Ecuador- April Phase 2010

Week 5 – last week of Lalo Loorb

The last week off the Lalo Loor was a busy affair. We immersed ourselves in the community for a few days preparing the new liberty for the kids of Tabuga. A lot of sanding and painting but well worth the dust. Wednesday we finished up our steps on all the trails. On Thursday we visited a local organic farm ran by the Lalo Loor Coordinator Jason. Here we spent a relaxed day learning about organic farming and picking fresh fruit to make smoothes in the afternoon. Thursday night we went for a little stroll around the jungle and we saw a fer de lance snake , a silly amount of frogs, and spiders galore oh and a tarantula the size of a dinner plate Friday we cleared a trail that lead around the reserve and after a quick spot of lunch we got ourselves into Pedernales for much needed internet time and food.

We spent the weekend back in Quito. To be honest this was a much needed affair to catch up with our favourite Mr. Finns Mc Cools. However no time to relax on Sunday because we had an early bus ride to Huasquila

Week 6 to 8 Huasquila
We arrived in Huasquila Sunday afternoon to fresh Pina coladas and comfy seats which actually had backs to them. Walking up to our rooms, we stumbled across a pool and we realised Frankie hadn’t given too much away about this tourist resort. Our first working day started off with weeding in the garden, followed by hosing the earth for the greenhouse. Once we finished work, there was no debate about what we’d spend the rest of the day doing...pool time. Our first Wednesday afternoon off was spent discovering a waterfall in the primary Amazonian jungle with a local guide, while others headed off to the local town of Tena where the supermarket actually stocked jars of Nutella, to Jenny’s delight. The only problem was that the following day, Hannah somehow managed to smash a full jar of Nutella goodness on the path.

After a hard week’s work, chopping Bamboo and bagging soil, we decided to let off some steam by going rafting after a hearty breakfast of delicious porridge, eggs and bread. Our journey down the River Yatunyaku involved a lot of falling into the water (or in Ananya’s case, being pushed into the water) and swimming the rapids. After a lunch consisting of chocolate cake and burritos, which Frankie helped himself to 4 times, our Irish guide became adamant on getting Jenny in the water but of course was unsuccessful. The following morning was spent working on our tan by the pool and obtaining more jars of Nutella for our pancakes at breakfast.

Our second week started with a bang, when we went to cut several bamboo trees down with machetes in knee deep puddles of mud we had to carry heavy bamboo trees across and kept getting stuck. After stabilizing the greenhouse with bamboo, our next monumentous task was digging a 80cm wide and deep trench across the garden. After 2 solid days of digging and hoeing and getting very muddy (though this was mainly due to Frankie pushing Jenny into the trench) we had a fine-looking trench fit for a World War 1 soldier. The second week also marked the arrival of our latest American co-volunteer, Hannah Vogel, newly nicknamed Ben who joined us on our escapades around the Amazon. The rest of the week involved bagging soil into plastic bags which we found out to our delight was for planting cocoa trees. A lot of the seeds which were given to the two Hannah’s however went mysteriously missing... the rest of the week passed uneventfully apart from Ananya somehow literally getting ants in her pants, when a whole colony of red ants decided to nest in her shorts on the clothes line.

Our well deserved Saturday off was spent on a trek in the primary Amazon forest which also included canyoning on several waterfalls. Our trip involved tasting the jungle cuisine, which consisted of ‘dragon blood’ from a tree, heart of palm, salty ants and sugar cane all washed down with water from a bamboo stick, while dressed up in natural, vine earrings and red noses made of flowers. When we weren’t eating, we were hiking down a river and realised rubber boots were actually a hindrance when the water level was higher that the boots. After canyoning, we hiked up steep, dense jungle where Joe somehow managed to get himself, Naomi and Hannah covered in termites. Sunday started off with a trip into the nearest town Tena, where we stocked up on chocolate and other necessities such as internet. The rest of our day was spend watching films and the less lazy of us went to visit the nearby animal rescue centre.

Bahamas- April 2010- Week 5

It’s been a mixed week – the low points were consistently windy weather, so we only managed one dive (but it was a good one!) and Sarah going home (we miss you!). There have been loads of highs though.

The dive we did was a fun dive: we over-weighted ourselves and went down with no fins on so we could race across the sandy bottom and build human pyramids 20m down!

We kept busy the rest of the time – we had some really interesting lectures from Dani and Ian, the scientists, on Island Formation, History of the Island and Sharks (did you know that Hammerheads have no pain receptors and Nurse Sharks have the most forceful bite?). We visited Pigeon Island and had various competitions such as a Scavenger Hunt and a Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank game, although now, 6 days later, only two inventions are still standing – the shower tidiers and the football goals.

Saturday night’s theme was Disney and it was a really good one – the girls all dressed up as Dalmatians with Siobhan, the camp leader, as Cruella De Vill e. We also had Aladdin and Abu and Peter Pan and Captain Hook!

So, it’s been a busy week and I’ve really enjoyed it – the weather should be great for week 6, so hopefully it will get even busier!

Vickie Miller

Bahamas- April 2010- Week 4

Week four has been the week of the crossword, with clues being shouted across camp constantly. It has also been the week of close encounters with Bull and Nurse Sharks and ‘Big Pop’ the 8ft Loggerhead Turtle.

We start the week with more of our Advanced Open Water dives (perfecting our buoyancy whilst doing slaloms if always good), and also went on snorkelling trips. The amount of coral and fish life you can see just a couple of meters under the surface is amazing!

The paper fish tests were also sat this week and everyone passed with flying colours, so we can now move onto the in-water fish IDing. Pierre the first aid mannequin was also introduced to us as part of the EFR course we started and completed this week, and as a result, offers of medical assistance are now common (whether required or not!).

We also went on a few trips around the island this week, to Morgan’s Bluff (the most Northern point of Andros) and to the Fresh Creek Lighthouse and Somerset Beach, which looks like a picture in a magazine.

Saturday evening’s dressing-up theme as ‘Cowboys and Indians’ and ended up with a water fight on the beach in which everyone got soaked – a good end to an enjoyable week.

Laura Mann