Posted by Hi , this is Ian!!! Today we visited the Pisaq market and learned about the Amazon rainforest and the species that live in it. At the market people would walk right up to you and offer you anything! It was so weird!!! I was offered anything from weavings to pictures of me walking out of the airport!!! During this visit I learned that no prices are set and never pay full price on anything. I was able to get an old coin for 3 soles instead of 5 and got everything for much less than was offered. I also learned that if you do pay the full price for anything it is almost considered an insult. Not like a mall anywhere in the U.S.A.
I also learned about the jaguar, caiman, and freshwater dolphin from Boyd Matson, an NGS explorer and host of Wild Chronicles. They all are endangered due to over hunting, supposed protection of farmland animals, and bad fishing techniques. I hope that people can learn about all these problems so they can change them and prevent any problems involving these amazing species.
So far this trip has taught me a lot about everything in Peru. I hope you can follow this blog and I will write again when we’re in the rainforest. (We can’t post until we leave the rainforest because the lodge has no electricity.) See you soon everyone!!!
Hi, my name is Becca! We have arrived at beautiful Cusco, nestled in the Andes mountains. On the flight from Lima, early in the morning, we passed over the mountains and munched on crackers, very excited to land. When we got there, we got on a bus and drove to a welcome party, complete with marshmallows, advice, and coca tea. I liked the coca tea a little, and it really helped with the altitude sickness. I took some photos of the nearby fountain and pretty flowers.
Afterwards, we got back on the bus and started driving up the mountains. We drove in a zig-zag line, so that the sudden change in altitude wouldn’t bother us much. Along the way, we saw small villages and waved to workers and kids going to school. They have to walk several miles each way to get to school every day! I could never do that. Our guides, Luis and Edgar, told us about the buildings in the villages: the straw and mud bricks that dry in the sun, the crosses in between miniature bull statues on the tops of the roofs, the formerly Spanish houses that have the coats of arms above the doors…. We learned a lot.
Read the whole post »
Hi! I’m Cady. Cusco is amazing! Yesterday afternoon, we saw some of the marvelous creations of the Inca. They built terraces on the mountain side to experiment on how plants grew in different humidity. The terraces were circular and they had steps going up the side. The Inca brought stones from the river to build the terraces, which have lots of layers. A man that the Inca called a priest had a house on the terraces where he and others could take care of the plants. When you stood on the edge and looked down to take a picture, you could see the amazing structures that the Inca built long ago. If you looked hard enough, you could almost see the Incas working. A research group had just finished restoring it and looking for clues to how the Inca lived and farmed. They used aqueducts to irrigate the terraces. Although they were also used for farming, the terraces were also a temple, a place to worship the gods. Just looking at the terraces, you could tell how magnificent the Inca were.
Hi this is Dewey!
Today, after breakfast we had a meeting on our itinerary for the next week. We also had a slideshow from Bruce and Amy about their job as photographers and different techniques they can give us to become better at photography! After that, we jumped onto our tour bus and headed to the Mamacona Country House, which has Peruvian horses.
Once we got there (after a 40 minute bus ride) we walked down a dirt rode and entered the gates to the horse ranch. Instantly a Peruvian folk band started playing for us and we spotted the most BEAUTIFUL horses ever. The host (owner of the ranch) directed us to a fancy backyard with a row of seats and seated us to watch a horse show and Peruvian dances!! The show was wonderful, we got to see some men direct the horses in a neat show with the horses practically jumping in the air!! As the horses and their riders showed off their moves some Peruvian dancers showed us some very difficult looking dances, they also wore very pretty dresses and outfits!
Hi, this is Nellie!
Today, my dad and I went for a walk around our hotel. I saw this boy and I probably went a little goggle-eyed. Isn’t he adorable? He was holding hands with his father, and I just HAD to take a picture. He looked quite confused actually. He has such cute, little, chubby cheeks!
Lima is really interesting. They have public restrooms in the middle of the sidewalk…
Hey, It’s Grace T from Pennsylvania. My exciting expedition to Peru started out at 3: 30 am, at which point I started getting ready to leave for JFK airport. Driving to the airport we passed the New York Times building, the Hudson River Gap and crossed the George Washington Bridge into New York, before I knew it we were at the airport. It was now 7:30. At the airport there were many different languages spoken, even the airport workers were speaking Spanish. Once we had gone through the airport lines and gotten all our baggage checked, we met up with some of the National Geographic staff in the waiting lobby. We were surprised when we were boarding the plane that the airline was taking precautions against the swine flu. They passed out dust masks that we had to wear the whole flight into Ecuador; where we would take another flight to Lima.
Hola! This is Laura Beth, here to write about our long journey to Lima, Peru! My trip started at 5:30 on Saturday morning, when my mom and I left for the Sioux Falls airport. Two uneventful flights later we arrived at the Los Angeles airport, where we met up with my cousin, Jeanne, (who came with me as a guardian, since my mom is a teacher winner,) and Nellie, Elliot, and Wyatt, and their parents. Once we had all gotten to know each other a little, we boarded the plane to begin our eight-hour flight to Peru! The flight, however, didn’t seem like it was eight hours. We each had a TV screen on the back of the seat in front of us, and we could watch movies, TV shows, listen to music, or play games. The flight attendants gave us meals and beverages, along with pillows and blankets. They all spoke Spanish, so it was very interesting to try and understand what they were saying! I was very surprised how easily we could communicate by pointing and smiling, along with using simple English and Spanish phrases.
We arrived in Lima at about eleven o’ clock. We grabbed our luggage and some even experimented with the vending machine, using different currency. By one in the morning we were on a bus to our hotel!
Read the whole post »
Hi, it’s Lijah. We have arrived in Lima and to my surprise I am actually not that tired. I usually cannot sleep on planes but this time I was sound asleep on both plane rides. We arrived at the Peruvian airport and we noticed everyone had medical masks on. We asked around and supposedly they were very big on keeping swine flu out. This was kind of scary to know that it was a possibility. We went to get our luggage; we got ours just fine, but Dewey and Tim were not having much luck. Finally after a while it came through. Then Dewey and Tim also got the random security check. They were not having much luck in the Peruvian airport! 
From the airport we were bused to our hotels. The night life of Peru was amazing. There were a lot of casinos and bright tourist lights that lit the city. We also saw many wild dogs that roamed the parks and alleys. There were these two specific dogs that were running in circles around a big park statue. They were barking and rolling around. It was quite humorous!
Leaving for Peru in Two Days!
The 2009 Hands-On Explorer Team leaves for Peru in a couple of days. We’ve gotten our vaccinations and itineraries (and passports, too!). We’re busy packing, and getting to know each other by e-mail. Soon we’ll say hello to our fellow explorers in person!
Each member of the team received a cool book about the Inca and a journal. Here’s a picture.
We’re also practicing with our new cameras. On Friday we’ll board our planes, and then it’s off to our incredible adventure in Peru. We’ll be really busy exploring new places, including some spots that may not have Internet access, so we may not be able to post a blog entry every single day. But don’t worry–there WILL be an entry for every day we’re on the trip.
So watch this site, check back often, and live the adventure with us!
The winners of the 2009 Hands-On Explorer Challenge have been chosen! Visit kids.nationalgeographic.com to read excerpts from their essays and see their winning photos.
The expedition to Peru starts on May 23. Visit the blog to get updates from the Peru expedition team!
Visit the Blog in April
Check back in April to find out who won, and catch a glimpse of the winning photos and essay excerpts!
The 2009 Hands-On Explorer Contest is now closed. No new entries will
be accepted by the judges. It’s time to wait to find out who won!
There are a few days left to enter the 2009 Hands-On Explorer Challenge! The postmark date is February 5. All entries must be received by February 12. So finish your essay, choose your photo, and enter the contest!
2009 Hands-On Explorer Challenge
Looking for inspiration? Read excerpts from last year’s winning essays.
Hello from Abbie
Hello world and all who inhabit it! This is Abbie, and I still can’t believe that out of thousands of entries for the Hands-On Explorer Challenge, mine was one of the lucky few picked!!
I had the most surreal experience in Australia and I’m still soaking it in. I wanted to talk about my favorite experience in the land of Oz.
The Great Barrier Reef: Low Isles are a small group of islands in the Great Barrier Reef that we’re all happy the ocean created. They may be the closest thing to paradise only accessible in your wildest fantasies. We not only got to go on the island, but we got to snorkel the reef! It had rained earlier so the water was a little murky, but the experience was still magical. To top it all off, I even ran into a group of three green sea turtles!!! They are beautiful and majestic, but they can be a little daunting…mostly due to their HUMONGO sizes! One sneaked up on me and almost gave me a heart attack! HAHA!
An Entry from Grace
Hello to all of you who read our blog! Thank you so much for your comments and feedback. Thanks for all the comments on our amazing adventures.Your questions about our amazing adventure are welcomed… Here is more information on our trip.
We are going to keep adding to the blog and add new pictures too. We did have a fantastic time in Oz! Australia’s time difference from L.A. is about ten hours ahead-also, some of the kids were like me…they live on the eastern U.S., so add another 4 or 5 hours to that! And yes, the plane delays and layovers did make us VERY tired, but it also gave us time to get to know one another. The 13 hour flight was very long, but our flight attendants kept us supplied with food and meals, warm and comfy with pillows and blankets, and everybody had individual TV screens on the seat in front of them to keep entertained. We could watch TV shows, movies, or play games or listen to music. Thank goodness for that!
Videos
The videographers from Tourism Australia, Jeff and Chris, were very nice to all of us! Here is a photo of me with them.
It was fun to be in the movies and to watch them! When we went to Taroona Primary they let us into their library, so we all crowded around the few computers to watch the movies!
Boomerangs
Throwing the boomerangs was very hard. It was sort of like throwing a baseball, except that you had to lean back, then hurl the boomerang forward, and we only got one try. My mom bought a boomerang while we were there, however, so I’m going to practice throwing it at my school’s football field (before summer ends). I am determined to throw it hard enough to make it come back to me! When the Aboriginal guides did it, it was amazing hearing the *WHOOSH* of the boomerang as it circled you, then dropped. They actually do come back! One even nailed one of the guys filming us for a video. He tried to catch it, but it whacked his equipment instead. It’s harder than it looks.
The 2008 Hands-On Explorer Trip
Video courtesy of Tourism Australia
Video courtesy of Tourism Australia
HOEC Kids’ Last Day in Australia
This is our last blog from Australia, so several of us wanted to write our thoughts about our amazing adventures so far. We still have a full day planned for tomorrow…but probably the next blog to appear here will be after we’re all back home. Meanwhile…
Video courtesy of Tourism Australia
Read the whole post »
G’day mates! This is Maya, reporting for the first part of today’s adventure. Our day began when we took a bus ride and arrived at Taroona Primary School, set atop a gorgeous hill overlooking the sparkling bay. There, we met with our Tassie buddies that we had been e-mailing prior to the trip…
Video courtesy of Tourism Australia
Read the whole post »
Hey, it’s Abbie and Mara! After the joy of sleeping in yesterday morning, we waved goodbye to tropical Cairns and our awesome tour guide Tracy. While waiting for the plane to Hobart, Tasmania, we also played pranks on others in the airport…
Video courtesy of Tourism Australia
The Adventure So Far
Video courtesy Tourism Australia
Video courtesy Tourism Australia
Alex and Michael
Hi, I’m Alex. Today the National Geographic Kids expedition team first visited a school in Cairns and the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park. We arrived at the Hambledon State School in Cairns this morning and saw children along the sidewalk eagerly awaiting our arrival. At first the children were a bit timid and shy, but after talking to them for a bit they opened up and were very talkative. They taught me all kinds of cool things I never knew. They showed me berries that you could pop on your fingers to appear as if you’re bleeding…
Missy & Savanna
Hi, this is Savanna:)
Today was packed full of exciting adventures–much like every day here in Australia. Not only did we get to experience the sights of the Barron Gorge National Parks’s wet tropical rain forest from the world’s longest Skyrail, cuddle with koala bears, and hand-feed little wallabies.
At the end of our midday excursion we got a chance to walk around in Australia’s largest butterfly sanctuary…
Video courtesy Tourism Australia
Read the whole post »
