Expedition Bolivia: The Run Is Done!

Over the past week or so, I've written a couple of times about the latest adventure from the impossible2Possible crew, during which a group of youth ambassadors were traveling on foot across the
Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, a massive expanse of salt flats that are remote and beautiful. The journey was dubbed Expedition Bolivia, and was undertaken as part of i2P's educational outreach program, during whih the organization provides lesson plans to participating schools and reaches out to students while in the field via satellite technology.

The original plan was for the six youth ambassadors to cover approximately 250 km (155 miles) through the Salar, but due to flooding there, the route had to be changed at the last minute. The new route took the group higher into the mountains, which resulted in a shorter distance run, but at a higher altitude than had been anticipated. In all, the team covered approximately 201 km (124 miles), while reaching an altitude of about 15,000 ft, over the course of a single week in the field. 

This expedition was also one of the first from i2P that allowed the team to conduct experiments while actually on the go. One of the most important of those was collecting data on the way that our bodies adapt to altitude. Tests were conducted throughout the expedition on not only the young runners, but also the support crew, the guides, and so on, and what they found was that the body adapts surprisingly quickly while living at higher elevations, with performance improving even after just a few days living in the higher environment. The tests did show that there was a significant difference in performance from those that lived at altitude vs. those that were new to those heights as well however, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise either. 

For more information about the expedition, including footage of the youth ambassadors reaching their finish line, check out the video below. 

Expedition Bolivia - Final Day! from GOi2P on Vimeo.

Expedition Bolivia: Day 4

It is the fourth day of Expedition Bolivia, the latest adventure from the impossible2Possible crew. This time out, Ray Zahab and his team, are taking a group of youth ambassadors across the salt flats of Bolivia, known as the Salar de Uyuni on foot. The expedition is expected to last about a week, and will cover 250 km (155 miles) in total.

As is typical with any expedition from i2P, there is an educational outreach aspect to this adventure as well. The youth ambassadors, all of which are in their mid to late teens, have been interacting via satellite uplink with classrooms around the world and conducting some chemistry experiments as part of the International Year of Chemistry. One thing that I always admire about the i2P adventures is that they always find a way to link back what they are doing to the classroom in an effort to inspire students to do great things as well.

Today, the team covered 36 km (22 miles), which is tough enough in any environment, but mix in an arid climate and some altitude, they're at about 4267 meters (14,000 ft), and you can see how that distance could be rough. Check out the video below to get a bit of what this group is experiencing, and you'll even get the opportunity to see how they interact with those students back home.




Expedition Bolivia Day 4 - 36km from GOi2P on Vimeo.

impossible2Possible's Expedition Bolivia Underway

As I mentioned last week, the impossible2Possible crew have launched another adventure, this time to run across the salt flats of Bolivia with several youth ambassadors. They've dubbed this journey Expedition Bolivia, and it got underway yesterday with a 30km (18.6 mile) run through an amazing, yet desolate, landscape, as you'll be able to see from the video below. The video also shows the six young runners, who come from the U.S., Canada, and Bolivia, officially starting the run and then again at the 5k mark, where they admit that their adrenaline put them off to a bit of a fast start, but they fell into rhythm later.

All told, when they've finished the expedition this weekend, they'll have covered 250km (155 miles) and beamed their adventure back to hundreds of classrooms, where students of all ages are getting the opportunity to interact with them while they go. One of the key elements to any i2P expedition is their educational outreach opportunities, and this one is no different. In this case, Expedition Bolivia celebrates the International Year of Chemistry and much of the interaction with the classrooms will reflect that. They also hope to inspire students with a healthy dose of adventure along the way.

Looks like another great program.



i2P Expedition Bolivia - Day 1: 30 KM from GOi2P on Vimeo.