‘Incaredible’ trip for Coolmeen’s Moira

COOLMEEN woman Moira Eyres is in for an interesting month of May. The London-based management accountant is currently in the midst of planning a two-week drive, with two friends, from Puno in Southern Peru to Ayabaca in Northern Peru (near the Ecuadorian border) in what is called a mototaxi.

The three-person group are calling themselves ‘The Incaredibles’ and along with Adam and Avi, Moira is hoping to raise €10,000 for Practical Action, which is a charity that operates projects across the globe in an effort to create a poverty-free world.
Some of Moira’s previous charity challenges include spending a week in China’s Guangdong province building houses and abseiling down the London Underwriters Building, even though she is not enamoured by heights.
The participating teams will assemble on Thursday, May 5 in Puno, on the edge of Lake Titicaca, which forms part of the border between Peru and Bolivia. Titicaca is the world’s highest lake at 3,811m.
“On the Thursday we receive our mototaxi,” Moira explained. “We have two days to master the intricacies of its handling, come to terms with its lack of accelerative power and overcome our butt-clenching fear of the feebleness of its brakes,” she laughed.
“We will make this journey in the smallest, most impractical vehicle available in the continent of South America. Our journey will take us across some of the least hospitable terrain on earth. Imagine a motorbike; then imagine a smaller one; then cut it in half; stick an old uncomfortable sofa on the back of it and you end up with a mototaxi,” Moira added.
According to their blogspot, the group will wind their way precariously through the Andes hoping their fate does not become entwined with that of the Stella Maris College’s Old Christians rugby team, whose doomed flight featured in a book and later in the film, Alive.
“We have each signed up to manfully accept our destiny should we not find anywhere to buy lunch on day one,” the group eerily suggested on their blogspot.
“En route we have planned a rest day in Cusco to visit the spectacular Inca city of Machu Picchu. Just one-fifth of the journey will be behind us at this point but the break may well be much needed. Then the journey continues, route unplanned, until we reach the finish line,” they said.
Moira acknowledged that the trip will be tough but is certain it will be worth it.
“The challenge, although extremely difficult and dangerous in parts, is off-beat and fun in its impracticalities,” she said.
If the £10,000 is raised, it will go towards improving the security of food in the harsh Andes winters. In recent years, the ability to provide enough food has been severely hampered by extremely cold winter conditions, reaching -24C in 2010, forcing the Peruvian government to declare a state of emergency in 16 states.
“We have chosen to support Practical Action, a charity which works with some of the world’s poorest. Living in the West we take for granted some of the basic amenities of contemporary society, the latest medical advancements, plentiful food and creature comforts provided by modern technology.
“Clichéd though this sentiment is, The Incaredibles strongly believe that everybody should have access to at least a basic standard of living. We have great faith in the steps Practical Action are taking towards a fairer world,” Moira stated.
However, the event organisers warn that the trek is dangerous.
“These adventures are not glorified holidays. They are unsupported adventures and so by their very nature extremely risky. You really are on your own,” the organisers said on their website, mototaxijunket.theadventurists.com/index.php
To contribute to the fundraiser, log onto The Incaredibles blogspot theincaredibles.blogspot.com/