Ecuador – (ECU) : July 2 – July 29

Welcome Global Works travelers, parents and friends.  We are excited to share with you trip updates from around the world.  As our main office receives updates from the trips we will update the page as we receive news from the field.
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Welcome from you Global Works Leaders:
Hey guys,

I guess you must now be preparing for our fun packed trip of a lifetime in one of the most biologically and culturally diverse places on planet Earth! I can imagine how you must be going through all the emotions over these final preparatory moments. Anticipation, excitement, exhilaration, curiosity, enthusiasm, purpose, inspiration… and maybe just a little bit of fear of the unknown is creeping in too. Have no fear however. You will be far too busy making new friends and soaking up all that Ecuador has to offer to be worrying about anything! That’s what we, your trip leaders are here for, to ensure that you have the most fulfilling, memorable, life changing experiences ever. We will be with you every step of the way and I can speak for all of the Ecuador staff in saying that we are absolutely thrilled with the prospect of knowing y’all and that we look forward to sharing many beautiful experiences with you!!!

Your destination, Ecuador, is also awaiting your arrival with open arms, and after much hard work by the country director, Pete, you are in for a perfect balance of extremely rewarding cultural experiences and exhilarating adventures in the Amazon rainforest, Andean cloud forest and on the unique Galapagos archipelago!

Well guys, have a safe and happy final two weeks, and get gearing yourselves up for a roller coaster ride of a lifetime… ECUADOR STYLE!!

Happy packing!

The Global Works Ecuador Team.

Update #1:
Day 1 – Quito arrival and historical tour of colonial Quito
By: Joe McMahon

After many hours of airport adventures in Miami and Quito, the group finally made it on the bus and traveled to our beautiful hotel. We all got some well deserved sleep and ate breakfast in Los Alpes, the hotel where we were staying, and then took our bus to the Parque Itchimbia, a park on the hill overlooking the historic city of Quito. From there we climbed down into the old town and walked through the cozy streets. It was as if we stepped into a time warp of old colonial Quito how it was many years before. We then visited the old cathedral called ‘La Basilica’, a gothic style church with beautiful stained glass windows and lots of gargoyles that depict the countries indigenous animals. We climbed up twisting stairs and ladders to get to the top of the church’s clock tower with beautiful panoramic views of the city.

The group then walked to the main plaza of the ‘Centro Historico’ and visited the Presidential Palace, and ate an awesome lunch in a very interesting restaurant lined with eccentric paintings. We walked back to the plaza and made our way to one of the oldest churches in the country, ‘La Iglesia de La Compañia’, the resting place of the Patron Saint of Quito, ‘Mariana de Jesus’. Both the architecture outside and the gold covered inside were built using contrasting masonic styles and decorations, as it was constructed over the course of 160 years.

After that we took a brief tour of the ‘Casa de Cultura’, a museum of Ecuador’s cultures spanning from Pre-Incan times to present day. We were led through an interesting archeological exhibit of Ecuador’s native culture.

In the evening we dined Colombian style with an eccentric meal of eggs, yuca, avocado, plantains, beans, and a variety of meats including chicharron, beef, a variety of sausages and lots of different juices.

Later we returned to Los Alpes and rested up before our long bus ride to Tena en la mañana.

Day 2 – Travel Day from Andes to Amazon
By: Emma Rosenbaum-Jones

Today we said goodbye to Los Alpes and Dave, who had to stay behind to pick up delayed baggage, and hopped on the bus to Tena, our home for the next six days. The drive was long but we managed to entertain ourselves with a variety of fun games. Our ears popped as we crossed the continental divide and descended from the Andes into the Amazon rainforest, watching the cloud shrouded mountains and villages pass by.

We stopped for lunch and learned the real meaning of ‘Ya Mismo’ after we waited an hour for our food. Once we finally arrived in Tena, the warm air and brightly colored buildings were very welcoming after a couple of chilly nights at altitude in Quito. After executing a successful fire line, we headed out to buy snazzy rubber boots for our community service projects, checking out the Ecua-Volley court on the way. We later got a taste of home, with a dinner of pizza and coke, with a 4th of July fireworks show to boot.

Back at Las Brisas del Rio Hotel, we wrote up a language contract and got to know one another a bit better ‘en Español’. Later we turned out the lights and got some shut eye in preparation for our big rafting adventure the next day.

Day 3 – Our Big Amazon Rafting Adventure
By: Jonathan Kim

We began our day an hour earlier than usual, which was apparent from the half asleep faces around the breakfast table. We ate breakfast at the restaurant in front of our hotel called ‘La Tortuga Cafe’. It was very turtle themed with pictures of turtles on every wall and ceiling lights in the shape of turtles.

We then spent a short bus ride to the Rio Napo, a tributary to the Amazon river to enjoy a day on the rapids. Our group was split up into three separate boats, and after putting on a wetsuit, helmet and receiving a paddle, we were off!!!

On our adventure down the river, wave after wave crashed into our boats, spraying us with the refreshing river water. It was exhilarating!!! Our first stop was in calm waters, at a point where two rivers meet. We spent time swimming and plunging into the water off a small rock outcrop.

Our second stop was on a small river beach where we played various fun games. One consisted of everyone holding a paddle in a big circle, and being commanded to move left or right to catch your neighbors paddle before it fell to the ground. Another one was a team game that consisted of 4 teams responding to orders in Spanish and racing each other round the circle and through the legs of their team-mates to grab a helmet in the center.

Our last stop on the river was for lunch break. Lunch was a homemade preparation from the white water rafting crew. It was out of this world!!

We finally ended our amazing day on the river and in the evening, we went back to the Tortuga cafe to celebrate the birthday of Camila, the daughter of a Global Works staff member, Peter, each eating a piece of her birthday cake. We finally hit the hay after a long but exhilarating day of rafting and celebration.

Photos:

Update #2:

Our First Day of Community Service Work
By: Jessica Bonaventura

Today we finally got our hands dirty as we headed off to begin our first day of  the community service project. After about a mile walk from the hostel to the hospital , taking the scenic short cut of course, we finally arrived at the Hospital Tena where we are helping construct a play park for disabled kids, the first of it’s kind ever in Ecuador!!!

Right off the bat we began unloading bags of cement that weighed ‘like a million pounds’, and made a successful fire line to unload a heap of cinder blocks that are to be used to build a ‘bodega’ to store all the specially designed games to help rehabilitate the patients of the center.

Later, as we entered the hospital to meet the young disabled kids who will be benefiting from our service, you could see the shock on our faces as we were told this was the only hospital for miles around, with some kids and their families having to travel by canoe, bus, and walk miles just to receive a few hours of physical therapy.

It was one of the first moments in our lives where we truly thought and appreciated what we have and how fortunate we are. After a few more hours of moving stones, digging trenches for foundations, building the store house, mixing cement and painting, we finally headed back to the hotel for a well earned rest.

In the evening we were treated to salsa lessons from Camila, one of the leaders daughters, as we attempted to move our hips as seamlessly as she did! After a dinner at ‘Super Pollo’ and some relaxing, we headed to bed to rest up for the continuation of our project that we will soon be able to marvel at.
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Day 2 of Community Service and Bathing, Amazon style.
By: Jason Rathman

Another work day in Tena. We continued our though construction projects on the hospital play ground such as mixing cement by hand and digging trenches for wall foundations. We were all a little sore from the previous days work, but we sucked it up knowing that we would have a refreshing swim in a nearby water hole afterward.

The swimming hole was amazing! There was a beautiful waterfall and we were surrounded by tropical jungle on all sides. Once we returned to the hotel, we all took turns showering after another productive day of work and play.

For dinner our leaders surprised us with an American favorite, pizza. Even though it was the second time we have eaten pizza, it was just as magical!

After practicing our Spanish at dinner, most of us went out for an ‘helado’ and said our final goodbyes to Camila.

Another end to another fantastic day in Ecuador.
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That’s why they call it the ‘rain’ forest!!!
By: Sara Hyman

We woke up at our hostel by the river in Tena to a gloomy, rainy day. This unfortunately impeded our ability to work on the hospital so we had a little time for extra Spanish tuition. We discussed the differences between ‘por’ and ‘para’ (both meaning ‘for’ but used in different situations) and then we all created sentences using both ‘por’ and ‘para’ and shared our examples with the group.

We then did a role play activity where two people sat back to back and had to have a hypothetical phone conversation with each other. It was challenging but we all had lots of fun!

At noon the rain calmed and we made our way to the work site where we designed a mural for the playground wall and came up with names for the park. Of all the names our group came up with to name the park, the parents and kids will decide which one they like the best, and our stamp will be left forever with the proud name of the park coming from our groups collective mind! The group was then split, with some going outside to continue the challenging but rewarding building work, whilst others stayed in the therapy clinic to help out with necessary maintenance and admin chores.

For dinner, we were split up into groups and were able to explore Tena a little whilst being given the liberty to choose where to eat. It was both a tasty and a learning experience. Once we arrived back to ‘La Brisa del Rio’ (the hotel) we did a weather check activity called ‘Rose, Bud, Thorn’ For the rose, each person had to share with the group one thing they were enjoying or had enjoyed, for the bud we had to share something that they were surprised by, and for the thorn each person had to share something that had made them a little uncomfortable. It was a great activity to end the day, and left us all going to bed with a warm feeling in our hearts after hearing such beautiful thoughts from our fellow group members.

Update #3:
Day 7 - Salsa and Birthday celebrations – By: Andrew Hansen

When we woke up it was raining again. With no signs of letting up our work at the hospital was hindered due to the weather. It was really too bad seeing as it was our final day. Construction work was impossible in such damp conditions! So we made the most of our time to get some more Spanish learning activities in. We were given various topical newspaper stories to translate into English and present to the rest of the group.

Later we went for an early lunch and then went to the Tena Hospital, our community service site, to do a few final tasks and have a closing fiesta. We all presented our ideas for the name of the disabled children’s park and our design ideas for the big wall mural, which will be selected by parents to put our stamp on such a great project, and had a final presentation on the goals of the center and the meaning of all our hard work.

After our walk back to the hotel, we heard the word we’ve all been dying to hear… laundry. Everyone gathered up all the clothes possible and got them ready to send to the laundromat. Later we went to watch a soccer game, Ecuador v Venezuela in the Copa America, then went for dinner to celebrate Sam’s birthday.

After a nice dinner on the other side of the river, we walked back to the hotel, where Steph and Dave had a surprise party set up for Sam, on her ‘Quinciañera’ birthday (15th) which is a real big deal in Ecuador. We played various party games and ate some cake. That was a really nice gift for Sam. An overall great day.

Day 8 – The Beautiful Amazon Jungle, Canoe Travel and a Wooly Monkey to Boot!! – By: Alana Cohen

This morning we got to sleep in late, and by late we mean 8.15am! We ate breakfast, packed and boarded the bus to travel to our next destination. After an hours bus ride, we unloaded our luggage and reloaded it and ourselves into canoes to take us to the beautiful Arajuno Lodge. The journey up the Arajuno River was magical!

On arrival, we were immediately greeted by an extremely friendly woolly monkey called Mona. She was partially domesticated as she had been rescued by the lodge owner, Tom, when she was just a baby. We enjoyed a delicious lunch consisting of burritos, salad, rice, nachos, guacamole and banana cake, whilst being distracted by the adorable monkey wanting to play.

We then took a tour of the lodge owners property which entailed visiting his fish ponds, a river turtle rehabilitation project, and ethno – botanical gardens. We were also shown around the land to get an orientation of the area we were to spend the next couple of days.

A delicious dinner awaited us upon return which was followed by a selection of interesting and eye opening video documentaries on the destructive processes of oil exploitation in nearby areas of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

At the end of the day we returned to our jungle cabins and fell asleep to the relaxing sounds of the rain forest as we reflected on the amazing day we had had.

Day 9 - The Sounds of Silence Echo Deep in the Jungle – By: Ian Wittels

After a peaceful and dreamy night at the serene Arajuno Jungle Lodge, the group enjoyed a fresh breakfast of fruits and other native delicacies. After breakfast we set off on our adventurous and exciting hike through the abstract Amazon jungle. On the hike, our friendly native leader, William pointed out many beautiful trees as well as a plethora of different insects unique to the jungle.

After about three hours trekking through the dense trees of the Amazon, we descended to a river where the group split up and everybody enjoyed 15 minutes of reflection time. During the 15 minutes we listened to the intrinsic sounds of the jungle and enjoyed watching the innocent river flow.

After the 15 minutes, we hiked for another hour back to the jungle lodge where a fish full of lunch awaited us. After lunch the group sadly had to split up, where half the group traveled 30 minutes up the river in the canoe, and slowly floated back down the river, soaking up the sights and sounds as we went, as the other half worked on their Español with a fun Spanish learning activity.

After about two hours the group reunited and together we all went for a refreshing swim in the river. After our swim we ate a candle light dinner consisting of a pasta dish and crema de maracuya for desert. After the delicious dinner on the riverside, the group ventured on a night hike through the dark jungle in search of interesting creatures like snakes and insects. After about 45 minutes we returned to our cabins where we reflected upon the eventful day full of new adventures and experiences.

Day 10 – Amazonian Animals Galore! – By: Sarah Egener

After a superfluous amount of sleep, we all rose for another amicable day in the jungle. Breakfast was eggs and pastries filled with spinach and cheese, a meal authentic to Ecuadorian cuisine.

After returning to our cabins to get dressed for our day trip to the animal rescue center, ‘Amazoonica’, we got aboard a canoe and swept across the light rapids of the Amazon down to the center. After about 45 minutes on the river, we alighted at our destination.

Tom, the jungle lodge owner, was our guide as we explored this center for rescued animals that had previously been victims of the illegal animal trafficking trade. We were introduced to an exponential amount of monkeys, other mammals, birds and reptiles and learned about their ecology, behavior, diet and conservation implications.

All was calm until we reached the Capuchin Monkey enclosure. They greeted us with piercing eyes and mammoth front teeth, whilst lunging at us from within their caged enclosure. Without the fenced barrier, we would have been monkey prey without a doubt.

At 5 ‘o’ clock a local shamen arrived to provide us with an insight into his cultural beliefs, traditions and alternative medicines. We were expecting him to arrive in some sort of indigenous headdress and apparel, though he arrived in jeans and a t-shirt. He doesn’t like to use the traditional headdress as it is made of endangered bird feathers.

His lack of ceremonial attire did not diminish his demonstration though. In Spanish he told us all about the healing powers of the natural world through shamanic ceremonies and the process of becoming a shamen, and then performed a microcosm of a shamanic cleansing ritual to cleanse the spirits of all the group members.

Day 11 – From Amazon to Andes, and the healing powers of volcanic thermals – By: Sam Warrick

This morning, the group woke up at the Arajuno Lodge and had a breakfast of granola, fruit and yogurt. We packed the canoes full with our bags and headed out around 8.30am. The bus picked us up late from the lodge so we got a late start.

The bus ride to Papallacta was around 3.5 hours. It started out with warm, calm weather, but as we climbed the mountains the temperature dropped. By the time we reached our lunch restaurant, we were all freezing.

We ate lunch at the restaurant ‘Paisaje de los Andes’. Coincidentally, there was another Global Works group there. They were from the Peru- Ecuador trip who were on their way back to Quito before heading out to the Galapagos. We chatted a bit, then ate our lunch. The other group said their goodbyes and we went the 50 meters up the road to our hotel.

It was magnificent, with huge windows and stained glass and nice furnishings. We had a boys cabin and a girls cabin.

The hot springs were fantastic too!!! The steam rose into the frigid air. The water felt warm and smooth. Around the pools the Andes rose thousands of feet above us. Sometimes we got glimpses of their peaks through the clouds.

After a relaxing few hours in the thermal pools, we were treated to a very nice dinner. We got shrimp and burgers and dessert and hot chocolate. ‘It was to die for!!’

We all wrapped up the evening with a worthwhile activity of describing our highs and lows of the trip so far, told around a roaring log fire.

Update #4:
Day 12 – Biking our way between the hemispheres!
By: Joe McMahon
We set off in the frigid morning air up to our high mountain starting point for the biking adventure. We left the hot springs and our bus dropped us off at ‘La Virgen’ at almost 13,000 feet where we met our biking guides Alberto and Patricio. After a quick safety lesson, we started down the mountain. It was truly spectacular with the mountains and clouds surrounding us and providing some breathtaking views!

We made it down to our first check point, no one injured and Javier our bus driver drove us to our next biking station. We had a satisfying lunch of pasta and chocolate brownies, washed down with ginger tea and then set off again, this time following an old abandoned railroad that has been turned into a bike trail so there were very few bumps. The fact that the trail used to be a railroad also brought with it long dark tunnels which proved a little disorientating, going from light to dark, but were so much FUN!

There was then a steady hill up to our next check point and it was all downhill from there. We passed a number of quaint little villages on this stretch where we enjoyed sharing greetings with the native Ecuadorians. When we finally arrived at the finishing point, we said goodbye to our friendly guides and Javier drove us to Otavalo.

On the way we stopped at ‘Mitad del Mundo’ (the middle of the world) where we straddled the Equatorial line with one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other in the south. We had a very interesting and informative presentation and learnt many new facts about the equinoxes and the solstices, and then took some very creative pictures involving the Equatorial line.

We continued to Otavalo, arriving at our our hotel in the late afternoon. We relaxed after a hard day biking and then walked to our restaurant, Inti Huasy’ whilst seeing the Poncho Plaza, that will tomorrow become a busy market. The food was delicious and the beds were comfy for us to rest up for our hike the next day!
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Day 13 – Up, Down and Almost all Around the Guinea Pig Lake, Cuicocha.
By: Emma Rosenbaum-Jones
Our first day in Otavalo was nice and chilly, perfect weather for a hike around the crater lake, Cuicocha (Lake Guinea Pig). The lake was formed thousands of years ago by the volcanic activity of the towering Cotacachi. We began walking around 9.30am and our trail took us up a small hill and almost immediately came to a lookout point of the spectacular lake. It was beautiful! Two hilly green blends rose out of the sapphire water that reached out to touch the misty Paramo of the Andes.

As we hiked up, down and almost all the way around, we enjoyed the smell of the leafy shrubs and sticks. Dave gave us a first class tour of the Paramos and taught us the ways of the great oso andino, and told fascinating mythological tales of the mountain gods, Mama Cotacachi, Taita Imbabura, Ruco Pichincha and Guagua Pichincha (The Mother, Father, Old Man and the Baby in Quichua).

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the lake and gave ourselves a pat on the back for not wimping out of the hike. Job well done!!!

Once back at the hotel, we gleefully sent our second load of laundry and then went out to call home and explore Otavalo. We hopped over to dinner at ’Mi Otavalito’ where we were greeted by a traditional Otavaleñan Indian band and large plates of great food. Even though most of us were stuffed, we visited the famous pie shop where we managed to consume enough fruit pie to kill.

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Update #5:
Day 14 – Otavalo Indians and Ass Whooping!  – By: Jonathan Kim
After a long night of sleep we journeyed into the heart of the largest and most famous indigenous market of its kind in the world to press our luck on bartering. Some of us were more successful than others though we all enjoyed the experience of practicing native traditions. The countless market stalls sold anything and everything, from coconut milk to woolen ponchos to extravagant jewelry. All day long the market was buzzing with activity, with shopkeepers encouraging tourists and locals alike to buy their wares.

Each shopkeeper portrayed the native attire. The women were wearing embroidered blouses, ankle length woolen skirts, rope sandals, shawls, gold beads around their neck, and colorful ribbons in their hair. The men wore blue woolen ponchos, calf length white pants, rope sandals and felt fedora hats, with their hair elegantly plaited often all the way to their waist.

We spent all day shopping and bargaining, and after an exciting day at the market we headed back to the hotel for a ‘noche cultural´ presented by a group of native Indians, and we reunited with Camila. It was really interesting to learn about the local indigenous people whom are trying to keep their century long traditions alive, and see them in action. We saw a group of talented musicians playing in the ukulele, guitar, drum, violin, and various flutes and pan pipes. The room was enlightened by the ancient vibrant sound. We were also treated to a traditional dance performed by three girls from the village where they portrayed a symbolic, metaphoric story of washing clothes by the river and falling in love. We then were introduced to a local game performed at family events, where two people laid down and took turns at whipping each others behind with knotted cloths until one gave up. We all took part in competing against each other. It sounds weird but was lots of fun!

We then celebrated an indigenous girls birthday, and bought yet more souvenirs with the proceeds going towards helping the indigenous community that performed the music, dances and games. We then hit the hay after a long day of cultural learning.
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Day 15 – Homestay At Last and a One Sided Soccer Game – By: Jessica Bonaventura
After we said our goodbyes to the wonderful town of Otavalo, we headed off to our homestay community, Pucara. After a 2 hour ride of anticipation, we arrived at the community and were introduced to a number of the very friendly community members and received a presentation on the region of Intag, the village of Pucara, and were given a brief introduction to the projects we will be working on.

We were served a nice lunch in the community center and subsequently headed off to explore Pete’s farm. We learned about working with nature and the work that goes into our everyday foods, and about organic farming practices.

When we returned back to the village in the late afternoon, we were greeted with open arms by our host families. We were all divided into pairs, or individual homestays that best matched our requests and community needs. We were with a lady called Carmela and her family near the center of the village. We had a brief welcoming from our families and then settled into our homes.

After settling in, we headed to the fields to play futbol with the kids. We played Ecuadorians vs Volunteers. Needless to say who won…

THEM!

Following dinner we had time to get to know our families and tell them all about us whilst learning all about them. Then it was off to bed to rest up for our first day of work here in Pucara.
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Day 16 – Weed and Weed and Rock You! – By Jason Rathman.
Today was our first full day in Pucara. We awoke early to the sound of several loud roosters and headed up to the village center to begin our first day of community service work in our homestay village. We all met outside the ‘iglesia’ at 8am and were divided into groups to perform different tasks.

Our group was called ‘Weeds and Rocks’, and the other we like to call (due to the exaggerated accounts of some group members) ‘Death Hike Survival’

Team ‘Weed and Rocks’ stuck with its name and weeded the communal garden and collected an obscene amount of rocks to be later used for the elementary schools patio that was previously very hazardous due to a dangerous combination of slippery earth and sharp rocks.

Team ‘Death Hike’ organized and positioned a number of Eco-touristic signs along a trail to a town at the other side of the valley called Plaza Gutierrez. The goals of this project are to promote Eco-tourism in the area in order to create employment opportunities for young adults, in order to prevent them from having to move further afield in search of laborious underpaid work in factories and mines.

After eating a delicious lunch in the community center, we went on an actual hike in the cloud forest reserve ‘Flor de Mayo’. Our leader Dave and another native guide, Milton, taught us about the special characteristics of the cloud forest and its native flora and fauna.

In the late evening we returned to Pucara to rest after a long but fulfilling day.

BUENAS NOCHES!
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Day 17 – Massive Appreciation For Joe, and For Good Quality Coffee too! – By: Sara Hyman
Woke up to a chilly day in Pucara. We commenced our 2nd day of work by again splitting up into two groups. One group continued where the other left off with the Eco-touristic signs on the picturesque trail to Plaza Gutierrez whilst the other took their turn to help with the construction of the cement patio of the school. We all worked extremely hard and ended up getting a ton done. It was great!!

In the afternoon, we visited a coffee plantation. Whilst there Pete gave us a tour of the factory ‘Cafe Rio Intag’, and talked and walked us though the steps of making a single bag of coffee. While there are many people out there that enjoy drinking coffee, very few will fully appreciate all the hard work that gets the coffee from the fruit to the seed to the bean to the granule to the cup. There are a multitude of steps to pick out the perfect beans. But in the end, people really do appreciate a cup of good quality coffee.

After we returned to Pucara, we gathered in front of the church for a brief meeting. Sadly, today was Joe’s final day with us. He had to leave the trip early to go to summer camp. We all formed an appreciation circle and said something we really love about Joe. He really ius one of the friendliest people we have ever met and he always put a smile on our faces!

At 7.30 pm, little did he know, we had a surprise going away party for Joe. We had previously bought chocolates, oreos, and animal crackers to celebrate. And I even think he was genuinely surprised! We had a great night of fun eating and playing a final Mafia game as the original group.

Once we were done, we had to start working on a dance routine that we were to put together to a traditional Ecuadorian song of ‘Bomba’ music unique to the province of Imbabura and the Intag region. This dance is to be presented during our goodbye ceremony (despedida) on our last day of cultural immersion. We were able to pull out some funky dance moves, and we look forward to showing them to our new friends in Pucara.
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Day 18 – Rub a Dub Dub, Washing Clothes in a Tub – By: Alana Cohen
We began our fourth day in Pucara by waking up to the sounds, sights and fresh air of the Ecuadorian mountains. After a delicious breakfast with our families, the group met at the church and we were split into groups. Once again, the main group were cementing the patio of the school, another was making cement supporting foundations for the ‘Intag Spanish School’, and the final group were fitting floorboards for an attic bodega in the newly constructed public bathrooms in the village center.

After a hard and extremely productive 6 hours, we ate lunch and treated ourselves to ice cream! We were given the afternoon off so we all took this opportunity to do laundry with our mothers, Ecuador style! After the joys of laundry, we played soccer and card games with the adorable children of the community.

We later met to practice our dance for the community, which was choreographed by our friend Joe, that we will be performing tomorrow night at the ‘gran despedida’.

We then returned to our families for a delicious dinner, eager to share stories with them of our busy and exciting day!
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Day 19 – Adios Amigos – By Andrew Hansen
Today was our last day in the beautiful community of Pucara. We all met at the usual place, at the usual time and were briefed for the days activities. Firstly, all the group were given a task of moving wooden posts and planks to ‘Finca de la Fe’. On returning to Pucara shortly afterwards, the whole group hopped into Don Fausto’s ‘camioneta’ and headed down to the Rio Apuela’ to collect more rocks for the school playground area. We made a very long and productive fire line, with both Ecuadorians and Global Works volunteers working together to select and move rocks from the river bank to the truck.

We filled the truck twice, and unloaded the rocks outside the school ready for completing the playground patio. This took us up ’til lunch, and with our hard but rewarding community service work over, we enjoyed a nice meal of rice, beans and chicken.

After lunch we all made the most of the time we had left by playing with the children as much as possible, in an attempt to avoid our inevitable parting tomorrow. This was closely followed by a brief explanation of the ‘Periodico Intag’ and then the climax of our day, the ‘despedida’.

The despedida entailed a large gathering of the people of Pucara around the volleyball pitch, that had come to throw us a goodbye party. The party was full of events, with various games in which we participated with the school kids, live music and singing from two community members, speeches of thankyou and a variety of dances presented by the local school children, and ladies groups, followed by us…

After performing the dreaded dance that actually turned out to be really fun, we finished the day dancing and socializing with our friends and family. The group couldn’t have asked for nicer community in which to have its homestay!

Update #6:
Day 21: “Bienvenidos a Los Galapagos!” By Samantha Warrick
We woke up at 5am this morning in order to get to the airport and board our plane to the Galapagos! This has been part of the trip we have all been anxiously anticipating.  The plane ride was 2 hours long to the Galapagos via Guyaquil.  The plane itself was kind of fancy as we all had personal tv screens! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride to the land of evolution.

We arrived to the small island of Baltra around 10 am.  The airport was wood and open air: totally different from those in the US. From there we hopped from bus to boat to bus! We took a brief bus ride to a beautiful channel between Baltra and Santa Cruz. The water was crystal clear and all different colors of blue. A warm welcome after spending a lot of time in the crisp air of Ecuadors high sierra.  It was a gorgeous site.  We took a ferry across the channel, and then we took a longer boat ride to Isabela. A lot of us were nauseous and quite wet by the end of hour 2 hour ride!”

We arrived to Isabela, the youngest and largest of the Galapagos islands. We unloaded our bags and headed to Hotel San Vicente.  From there, we spent the afternoon snorkling. We saw damsel fish, crabs, coral and green sea turtles. We coud get within a few feet of the turtles to photograph and watch them. They were beautiful.  It was amazing. For dinner, we had a group favorite: pizza and burgers! A great end to a great day.

Day 22: “Hot Lava Mama”  By Sarah Egner
Today we rose for our first full day on the island of Isabela. We spent the majority of our day hiking to the Sierra Negra Volcano, a 3,000 foot high crater that last erupted in 2005.  With our trekking gear on and bags packed we boarded bus to the volcanoes trailhead.  Much to our dismay, when it was time to get out of the car, the rain began.  This introduced a muddy terrain that had us slipping and sliding amusingly up the crater.

After hours of this we gradually ventured into drier land and we finally arrived to our destination which hosted an outstanding view.  There were clouds to our left and right and through them a sight that afforded a view of crystal blue water and countless islands that make up the Galapagos. Not only was the destination amazing but the journey as well.  We spent a good amount of time sitting on the crater rim on warm lava rocks taking in the views of ocean, lava fields, sulfur and iron. We all agreed that to have been here in 2005 for the last eruption would have been a treat, as the fiery red and orange lava slowly flowed like mud from the crater rim to the floor without hurting a soul.  At one point we stuck our hands in a tiny hole in the lava floor, and we pulled them back in surprise as the air was extremely hot from the magma under the lavas surface.  That night we ate at a beautiful and tranquil restaurant on the beach.  It’s warm and welcoming ambiance and Jack Johnson tunes allowed us to relax while listening to the waves crash while enjoying coconut shrimp.

Day 23: “Hey George! Why are you so lonely?” By Emma Rosenbaum-Jones
This morning we scarfed down our typical breakfast of delicious bread, eggs, fruit and juice and headed out on a snorkeling (in Español: esnorkeling!) adventure off the coast of Isabela. The sea lines were there to playfully greet us when we arrived, and they seemed to enjoy diving at and around us once we hopped into the water. We paddled around and saw two types of stingray, tintorera sharks, sea turtles and loads of brightly colored fish. Animal watching never gets boring here in the Galapagos!  After we finished snorkeling in the warm waters, we boated over to a small island that was piled high with marine iguanas. We scooted around and watched the iguanas spit salt out of their noses and precariously balance on black lava rocks staring to some unknown abyss.  Lastly, we swung by another island to check out the famous blue footed boobies and penguins. The penguins in the Galapagos are the second smallest in the world.

After lunch we packed our bags and said goodbye to Isabella as we sailed to our second island: Santa Cruz and the town of Puerto Ayora, which hosts the largest population of any island in the Galapagos. Once we dropped off our bags at  Hotel Gardner, we walked to the Charles Darwin Research center where Carlos, our Galapagos guide, taught us about the history of the Galapagos and the diverse animal species. We even said hello to Lonesome George, the last survivor of his kind of tortoise species.  We waded amongst terrestrial iguanas and other giant 100 year old tortoises while snapping photos. The leaders set us free for dinner and some time to explore the town. We all ate dinner together and ended the day with some souvenir shopping,–nope–we are not tired of shopping yet!

Day 24: “Ding…What is Ecuador!” By Jonathan Kim
We started our first and final morning in Santa Cruz with breakfast on the terrace of the hotel. Our morning involved a long walk across endless sand to the scenic beach of Tortuga Bay. It was nice to relax on the beach. Beach activities included swimming, sleeping, reading and the highlight: NINJA.  Ninja is a fast moving reflex game that the entire group took part in.

Bidding farewell to Santa Cruz, we took another two hour rollercoaster boat ride to our last island, San Cristobal. San Cristobal is the farthest east and oldest of the Galapagos islands. We were joyful to exit our boat and begin our well known routine of unloading bags and trudging to our hotel.  We settled into our new digs and to the learn some more. We spent the afternoon visiting the Center of Interpretation to understand more about the origins, human history and pressing issues of the Galapagos. the center did an excellent job explaining human history and impact. Some topics of interest included the high cost of tourism and the need to create sustainable practices in living and tourism on the islands in order to preserve them.  Afterwards we spent our time sharing the beach and sunset with the local sea lions who rumbled in their sleep and splashed in the waves. After dinner we were treated to our favorite: ice cream! The evening wrapped up with a cutthroat game of Ecuadorian Jeopardy with questions formulated by our awesome leaders Steph and Miguel.

Poem from Ecuador!
Magical ocean dance with sea lions
Buses, boats, planes. On we travel.
Playing ninja in the rain and laughing
Just relax, tube your life away
Exchanging culture at the despedida
Risked our lives with sharks
Shaking our asses in farewell
Mona is an attention hog
Laughing together on the ocean
Doñas over stuffing their kids happily
Rock fire line school patio looks fine
Dance party with pucara familes.