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Published: February 21st 2006
La Hesperia in the Sun
I took this first thing in the morning on a hike where we camped overnight and I crawled out of my tent in the morning to see this view - not bad, eh?Well, some of you reading this will already know what I'm about to relate, but for those of you who weren't paying attention, this is the story so far...
In April 2005 I set off, a rather nervous volunteer, to Ecuador to work on a conservation reserve called La Hesperia, located a couple of hours from Quito in the Western Lowlands of the Andes.
LaHesperia[/url As a long-haul travel virgin, and a non Spanish speaker, there were many times before I left that I questioned my own sanity in heading off into the wilds of South America with little real idea of where I was going or what I would do when I got there.
Despite dreaming of travelling the world for years, I found that when it came to it I was a feardy cat unwilling to take the risk of completely going it alone, so I organised my trip through the voluntary organisation Global Volunteer Network. They told me where to stay when I arrived in Quito, what I needed to bring with me, and they put me in touch with the Jatun Sacha Foundation, the organisation who work with the reserve where I was to live Los Voluntarios Thinking!
As we explored the forest on a hike, we stop to consider the meaning of life! for the next three months. GVN were really helpful and made sure that I had settled in on the reserve and that there were no problems during my trip.
When I arrived at La Hesperia I was completely blown away by the fantastic diversity of wildlife and the stunning views. In the beginning it felt like a home from home as the Brits outnumbered the other volunteers, but as time passed the balance of nationalities changed with folks from the US, Holland, Australia, Switzerland and Canada amongst others. I made some really great friends, and have very happy memories from our time on the reserve and on our travels around Ecuador at the weekends.
Over the next three months, as my Spanish progressed from the infantile to garbled non-grammatical sentences I began to get to know the locals in the village where I helped out in the local medical centre, and in the school where I taught English for a while. While digging holes, planting trees, looking after piglets, weeding and clearing gardens and playing the weekly football match against the locals I fell in love with this place. When it came time to go, I didn't want
Piggy Midwives
Robin, Nick and Tilly take time to pose with the new piglets after all their hard work. to leave.
The director of La Hesperia, Juan Pablo, and his wife Alexandra talked to me about their plans to build a school on the reserve and asked me if I would like to come back and help them do this. As I am not one to miss out on amazing opportunities, I went back to Oxford, UK to the job I have here as a PA in the local hospital, and worked to save up the funds to come back.
So, the time cometh near, and in a month I will be on a plane to Ecuador, zooming through the atmosphere at an unnatural speed (I can't wait). At the moment life is planning, saving, organising and seeing friends and family before the big off. If you want to know how it all turns out, read on...
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Amy
non-member comment
wow tony cool web my dad comes from Ecuador and was happy to see all the pictures see you at school AMY!!!!!!!!