jdtravels
Joey Davis Joined: April 28th 2008
Logged in: August 28th 2008
Logged in: August 28th 2008
HAVING TROUBLE WITH PICTURES, THEY WILL COME SOON!!
Travel Blog Posts
Well, it's my last night in Ecuador. Not much new to report as I spent all my time since the last blog working at the Foundation. I thought I'd just end it off properly with a nice recap. When Jon and Robin returned to Mindo after their weekend at the beach, I started working with Jon at the school in the mornings and only working on the trails in the afternoon. It was a great week, and it was amazing and so humbling to work with kids again like I have in both Tijuana and New York. We were teaching english, and the school was so great although there wasn't all that much to work with. Yesterday afternoon we packed everything up and said goodbye to Luis and his family who had provided so much for ... read more
This week at work with the MCF was incredible! After finishing off a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend in Cuenca we returned to Mindo. Cuenca was fantastic. There were loads of old churches, some built on Inca ruins, and a giant cathedral built in honour of a visit from Pope JP2. The altar could have easily been a replica of Bernini's work in the Vatican. I am hoping some of the others were able to get some pictures inside, as my lack of a camera has prevented me from documenting quite a bit of the gorgeous artifacts and scenery! We also managed to undertake a hike in the Cajas national park, where we were surprised to discover that just a hike around one of the lakes would cost us a whole $10!! Ecuadorians only paid $1.50! ... read more
Ahoyhoy! This week has gone by quite quickly. We caught a bus at 6:00 on monday morning to take us back to Mindo and start our work for the week. We arrived right on time at 8:30 for breakfast, and started work very quickly. Our work this week has consisted mostly of planting more coffee trees. However, I made rather an unpleasant discovery in regards to the organization we are working for. The owners of the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation, who are Americans, have assigned us to the job of planting coffee with the intention to sell it and raise funds for the organization and to pay the full time workers. However, they also let on that they planned to keep any extra funds as a personal profit for the owners, whereas the sign with their mission ... read more
Oh my goodness, what a weekend it has been! The four of us from Mindo decided to take friday off work to take advantage of the free salsa dancing lessons offered at the spanish school in Quito. What they didn't tell us when we signed up is that all of the great free things offered with the program were in the city and not always available at the placement we have chosen. The dancing lesson was great! We had a chance to meet other volunteers, and I can't lie, I picked it up very quickly! The next day, we met with some of August's friends that he had met while in the spanish school and our group of 8 caught a bus from Quito down to the city of Baños, known for its hot springs, waterfalls, ... read more
Well, my trip is already one quarter done, and I can definitely say that it has been quite the week in Ecuador. Since my last entry, I have been mugged, eaten alive by insects, and soaked in both rain and sweat! We met up with David´s family (Robin´s boyfriend) and they fed us an amazing feast on Saturday. There were probably about five courses of some of the most amazing food imaginable, followed by a trip to a fruit market where we tried so many different things I can´t remember what any of them were called. After that we went to another family member´s house for a ¨dessert¨which was more like a second meal made up solely of sweet foods. It was incredible. We topped the day off by going to a local bar in the ... read more
Quito, Day 2 I probably won´t be blogging every dayas the trip goes on, but since Jon and Robin had yet to visit an internet cafe, I thought Í´d take the opportunity to actually write something substantial about the trip, now that we´ve actually been out and about, seen the city, and went shopping a little! I managed to find my way back to the airport yesterday fairly easily, I probably spent a good four hours on foot in total, for lack of better things to do. Jon and Robin arrived on time at 6:45, and we were met at the airport by Ana, our contact with the Simon Bolivar foundation. She and her boyfriend picked us up and drove us to the Hotel Plaza, the hostel where we are staying. For a hostel, at $14/night, ... read more
Well, I haven't been in Ecuador for two hours yet, and I'm already about as lost as I'm comfortable with, especially considering my limited Spanish speaking capabilities. I decided to try my luck wandering around Quito because an eight hour wait in the airport for Jon and Robin just seems like too much. It's been a really good trip down. My flights were all on time, my luggage traveled from SeaTac to Quito without me having to pick it up or transfer it at all. I was a little thrown off by the two hour stop in Bogota that wasn't mentioned on my ticket, but it didn't cause any real problem, and I still arrived at the time I expected to. I really don't have much to say yet, and i suppose this entry is mostly ... read more
I'm home in Vancouver. Leaving for Ecuador in three days. Getting pretty excited about it I cannot lie. More updates to come!... read more
