Apple - Alison Hunt

** Updated Jan 2006 **

Hello friends, thanks for popping by and joining me in my travels!

A lot has happened since my trip to Ecuador last year. I'm now based in North Carolina, engaged to my wonderful man, Al, and now I'm off to Sri Lanka for a month or so to work with tsunami survivors.

I'll use this blog to post news of Sri Lanka. You can email me through this site, or use the hotmail or freenet addresses, both of which still work.

Thanks, as ever, to Mum and Dad for always being there for me and understanding why I choose to do this.

Thanks also to Al for your encouragement, support and love. Be safe and I'll see you soon...

Ali
xx

PS - if you're wondering why 'Apple' - it's my dad's pet name for me :-)

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Joined on: February 4th 2005
Last Login: August 10th 2008

Blog Entries: 12
Photos: 35

TB Code: [blogger=1834]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Apple, order by Date newest first.

By Apple
February 18th 2006

Sorry guys... Asia » Sri Lanka » Central Province » Kandy

Dear friends, After such great intentions, sadly communication let me down (as Tony Hadley sang). I've actually finished my four weeks of volunteering now, and you've not heard a peep out of me, very sorry, but there are mitigating circumstances! I've been living in a small village on the West coast. The nearest internet cafe was a 30min bus ride away, where it was nearly $4 per hour for a dial-up connection. I managed to get there maybe once or twice a week, but couldn't afford to spend that precious time blogging. Right now I'm in Kandy, in the centre of [View Full Entry]

By Apple
January 20th 2006

Off again! Europe » United Kingdom » England » Devon » Plymouth

Dear Friends, I'm dusting down this travelblog to let you know I'm off on a new adventure! Tomorrow I fly to Sri Lanka where I'll be be doing voluntary work with tsunami survivors. Towards the end of 2003, while I was working in India, I took a weekend trip to Sri Lanka. I completely adored the place and vowed to return one day to see more. Sadly, just a few months laters, the southern part of the island was decimated by the Boxing Day tsunami. We've all seen the dreadful pictures. Thirty thousand people died in Sri Lanka alone. I wonder [View Full Entry]

By Apple
May 16th 2005

And now, the end is near.... Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Lago de Atitlan

Antigua street
Picture postcard town

Hola! A funny few days in Guatemala since I last wrote! And an interesting turn in events... read on! As I mentioned, I was heading onto Lake Atitlan, which Aldous Huxley famously described as the most beautiful lake in the world. Surrounded by steep volcanoes and allegedly over 300m deep, it's certainly pretty stunning, but for me, Titicaca in Peru will never be surpassed. Sorry, Guatemala fans, just the personal opinion of a jaded old traveller, and based more on a emotional than visual level. But still, very lovely indeed! To try and tap into the spirituality of the place I [View Full Entry]

By Apple
May 7th 2005

Moving on to Guatemala Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Antigua

Mandango, Vilcabamba
Looking from my cabin across to Mandango, the mountain we climbed, which is the top of the Grand Canyony type thing you can see. Yes, I walked ALL that way!!

Greetings again, this time from Antigua, Guatemala! Actually right now I'm in Guatemala City, somewhere which def wasn't on my itinerary. Am trying to sort out flights and the sheer incompetence of a particular Spanish airline has driven me to desperation, hence having to hang around in one of the world's most dangerous cities while they eat their lunch and prob take a little nap... ggrrrr!!! Anyway, onto nicer things... Since my last post have been doing some serious relaxing. If the Galapagos was Paradise on Earth, then Vilcabamba in the South of Ecuador must surely be the garden of [View Full Entry]

By Apple
April 26th 2005

Hitting the Gringo Trail South America » Ecuador » South » Cuenca

Death-defying daredevils!
(not!) Maggie, me and Anne on the roof of the train

I know it's not been long since my last update, but wanted to post a short hello as I'm off to a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere tomorrow, it's so remote they only have one internet café(!) and that's $3 an hour, so being a tight-fisted traveller type I won't be using that much! Stayed nearly a week in Baños, was very relaxing. Kind of like an Ecuatorian version of Bath, with spas, hot springs, waterfalls, volcanoes and lush jungley scenery (ok, so not too much like Bath!) Lots of nice easy walking, and sitting around reading. I [View Full Entry]

By Apple
April 21st 2005

Sealions and a State of Emergency South America » Ecuador » Centre » Baños

Boo!
Sealions are the coolest creatures! They swim right up to you, peer in your snorkelling mask and 'poof!' snort bubbles in your face then run off! I swear I heard them giggling!

Hi! Don't have a lot of time right now and haven't really thought this through, but given the current state of affairs in Ecuador thought I'd better write a few lines to let you know I'm safe! Got back from the Galapagos on Sunday (more on that later!) to read in the paper that Ecuador was under a State of Emergency. Then an hour later to read in a different newspaper that it had been called off. Either way there had apparently been riots in the streets, calling for the President to step down due to corruption scandals, etc, the usual [View Full Entry]

By Apple
April 8th 2005

Leaving Otovalo South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo

Chilling at lunchtime
Fave pic to date! :-) Me and some of the kids from my class. From left, Josefina, Dario, Me, Aida and Sisa. They´re dressed very smartly in their uniforms for the civil flag ceremony which happens ... [more]

Sadly, tomorrow is my last day in Otovalo after just five short weeks. I´ve really enjoyed my time here, met some great people, my family could not have been nicer (yes, even the alsatian, bless him!) and the kids at the school are just incredible. Yesterday was my last day at the school, was quite emotional sying ‘Adiós’ insteas of the usual ‘Hasta mañana’ as I left. Many of the kids had made me cards and little letters saying don´t go, we love you, please come back, etc, which was so touching. Had a little ‘moment’ saying good-bye to a couple [View Full Entry]

By Apple
March 28th 2005

About Otovalo.... South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo

Poncho Plaza Market, Otovalo
This is the view from Buena Vista (fave bar), looking out across the daily market to the volcano, Imbabura, which is mostly shorouded in cloud.

End of week three - already?! I´ve now successfully booked my Galapagos trip for eight days from the 10th April. That gives me another week here in Otovalo, so I´ll be able to spend an extra few days up at the community, which I´m grateful for, because what with Spanish lessons, Easter, and various other unforeseen situations, the four weeks that I allocated to the project has rapidly shrunk to just a few days of actually teaching my own English lessons, which is a little disappointing after studying so hard for the TEFL before coming out here. Hey ho, all good [View Full Entry]

By Apple
March 26th 2005

Have got pics! South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo

Sorry - not a real blog entry, just to point out that I've added pics to the previous journals! Happy Birthday Mum for today! Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy! More soon.... [View Full Entry]

By Apple
March 20th 2005

A day in the life of an Indigenous school South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo

My class!!
This is my class! 'El Tercero'. We are at one end of the classroom and Benjy (in next photo) is at the other).

Started at the school this week, am loving it! The school is in an area called Urquisiqui. This place is definitely not in the Lonely Planet! It’s not even a village, it’s just one or two buildings at a junction in the road, and most of the kids live in the surrounding hills in small farms, some of them walking up to an hour to get to school. There’s probably around 50 kids between the ages of 4 and around 14, I guess, although it varies daily as they’re often needed at home to help in the fields. The school has [View Full Entry]

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