Free Flowing Rivers - Mexico 2007

CROSS CONTINENT ROAD TRIP 2008/09

2008-10-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone out the in the www.
We have been traveling for 22 days from Vancouver, Canada to Mexico City.
Stay tunned we will be posting the last three weeks in a few days.
keep the rivers flowing free
Rodolfo Rada J.

Wednesday the 31st - The Pyramids

2008-04-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

Our first day of sightseeing had everyone excited. After driving one hour north of the city we arrived at the UNESCO site of Teotihuacan.

Walking in the valley of the living , you feel the energy rising in your veins. That energy is a sense of appreciation for the past that one can only experience standing next to these pyramids. The city of Teotihuacan is considered the first urban settlement of Central America. Between 450 – 650 BC this city was larger than any other European city, with a population of over 175,000 people. This city was sustainable, the people lived for the land, and water was their most valued possession. They built elaborate drainage system to maximize the use of rainwater.

It was a reward to be there. We felt that we had been meant to come here all along, we simply hadn’t known. We arrived early in the morning before the heavy tourist traffic. Hawkers were out in full force, all approaching us saying “jefe ayudeme a hacer la primera venta del dia, porfavor” (boss help me make my first sell of the day please, I’ll give you a good deal).

We spent the whole morning there. Relaxing on top of the pyramids made us feel like our energy was being reloaded. We took the time to do some stretching and absorbed the positive energy.

These pyramids are the same diameter as the ones in Egypt, and they are aligned with the moon and the sun. This city went through years of drought. Without water to grow food for everyone, the “best solution” was to start sacrificing people to the gods in the valley of the dead.

Every one in Mexico is getting ready for “el dia de los muertos” or “the day of the dead”. According to many Mexicans this is the most celebrated day in the country, and the kids love it. We saw a graphic that said “Halloween, it’s not the same”.

Back to the airport for the second time in three days, we picked up Steve’s brother Russell. This was Russell’s first trip to Mexico. To celebrate we went to the Amigo’s Hostel Halloween party. And what a party, with live Mexican reggae.The crowd was from everywhere, from Russians, Danish, Germans, Canadians, Americans and Chileans.

Tuesday the 30th - Last Day of Promotions

2008-04-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Our last day of promotion has arrived. We have accomplished something incredible, driving from Canada to Mexico and taking on a three week promotion tour throug over 10 different universities in the largest city in the world. All worth it to get the young Mexican generations to appreciate their rivers.

We are closing the promotional campaign in style with a presentation at La Salle University. To arrive by 8 am, we had to leave our place at 6 am. The security guard at the school takes public transport on Tuesdays because of car restriction; he left home at 4:30am to get there before 8am. And we thought we had it bad.

We parked Laura in the main courtyard where other companies and programs were promoting as well. The university had organized a commerce fair for two days; we got hooked up at the last minute. We definitely drew the most attention. The principal of the university came along and congratulated us on our mission, which always brings our spirits up. I had the chance to address the students in the auditorium, and we had the car outside so the students could learn about veggie oil. Everyone signed Laura to give us their support, and we had a table showing the whole 2008 project on a map.

When five o’clock arrived, Roger and I hugged and called it a promotion completed. Ready to celebrate, we went to our favorite gourmet restaurant; the street food stand outside the university. Tasty hot spicy quesadillas , only $6 dollars for of the two of us.

Monday the 29th - Impromptu Geography

2008-04-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

Our last week of promotion has arrived. Roger and I drove back to Mexico City to visit two more universities: the Tech of Monterey and De La Salles University. Steve stayed at the Papagayo River organizing and fixing thing that needed attention before the race next Saturday.

As we entered the city the police stopped us again. They went off about the restriction and how we can’t be use our car on Mondays. We were a little confused; last time they stopped us on a Friday and now it’s on a Monday. We managed the situation calmly again and guided them to the back of the car to show them the bio diesel transformation. In short time they had signed the car we were on our way to the TECH of Monterey.

We didn’t have a contact to get it, but that didn’t stop us. We parked on the street and Laura did the rest of the job for us. There was a lot of foot traffic by the main gate so handing out flyers and telling people to sign the car was easy. After only two hours at the gate we had one team registered for the race.

It was getting late, and all the flyers were done, to the printer we went, hoping for a chance to catch another game of soccer with the kids of the neighborhood.
These kids were fascinated by the fact that we were not Mexican. They were so interested, and asked so many questions, that we moved from soccer to geography lesson.

Before coming to Mexico I went to a volunteer fair in Vancouver. The Canadian International Development Agency had a booth showing all their programs around the world. They were giving out world maps, so I took advantage of the great generosity and asked for maps to take on the trip. Tonight was the night one of those maps came in handy, and it was the best gift ever.

It felt amazing to give to these kids, all I can offer to most of them is my time.Their reaction tells me that quite often, time is enough. Well a map and a couple of stickers too.

At about 9pm we headed to the airport to pick up Noel. Noel has been Roger’s flat mate for about two years, and recently their relationship turned into a love story. The story becomes even more exciting now that she is meeting him here. She is an amazing singer, probably one of the sexiest voices that I have ever come across, smooth and original. She’s great on the guitar and drums, and she played at our river race event in Canada. Soon she will be playing by the Papagayo River. Noel is a painter too, she loves to do body paint and we love her support at the last two events.

Sunday the 28th - Playing on the Papagayo

2008-04-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

Every time we paddled the lower Papagayo we found kids playing, swimming and fishing on the side of the river. We wondered if they have any idea of the government’s plans to build the largest man made lake in Mexico. We wondered if their house will be affected. We wondered if their community will be displaced and boxed into urban housing.We wondered if they will like the lake better than the river. We wondered if this kids have a future in their community, whether they will be able to find work here when they grow up.

We plan to work with these kids, teaching them the skills they need to become guides in this area. There is so much potential here for being a rafting, kayaking, jungle trekking, rock climbing or mountain biking guide. The opportunities are here. Free Flowing Rivers as an organization can serve as a catalyst to make these ideas into reality for youth.
Once we have these educational programs running in the local communities, the projects have the opportunity to flourish into local sustainable and responsible tourist industries. Tourists and university students can be involved in this positive change by visiting, and learning more about the communities from their guides. The youth can then bring the money back into their local community economies.

If the dam is built, we will still work with the kids. We will simply teach different skills like rappelling, base jumping, sea kayaking, or water skiing. Whatever decision the government makes, we will ensure that these kids see the windows of opportunity in their futures.

Saturday the 27th - Don't Take Your Noseplugs Off

2008-04-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

This morning we were off to the Amacusac River. We were warned that this river is a bit polluted and that it might stink. A bit of pollution has not stopped us yet. However, as we were getting geared up we saw that even the shore of the river looked dirty, with brown water and garbage on the river banks. We almost didn’t run it, but there is nothing better than a new river.

I love running rivers for the first time. Seeing how the water flows, it’s amazing. This time, we been paddling for about 40 minutes and still had not seen any whitewater. I had been wearing my nose plug since we started; the river stinks like shit and there are plastic bags, tires, and bottles all over the place. Roger and I agreed that this is the most disgusting river we had ever been in. We come to the confluence with another river and that’s where the fun began. The canyon narrowed and the whitewater started . There were some good class III + and one class V where we portaged the drop because of some sharp rocks .

Now our mission was to find the take out before the bridge, and we hope that Negro and Steve are going to be there to pick us up. Vultures, cows and other bird will take our mind away from the smell when this huge highway bridge comes into sight and from the inside of the jungle Steve jailing get out take out is here.
We were happy to be out of there when we met Negro and Steve at the takeout. We did paddle some nice rapids, but I would not get in that river again, unless someone paid me a lot of money.

Friday the 26th - Back to UNAM

2008-04-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

Today we headed back to UNAM. Negro lives close by, so we decided to meet at his house. He guided us to places he knew well; the gym, social gathering places, and some of the local bars around the area that are just for students.

In the faculty of political science I got the chance to speak to a large audience of students. They were all gathered to celebrate one of the teacher’s birthdays. The teacher’s reaction to our speech was fantastic; she spoke about the importance of fighting the construction of the dam, and the huge social, political and economic impacts it would have on the country.

Thursday the 25th - Going Up

2008-04-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

Today we went to ANAHUAC University, one of the more high-end universities in Mexico City. It’s upscale status is immediately visible. After driving up the mountain we arrived at a massive gated facility with plenty of security. Having driven through some pretty posh neighborhoods to get here, we know we are in for a treat.

We had a contact here that Steve had organized a few weeks earlier, but when we tried to call him he never answered.

We parked Laura next to a high flow area of people. Experience told us she would draw people in better than any of us. Roger and I started to wander around campus looking for the guy who wouldn’t pick up his phone, while Steve enjoyed the attention garnered by Laura.

It was incredible to see the socio-economic divide between universities, and to see students reactions to the price. We were asking 900 pesos ($90 CND) for race entry; that included everything, even transport from Mexico City.

Students at universities like ANAHUAC would say “that’s so cheap” or “that a awesome deal”. At poorer universities like Chilpancingo the reaction was, “wooo why so expensive” or “can we get a deal”. I am convinced that this project reaches all different demographic corners, and it’s great. And yes, if you don’t have enough money to come to the race, we will try our best to give you a deal.

After leaving the university we encounter our never failing partner, the traffic. Today we had our long board with us, so we decided to go for a little skate between the traffic. It wasn’t the greatest idea, we had a couple close calls.

Wednesday the 24th - Musings

2008-04-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

One of the things we saw a lot in Mexican universities were people making out in public, everywhere: in the university grounds, in the park, restaurants, buses, metro.
We question this attitude and we came up with a couple of answers or maybes …

1- Many young people live with their parents for a lot longer than they do in Anglo-Saxon countries. They feel uncomfortable doing anything in their parents’ house, so they go to the park or at school whenever they get some time.
2 - Latin people are a lot more passionate, therefore a lot hornier than others.
3 - Personal insecurities, therefore they have to show in front of others that they can also get the girl or the boy.
4 – Religion with all its oppression has developed a rebellion with in the youth, so just go ahead and share the love in public.
5 – Maybe we should see more public loving in Canada, and that’s the way it should be. Then again it’s all a matter of perspective.

After our rejection at CECC university we decided to go and do some hostel promotion. There are a great number of backpackers that come into the largest city in the world but there aren’t so many hostels as you would expect.

Rog and Steve on the metro, heading towards the hostels.

We went to about five right in the middle of town. Our favorite is “The Amigo Hostel”; friendly, not expensive, good beds, very international and with a party going on almost every day of the week. Most of the hostels offer a WWE Mexican wrestling tour, we recommend to go by yourself or with your friends, the tours are overpriced. They just want more money from you, and its faster in the metro system than in the tour vans. Traffic, remember?

Tuesday the 23rd

2008-04-11T15:22:00.000-07:00

All we wanted to do was sleep. We booked into the first hostel we saw at 1 am. We knew that when we awoke we would face another day of promotions, and more talking.

We arrived later in the day at UNINTER, and were thrilled when they gave us the chance to bring “Laura” onto the campus. We set up kayaks, paddles, posters, all that jazz.
We had the opportunity to talk to hundreds of students, and the whole school seemed keen to participate in this event. Due to the support of teachers and student organizers, they even asked us not to promote at any other universities in Cuernavaca. They claimed that they wanted to represent the state of Morelos. We thought that we were going to get at least four teams from UNINTER, but again we were misguided by false passion.
“Oh yeah I’ll be there and I’ll bring 30 people with me” …and we never heard from them again.

Monday the 22nd - Chilpancingo

2008-04-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

In promotion mode again, we drive towards Chilpancingo, a town in the state of Guerrero, the same state where the Papagayo is located. The University of Chilpancingo surveyed the area and completed a number of environmental impact studies on ‘La Parota’ , the dam project.

El “Negro” (Juan Carlos), a local friend, jumped in Laura and came with us to help promote the race.

We only had time to spend one day in this University, but we were sure that we would get at least one team, since the University had been so interested in the future of the river and the dam in their studies. As it turns out, we didn’t get one single person from this university to attend. Maybe it was because the average income in this area is lower than in Mexico City, maybe they really wanted the dam to be built, or maybe they were just not interested.

One of the things that we hated in Mexico was the amount of garbage or rubbish (basura in Spanish). There are piles of it everywhere, even in the universities, littering the entrance of the main campus. Do the students not care? The professors? Does anyone care, we wonder. It just looks awful.

After a long day spent talking to hundreds of students we hopped on the road again to return to Cuernavaca. It started to rain heavily, and lightning would spark the highway, showing us the rocks that had fallen from the side of the mountain. It felt like a video game, except we only had one life. No chances to press “Restart”.

Sunday the 21st - A Run for the People

2008-04-11T14:59:00.001-07:00

Our energy changes, the river makes us more positive people. We headed off to the river again, but today was all about the people that live in the area.

On that horrible bumpy road lives a family with two kids. Every day when the truck drives by, the kids come out to visit us. It’s one of my favorite parts of the day. I know when these two kids get a bit older they will be playing in the river with a kayak or a raft.

The put in for the lower section is amazing. The trail down to the river is not big enough for the rafts, so they’ve set up a zip line to get the rafts down to the river. Its one of the easiest and most ingenious put-ins I have ever witnessed.

“Buenos Dias” (Good Morning) is the first white water feature on the river, 100m down from the put-in. It’s perfect to start your run, it’s a small violent hole that kicks my ass every time. You’re just surfing, surfing, and then BOOM, you’re upside down before you know what’s hit you.

At the end of the run there is a flat water section with a big public beach near the road. During the weekends families come to cool down from the intense 90% humidity and 35°C. On this beach I had a chance to meet some of the families and show the kids what kayaking is all about. For me these are rewarding moments; they keep me going on this mission to create free outdoor education programs for kids. I can see in their smiles that the kids just love it.

Saturday The 20th - On the River

2008-04-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

We met the whole rafting crew on Saturday morning and went to paddle the endangered Papagayo River. This was our first trip down into an amazing valley surrounded by untouched jungle.

The rafting company sponsors for this event are Bravo Rafting and Imagina un Mundo Rafting; they have provided all their gear and their site at no cost. Thank you so much for your unconditional support. The guiding community on the Papagayo River was as international as anywhere else; there were guides from Latvia, Uruguay, Israel, Scotland, Chile and Mexico. We jumped on their truck and off we went.

The road to the river put in was built by the rafting company. It’s a shit road, and the tropical rains don’t help. The best part is sitting in the back of the truck trying to ride the holes in the best way possible. I think the road is a more dangerous ride than the river.

The lower section of the river is a class III. Some parts of the river are about 20 meters deep, the water is chocolate brown, but it’s one of the cleanest rivers in Mexico. There are almost no communities living up stream, which means less pollution. The canyon is narrow with rocks shaped by free flowing waters. Barren gray rock contrast against the dense green jungle makes this landscape irresistible. Just cant get enough of this river, lets do it again.

Friday the 19th - A Friendly Encounter

2008-04-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

We are on our way to UNINTER (Universidad Internacional) in Cuernavaca, a city one-hour southwest of Mexico City. The highway was packed again, not moving an inch. I decided not to film traffic this time.

Much to our surprise the police pulled us over, and we were all expecting the worst again. I got out of the car, prepared to try and talk us out of this one (though I wasn’t sure what we had done). The police told me that our vehicle had a restriction on it for the day. That means if your car’s license plate ends in 6 like ours you cannot use your car on Friday. In Mexico they do this to reduce air pollution and congestion. After living in Santiago, Chile I know all about smog and restriction, but as you already know we are traveling on veggie oil. It pollutes about 50% less than normal diesel, and its recycled oil so we are not using raw material.

I quickly opened Laura’s back door where we have our tank of veggie oil and showed the cops how our car works. I wanted to convince them that we should not have any kind of restriction, as we weren’t contributing as much pollution as the other cars. One of the cops got excited as he had seen a similar technology on the Discovery Channel.

After they signed our car, we knew these cops were cool. They were nothing like the one we paid off a few days earlier.

Thirty minutes with the cops and our early start was not so early anymore. At about noon we make it to Cuernavaca, and at about 2pm we make it to UNINTER. We were told that we should come back on Tuesday, when we could park the car inside the university and set up a promotions booth.

Cuernavaca is a city with a bloody colonial history. This is the city were General Cortez had his way. He was a Spanish general who wouldn’t “kill” because the bible said it was a sin: he decided to burn people instead. Cortez built a church in Cuernavaca that represents nothing but death and evil. After all my traveling, the Catholic Church and the oppressors that represent them have yet to impress me with their “good deeds”.

We met up with Angy and her sister, so they could guide us to the Papagayo River. Finally we were going to be on the water.

In Mexico there is nothing like street food, don’t be afraid of eating from street vendors , you are going to get sick anyways. Might as well enjoy the good cheap food, even in highway restaurants you are going to encounter unpleasant sites like bugs in a salt container.

After driving four hours on the free highway and getting lost, we arrived at the river around midnight.

Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th - UNAM

2008-04-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

Ready to start promoting, Steve, Roger and I decided to spend the next couple of days in UNAM. UNAM is the largest Spanish university in the world.
This university has its own highway circuit, its own inner university transport system which is free of charge for anyone doing any business at the university, a natural reserve, a stadium, a huge five story library and
over 150.000 students attending classes every day.
Remember me saying this city was big? Some students take three hours to get to class on public transit and three hours to go back home.

We met some amazing people at UNAM, but we only got one team out of our three-days of promotion on this huge campus. We planned this race for a long weekend (el Dia de los Muertos) or the Day of the Dead. As a result, there were numerous other university events already planned for the same weekend, and many potential rafters already had plans.

Wednesday, October 16 - Getting Lost

2008-04-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

This week we needed to get the posters and flyers ready. Getting to the printer was difficult, expensive and time consuming. Half a day would go by just for that one errand.
We got lost. We got lost every day. The line most likely to be heard from our car was, “Where are we?”

On the way to the printer, we had our first encounter with the Mexican Law. We had been warned about the Mexican police. In fact, we had been told that the only people who were going to cause problems for us in Mexico City were the police. This seemed to be the day for it.

Traffic was heavy and we were not moving much, so I decided to film the madness, sitting out the window of the passenger seat. After about a minute, we started moving slowly towards the intersection where a cop was trying to direct traffic.
He was waving at us to pass when he realized that he could get money out of this situation. He stopped us to list our infractions: sitting out the window in moving traffic, not wearing a seat belt, and passing the pedestrian crossing (that he was telling us to pass).

In the past, I have been able to talk my way out of sticky scenarios like this one. Being the only person in our group that spoke Spanish, I pulled myself out of the car and went to try and talk our way out of the predicament. The officer threatened to tow our car because of our “three infractions”. The officers had an old uniform with buttons that were ready to be popped right off by his belly, and he had the mandatory Mexican mustache. He carried the conversation smoothly, attempting to get a deal, “una mordida” (a bite). He was as corrupted as they come. $400 pesos ($40usd) later he gave us our papers back and we drove off.

We got to the printer, located in one of the city’s sketchy barrios. As we waited for the printing, we had the opportunity to talk to some kids who were playing street soccer. We started to play soccer with them, these kids who have very few resources, and rarely get the chance to kick a ball around with others. We realized that these kids don’t get much attention from their parents because they work 12 hour shifts and spend at least two hours on public transit to get to work. By devoting our attention to the kids, the love that we received was unconditional. We had nothing to offer but time, and in this case, time was enough. These kids were so important to us, and we let them know. They were the only kids that we were able to spend time with in Mexico City.

We also had a pretty cool car that any kid dreams of having. These kids signed the car and drew on it, then jumped on it. We figured as long as they were having fun, we weren’t worried about the car getting scratched up. We finally got the posters and flyers and got out of there right in time for evening rush hour. That day I think it took more than two hours to get to the other side of the city, going home would take longer than from Vancouver to Hope.

Tuesday, October 15

2008-04-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

On Monday we moved to our home for the next few weeks, Imagina Un Mundo School in Satelite, a Northern suburb of the city.

This city is bigger than you think. I’m sure you are thinking “really big”…but think again. It takes one and a half hours to get anywhere. There are five lane highways to go into the city, but it doesn’t matter; they would be five lanes of massive traffic jams and aggressive driving skills. I don’t use the word aggressive lightly. Every one is in a rush, but no one is going anywhere. They love blowing their horns, primarily to release road rage.You wouldn’t even be able to fit a soccer ball between cars, changing lanes is a threat to your life. Indicating signals don’t exist; it’s survival of the fastest and the bravest.

Imagina Un Mundo School is an amazing place. It’s an old colonial house protected by a four meter wall, with a rustic wood gate. We were treated like VIP; we slept in the store room with blankets and a huge number of mats. This was great until the temperatures dropped. Who knew Mexico City can be so cold. The altitude of 2400m may have had something to do with it.

Bienvenidos a Mexico

2008-04-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

After almost a year of planning we are leaving Vancouver, Canada in our 87 VW bio diesel (veggie oil) towards Mexico City. We are going to go to different universities in the largest city in the world to promote the first University river race on the Papagayo River. The Papagayo River is three hours southwest of Mexico City and one hour east of Acapulco, surrounded by jungle and mountains. This river is one of the cleanest in Mexico because there are not many communities that live in the dense mountains. This also makes this river and its valley’s ecosystem unique.

After six and a half days of driving we arrive to Mexico City, exhausted, dirty and smelly. We can’t wait to shower. This means no more driving for at least a day.
We arrived on a Friday with our back suspension broken, so our first stop was the mechanic. If you are driving a VW in Mexico you are in luck. It’s Volkswagen paradise.

We had the weekend to rest and to plan the next couple of weeks. We met up with Alex and Fabiola, the owners of Imagina Un Mundo School and Rafting company, our partners for the Papagayo River Race. We knew the next few weeks were going to be busy, but we had no idea what we were about to encounter.

Success!

2007-11-23T11:39:00.000-08:00

The river race on the Papagayo River (Carrera Papagayo) was a huge success!
Eight teams participated in the race, creating a great community of activism and enthusiasm.
We want to thank everyone who came out, either as a volunteer or a participant. The event would not have been the same without you.

We hope to hold this race again next year, as those who attended enjoyed the event and want to bring it back. The group did lots to raise awareness around the PPP and the damming of the Papagayo. An activist demonstration was organized on a bridge that crosses the river.

Check out this picture. These are the leaders of our sustainable future.

"Que Los Rios Del Mundo Fluyan Libres"
"That The Rivers Of The World Flow Free"

More pictures and stories from the race will be posted here soon.

Free Flowing Rivers is now working to raise funds for our 2008 Road Trip across North and South America. We will be promoting awareness of rivers in danger, creating a documentary on these rivers that may be lost forever. Along the course of the road trip, we will be holding more races, and starting the creation of outdoor community centers.

To help us in this endeavor, please go to www.givemeaning.com/project/FreeFlow
and donate whatever you can! Every small amount helps, and your contribution is greatly appreciated.

Hasta pronto,

Prepping for Carrera Papagayo

2007-11-18T20:59:00.000-08:00

Promotions were finished up yesterday.
At the moment we have 8 teams, which we are pretty happy with since it is our first year in Mexico. We know that next year's race is going to be much bigger as word gets around and we have more time to promote. A lot of people have said they would love to hold more than one race a year.

Having eight boats out on the river is considered a huge day for this rafting company. We’re providing a lot of marketing for them. It’s nothing like the big Lytton rafting companies, the profits are much smaller here, so everyone involved is excited.

After having such big parties in Vancouver, we’re looking forward to the smaller party being held after this race. It will give us more time on the water, more time to get to know people, and more time for presentations.

One of the lawyers representing the hydroelectric project is coming
to do a presentation, and we also have a local activist coming to speak about the river. We will be doing a Free Flowing Rivers project presentation for the students to let them know more about what we are trying to accomplish, and how they can get involved.

Some of the things we have done so far:

• Taught some local kids how to get their kayak roll in the swimming pool at the rafting base
• Planned a hike to a high jungle location so people can see the area that is going to be flooded.

We will be offering kayak rolling classes on the weekend, and are planning an activist photo on the bridge over the Papagayo river.

There will be a lot more going on here in terms of creating awareness about the rivers being dammed. We are really getting the community involved, and have great opportunities to work with the kids and teach them about the river.

Let it be a smaller event. We are ready for the first race here in Mexico.

On a mission in Mexico

2007-11-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

During these past three weeks we went to over seven universities in three different cities. We have teams coming from two cities.

Approaching universities is a lot more difficult here, people don't trust anyone (especially in Mexico City). You have to leave your ID at the front desk before you can enter the premises, and you can only enter if you have a prior appointment.

We did large presentations in two of the universities where I got hold of a microphone and we drove the VW to the most central place on the campus. It worked out perfectly: not only are you talking about a race, you are also talking about a dam being built in their country, and all the social and political controversy that surrounds it. So many students came up and were saying thank you, thank you for doing something. That alone keeps me going.

One of the things that Roger and I have been talking about, is how being on the road will motivate anyone to keep going with this mission and to do what it takes to help the kids and the environment.

We are changing lives, while changing our own.

We played soccer in a hood in Mexico City with the kids one day and they loved it and we loved it. We came back two weeks later and it was probably one of the best days in Mexico city. We gave them a world map and stickers as gifts, and gave a little
geography class of where we were from. By the time we left they were happy because of the maps we left them, but sad because we couldn’t come back anytime soon.

Hope the power of free flowing rivers will fill you up with positive vibes.

Day 4 - Last Miles to Phoenix

2007-10-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

We woke just before sunrise, well below zero, behind the boulders in Dead Horse State Park, Utah. After a warm up sprint around Laura we began heading south on Highway 191. None of us could resist the opportunity to get out of the car and absorb the beauty of the desert’s arches and panoramic vistas. With amazing sweeping roads, we finally had an opportunity to stretch our legs, long boarding south into Monument Valley. As the sun began to warm the air we were forced to switch to open footwear, and we enlisted the skills of a local Navajo artist to add to Laura’s evolving design.

Our morning coffee stop at a “ma and pa’s” Twin Rock Café in the tiny town of Bluff proved to be fruitful. As we planned our day’s travel over coffee and toast, we were stoked to discover a literal gold mine of fine quality canola oil to keep us rolling all the way to Phoenix!!

The three of us have quickly adapted to the routine of the highway and the regular “grease” stops to keep Laura purring along the highway. If only she had a larger grease reservoir. At the end of the day a short stop provides a fantastic opportunity to break the monotony of highway travel and stretch, while reminding us how privileged we are to be able to run on an alternative fuel, a luxury that not all of us have. These stops are almost always certain to be accompanied by questions from inquisitive people about our journey and the cars fuel system. Everyone wants to sign Laura and give us their support.

We pulled into Phoenix at 2200 hours with just a few liters of grease down from Moab, exhausted from four long days on the road. After a somewhat extended and very animated encounter at a bus stop for directions, we arrived at my brothers house where we were finally able to eat and relax outside of the car.

Day 3 - Getting Grease in Utah

2007-10-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

We drove all night and a slow sunrise welcomed us into the snowy mountains of Utah and Salt Lake City.

Coming into Salt Lake City we are determined to find some free flowing fuels, but we’re not looking for a gas station. Taco Bell, Arbies, or any organized restaurant that recycles their oil; these are our priority stops. We were disappointed to discover that the oil from Arbies was very dirty. The mountain air was too cold for the grease to flow properly and we were forced to buy some diesel. Unfortunately this also turned out to be very dirty, but we continued on to climb the Roan Plateau on Highway 6.

Using alternative or renewable energies is one of the ideas that powers Free Flowing Rivers. Traveling in a vehicle converted to run on biodiesel is amazing. If planned right you will not spend a cent on fuel, and it’s a great way to show your environmental consciousness, by re-using what would otherwise be considered disposable waste.

After a quick visit to Arches National Park we reached the Colorado River! Laura’s headlights were no longer shining our path as we rolled into Moab, holding the high beams with the 4 way blinkers going. Moab is an outdoor Mecca with multiple rafting operations and a selection of other adventure tourism operations. Laura needed to rest for a few hours while Steve set to work getting her running again for the boys. Rodolfo talked to some of the rafting companies, collecting info for a future event. Roger ordered nachos and beer for us and a group of local guides in the bar. Once on the road again we found some unused space under a phenomenal star show to spend a cold night before continuing south.

Day 2 - In and Out of Portland

2007-10-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

John’s Café was our first stop.
The old Greek couple has been working the joint for over 30 years.
After finding out what we were doing, breakfast was on the house.
I went out to the car (Laura) to get our battery chargers and this hippy van pulls up next to me, all spray painted. We connected right away, there was definitely a psychedelic VW moment.
She (the van) just got back from Burning Man. We were happy to see them and Steve painted a blue wave on their side.
They were excited to do the same.

Our day was slower than we had planned.
We went to get an oil change and ended up adding new break pads too.
That gave us a couple of hours to walk around downtown Portland, and a lot can happen in that time.
Met the local girls at the outdoor shop.
Test-drove a Scion with some boys, they had a big promotion going on, and aaahhhhhh yeah we chatted with those girls too.
We got a $45 gift card to shop right there next to the test drive promotion place, and walked out with two shirts and a pair of runners.
(It was a cheap second hand trendy shop).
After getting the car back, we went back to the Scion place and sold everyone there on veggie oil. As usual everyone loved Laura, and signed her up.
We only drove out of Portland at 4:30pm.

Heading east on the I 84, along the side of the heavily dammed Columbia River, we moved past more than five dams in less than two hours.
For those that don’t know the Columbia River, it’s about the same size as the Fraser River, and the horizon of it’s valley is framed by a forest of power lines.

This river doesn’t flow, it’s stuck, imagine that.

If this is the future for our rivers, we need to find the balance. Seeing these dams in the Colombia River affirms the need to demand the support from corporations to invest in environmental education, sustainable communities, and in the development of outdoor sports.
The promotion eco-recreational activities doesn’t take much capital in comparison to what the hydro companies are making. Usually dams turn into big lakes where sailing, sea kayaking and even kite surfing can develop into a tourism industry generating additional revenue within the local community.

One of our goals with Free Flowing Rivers is to develop these outdoor community centers, where future generations will learn how to walk, fly, and flow with nature.

As the night gets colder and Mexico gets closer, our anticipation builds about doing the river race on the Papagayo River, and documenting this river before it turns into a massive outdoor community center.

Its Saturday night as we roll into Idaho and the music from the stereo is helping me to teach Steve and Roger some Spanish. Buenas noches, hasta manana.

Day 1 - Going to Mexico 2007

2007-10-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

One Canadian, one New Zealander and one Chilean.
Loaded up with two kayaks, one surf board, and a pile of gear
To make our 1987 biodiesel VW really low and slow.

For the second time a Free Flowing Rivers team is driving south,
for the sake of our rivers,
our future generations,
and for a stronger active community.

We leave Canada behind, the great white north.
Land of white capped mountains, wild pristine rivers,
And home town of Bill 30, the Ashlu and the mighty Fraser River.

Our second Dam U river race just became history,
with a new record of attendance
29 teams
over 300 people celebrating in the name of free flowing rivers.

Water privatization and new hydro projects are flowing uncontrolled,
Over 180 projects going on just in BC
More than 300 future dam projects in Central America
And projects keep flowing into South America, all the way to Patagonia.

Going to el DF, now
You think they need power there ?
Mexico city is only around 35.000.000 people.

We are organizing the funeral of a river, and filming the birth of a dam.
The Papagayo River will disappear by 2013.
On November 3rd & 4th 2007,
Free Flowing Rivers will host the first Mexican Dam U river race,
an event for universities across southern Mexico.
We will promote this race and this river until it dies,
The community and the river will be destroyed, replaced by a massive lake (link dam pro)

La Parota Dam
Will be Mexico’s largest hydro-electric project.

Acapulco is demanding more,
This ocean side city that never sleeps, its just like Vegas.
Lots of lights, hookers and drugs.
This money making machine is supported by tourism ,
Neglecting a ring of poverty that struggles to survive.

This power station will be the link between the Central American grid to the USA grid.
The Mexican ex-president Fox approved the Plan “Puebla Panama Project” (PPP), which will “help the undeveloped south” by damming a series of rivers from Panama to South Mexico.
La Parota will be the largest dam of all.

Its time to call it a night, as we wait for our ferry to Port Orcherard at 11:45pm
Tommorow morning we are picking up a kayak at 7am, then heading to Phoenix.
Have a free flowing day.