I have happy memories 8 years on of the various social aspects with the Bear Project. I had a lot of fun travelling around in the local buses or hitching rides in everything from dumper trucks, jeeps, open cattle trucks, horses and bikes in the sun and wind through stunning scenery. One night Read more
Some of the Aussies from the Galapagaos Trip were going to the small Secret Garden hostel with fabulous views of Cotopaxi about 2 hours south of Quito. This sounded good and so I spent 2 days there enjoying very social, relaxed surroundings of communal meals, walking and mountain bike trips Read more
I joined a 10 day Group Trip with Intrepid, travelling between islands by motor boat whilst staying on land for the nights. The islands lie about 1000km from Ecuador with 13 large-ish islands and many islets over 50,000km2 of ocean. They were formed by underwater volcanoes erupting and rising above the Read more
I spent a few days prior and after the Galapagos Trip in Quito acclimatising to the 2800m altitude which is OK but there was a lingering headache and felt zonked out from just ambling about. A fantastic setting along a valley surrounded by the Andean mountains and just 22km south of Read more
Most of the staff and scientists as well as the volunteers were in their early to mid 20’s and part way through or recently finished degrees, with a few older in early 30’s and the odd splash of oldies like me in mid 40’s to early 60’s. The school groups were Read more
I had the 1st, 5th and 9th weeks at Base Camp with 4 weeks in total at the highest camp of Cantiles at 1900m, about 4km away and taking 2 to 3 hours to trek. I found it very hard going first time around carrying a full backpack, but a breeze by week 6 on Read more
I have probably never been so fit, lean and healthy as during this jungle walkabout with a heady aroma of antifreeze, ethanol, horse dung, sweat, deet and wood smoke. I relive this perfumerie with a smile 8 years on as had a fab time and the high, dwarf cloud forest was beautiful. I could have easily spent Read more
I took an early morning taxi to San Jose for a bus to the privately owned Monteverde Reserve which lies to the east of, and feeds, the Rio Penas Blancas where we had been working for the past 2 months. So, although nearby and a bit expensive, a visit was recommended to Read more
Manuel was visiting one of his MSc students at the Lodge who has been researching frogs and so offered me a lift as he thought it would be an interesting, quiet and safe place for me to stay for a few days. Interesting chats about the poor standard of teaching Read more