From The Field - Kid's Corner

October 31, 2003

5:09 PM

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Desert Crossing

What a day! What an adventure! A big bus came this morning to take us and all the luggage and food to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Bongo, Leo, Pup, and I made sure that no one forgot us in the middle of this mountain of boxes. We got to cross the driest desert on Earth, visit a ghost town (and eat ice cream), see the Andes, find an oasis, and discover big, big volcanoes—all in one day! We did not miss a thing. We looked out the window of the bus the whole time as the bus traversed the yellow-brown desert under the big sun.

Bongo complained because he could not see any trees, until we got to San Pedro. Although we stopped several times, I didn't find any acorns or peanuts in this big desert. Leo's chocolate started to melt. Meanwhile, Pup found dozens of dog friends throughout the desert towns and in San Pedro. The visit to the ghost town was a bit spooky, but this is okay, since today was Halloween. Bongo kept hiding in the dark alleys and scared us by making faces. Our human friends say that this town called Chacabuco was once occupied by people working in a mine. They had everything here: a theater, a swimming pool (in the middle of the desert!), a library, and more. But this was a long time ago. It is now all in ruins, but people have started to restore it, which will take a lot of work. When we arrived near San Pedro, we jumped in the front seat of the bus; we did not want to miss the first vision of Licancabur volcano. This is the volcano we'll climb with our people! Well...I am happy that they will be carrying us. It is very very high and looks exactly like a pyramid. I heard that there is a lake up there at the summit, which our friends will explore. Maybe we`ll be able to with them in to the lake. I have to ask Leo, Bongo, and Pup if they think it would be fun...and then we`ll ask our human team members. It is kind of exciting. Alright, it is late tonight and time to go to bed. Leo is already snoring: I can hear him from here...great. He still has some melted chocolate on his nose.

Bye for now,
GB

To learn more about our adventure, respond to these questions via e-mail and the two best answers will be shown on the web.
1. Why can't Bongo find a tree?
2. Why couldn't GB find acorns or peanuts?
3. Why did Leo's chocolate melt?
4. What is a mine?
5. What is a volcano?
6. What should GB, Leo, Pup, and Bongo take to explore the volcano lake?
7. Suggest a name for the mascot's team.

Continued...

October 30, 2003

3:49 PM

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Today was Yummie Day!

All that food...normally, animals are not allowed in supermarkets (not fair), but we kind of snuck in by hiding in our human friends' pockets. GB the squirrel almost fainted when we arrived to buy peanuts and walnuts. We had to grab him by the tail before he jumped out in to the aisle. We did not want to give away our presence here!

However, it did not work too well, as Bongo the monkey escaped and started jumping on a bag of bananas and—of course—slipped. As you can imagine, we had some explaining to do to our human companions...so we sat for a moment on the grocery carts and watched the mountain of food accumulating. We made sure that we were not forgotten; we were very surprised to know that our human friends ate the same things we do. They bought lots of nuts, bananas, and chocolate. The only thing is that they did not seem too keen on buying dog biscuits and got cookies instead...I can't imagine why.

Now I have a question for you: if you had to go on an adventure or expedition, what kind of food would you bring and why? Send us your menu and the best one will be published on the website! Of course, you will have to justify your selection. I suppose you all know that it is important to have balanced nutrition. Outdoor exercise requires a bit of extra energy...so think about it and ask your parents to help you build a great menu and send it to us tomorrow at this email address.

Well, now I have to leave you because we have a bit of a crisis: Leo's big lion tongue is still stuck in the lid of the chocolate spread (he got in to it just after we took the picture we've put up for you). We'll have to get one of our human team members to unscrew the cap. We can't wait to hear from you and we'll write again tomorrow!

-Pup

Continued...

October 29, 2003

11:49 AM

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Introductions

Let's introduce ourselves: we are GB the squirrel, Bongo the chimp, Leo the lion, and Puppy the pup. We are the team's mascots, and scientists on our own. While we keep an eye on our human friends to make sure that they stay safe in the mountain, we are also very curious and eager to discover things with them. In fact, two of us (GB and Bongo) already made it to the summit of the mountain last year. For Pup and Leo it will be the first time this year...We will guide you through our discoveries and show you what we are exploring. Exciting, isn't it?

We arrived in Antofagasta on October 28 after spending 24 hours in the plane_s cargo..That was a bit noisy but we had more room than our human team who was squeezed in very small seats for a very long time. We should not say it but from time to time we looked out of our bags...Very interesting...When we arrived in Antofagasta, we had our first big surprise: the ocean! And you know what...It is the Pacific Ocean, the same one that you can see from California and the US West Coast. Waooo...It means that it must be really big.

Do you know how many miles of coastline the Pacific Ocean has?
Do you know how many countries and people share the Pacific Ocean?

You will be amazed...You will see how many kids in the entire world see the same ocean you see. Ask your parents to help you find the answers by looking in these books we call atlases and look also on the web. We would like to see your answers to our questions. The first one to respond to us will get a special hello from us on the web!

Well, I guess I need to stop here today because the other guys are calling me...I am also sending you pictures. One is us typing our notes on our computer (...in fact it is one our of human_s computer but we are a team so we share) and the other is from the ocean. The surf is BIG! We got all wet while taking the picture...Tomorrow we will do some exciting things: we will go to the supermarket and buy all the food for the entire expedition!! Personally, we will go for nuts, bananas, dog biscuits and Leo wants LOTS of chocolate!.

So, talk to you again tomorrow but remember, we want to see the answers to our questions. Ask your mom, dad, big sisters and brothers to help you with the response. With luck, we will pick your response and give you a special hello.

GB

Continued...