Ecuador Week 5

At this point we are now old hands at forest living and our task is to finish off building steps. This is not easy work when it’s hot and humid! Despite this we have a great laugh and it felt like a fantastic achievement when we finally completed them. One of the highlights of spending time in the forest was the interesting characters we met there, a mix of scientists and volunteers who had all had intriguing reasons for being out in rural Ecuador. Katie and Adam were also lucky enough to visit the library in the local town of Tabuga which played host to another bunch of great kids eager to play and learn the odd English word. That concludes our time in the dry forest, after this it’s off to the Amazon rainforest for our next adventure!

Ecuador Week 4

A week in and we are now starting to deal with being woken up at the crack of dawn by bullfrogs, howler monkeys and the questionable singing voice of our resident cook Bigote, named after his impressive moustache. This week we are able to explore the local area more and visit the lalo lor project leader Jason’s farm and are introduced to his pig and dog. We also get the chance to meet a few of the kids in the area who are possibly the most energetic children in the world. One should consider themselves lucky if there are less than 5 hanging off you at any one time. Another interesting experience is visiting the nearest town Perdernales. It is certainly well off the tourist trail and gave us a chance to see the real Ecuador. The weekend arrives and it’s off to the beach again, this time we all head to Canoa to surf and relax, while party animal Adam heads to Montanita for a South American fiesta, one in which comes highly recommended. This involves live bands and nightclubs with swimming pools inside!

Ecuador Week 3

We say goodbye to Quito and head off on a 6 hour bus journey to the coast and our digs at the dry forest. It was a slight change from Quito with no electricity and howler monkeys swinging past our rooms at all hours. After a couple of days adjusting to the new surroundings we grew to like the place. This week is when the real work began, and that means machetes...and more machetes, which appear to be used for everything imaginable in rural Ecuador. After a week of conservation our group splits into two and head to the beaches of Canoa and Puerto Lopez for the weekend. Living in the forest offers opportunities to see some of the coolest animals on the planet, including snakes, butterflies and various arachnids that were frequently pointed out by our indigenous tour guide Maximo. Adam was even offered the opportunity to handle a wild snake after Maximo tracked one, an offer which he sensibly declined.

Ecuador Week 2

Seven days in and we are now comfortable with the city and possibly a little too comfortable with each other. The highlight of this week was climbing the live volcano Cotapaxi. Several hours and numerous falls later, particularly by Jess, and we reach the peak flanked by Germans, Belgians and every other nationality imaginable. The cycle ride down was exhilarating and this being Quito the day certainly did not end there. Only 2 of us came out completely unscathed and thus decided to go for a swift drink. In Quito the party rarely ends quietly and we proceeded to return at 7 in the morning.

The next day we go to watch the famous Liga De Quito at the estadio Olympico, home of National football club. South American football is renowned for its exciting and free flowing approach, and this match did not disappoint with 5 goals and a win for top of the table Liga. As the week went on we were able to further practice our newly acquired Spanish with trips to Quito Market and were introduced to our ‘crazy’ team leader Frankie, and our group is finally complete. Quito and a fear of heights are not a great mix as I was to find out, but this did not spoil my trip up the Teleferiqo cable car which offers spectacular views and a concentrated hit of oxygen if one is interested. The week is rounded off with a trip to the beautiful cloud forest Mindo. You are surrounded by natural beauty including humming birds and endless waterfalls. Despite this the best thing about Mindo is the extreme zip lining which seems more like bungee jumping. It’s a great rush and it also offers the best view of the forest. Come night and we had, according to Katie, the ‘greatest pizza in the world’ and of course we partied (again) until the early hours.

Ecuador Week 1

It’s almost 3am and everyone has finally arrived and extremely tired, 3 hours of sleep later and we commence a city tour. Welcome to Ecuador. After a lovely Ecuadorian breakfast we take a very crowded bus to the old town of Quito. We begin by looking at some Churches and learn the odd fact that by being too ‘delicioso’ you are likely to go to hell. Little did we know it would get a lot stranger than this. Throughout our first week in Quito we discover that the nightlife is not something to miss, however on day 2 we realise that singing is not one its stronger points after visiting a local karaoke bar. We round off week one by visiting the Equator line. A few interesting facts about this place are that you cannot walk along the equator line properly and it is strangely easy to balance an egg on a nail.

FIji Update Weeks 7-8

Fiji:

Two weeks on in camp, that’s 14 more days of porridge and island life is in full swing. We were saddened to see the departure of three volunteers but our tears were soon dispelled by the return of our Mighty medics Bex and Joe. After this joyous reunion, we were then invited to the annual rugby sevens tournament in Nawara to support our village of Navatu. Nawara is a bustling metropolis (by Fijian

standards) that is supposedly a mere thirty minutes away by boat....Thirty minutes if your steering doesn't break causing volunteers to need to dunk whole limbs in the water to create enough drag to turn us around the river bends! After finally finding a place to moor the boat we decided to walk to the rugby which was now only fifteen minutes away but once again..."supposedly" (The Fijians have a very queer concept of distance versus time!) Half an hour later we were fortunate enough to be picked up by a local bus and on climbing aboard we recognised many a face from the surrounding villages. Upon finally arriving at the rugby, a great day was had by all, and though Navatu didn't win the volunteers got fresh beef which was a greatly received treat.

The week got better from there as our mighty medics brought us back a rare and delightful treasure from their travels, CHEESE!!!! We used this valuable commodity to make ourselves pizzas in the make shift pizza oven (an oil drum covered in cement).

Diving has been top notch over the last few days and one dive we saw seven sharks, two Bumphead Parrotfish and an intimidating large shoal of Great Barracuda. Not only is the aquatic life thriving but terrestrial animals are doing well to! Buru, our camps puppy, has started walking and after a de-flea by means of a tea-tree oil bath is now ridiculously cuddle able!

See you in 14 days! Lucy xxx