Thank you, once again, for your donations. It really helped make so many children happy this Christmas.

kids helping with sweets.

Here is a small sample of the sweets we purchased with your donations. The sorting process was a long, grueling one. As you can see, we put many skilled hands to good use! In the end, we assembled over one thousand bags of candy. We even had enough funds to purchase a toothbrush for each child.

The picture below depicts the kids’ typical environment. These families live day to day and they often don’t have enough money to provide the kids with proper nourishment, let alone a Christmas gift.

Thank to Peter James we have this great photo below

The event kicked off around 4 p.m with the children and parents looking their best for this festive occasion. This was just the start! In true Latin style, the festivities didn’t end until around 3 in the morning!

The kids had a blast playing the traditional game of “El palo encebado.” This game requires that they climb a greased pole to get to the toys up at the top. It is truly a test of sheer determination. In the spirit of cooperation, the kids ended up making a human ladder to reach the top.

Next up was the tomato dance. Pairs of kids shimmied their hips to the frantic rhythm of reggaeton- all while holding a tomato between their foreheads!

This girl would earn a fortune teaching latin dance in London town!Boy, do these kids have energy and do they know how to party!
At around 10p.m., hoards of children lined up to receive their bags of candy and their toothbrushes. The excitement in the air was almost palpable!

kids with sweets and tooth brush

Furthermore, for those who are interested to see, we joined up with a friend, Soledad, and gave 200 goodie bags to the high Andean children, where Soledad has been donating Christmas gifts and sweet bags to the children for the past 13 years. This year she donated shoes,clothes and rubber balls. See photos.

I hope that these photos show you just how much these children really appreciated your gracious donations. As for me, helping the families of a poor town in Ecuador celebrate their Christmas, really made mine! I do hope it does the same for you!

A special thanks to Fupel, a plastics company in Ecuador, for their donations of plastic bags!!

Please also leave a comment by clicking on the red comment button below!

The last fund raising event this year, that OLA took part in, was the Quito Olympic Triathlon
As you know all contributions are going towards buying gifts for the kids.
It was great day. I finished 20th place and enjoyed myself immensely. Unfortunately Joe was unable to take part after damaging his knee in the early Nike event. We do have some great photos and this should keep us moving forward to the final goal, the charity event this
charity event this Christmas.
Below is the swim and as you can see no one was hanging about, as at 8:00am & 2800m up, it is not a place where you want to be for too long.
Swim 1.5km

As you can see, I made it out in 7th place, which was quite a good job.
Swim 3 laps 2800m

Then straight to the bikes, which in my case was a mountain bike donated by the Bike foundation (ciclopolis) for Quito .They do a lot of good work here & I would like to say they do good bike hiring rates for those that don’t have a bike. I did, as you can see, loose a few
places in the bike race.
Bike 40km

After the bike, the run, where I held my own place, completing the 10km in 45 mins.
More info on Altitude Training.
Run 2 laps Quito Park 10km 2800m

Below, the winners of the first half Iron man held in Quito Ecuador! Well done to these guy and lets hope we see more competitions like this in the future. Winners time 04:56:11
Winners of Half Iron Man

Oscar and I at the end of a good day with a good time of 2:48. So I will be looking next year to get a racing bike and go for the Highest half Iron man in the world, here in Quito.
Finish


I would just like to say thank you to all those that have donated money to the kids here in Ecuador. I will leave it there, as the next blog will be the thank you from the kids themselves and this will make my Christmas & I hope yours. Jon

Well here we are again, a little bit more tired than last time but let me start by saying a big thank you to all those that have helped raise money for the children of Esmeraldas this Christmas. As you will see from these photos we all had a good day at the Nike 10km & ‘thank you’ to all those people that are giving money for this good cause.

As you can see we all got across the end line but I would like to say having run a few marathons that this is no walk over due to the fact that you are running at over 2800m in altitude, this really makes it difficult to breath, my legs were good but I felt like I was 70 trying to run, no offence to any old runners that might read this! As Jimmy Savile would still give me a run for my money.

Above Pierre,Joe, Jon & Santi

Nice to be at the end but like I said this event is not over until we get some goods to the kids in Esmeraldas. That is why I will keep working not only to give you all a chance to find some friends that would like to help but also to do another event, that being an Olympic Triathlon that is being held here in Quito on the 2nd of December, I have still to convince Joe, Marcelo & Pierre but I’m sure with a few comments at the bottom of this blog that will make all the difference.

The winners below have promised OLA to be back next year and we in return will keep moving forward. Good time by the winners too at 30:30:00

Having finished the run, Joe is now back to full strength and is working on the logistics of how to get 400-kg of items to the Children of Ecuador, just as well OLA has the right man for the job.

Well I wish that all those who are helping with this fund raising event could be with us here for a day or two to join in as I know that giving money doesn’t feel like you are doing much & not to mention the fact that you are also missing out on seeing things happen but let me reassure you all that without your help all of the people here would feel let down . So thanks again and wish us luck.

Please pass on this link so that many more can make a donation, in order to make a difference.

If you cannot make a paypal payment please contact OLA and we will find another way!

Hi to you all. This is where I start to try and pull a few heart strings in order to get your help to make this Christmas special for as many children as possible here in Ecuador. However, I think the images speak for themselves. These kids literally have nothing and won’t be expecting anything for Christmas, so why not join with Overland Latin America (OLA) and try to make a small difference.

These kids live in a small town called Tonchigue, which is a coastal town in the suburbs of Esmeraldas, the poorest province of Ecuador. What we at OLA are hoping to do, is provide at least 2,000 children with a small bags of goodies.

Each bag will cost only $0.90 or £0.43 to provide and will contain a handful of sweets, a toothbrush and colouring pencils. We already have some very generous backers inside of Ecuador and will be highlighting these companies at a later date. We would also like to add that we will keep you up to date via this blog showing how this event unfolds with visual imagery.

Our first charity raising event will take place this coming Sunday, 11th November. OLA members will be running 11km around Quito, the second highest capital city in the world at a soaring 2,800 meters / 9186 feet.

If you would like to help us and make a donation please get in contact with us!! Remember that all money donated will go straight to the children and won’t be eaten up in paper work.

For just £2 or $4 you will be making 5 children’s Christmas. For all donations made, OLA will add a $1 to your donation.

Jon or Joe

OLA is back In Quito full time … after many months exploring Ecuador´s amazing untouched coast we have returned to the capital to look at new opportunities. The time spent at the coast was amazing and has given us a real insight to hidden delights that are completely off the beaten path. If you would like to see the coast through the eyes of a local then start arranging an adventure today …

So what is life like in Quito, you may ask? For me being an outdoor person it has its draw backs but at the end of the day you get out what you put in! So here at OLA we have been making the most of our time here and pushing the city limits! Firstly, we start our day with a morning visit to the climbing wall where we keep fit for our adventures in the high Andes and practice our climbing skills. In the last year the climbing wall has gone from strength to strength, and soon they are opening a new boulder section that will allow beginners better access. If you ever fancy a climb, (whatever your ability) then contact us here at OLA.

Along the same active theme we headed up the Teliferico last weekend. For those not in the ¨know¨ , the Teliferico is a cable car that takes people up to the huge 4800m Rucu Pichincha volcano that looms over Quito. For sightseers and trekkers alike this is a great way to get high in the Andes and gain some amazing views of Quito, and can be completed in a day. The top station is at 4100m thus meaning to reach the summit you still have to climb 700m. This may sound easy, but remember there is far less oxygen at this altitude …

Finally on Sunday we got on our bikes and headed into central Quito. Normally this would be an extreme sport, as with most Latin American cities the traffic is unpredictable and dangerous! However, this Sunday (and every other Sunday) the roads are closed to traffic and thousands of people hit the road and cycle the 30km route. For me the best part is through Quito´s historical center, its such a great way to see the city. If you ever want to join us for a ride then contact us.

Check out our photo album of our Active Quito

Hi to you all, just thought I would show you what a typical Ecuadorian family gets up to here in Quito, that being us! This weekend, 20th & 21st July, we decided to head to Parque Carolina as there was a concert in aid of children with Downs Syndrome. Here is a panoramic photo of the crowds. Panoramic

The star of the show was a latin Beyonce. Don Diego, a big sausage company sponsored this concert and they decided to go large and cook up a sort of paella for more than 500 people. As you can see it all went!!

As if this wasn’t enough, the queues for the local dish “ceviche de chochos” was going out the park. Chochos

After this massive eating feast and with the concert having ended we decided to take a walk and and found there was a bike show going on. Oscar thoroughly enjoyed this as people were being sacrificed. Bike jump In the end the star of the show achieved jumping 11 people. Click on link to find Oscar in the crowds. Oscar

Finally here is a picture of the latin showman in action!

By this time it was starting to get dark so we headed back to car to be faced with a beautiful image of dusk over Pichincha.