So here’s the thing – I do a 4 flight journey to Campeche, Mexico, one of them being long-long-haul for 10 hours. I arrive exhausted and very late at night. The girl organiser, Yvette, pulls up at the airport with her friend Charlotte, they have just been out. The car is old. We then drive far away from the airport into what seems like a remote area – it’s very late at night and I am jet-lagged and I start to get worried. Warnings that people have told me start to play on my mind. We then go down a winding dirt-track to the left are several Mexican men, we pull up at a house with huge iron fences around it, I am taken to the house and the gates are locked behind me – I didn’t realise that this is to keep the animals in. I am shown the house – there are lots of dogs – that actually are in the process of being rehomed. I start to panic. There are also goats and pigs. It was also very dark that made everything worse.
My bedroom is makes-shift out of crates and I felt uncomfortable. I ask the organisers to take me to a hotel – I also ask them if they are who they say they are – they then drive me through the run-down part of town to the Holiday Inn. They have no room so I have to go with a hotel that the organisers have recommended, so reluctantly I stay at the Casa Balche, which is actually lovely, fall on the bed and get some much needed sleep.
The next day I still worry. They have asked me to bring some items in – a riding helmet and presents for Jon’s children. Jon is the founder of Ninth Wave Global. But, as my brother pointed out if there was anything to worry about – they would be asking for me to take it out of Mexico – not bring it in! I start to relax. My brother emails the organisers, they talk and they come and see me – I realise that it is legitimate. And in fact my mind starts to open up at the amazing work that they do out here. Also, my suitcase got left at Paris because of a baggage handling strike.
Over the next few days I settle in, get over a bad stomach and talk with the company. They then propose to me – a trip down the Hudson via the Americas, which is actually starting tomorrow for 12 days, it will be canoeing and horseback. Meanwhile, meeting people from Universities, who are working environmentally on the Hudson – I shall be visiting indigenous families in remote areas. Now I will get a real feel for what Ninth Wave Global do. I know that they are very strong on Sustainable Development Goals and I look forward to my eyes being opened to the incredible work that they do. I shall keep a journal. My worries – that I will lose my HRT!
University at 54 