Today was the second day of our rafting trip in the Amazon. We met our guides at 8:00 a.m. and took a half-hour car ride to the river. Once we arrived, we put on our splashguards, windbreakers, and helmets and set off to the river. Since we had such a large group, we were split into two teams and each had two separate rafts. The river was a lot wider but not as rocky as our first day so we all thought it would be a little easier. At least that’s what we were hoping, since we were all a little sore from yesterday.

We got into our rafts and began to paddle. The sun was not out yet so the water was freezing! After about thirty seconds in the raft, we hit our first wave and were instantly soaked. At least it doesn’t take long to acclimate to the cold water! It was definitely a lot calmer than yesterday so we were able to do more tricks and have fun. We were spinning in circles, getting sucked into “waffle makers,” and orchestrating an instrumental verse of “We Will Rock You” with our paddles. We spent a few hours on the river and stopped for lunch about halfway through the trip. The guides set up a huge table full of fresh fruit and everything we needed to make sandwiches. It was so good, and we all ate more then we needed! Since we were out of the water for so long, getting back into the raft was even colder than when we started. We had goose bumps and blue lips for about a minute until we were once again drenched with water. The river after lunch was a little calmer than when we started so our tour guide George decided to spice things up a little. He had us all stand on the side of our raft holding hands in a circle. He told us this was the “blooming flower game.” We all leaned in and leaned out at the same time trying to keep balance. All of a sudden, we hit a wave and everyone fell into the water. George of course knew this was going to happen and was laughing hysterically. We all got back into the raft and played a few more games, hit more waves, and had people sitting on the very edge of the raft up front. I’m pretty sure we were in the water the same amount of time we were in the raft. Our guide was so much fun and was constantly telling jokes and making us laugh. After going from such a serious and strenuous first day of rafting, it was good to have fun and laugh almost the entire tour.

Yesterday I woke up early sharing bunk beds in a hostel on the beach of Montanita! We made a quick decision to take a trip to Montanita Beach on our way to the town of Puerto Lopez Saturday. We arrived late yesterday evening and enjoyed Montanita’s relaxed way of life including local surfistas, tourists, street vendors, live music, and its exciting but relaxing nightlife. According to some of the friends we made in Bahia and Canoa, Montanita is a good beach for surfing and to meet people from all over the world. This turned out to be quite true. The beach was very similar to Canoa with its laid back attitude but was much bigger in size with more restaurants, stores, and bars. The beach town, Puerto Lopez, was our destination today to take a boat tour to the Isla de la Plata and to see the magnificent humpback whales! We spent yesterday shopping and looking around Montanita and left in the afternoon by bus to Puerto Lopez where we checked in later at night at Mantaraya Lodge, a nice resort about 10 minutes from the beach of Puerto Lopez. Last night we rested up in preparation for our tour today. Waking up today, I had slight apprehensions of the possibility of getting boat sickness and not seeing whales. Neither of which happened! We walked up the coast seeing its beautiful cliffs to the left end of the beach and fishing boats wading in the bay. Our group for this tour consisted of our group of seven, an Ecuadorian couple, four girls from Germany, and two boys from France plus our three tour guides. We set off for the hour-long boat ride, hair blowing in the wind and hearts set on seeing whales. On our way to the Isla de la Plata, we spotted a whale jumping high out of the water and swimming along side the boat! Its dark and bumping skin would reveal itself as it glided through the water. It would disappear for a while teasing us and making us turn our heads round and round not expecting where to see it again and then shoot up out of the water with all of its hugeness and wonder. I decided not to bother with taking pictures and let other on the boat have the job of capturing the moments. I wanted to soak in all of the memory and just enjoy watching the quick glimpses of the beautiful animal through my own eyes, not through a lens. Slowly the creature disappeared and we continued our adventure to the island in the distance.

Reaching the island, we saw its steep cliffs and thousands of birds flying around, diving into the water and resting themselves on the islands edges. Our boat joined a few other boats on a small reachable beach where we began our walking tour of the island. This island’s terrain was a tropical dry forest with tall grasses, sparse trees and bushes, and some low growing flowers with colors of yellow, purple, and white. Its coast had rocky cliffs and steep hills making the views from the top of the island amazing. The weather was overcast, which made it a perfect temperature to be climbing the paths up, down, and around the tour walk. On our walk, we saw numerous blue-footed boobies paired off in couples for mating. We learned how to tell the difference in their calls and by looking at the size of their eyes. Their blue feet and silly way of balance made them a fun attraction to run into along the trail. We also saw a crowd of Frigatebirds resting on nests and flying along the cliffs. The males had their bold red chests puffed out attracting the females. After viewing the sights and birds, we made our way back down the island’s cliffs to board the boat for lunch and snorkeling along the island’s waters. We ate delicious watermelon and pineapple. Next, we enjoyed cheese and tuna sandwiches. They explained that the water would be hard to see many fish or animals for today because of the current and turning up of sediment. I opted out of snorkeling because of the cold water. From the boat, we watched people snorkeling and discovering the water. While hanging out on the front of the boat, we gazed at the beautiful island and the ocean’s waves crashing the cliffs. We also spotted angel fish with bright orange, black, and white colors and sea turtles with moss-covered backs. After about an hour, we began our adventure back to Puerto Lopez. We ended up seeing many splashes in the distance with whale tales flapping in the air. We also had whales following along side our boat making noise and spraying water out into the air. The best moment was seeing a pair swim together in a sweet rhythm along side the boat, jumping out of the water every so often to show size. The tour guides said we were very lucky to see the amount of whales we did on the boat ride. We were very excited with our luck with the whales and our tour of the island.

We arrived back to the coast just in time to look around for a place to eat near the beach and prepare to be picked up by taxi to take the three-hour drive back to Bahia for the night. We were all very exhausted on the ride home. Once arriving to Bahia, some of us showered, but most of us went right to bed with the thought of having to get up early for our morning schools the next day.

If I could repeat this morning over and over again, I would. It has easily been one of my favorite experiences so far in Ecuador. Early this morning, we woke and accompanied the trip director to Primero de Octubre, a small school out in the country among mountains, rocky roads, small huts, and of course some donkeys, dogs, and horses. The school started years ago as just one small classroom, but a previous volunteer from Canada returned after his trip and started a project to raise money for schools such as this. Eventually the program was able to build two more classrooms as well as a concrete field and a bathroom.

Our goal was to repaint the bathroom and one classroom with two cans of paint and a few brushes. So, that’s just what we did. For most of the morning, we painted away. The students were so fascinated and dying to help. It was an absolute blast! As we painted and some of the children sat and watched, we sang “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” and the “ABCs” over and over with them. After completing the bathroom, we were not satisfied with the boring peach color, so we turned one wall into a mural of handprints. The students couldn’t wait to get their hands into the paint, and it turned out to be perfect.

After finishing, the teachers invited us to stay for lunch and a small celebration because it was our last day working with the school for the month. We awkwardly sat at the teacher’s desk at the front of the classroom as we were served white rice (that’s a daily meal) chicken legs, papaya, and juice. The children presented us with thank you cards, a few Spanish songs, and together we sang the songs we had taught them over the course of the month. One little boy even recited a poem at the front of the class. After lunch, it was time to say goodbye, and it was heartbreaking! The teachers expressed the impact that the active English lessons had on the kids as well as the teachers themselves for future plans, and then each and every student swallowed us in affection. As we pulled away from the school, I realized how much more was to be done for this school, and for many other schools in the country with such limited resources. Many of the students walked two hours to and from school every single day. That meant these six and seven year olds were climbing the mountains to school alone.

Today truly touched my heart, and I am inspired to return to the states and follow in the footsteps of the Canadian volunteer. I realized that a month of volunteering is simply not enough to make the impact that I want to make in a place like Ecuador, but it was a perfect way to start! After returning home to pack, we spent the remainder of the day traveling on a bus to Montanita, talking about the morning and what more we could do when we got back to the United States.

Today we had a pretty normal day here in Bahía, so I’ll just go through some of the details of what I’ve been doing for most of the month. This morning, I woke up around 6:30 a.m. to get ready, and we left the house at 7:30 a.m. to catch the first bus that takes us to the terminal. Once we arrived at the bus terminal, we had to catch another bus that takes us toward Las Coronas, which is a town that is in the direction of the school. Once we were on that bus for about 30 minutes, we had to ask the driver to drop us off at a side road that leads up to Primero de Octubre, which was the start of the 45-minute, 1.5-mile hike up to the school. I like to make it seem like it’s a really rough hike up the mountains, but it’s actually pretty enjoyable when the sun isn’t out too much! We got to the school around 9:30 a.m. and were welcomed by the teachers with so much warmth and appreciation. We took the first group of about 30 students, who range from age four to ten, outside to start our class. We did our normal stretching and warming up and then reviewed our English lessons before doing relay races, involving the use of more English, and playing “Duck, Duck, Goose,” which is one of their favorites. The same things were done with the second group of about 15 students, who are up to twelve years old. Today, we noticed that their English is improving greatly. We’ve also discovered that singing songs and incorporating actions and games with each lesson definitely helps them retain what they learn. It feels so rewarding. I just wish I could do something to help them continue to learn English once we leave!

After both classes, we returned to the house around 12:30 p.m. and had lunch with the group before going to our Spanish lessons at 2:00 p.m. After Spanish, we took a tour of the Saiananda Zoo near the bus terminal with some of the teachers and students from Genesis, the school in town that hosts our program. We didn’t know what to think of the zoo at first, because most of the people we told didn’t even know there was a zoo in Bahía! However, it turned out to be pretty impressive. They had birds from literally all over the world, and they showed us rabbits, turtles, horses, and even huge iguanas that hung out in the tops of trees! We also found out that it was a hostal that had beautiful landscaping and was located right on the water.

After the zoo, we came home to eat dinner and then, later that night, we hung out on the beach with some of the locals that we have gotten to know and had a great time! This trip has been amazing so far and I feel so lucky to be able to experience this whole new culture of Ecuador!

Last night I was so excited for school to start because I was so ready to meet the kids. I love working with kids and seeing their faces light up when they meet new people and can enjoy new things.

We definitely were way under-prepared. We had been told that we weren’t really going to do anything but meet the kids and see the school, so we didn’t bring anything along with us. On top of that, we were wearing long skirts. You will read why this is a big deal in a bit.

When Kait and I arrived at the school this morning, the kids went nuts. We had sixth grade first, and they all came running out. The teachers didn’t even help us out at all. We figured since they already knew how to play soccer and we weren’t prepared for anything else that we would just do that. Playing soccer in long skirts I’m sure was epic for the people watching us, but not so much for us. The kids loved it, of course. They knew exactly why we were there. We played soccer with the kids from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. We were supposed to be at Genesis by 10:00 a.m., but since neither of us had brought a watch, we didn’t know what time it was. It was also confusing because the entire school came out for a recess type thing around 9:00 a.m. and joined us playing soccer. We were completely overwhelmed and I just wanted to go home and cry.

The kids were so cute and loving, though. I really think I would have enjoyed today if I had been a little bit more prepared with what was going to happen.

We had also been told that all the kids there got English classes, but that was not true. None of the kids or teachers knew any English. It was just a frustrating day. I know it will take a while to get used to. I just have to stay positive. For the next few, days we will have to plan some good games where we can also incorporate some English. I am looking forward to the next month.

We woke up at 10:00 a.m. to take the boat taxi to a city called San Vicente. It was a small boat, which took us quickly across the river to the next town. From San Vicente, we were to find a bus to Canoa. In total it was about a 50- minute commute from Bahia to Canoa.



Arriving in Canoa gave me chills because I was thrilled to embark on the adventure in this new, tiny town. Canoa had a very hippie feel to it, which made me fall in love. The whole city was directly on the beach. I had heard about Canoa through some local friends I had met the previous week. Ironically, five minutes walking into the city I saw them. Actually, it was not that ironic because the town is so small. Anyway, we began looking for somewhere to stay the night, and we found the cutest place to stay. We had to cross a bridge to get to the several bungalows where we would call home for the night. There were hammocks, a pool, and a volleyball court. It was so adorable, and the bungalows were made of bamboo.



After getting settled and a nice pizza lunch, we spent the day soaking up the sun on the beach. We watched the locals in their prime playing soccer, surfing and practicing a Brazilian jiu-jitsu. When the tide of the ocean was low, my friend decided to take all of us to see the caves of Canoa. We had to walk along the beach and hike through some hills to arrive at the caves in the beach. The caves were in the mountains, which surrounded the ocean. There were tons of birds. It was a remarkable site to see and experience, especially with my friend who had story after story to tell me.



We hiked back to the beach when the sun started to set. We admired the sunset on the beach together. Watching the sun set behind the mountains and beach was breathtaking. We decided to part and eat dinner at a local restaurant called Coco Loco. It was a Mexican-based restaurant where everything was cooked in a brick oven. I ordered a caipariña and a pesto dish with cheese, mushrooms, and peppers all melted together in a bowl to put in warm tortillas. Delicious would have been an understatement. 



After dinner, we all prettied up and went out to enjoy a night full of dancing and fiesta! That was a night I will never forget. We danced under bungalows on the beach. We danced all types of dance ranging from reggaeton to salsa to bachata. I loved the culture of their dancing, and it was a night full of smiles. When the disco closed, we took a walk on the beach where I saw jellyfish lighting up the water. I had never seen anything so extraordinary, and I did not want the night to end. I had such an incredible night of conversation and dancing.



Canoa is a city I plan on returning to next summer to spend time with my new friends. The life and culture is an extreme difference from Bahia, Ecuador. They live a happy-go-lucky sort of life. My friend from Canoa told me the best thing, “You are your life. You should never be afraid and should erase all fear from your mind. You are like the ocean— beautiful on the outside and complex on the inside.” I totally agree.

Today a few of the students from Genesis took us on a tour of Cerro Seco. When you think of Bahia, the first thing that comes to mind is the coast. It was really interesting seeing a different part of the city and being able to experience a jungle-like atmosphere.

Cerro Seco is a tropical forest biological reserve centered in Bahia and is a part of only 2 percent of Ecuador’s original dry forests that still remain intact. Once we arrived at the starting location, we were all a little surprised at how steep the hike was going to be. It was a really nice day out, so we were definitely up for the hike. The hike took about an hour and a half with a few stops along the way to look at all the views. There were three students with us who told us about Cerro Seco in English. They gave us quite a lot of information about the reserve and the volunteer programs offered. The reserve offers the potential for volunteer work, research, and development of community based projects. There is a variety of plant life, 72 species of birds, 23 species of mammals, seven species of reptiles and four species of amphibians. The reserve provides facilities to visit, guided tours, camping areas, cabanas to sleep in, and rest areas for visitors. The area is managed by a board of directors sponsored by the Ecuadorian government and native guides maintain the trails and viewpoints on a daily basis. The kids did a really good job speaking in English. You could tell they were a little nervous, but they definitely did really well. Cerro Seco was such a beautiful hike; the views were amazing and the wildlife was so interesting to see. It was a really great experience being able to see such a rare forest with so much history and beauty.

Ecuador is a country of a totally different culture than that in the United States. Upon arriving in Bahia, I discovered that my original anticipation of the city and culture was not quite what I had expected. That’s not to say that the culture is not amazing because it is wonderful. It has been about a week now, and I feel like I am starting to find my place.

At 7:00 a.m., my alarm sounded, and I knew it was time to start the day. Another student and I made our way to our first bus stop. As we ventured through the city in the bus, we observed the different kinds of people getting on and off the bus. It ranged from young children traveling alone to school, professors going to teach, and elders headed to the countryside. We also had to go to the countryside; therefore, we had to take a second bus further out of the city. After 20 minutes on the second bus, we prepared ourselves for the trek through the hills of the countryside. We walked about 1.6 miles to the school where we could experience the nature of Ecuador. The greenery was incredible, as the leaves vary in different shapes and sizes. Random flowers sprouted throughout the greenery. When I heard the donkeys yelp and the different birds chirp, I knew I was getting closer to the school.

We went to a school where the children are less privileged and they literally have two small rooms where they learn and a small concrete slab to play. Granted, there are only about 45 children in the school: it is a whole different ballpark than the school in the city portion of Bahia. Our children are much more timid, but they listen so well. I enjoy being with them and teaching them English during our physical activity classes!

After our journey back to the city of Bahia, we had a lunch prepared for us by the most awesome Ecuadorian I have met thus far. He is a hero of all heroes. A typical lunch always has soup, fried bananas, and rice along with other delicious food. Since I am a vegetarian, I am allotted different food. My favorite is the vegetable tortilla. ¡Que rico!

My favorite part of the day was immersing myself with the locals, so I could practice my Spanish and learn about their culture. I have met a wonderful friend named David, who actually lived in Asheboro, North Carolina! How ironic is that? I leave the country to meet an Ecuadorian who understands my culture but has been teaching me his own culture. He took me to a beach called Punta Bellaca. It was so beautiful. We walked along the beach and chased crabs, admired the birds, and watched the sunset. The beach was surrounded by beautiful, tall hills. It was so relaxing. We sat on the beach for hours just talking the night away. When I meet up with Ecuadorian friends, we will just dance in the street and enjoy our surroundings. The people here are wonderful and full of life. They do nothing but make me laugh and smile.

I am so excited to see what the rest of the trip will bring. The one thing I do know is that I will not want to leave this extraordinary country, but I certainly will return!