What do you do if you have three hours to kill in a tiny airport, it is 32°c and the only thing in the airport – a very small café – is closed?  You write a blog.

I am on my way back from a great weekend on the coast.  I came down here to see the guys who are leaving on Thursday – they are the core of our first group and they are coming to the end of their three months.  Somewhat like their arrival, this feels like a really big event: a big mark in the life of Camp Ecuador.

Camp Costa looks great and the weather has been fabulous.  Today some of the group were diving and the rest were visiting Isla de la Plata.  Project work is done and holiday time is here, and there could hardly be a better place for a few days chilling out.

 

 

 

The group have, since arriving; cared for abandoned animals; built an organic vegetable garden, which will feed the kids at Santa Marianita school for years to come; maintained paths in the cloud forest, to help in the conservation of the spectacled bear; painted the tables at Camp Maqui to leave their mark; built a river beach for yellow-spotted turtle nesting; helped in the construction of a community tourism scheme; ridden a llama; taught English; learnt Spanish; built octopus houses out of recycled materials; visited the Andes, the Amazon and the coast (and some of them fitted in the Galapagos as well); spent lots of money in Otavalo; stood on the equator; been tubing and ziplining; seen butterflies hatch and chocolate being made; visited Quito old town, the best preserved of the early colonial cities in Latin America; spent time in indigenous communities; walked to 4800 meters on one of the world’s highest active volcanoes; travelled many miles by road, air and both river and ocean going boat; laughed and cried and probably argued, but I don’t know about the last one: not a bad way to spend a few months away from the drought in the UK.

 

 

 

 

They are now going on to various universities and careers and we wish them well.  It has been a great pleasure having them here and maybe one day they’ll come back and see us.  For us it is time to push on, to build on the good work that the first group has been so important in helping establish and make sure we do this great country justice for those who follow.

 

 

 

After all the planning it is really, really exciting to see some genuinely tangible activity going on.  The camp at Maqui is starting to take shape, with builders working away to get the whole thing ready for January.  This is the first camp that our first Gappers will stay in – in other words it is the site of Day 1 for Camp Ecuador: we can not wait to see it being used.

The building was originally built as a scientific research base, but with us there will be more people living there, which means many more loos and showers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The entrance is being changed and will include the dining area.  You can see in the background part of the village and the communications mast from the school.

The beds will be much like the old ones and made from bamboo – bamboo is one of the great building materials, and because it grows so fast it is a sustainable resource.

We will send more photos as things take shape – we are on schedule and really excited by the progress that’s being made at Maqui.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camp Ecuador played host last week to two, rather loud, members of the UK team.  It was a hectic week, involving something like 4000 hours in various cars on and off road, two flights, 3 boat journeys, multiple close encounters with animals and a vast amount of crisps and chocolate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like previous recces, there was a lot of country to cover.  In this case it was: Oriente, Otavalo, Maquipucuna, Cotapaxi, Quito, Costa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cotapaxi National Park is vast and very close to Quito – everything around here is high.  The guys reached a greater altitude than they had previously ever been to, unfortunately we don’t have photographic evidence of Lou’s unique “run, drop and roll” technique for descent: we were all paralysed with laughter so could not either take photos or help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following Cotapaxi, and in the interests of maintaining a rate of at least three or four different eco environments visited each day, we went to the Centro Historico Quito – and ate more.

Finally we headed to the coast.  Dive schools, projects, accommodation, beaches and more eating.   Most significantly, a close encounter with a turtle, but he deserves his own blog – to follow.