Nous voilà donc arrivés après une très longue journée de voyage. On s’en sort bien, car en discutant avec d’autres viajeros, il existe des options plus exotiques, avec des escales à Amsterdam, Miami, ou encore Atlanta. Une finlandaise a même mis 48 heures pour arriver jusqu’ici… Dès notre arrivée à l’aéroport de Quito, deux équatoriennes nous alpaguent pour les aider à remplir leur documents d’immigration. La belle ironie du touriste qui aide les locaux alors qu’il n’écrit qu’à peine l’espagnol, c’est un face à face immédiat a [View Full Entry]

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Greetings from Hosteria Mandala where I am again filling in while the owners do some travelling! Upon my return to Ecuador from the US, I took a taxi to Maggie’s house where my truck was stored during my visit to the US. Alas, it wouldn’t start but I had backed in so I was able to push it out. Once I did so, I saw a huge puddle of oil on the floor of the garage. OH NO! We should have put a diaper under Morci!! A kind passing taxi driver helped me try to push start my truck, but to [View Full Entry]

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I'm not usually very entertained by museums, however this one was really neat. Oswaldo Guayasamin was an Ecuadorian artist who as a boy dealt with many hardships. His first encountering with the cruelty of life filled his heart with anger and rebelliousness, which later inspired his painting career. Specifically, the murder of his best friend by a stray bullet is portrayed in his painting "Los Ninos Muertos" (the death of children). Since then he assumes a position challenging the discrimination of the poor, the Indians, the blacks, and the weak ones of South America. Other things that inspire [View Full Entry]

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Gather necessary items. Halve items. Remove those clothes that you don't really wear... but think you might get the nerve to wear in another country. Halve items again. Add in numerous extra pairs of underwear and socks. [View Full Entry]

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Leaving has ben long drawn out and strange... Thursday was the last full work day because friday was a public holiday for the freedom of guayaquil.. So thursday was my last day to say goodbye and also the day all the interns were leaving to other jobs,, which was good as it took the focus off me!! So after the obligatory examination of the con diarrhoea y fiebre kiddies, it was time to have a min goodbye party...what better food to sa goodbye with than encebollado..an ecuadorean delicacy. Someone trotted off to the takeaway and then we all got a tub [View Full Entry]

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An early departure from our house had us in the back of a truck with mountain bikes on the roof, heading straight towards Cotopaxi National Park. This park is Ecuador's premier Andean sanctuary, housing the country's second highest peak, which is also the highest active volcano in the world. It's summit is 5897m above sea level, and demands dedication, adjustment to altitude, and excellent physical condition. "The first refuge", located at 4800m, is reserved for the more laid back Cotopaxi experience... AKA me! A bumpy drive brought us to the base of the volcano, where we were promised a "shor [View Full Entry]

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Ecuador, Quito,09-10-1990. Nothing can distrup my good mood this morning walking through a still foggy Quito devoid of traffic at this early hour. These Ecuadorians are definitely not early risers. I feel a bit like hiking the streets of a past era, a pre-conquistadores time though the whitewashed and red-tiled houses, the many colonial churches reminding me that the times of complete seperations of the American continents from power hungry medieval European rulers are a far away reality. Leaving the Quito historic centre behind, I enter a residential area full with modern looking shoppi [View Full Entry]

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Well, the pants that I thought would hold up for a year of everyday usage finally succumbed to falling apart. About two days ago, I noticed my first whole...just near my crotch..great. Ill try to mend them , lets see if a lil stitching can hold them up for a lil while more. I´m here in Mindo, Ecuador, taking it easy while the birders head out looking for their lil precious creatures. The last two days, I have woken up at around 9ish, go grab breakfast and then come and plop my behind in front of the computer...hey, i´m on [View Full Entry]

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We´re about to leave Quito to go back to the reserve for our last week there. We came to Quito with a few of the other volunteers to go to the Ecuador vs. Uruguay fútbol game. If Ecuador won, they would have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but sadly they lost! It was a very close game, with some unfortuneate events (getting scored on). We were really anticipating Ecuador winning for obvious reasons, but also that the city would have been crazy the entire night! It would have been quite the experience, but instead it was just [View Full Entry]

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Det er et lille stykke tid siden min sidste skrivelse, men jeg vidste jo godt at jeg ikke kunne blive ved med at opdatere hver anden dag. Nå nu er det søndag og jeg har tid til at fortælle lidt om hvad jeg har lavet. Onsdag d. 7. oktober Onsdag morgen mødte jeg til min første oplæringsvagt som tjener. Der var bare næsten ingen mennesker så lavede ikke så meget andet end at gøre rent og snakke med Carlos, en af tjenerne. Efter mit arbejde gik jeg en tur hen på South American Explorers kontor for at kigge på annoncer for [View Full Entry]

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