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Ecuador Galapagos Log (2008-06-14 --> 2008-07-07)
Leaders: Arlynn Ilgenfritz and Eric Malkowski
Students: Erin Barker, Tucker Bolding, Quinn Corey, Caroline Drew, Cole Furrh, Dorothy James, Sallie James, Brent Perper, Mary Stiles Rader, Lily Wood
Day 1: We all arrived in Ecuador safe and sound and drove straight to our place of lodging, Hotel Antinea! The hotel was beautiful and very authentic Ecuadorian right in the heart of Quito. After swapping traveling tales from the day and eating pizza we snuggled into our beds for a good night’s rest.
Day 2: A traditional Ecuadorian breakfast with fresh squeezed juices from fruit we had never heard of and warm croissants greeted us in the morning. Then we hopped on the bus and headed into the Amazon for community service. Puma (our driver) some upbeat traveling music while Wilson (our guide) pointed out more volcanoes than we could ever remember. Quinn was also a wealth of information and got everyone excited with stories from her previous trip to Ecuador. Along the way we stopped for helado (ice cream) in a town known for this tasty treat. Erin and Tucker went out on a limb and tried a blackberry and avocado flavored helado, which they loved! Shortly after we stopped to take a cable car across a gorge with an amazing waterfall. Sallie and Lily, though hesitant due to the height, conquered their fear and found it to be an exhilarating ride! After spending time tromping around in the rainforest learning about local fruit from Wilson, we got back on the bus and made our way through the breathtaking Andes to the Encanta Natural Hotel. After a long day of travel we were only too happy to be lulled to sleep in our toasty warm beds by the nearby river.
Day 3: We awoke to squawking parrots and misty mountains. As we sat around the breakfast table we smiled sleepily at the fact that we were a new family beginning a new adventure in the Amazon Rainforest! After a breakfast with fresh fruit (again new fruit to us - babaco anyone?) we headed off to build boxes. The boxes were to be used by families carrying their fruit to and from market. Cole demonstrated his Bob Vila-like skills at this task, even helping others in the assembly. We all worked hard and after lunch prepared for a soccer match: USA versus Ecuador! The girls played first with Erin, Quinn, and Sallie leading the team. Then came the men’s game with Brent, Tucker, and Cole proving to be very skilled soccer players. After the dust settled the girls suffered a slight loss (they beat us big time!) and the boys rejoiced in a hard fought win. We all celebrated in the fun and headed back to the hotel for dinner and some much needed rest.
Day 4: We woke up to another great breakfast with yet more unusual and yummy fruit juices and headed in to town. Our first stop was the local market to buy some food with the money we earned from building boxes. Then we marched trough the town picking up the local kids for school on our way. Once we had led the parade of local kids to the school we set about tackling our serious project of the day: recess. With about 15 kids for each Moondance student we had our hands full! While some of us played out in the yard, a few headed into the kitchen to prepare lunch for the kids with the food we had purchased. Dorothy, Quinn and Erin proved to be great chefs, and picked up some Ecuadorian know how in the kitchen. After a few more games with the kids, we were off the practice our rappelling at a beautiful riot (river). Everyone picked it up quickly and had a great time playing the river.
Day 5: Today we taught English to the local kids. Caroline and Mary Stiles gathered supplies and organized our lessons for the school children. What an amazing job they did! We entered the school with posters and smiles and had a wonderful, though challenging at times, and day of English teaching. We then split up and played futbol (soccer) and made bandanna necklaces with the kids (which they loved!!! every kid in Rio Negro now sports a Moondance souvenir) Lily and Cole taught some of the kids to toss a Frisbee while Dorothy and Caroline played water balloon catch. We headed back after such a great day to an insightful Moonup complete with a poem from Caroline, she has made one for each day s far! They have become a standard Moonup highlight.
Day 6: The sound of a morning jungle rain shower greeted us this morning. This with mist ringing the mountain tops reminded us that we really were in the Amazon rainforest!!!!! We were excited to have french toast and hot chocolate for breakfast and then head off to today's activity: painting murals at the school. When we entered the school again the kids greeted us like local celebrities. Arlynn, our resident artist, set about to mixing the colors to match the exact tones of the tropical birds we were painting. By the end of the day we were covered in paint and smiling. Being able to see the difference we had made on the walls of the school was truly fulfilling.
Day 7: We were happily surprised yet again to find another American meal for breakfast; pancakes (of course these were accompanied by the amazing fresh juices that we have grown accustomed to) we headed back to the school to finish the beautiful work we had started. We put finishing touches on the birds we had started and added beautiful flowers and bugs. After the paint had dried we stepped back and looked at what we had created, it we a beautiful jungle mural complete with names of all the species. Wilson was so happy that while he was thanking us for our hard work and creativity he welled up a bit. What would be a better end to the day than a futbol game with the locals?
Day 8: After all that hard work, we got to sleep in today (8am! really late!) We were also rewarded with a day of white water rafting. We drove down to the put in on the Pastaza River jumped in our wet suits and we were off. Mary Stiles and Brent were brave and started off in the duckier with a guide. The rest of us were in 2 rafts each with a guide. The water was cold but enjoyable and many of us opted to jump in and float when the water was calm. We stopped along the way to play games on the beach and bask in the sun. The experience of being in the middle of the Amazon with no man-made structures anywhere was truly amazing. Erin and Tucker were great leaders in keeping people in sync while paddling. After a long day on the river we had a traditional lunch in an indigenous village. The tribal leader (wearing 3 necklaces of jaguar teeth) and his wife were much honored to have us there. Quinn’s Spanish knowledge, which we have come to rely on, yet again came in handy as we spoke with the locals about the hand made items.
Day 9: Today experience started off at a fishing hole as we all used bamboo poles of catch our lunch. Everyone caught a fish and Tucker, Erin, and Dorothy showed exceptional skill and caught fish for all of our guides. After the fish was on the grill we headed off the the bridge to rappel into canyon. There is nothing quite like lowering yourself in to the Amazon with a beautiful gorge in front of you. We romped through the canyon, in and out of a river, and carefully made our way to a magnificent waterfall. We rappelled down alongside the waterfall and made our way to our lunch of grilled trout that we had certainly earned. What a day!
Day 10: Today we were up early to head to the scientific botanical center near Rio Negro where we learned about some of the animals in the region and picked up some plants that had been prepared specifically for us. We drove these plants to a local farm that is participating a reforestation project of the Amazon. We spent the morning muddy (not solely due to the many mud fights we had) and happy working with local guides, practicing our Spanish, and using our green thumbs. After lunch we headed don into the rainforest and muddied ourselves by finding pits that would swallow us up to our waists. We played in a waterfall for a bit, then, wet and happy, made our way up to ride the longest zip line in South America!!!! This was quite an experience, 800 meters through the tree tops and over the river. It felt like we were flying! Once we had all landed safely, we hosed off and headed for home. We had a great dinner and then jumped back on the bus to join our guides in the celebration of the founder’s day of the town. The fiesta was complete with fireworks, a live band, and dancing! A perfect ending to a prefect day.
Day11: Today we traveled back to Quito to prepare for the Galapagos!!! Woohooo!
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