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Area student wins national contest, joins expedition in Peru
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CUMMING – Lijah Hanley's summer vacation started a little early this year.
On the last day of school Lijah's mother, Jenifer Hanley, drove to Piney Grove Middle School to check her son out of school, and from there they went to the airport to take a trip of a lifetime.
Lijah, 13, was one of 15 who won the "National Geographic Kids Hands-On Explorer Challenge," a national essay and a photo contest, and went on a 12-day expedition to Peru.
It was early April when Lijah received the phone call informing him he had won a spot on the expedition team, and he said he was very, very excited.
"I was just constantly getting books on Peru and finding as many Web sites as I could on Peru," said Lijah. "And it was so hard because we couldn't tell anybody, yet. I wanted to like, yell it in school and everything."
His mother said when Lijah got the call, she was thrilled.
"There was no question between my husband and me," she said. "Photography is my thing, too, so we (Lijah and I) knew it was our trip."
Lijah said that one of his favorite memories was of a bus ride around the mountains of Cusco, Peru. He said once in a while the bus would stop and they were allowed to get off, take pictures and talk with the townspeople.
"I walked up to this one lady and asked her if I could take a picture," said Lijah. "She was very open to it."
He said after he took the photo she asked him if he wanted to see her house up on the top of the hill.
"I was skeptical at first walking up alone," said Lijah.
He said he motioned to the supervisor and she followed up behind.
"I walked up with her and it was just this little hut," he said. "It was pink and overlooking the most amazing view. You could see basically everything. You could see the city. You could see the mountains."
The hut was made of mud bricks and straw, it had a palm tree roof and just an opening for the door.
"I got to peek inside," Lijah said. "She was very proud. She was telling me how she worked on it for so long with her husband and her husband was there. It was just so cool."
Lijah said another favorite part of the trip was piranha fishing in the Amazon.
He said the fishing gear consisted of a stick with a string tied to it and a hook on the end. They baited it just above the hook with meat.
"It was totally different from regular fishing," he said. "As soon as you put it in the water the fish were snapping."
Lijah said he learned that piranhas are generally vegetarians until they smell blood and then they go into a rabid frenzy.
"That was very scary," he said. "I didn't want to fall in and cut my hand on a rock or anything."
During the trip, Lijah and his mother missed a few comforts of home.
"They had some running water, but we weren't able to use it," Lijah said.
Instead, the group always had to find bottled water.
And his mother said Lijah went through a few toothbrushes just because he couldn't break the habit of sticking it under the water.
"In the rainforest they (the hotel) had a shower, but it was freezing," Lijah said. "It was colder than the river."
There was no electricity and the group spent many nights by candlelight.
The team was accompanied by photographers Bruce Dale and Amy Toensing.
Lijah said during the expedition the photographers gave them plenty of tips for taking photos with the new D60 digital SLR Nikon camera each winner received.
Lijah described it as an amazing camera, and so far, he has taken about 5,178 pictures.
At the end of the trip each participant was awarded a medal.
"I was the person who would do anything to get the shot," said Lijah.
His mother said during the trek he sacrificed his body for the camera a few times.
She also said the trip definitely lived up to its name.
"It was so 'hands-on,'" she said. "They got in there with the tribes, and wherever they were, they had some kind of activity for the kids."
When it was time to leave, Lijah said it was hard because the members of the expedition team had become such good friends.
But it sounds as if he will reunite with them again.
"Every year there's a reunion for the kids," his mother said. "National Geographic throws a big party and they have the photographer come. So it sounds like a lifelong event that we'll be a part of."
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