Ecuador Trip - Final Thoughts

It’s the evening of July 11th and everyone is back on PA, where there’s

- no malaria threat

- no toilet paper bin next to the toilet 

- no bus ride of endless braking

- nobody asking you where your passport is 

- no need to watch that you don’t step on an iguana

- no one asking to interview you

- no ... etc etc etc

Yes, all our travelers will have memories of the above, but those memories will be overshadowed with their fond memories of an absolutely once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience Ecuador and meet it’s people with our Palmyra Area High School group.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, to everyone that participated in this trip and to those that made it possible for your relatives to go on the trip. I am truly honored to have been a part of this group and for being able to experience Ecuador for the first time with you! 

Thank you to “my team” as Roberto, our white water rafting guide always said, for being positive and for stepping in when I overlooked something. Thank you Miss McCarthy, Madame Kovalchick, Sr. Macchia, Sra. Wagner, and Dr. Richardson. 

We all returned to the states a little bit changed. Hold onto that enthusiasm and let it spark continued interest in learning about the world around you and working to make it a better place!

Cynthia Hitz, Tour Leader, 2019 Ecosystems of Ecuador Trip (EF) ❤️

And now, the final video (although I think I may have missed a day that I’ll need to update in the near future).

Enjoy!

Day 10 - Starting our journey home

Our last day in Ecuador.

Breakfast 7-8

Stop in small town to see monkeys.

Visit an indigenous village. 

(I have many photos from the visit but we may be home before I have a chance to upload them. Then again, we have a long drive to the airport, 6-8 hours depending who you’re talking to.) 

It appears as everyone has learned more about Ecuador and it’s different regions while having a memorable time. I’ve heard several comments that they’re ready to go home. Thank you for supporting them and making this trip possible for them.

Video for days 10 & 11.

Day 9 - white water rafting

Schedule:

Breakfast 7:30-8:30

White water tour guide, Roberto, arrives at 9:00

Transport to river (40 minutes)

Safety talk and put on gear (helmets & life jackets)

White water rafting on river, stop at small community to shop and play group games on beach, white water rafting, shower/change & lunch after rafting.

Return to lodge.

Rest/shower.

Visit Tena to shop/buy ice cream - 5:00-6:00

Dinner at lodge 7:00

Group games & bedtime.

Day 8 - Amazon here we come

Left hotel
Bought snacks
Lunch in Baños
Cable car
River walk
Arrive in Amazon
Dinner
Games
To our cabins

I will update video after the students air drop photos to me.

Day 7 - Cotopaxi National Park

We hiked in Cotopaxi National Park which is a 1.5 hr drive from Quito. It was cold and windy but we were prepared with our cold gear.

Morning, Day 7 video

Afternoon, Day 7 video (below)

Additional photos shared with me after video was already published. 

Sra. Hitz, Victor, our tour guide for the trip, and Sra. Wagner.

Mason Applegate and his mom, Mrs. Kovalchick (Madame - French teacher)

Look closely and you will see two black dots which are birds, but not just any birds,, they are condors. Our guide told us there are about 50 condors in Ecuador and we saw four of them flying together (only two are in this photo). He said he has gone to this park for ten years with groups and this is the first time he saw the condors, the national bird of Ecuador. Our local guides, from the park, were super excited to see them too. I suppose the condors wanted to greet the group from Palmyra. 😊

Day 6 - travel day

Today was a travel day which means fewer photos. I’ll ask the group if anyone has some photos to add to this post.

Breakfast

shopping for 1 hr

Transport to airport

Lunch 

Flight to Guayaquil

Flight to Quito

Bus to hotel and dinner in restaurant in hotel 
Early curfew to rest for tomorrow’s Hike in Cotopaxi.

Update: no one had photos that they wanted to share for this day, at least not enough to make a video. There is a photo and video that I added to Day 5 at the end of the video.

Sad to say goodbye to our guides.

Ready to board plane to the mainland.

Short stop in Guayaquil to change planes.

Quito sign outside of Quito airport.

'

Martín, Kaitlyn; 2 of our guides; leaving our hotel in Is Isabela.

Mountains surrounding Quito. 

Day 5 - Ecuador Galápagos

FYI- blogging is super challenging. I’m currently “using an un-supported browser” which causes strange formatting. Grrrrr.
Ok - it’s July 8 and we’re in Quito and here’s the video for Friday, July 5 - Day 5. At the end of the video it shows a little of Day 6, with Dr. Richardson walking toward the plane on the tarmac, and eating dinner at our hotel, Vieja Cuba. 

Breakfast was scheduled for 8-9 this morning. At 6:30, Mrs. Kovalchick  and I walked to a nearby bakery and bought some freshly-baked pastries. I bought five extra sweet breads or croissants to give to lucky early-risers. We returned to the hotel and I gave the goodies to Scout, Danny, Adrian, Matt, and Grant. While talking with Grant and Matt on the 3rd floor open area, we heard a lot of children coming from the direction of the school. I asked them if they wanted to go to the school and all 5 said yes. 

When we arrived we saw teams of students playing basketball on the open courts and one student said to us in Spanish, “Entren”. She told us where to enter and we joined the students as they cheered on their school mates in the basketball game. Each grade level played against other teams in their grade level for 20 minutes. They play games for 3 hours every Friday morning. 

The five Palmyra guys were instantly immersed in Spanish conversations with students from the school.

After breakfast we took two chivas, open-air vehicles, to the Tortoise breeding Center. Our guides explained how the tortoises are bred and cared for in attempt to increase the number of tortoises on the island. We also saw pink flamingos. 

We walked from the breeding center to the beach that we were at yesterday. A group of students played volleyball and then soccer with our three tour guides, while others watched, pplayed cards, drank milkshakes and ate ice cream. 

We ate lunch, played cards and chatted while several took showers and then we took the chivas to the sick and boarded the speed boats for our two-hour trip to Santa Cruz Island. This time nobody was sick and it was an enjoyable ride .

Day 4 - Ecuador - Galápagos

We divided into three groups and rotated through taking a boat to see blue-footed boobys, sharks, tortoises, and penguins; then we went snorkeling and had time at the beach.

Molly ordering a milkshake in Spanish.

Buying snacks at the market near our hotel.

We had an early breakfast this morning of eggs, pancakes, yogurt, cereal, toast & jelly, and fresh fruit and juice. Last night we were told to pack two shirts and pants and swimsuit for our one night stay at Isabela Island so we left some suitcases at our present hotel and took only the essentials with us to the dock. Before boarding the boats, they inspected our bags and luggage to make sure we were not accidentally bringing anything to the island that would harm the ecosystem there. 

We boarded water taxis which took us to two different speedboats. Then we began our two-hour trip 

to Isabela Island in the speed boat. The waters were fairly calm but several people did not feel well and were glad when we neared Isabela Island. We were immediately greeted by sea lions lying on the dock and walkway. The job of the tourist is to pass by the animals without touching them and to leave plenty of space between us and the animals. 

We then split into our three groups; two groups went to the hotel and spent the morning on the beach while the third group went snorkeling, saw sharks and iguanas on a short walk on a mini island, and then went to town where we met the other groups at the restaurant. In the afternoon the groups flipped activities. 

We had a very relaxing time in the beach and enjoyed sodas and milkshakes at a tiny restaurant/ice cream store. After dinner we walked on the pier, explored the Main Street of the town, and bought snacks at a local store. Would you believe that we saw two teenagers from the US that said their dad grew up in Annville PA?!

There are only 3,000 people that live on Isabela Island. The pace is slow and the people are friendly. I’ve heard it said several times today, “I don’t want to leave this island!)

(I’m writing this at midnight on Day 5. WiFi signal was even slower on Isabela Island. I have a few videos to upload and hope to do that when we are back in Quito. Until then, I’ll post photos.)

PLEASE forgive any typos you see. All the writing and uploading is done on my iPhone. 

Day 3 Ecuador - Galápagos

The tortoise ranch with more than 1,000 tortoises!

As mentioned in the previous post, the WiFi signal is very weak at our current location. However, it is early morning and most travelers are still sleeping, 😊 so I’m attempting to upload a few photos.

Leaving tortoise ranch.

Relaxing at the hotel.

Ferry to Santa Cruz Island.

Weak signal

It may be a few days until photos are uploaded because the WiFi signal is incredibly slow or non-existent. Check back later.

Everyone loved our first day in Galápagos. Much more than anyone could have imagine.

Day 2 - Ecuador

Day 2 started with breakfast from7:30-8:30 with freshly squeezed juice, croissants, scrambled eggs, and excellent coffee. We left promptly at 8:30 and drove 1.5 hrs for a hike to two beautiful waterfalls. The trail was steep and slippery at places but everyone was rewarded for their physical efforts with the opportunity to take photos at the waterfalls.

In the afternoon we went to the Butterfly Garden and the equator. 

Day 1 Ecuador

Our group made it to Ecuador 10:30 Central Time, 11:30 Eastern time. We arrived in Philadelphia with plenty of time to go through TSA, find our gate and eat lunch. Then we had two smooth flights, NO lost luggage (yay!) and sailed through customs in Ecuador. Looking forward to the Mindo Cloud Forest and equator excursion tomorrow.

Watch a short video by clicking on the video below.