I want to be able to record this journey, which is possible with pen and paper of course, but I never do my best work simply by journaling.  Therefore, I’m bringing my laptop with me.

I am not excited about that.  I don’t want to have electronics with me.  With electronics comes cords and chargers, and  the risk that they’ll get damage.  Most importantly, they’re HEAVY.

If I had more of an income at the moment I would seriously consider investing in a small netbook… but alas, I don’t.  So in the meantime I’ll have to suck it up, continue with strength training, and try not to chuck my laptop into the sea 2 months down the road when I’m sick of carrying it everywhere.

Have you ever hiked with electronics before?  What’s your advice for packing wired, but packing light?

Behind the Bio-Sand Water Filter

Bio-sand water filters are fascinating:  A simple combination of cement, sand, gravel, and gravity (with the help of some microorganisms) can eliminate worms, protozoa, bacteria, and viruses, making once unsafe water drinkable.  Women can spend less time transporting water from far away, and children can miss less time away from school due to water-borne illnesses.

There are 4 filtration processes involved:

1.  Biological Layer— organic matter gets trapped in the first 2 cm of sand and develop a complex food chain that digests pathogens.

2.  Mechanical Trapping— other pathogens get trapped in sand as water filters down by gravity.

3.  Adsorption — a static charge traps even more harmful stuff.

4.  Natural Death — with little food and light, pathogens eventually die off.

Here’s a few simple diagrams about how they work:

from cawst.org

from cawst.org

(from the cawst.org website)

What’s so great about the water filters is that they can be built on site in Cambodia at the Trailblazer Foundation headquarters.  Thanks to Heather for the inside glimpse of the filter-making workshop over in Siem Reap!

Heather sifting bio-filter sand. (Photo courtesy of Heather Gaines)

(Photo by Heather Gaines)

(Photo by Heather Gaines)

(Photo courtesy of Heather Gaines)

(Photo by Heather Gaines)

(Photo by Heather Gaines)

After delivered, an installed water filter can last for decades.  Furthermore, the sand never needs to be replaced!  According to cawst.org the filter has been tested to remove up to 100% of worms, up to 100% of protozoa, up to 98.5% of bacteria, and between 70-99% of viruses.

Heather assures me that she is living proof of the effectiveness of bio-sand water filters.  She drank every day from one of the first filters made by Trailblazers, installed at the Siem Reap office.

(Photo by Heather Gaines)

I’m a bio-sand water filter believer!  I hope you are too.

To donate to my fundraising project, please go to my FirstGiving page.  Donations are tax-deductible.  $5 makes a difference, $60 buys a filter.

April 10: Checking in!

Hi everyone!  It’s Marisa here, checking in on a rain-free day in Galicia, though I probably just jinxed it by writing that.  What’s been happening?

Well, some of you have been donating!  And for that I say ‘Thanks’. Not just ‘thanks’, but ‘you’re amazing!’  In the process of planning an over-the-top adventure it’s easy to feel a little crazy and ridiculous.  But when I see another person has donated, I feel less crazy, and more like “Yeehaw!  This might actually work!”   So thank you, thank you, to the people I know and love who have donated, and to the people I don’t know, you rock too.

Last week was Semana Santa here, meaning a week off from school, and a good excuse for an adventure.  I leapt over to Cataluña and split my time between mountains, hitchhiking, and sea.  Overall we did 4 full days of hiking, and I saw 2 new countries!  (Andorra and France, but just for a few hours).  We got rides from 19 cars, from a couple of crazy-driving Algerians, to an old couple going to their country house in the Pyrenees, to our new friend Jaume who let us sleep in his beautiful mountain house and meet his charming family.  I call this adventure a success!

And most recently, my dad is visiting me here in La Coruña, and has brought me lots of toys!  By toys I mean camping gear.  And oh, is it glorious.  Dry sacks, raincovers, and shoes, oh my!  And hoping this rain holds, we’re going off to the Costa da Morte to climb little Monte Pindo.

Ciao!