Yesterday morning we woke up early and bid farewell to our first group of 11 students. Today I’m spending resting and recuperating because tomorrow we get our second group… of 20! Yikes!

I’m going to do my best to recap the past couple weeks, but if you want a more day-to-day account (and pictures), check out the student blogs:

First Session

Second Session

When I last wrote, we were in the Galapagos. The students performed two days of community service there and then we headed back to Quito for the night before heading out into the Oriente (aka the Amazon Rain Forest.)

We flew/bussed our way into the town of Coca, where we met our guide, Hector, and took a motorized canoe about 45 minutes down the Napo River (a tributary of the Amazon) to the Yurina Lodge, where we’d be staying for the next few days. The lodge really blew me away! It was beautiful — individual thatched roofed huts, hand carved decorations, and amazing views. They also had a pet parrot and tapir, which like to stomp down the local vegetation and follow our students around.

During the days in the Amazon we toured the local area (including the Limoncocha reserve), bird watched, saw a wide variety of plant and animal life, and learned about the indigenous culture. Our biggest (and most moving) activity was volunteering for Sumak Allpa, Hector’s island in the middle of the Napo. He runs a school for 14 indigenous elementary school children, and also provides land for primate repopulation. Our group was responsible for the transport of 200 large palm leaves (each weighing 30-40 pounds and about 20 feet in length) up a muddy embankment, over a half kilometer hike, and down to the river, where they were canoed to Hector’s Island. There, we sliced them with machetes and prepared them to be made into a thatched roof for the kitchen at Hector’s school (the previous building had been destroyed several weeks before by a falling tree.)

The work was incredibly difficult but also amazingly rewarding. I was so proud of all of my students, who worked really hard to get everything done. After all our hard work, we got to learn how to shoot a traditional blow gun and throw a spear. We also got to meet all of the children and had our asses handed to us in a pickup game of soccer.

After the Amazon, we flew back to Quito for another night then took off for the Andes. The bus ride there is considered to be one of the most breathtaking in Ecuador, and it definitely lived up to its reputation. The mountains are a green patchwork of agriculture, and populated by small villages and native Quechuan people. Along the way, we stopped at the Zumbahua market, which sells a large selection of local goods, from alpaca knitwear to roasted Cuy (Guinna Pig).

It was then another two hour drive to the Black Sheep Inn, an eco lodge just outside the small town of Chugchilan. The Inn was amazing! It has beautiful views and lots of fun amenities - a zipline, hot tub, sauna, and water slide, just to name a few - and is also very close to self sufficient. Oddly, the most impressive feature of the inn was the composting toilets, which did not smell at all and created fertilizer for the inn’s gardens. They also featured the most amazing views you could ever imagine while sitting on the lou.

While up in the Andes, we spent one day hiking from the rim of the Quilatoa volcano (elevation ~12,500 feet) back to the Black Sheep Inn, which was about a 7.5 mile hike. With the altitude and the mountainous terrain it was not an easy trek, but worth it for the awe inspiring views.

Our second day in the Andes we went horseback riding - I really enjoyed this because I haven’t been in years! Also, they let us canter and run the horses when the terrain permitted, which of course led to races (though my horse was not particularly fast, unfortunately). We rode to a local cheese factory, then up to the Cloud Forest, which is a high altitude rain forest where the clouds hang low beneath tree line.

For our final night (of group one) we came back to Quito for a traditional Ecuadorian Feast, where our students could try Cuy if they wanted (After learning that it was served with head and claws still attached, I decided against it… yes, yes, I know, I should have been more adventurous, but I really just couldn’t bring myself to do it.)

More updates to come, I’m sure. Hope all is well back in the States.