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Published: April 28th 2011
Upon leaving the farm on 11th April, I spent the following week in Nueva Prosperina with a local family who are friends of Father Martin Chambers from Kilmarnock who had worked in the neighbourhood for 5 years until last year. Nueva Prosperina is a very poor area of Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city. The area has a very special relationship with the people of Scotland due to Father Martin's work and that of the foundation which he set up (www.ecuadortrust.org.uk) and I was afforded a very warm welcome from the family I stayed with; Freddy Yesenia, Nicolle and Britanny.
I spent the week teaching at the local school which was build by Fr Martin's foundation and found the kids eager to learn about Scotland and improve their English. The school just had a great atmosphere in general...everyone was just so happy and welcoming. Freddy, Yesenia, Nicolle and Britanny also took time to show me the sights of Guayaquil and we also managed a night out where they showed off their "meringue" dance moves! The Thursday night was Nicolle's 15th birthday and all her friends and neighbours came round to the house for a nice dinner and some singing and dancing -
including some Scottish Country Dancing they had all learned at Fr Martin's leaving night! All in all it was a fantastic week spent with some fantastic people.
I spent the next few days on the Ecuadorian coast in a little town called Puerto Lopez, where I visited the island of Isla de la Plata, so called because of the treasure that is supposedly buried there. The island is famous for its large variety of rare birds which wander around completely at ease with the tourists roaming around. The tour round the island was fantastic and we finished of with some snorkelling in the bay where I got the chance to swim alongside some rather colourful fish. I then headed south to the little village of Ayampe which I will forever remember for some of the most amazing sunsets...though not a patch on Largs of course!!
My final few days in Ecuador I spent in the beautiful colonial city of Cuenca. The city is another Unesco Wold Heritage site and has a fantastic buzz, mainly due to its large student population. I spent a fantastic few days wandering around the cobbled streets admiring the colonial architecture and just generally
Cuenca Polis
Keep up the good work lads!soaking up the vibe of the city... a place I would definitely like to return someday!
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