To the pitch!
After a really busy first week of training at the GVI base camp in the Ecuadorian Amazon, on Sunday afternoon we had some time off to go and play football with the locals at Puerto Rico, a village 20 minutes walk away from base camp. After a bit of a warm up teams were decided and it was Ecuador versus The Rest of the World. While this may sound like an unfair advantage to us (and also considering the whole of the Ecuadorian team was much younger than us)….it wasn’t and we got completely dominated. They did, however, have a significant home ground advantage and were much better kitted out with cletes on what was an extremely muddy pitch. While it took a while for us gringos to adjust to these conditions, it wasn’t long before most were covered in mud and mud-throwing became a legitimate tactic. The game ended 12-4 to the Ecuadorians with an all-in mud brawl. Both teams then headed to the communal showers, otherwise known as the River Napo, before post-game drinks at the local shop.
Pip Strickland, GVI Amazon Environmental Intern, July-Aug 2011
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