Almost two years into our time in Ecuador, we are still learning and exploring.  This week, we went into the mountains near Baños to investigate an idea for an addition to some Gapper programmes.

Baños is much loved of our Gappers – it arrives in the programme after some hard project work in the Amazon, and offers a break and some serious adrenaline pursuing.  Slowly, the time there has stretched as each group of Gappers tells us they love the place and want more time there.  Our latest idea is make it a good bit longer but include a completely different idea alongside the chill out time in town.

Baños sits in the shadow of Tungurahua, a very active volcano which periodically spits lava and smoke from its caldera.  Our plan is to work with a foundation who are trying to conserve the natural habitat on its slopes.  These forests are home to bears, tapirs, rare frogs, orchids, rare hardwood trees and some incredible views; all of which are under threat.  (Don’t worry, between their land and the scary bit of the volcano are deep valleys so there is no danger of lava flows arriving in the night.)

Part of the 2.5 hour climb up tio the lodge.

The forests are dense with vegetation; among which are rare trees that we are planning to work to preserve, creating nurseries using saplings and reforesting with mixed forest to replicate the natural, virgin forest that dominates these hills.  There are waterfalls and springs that are the very beginnings of the Amazon river – the water in them is going all the way to the Atlantic through the Amazon jungle.  Through the climb up we ate strange fruits, some of which were actually quite nice.  We saw a footprint of a tapir, and his bed; not him though.  We saw orchids clinging to the sides of trees and a spider that had died because he ate a mushroom and it took over his body from the inside (that’s the reddy/yellow looking thing in one of the photos below).

The lodge is simple, but “cool” for want of a better word.  You are up in the hills, cooking is on an open fire and the views are incredible.  This is a unique place and being there is extraordinary – the loss of a few creature comforts is a small price to pay.  There is mobile reception, which is frankly just depressing.

Above the lodge you reach the paramo – from there you can see Tungurahua and the glaciers of Cotopaxi and Chimborazo (the peak of which is the closest point on earth to the sun).  This is Ecuador at its best – a bewildering array of environments, beauty, friendly people, a few splashes of the weird and wonderful and then the chance to chill out in a great little town and have some man made adventures.

This weekend we had a little expedition up Iliniza Norte, to recce it for groups.

Just south of Quito is “The Valley of the Volcanoes”, which is dotted with active, dormant and extinct volcanoes of varying heights.  The most famous, and the highest active volcano in the world, is Cotopaxi, but there are many others and most of them are climbable.  We have it in mind that there maybe great experiences out here that we can offer visitors to Ecuador.  So, I dusted down the boots and got myself out there.

OK, I live at 2,400 meters above sea level, but even with that, a one day ascent of a mountain over 5000 meters has got to be a little tiring.

The walk in was gentle enough, with the mountain sitting at the head of the valley looking increasingly ominous. 

I am not entirely sure why I look so pained – perhaps it was some sort of  premonition into the agony that was to be experienced struggling up the scree slope you can see behind me.

After the walk in, things started getting a little more serious rather abruptly.  The views, between gaps in the hail and fog, were fantastic, and it is from up at height that you really get a sense of truth of the name Valley of the Volcanoes.  However, we also saw a  lot of this:

After the scree slope, there is a fair amount of easy scrambling, first to reach the summit ridge, and then to move along it; with some interesting drop-offs on both sides – most of which we had to imagine rather than see fully.  At this point you get a strange sense of dislocation – you are scrambling along a ridge at 5000 meters above sea level, having woken up in your own bed.  It takes 5 or 6 days to get to these altitudes on Kili’.

Our little band of climbers reached the summit after around 4.5 hours.  We had in the group three Brits, an Argentine and an Ecuadorian guide.

(The man in the middle of this photo is Kevin Irvine, whom Stuey, Rory and I worked with something like 15 years ago.  He is out in Ecuador teaching at my childrens’ school: now that’s a coincidence.)

The result of all this?  Iliniza Norte is a fantastic mountain, the views are incredible, it is achievable in a day, and there is a real sense of being in a place that you can only be through your own efforts and that you are not going to be everyday, month or even year of your life.

I hope that we can get our Gappers up there, once they have had a little time at normal Ecuadorian altitude to prepare, and maybe for some of them that can lead on to Cotopaxi itself.  It is often used as a warm up /acclimatisation to that mountain and that is our plan: I’ll report later this month on the success or failure of that.

Some fervent religion in Quito to celebrate Good Friday.  Heavy crosses, bare feet, intense faith and five hours of procession.

Good day to you all.

I hope you are well, and eagrly anticipating this last installment of blogging-mania from Ecuador. These last few days, since I returned from the depths of the jungle have been packed with touristy goodness! I know you all can´t wait to hear about it, so here goes.

In a break from previous installments this post will be picture heavy. (Is that the sound of applause I hear…)

On Tuesday 19th I stepped out of the hostel in Quito and went in seach of pure tourism glory. My day began with a walk around the artisan market, where I purchased a fetching belt and a classic cheesy “I´ve been to Ecuador T-shirt”. You can expect to see that on Tuesday when I´m back in the office.

I then jumped in a taxi, and went to Parque Carolina to visit the Jardin Botanico. It was beautiful, and I strolled around enjoying the flowers of all shapes, sizes and colour.

After the gardens I went on a stroll around the massive Parque Carolina, and found myselft some brunch. I sat on a bench and ate, and people watched. It was good, and I did eat, and watch people.

Having filled my tummy, I headed to the Teleferico, which is a gondola that takes one up the slopes of Pichincha, to an array of magnficent vistas.

It was cloudy.

I´ll tell you now that the best bit of kit I have ever bought, is a Joby tripod for my camera. Being a frwquent individual traveler, and not wanting to ask others to take my photo, I was able to set up a shot, prety much anywhere, and then get into it, using th self timer on my camera.  It was so much fun!

On Wednesday 20th I got colected at 07:00 and taken to the province of Cotopaxi. Gloves and hat packed, I was going to be walking up to the refuge, and then mountian biking back down. Our best view of the gigantic volcano was on our approch through the National Park. The weather walking up to the refuge was absolutely horrible, so I don´t have any good snaps from there. I did do it though!

I found the short walk of 300 meters to the refuge one of the hardest things I have ever done. My head throbbed from the altitude and I couldn´t catch my breath. The rain pounded us and progress was slow. In an attempt to walk faster, I put Glee on my ipod and turned the volume up, ¨Doooon´t stop! Believing!!!!” etc etc.  It didn´t help.

The best bit for me, by far was the mountain biking back down. I went full pelt and, and where I had been at the back of the walking, I was very much in fron on the bike! “Yarooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo” all the way down.

On Thursday I packed a small bag and caught a bus to a small town 3km north of Otavalo, called Peguche. I stayed in a friendly hostel which used to be the old Train station, which had a disused railway running along outside the entrance. On arrival I was greeted by friendly staff who gave me a map to follow so that I could go and see the Cascades.

Everything you need for an afternoon outing.

That evening, in the hostel I sat by a warm fire and read my book, The Hours of the Night, by Sue Gee. It´s very good. I was the only one in there for a couple of hours, until three North American Ladies walked in. They quickly engaged me in conversation, and invited me to have dinner with them. For me this is one of the best things about traveling alone. You meet, and spend small snippets of time with some incredible people, and your trip is the better for it.

Elizabeth and Geannie were from Maddison, Wisconsin and had both worked in the Department of Agriculture, and they were on holiday visiting a friend of Geannie´s who has lived and worked in Ecuador for the past 40 years, Michelle. Michelle is a nutritionist by training, but has publsihed a cookbook in Spanish and worked for the UN. Both Geannie and Michelle were in the Peace Corps for two years.

I spent Friday with these three and we went around Otavalo market and then the Parque Condor, Centre for bird of prey. It was a great day and I ended up getting a free ride back to Quito with Michelle, rather than taking a bus.  Durng the course of our journey, I learnt that Michelle has worked in the past with Javier, who is the Perma-culture expert that Camp Ecuador is hoping will help with the Kitchen garden at Camp Maqui. Michelle has worked all over Ecuador and the world in her role at the UN on school food projects, trying to find ways to improve the diets of children simply by using the food that grows naturally around them. It would be wonderful if she could get involved with our efforts at Camp Maqui.

Michelle, Elizabeth, me and Geannie.

My flight home leaves at 00:05 this evening. It has been the best two weeks, and I don´t really want to come home. I will though, just so I can talk to you all about it some more, which I know you´ll love.

Camps International, you are the Bees Knees, ney… The Cats Pajamas, and I thank you for sending me to this beautiful, friendly, and charming country.

Over and out.

Hola! Buenos Dias etc etc

As Bryn from Gavin and Stacey would say (apply Welsh accent here,) “I´m not gonna lie to you, I can´t speak Spanish.”

Right, it´s day 7 of my 13 day adventure here in Ecuador, visiting everything Camps. I have just returned from 4 nights at Camp Amazonia which is based in a small Quechua Community called Rio Blanco. Rio Blanco is about an hour away from Tena, and most of this journey is passed on a relatively new “road” – I say “road” as it is mostly a bunch or roacks that some diggers have chucked down in a haphazard manner, in order that the small communities based in the depths of the jungle are better able to get to town in order to buy and sell their goods. It is a bumpy ride.

My journey from Quito to Rio Blanco took about 4 hours in total and we passed some breathtaking scenery. It was literally breathtaking as we climbed steadily to an altitude of roughly 3000m, before dropping down to just 500m and into the jungle.

The Amazon Jungle begins and stretches as far as the eyes can see

• Camps visited – 2 (Camp Maqui and Camp Amazonia)
• Nosebleeds due to altitude – 5
• Beers – still 3 ( you´ve gotta be professional)
• Hilarious one sided conversations with friendly Ecuadorians – 15
• Jungle treks – 1 (sweaty)
• Guinea pigs consumed – 0 (that I know of)

So Camp Amazonia is pretty special. It is private and secluded, yet close to a small, frienly and welcoming community, and there is lots of great work to be done by our volunteers. On the day I arrived the group of gap year volunteers were completeing a fish pond which they had been digging. The fish pond was requested by the community so that they may have better acess to fish, so to improve the diets of the children, who are suffering from mal-nutrition. The volunteers were completely knackered, and mostly a kind of Umpa Lumpa orange colour from the clay, but they pressed on regardless and completed the fish pond by Friday.

This weekend the group went on a rafting and trekking expedition. Starting on Saturday at about 13:00 we divided between two white water rafts and 6 Kayaks, and set off on a 5 hour river ride, going through rapids and then enjoying the steady flow of the Napo river. We camped on a beach and gaudged on a feast of pasta and salad! We put up our tents which, wasn´t straight forward in the ever darkening evening, and then settled around a camp fire. The following day we continued down the river for about an hour, before being directed to some narrow steps carved out of mud. This is where the jungle trek began.

We walked for about 3 hours through thick jungle, and Jimena (the Assistant Camp Manager) and me only got sepparated from the entire group once, so that was pretty good going we though. The thing is we saw tracks and so went in search of the exotic animal, and consequently we got sepparated from the group. With a bit of calm yelling and howling we eventually got found by the guide and brought back to the correct path. Such fun!

Due to the adventurous nature of this weekend expedtion and our close proximity to water, I left my camera at Camp, so as to avoid any potential damage coming to it. It was a great shame not to get any photos of this trip, but I have clear and colourful images in my mind of the jungle and the river, and the guides that looked after us and taught us things along the way. Just go yourself and then you´ll see what I´m not doing very well at describing to you. Camps International happens to run a wonderful trip here. HAHA!!

Camp Amazonia

Camp Amazonia in Rio Blanco – Muy Bonito?!

This is the dining and general chilling out area. A river runs calmly along to its left

Now that the fish pond project has been completed the group will be commencing the improvement of a footpath that runs alongside the river. I have been speaking a lot with the Camps Ecuador team and they have so many important projects in the pipe line with the community at Rio Blanco, and I look forward to hearing about the progress that is made in the coming months.

I now have a few days of independent travel, and what with my extensive grasp of Spanish, it should all be fine. Bueno! I will be visiting Cotopaxi on Wednesday and after that I am heading north to Otovalo. Products made from Alpaca wool – here I come.

Well it´s been a dream, I hope it may continue. See ya´ll on the flip side.

Insert cheesy pic of me here!

At the top of the Basilica in Quito. The stairs/ladders provided me with a physical and mental challenge! I conquered it.

There are times in the life of Camps that we are either starting or finishing something.  Sometimes that involves a bit of a party, and we have had a few of those lately.

Often at the end of project work the community like to say thank you with singing and dancing.  Of course, some projects last for years so occasionally they do this just because a group is leaving so they are saying good bye to those guys.

Late last year we had two of these events, one at Camp Amazon and one at Camp Costa; below are some photos from those two parties.

At the other end of the process is establishing relationships and projects with communities.  Last weekend I had a meeting with, I thought, a few people from a community with whom we are working this summer with the Teams.  I arrived with my family, telling my children we would be there for an hour.  I was wrong.  This was not a meeting with a few people, this was a meeting with the village, complete with local musicians and dancing.  The fact that my son accused me dancing like Mr Bean tells you all you need to know about what followed.  After the dancing we did have great conversations about the projects and the time the Teams will be with the community in the summer.  Among other things, we are hoping that we can arrange a few poncho making sessions, some Quichua lessons and a little more dancing.

the first sight of a young spectacled bear

The spectacled bear is an elusive and shy creature of the cloud forest. Seeing them is very rare and exciting,especially near Camp Maqui. For me is the second time in my life of seeing spectacled bear but I´ve never been this close before. I hope they hang around for the arrival of  our next Gappers.

same bear coming down the tree got frightened by us and ran away

this is second bear we spotted, which we woke up and he was not amused

It is easy to dismiss the really famous treks – Kilimanjaro or The Inca Trail for instance – because many people have done them.  But, regardless of the number of people who have gone before, you still have to walk the yards, climb the hills and stumble down the descents.  Your own experience of these [...]

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It is great after the work to see the new camp in the Amazon working: here is an incoherent collection of comments from the Gappers and photos of the camp and project work going on. Hopefully, a little glimpse of real life in our Amazon Gap Year Camp

The house looking a little more lived in – or messy.

Just coming back from lying on the banks of a river in the Amazon.  This has shown me that money means nothing, it is just spending it on getting the right experiences.  Tom

Livia’s birthday in the jungle.

From the cloud forest to the Amazon, from Cotopaxi to Quito; Ecuador is slowly revealing its beauty.  Zaccaria

We are employing a number of women from the local Quichua community for cooking.

The small crew who went off to buy indigenous trees for reforestation.

100 trees returning to camp on the ferry over the Rio Napo – including the endangered ahuano tree and guava.

There have been so many moments when I have realized how incredibly lucky I am to be in my current situation; surrounded by breathtaking scenery, doing once in a lifetime activities and being surrounded by real and beautiful culture and people here, and each time it is the best feeling of elation and freedom and appreciation to CI for giving me this opportunity.  I don’t want to leave it is so much fun here.  I’ll never forget this trip.  Jennifer

I f you want to find out more about our Amazon Gap Year camp or any others for that matter please call us now on +44 1425 485 390 and ask for Sarah or Izi

Over the weekend, with16 Gappers heading for Camp Amazonia, we and the community put the finishing touches to the building.  It looks great, even if it is not easy to photograph because there are trees absolutely everywhere.  ”Can’t see the wood for the trees”? – being in the Amazon puts a slightly different perspective on that concept.

With the group now there, we will post more photos this week with the place occupied and alive.

Entrance to the dormitory building

The dining area.

Localized storm over the Amazon