Ecuador - 2 months in the Jungle

I undertook a six week volunteer programme with GVN to work on a forest reserve in Ecuador as a career break. The whole experience was incredible, the work at times was tough (hot and humid) but is invaluable to the region. I learnt an incredible amount about the forest and the local community. The work was mainly in the botanical garden planting, seeding, composting and ground clearance. The most rewarding part was watching the growth of seedlings of endangered trees that we had planted. I lived in the research station and as well as learning alot of Spanish I also learnt alot about the community and the rain forest itself (the guided walks were an eperience in the themselves as we visited areas of forest you would never see as a tourist) We also had time at weekend to visit local towns and after my six weeks i spent tow further wwkes in Ecuador which is a beautiful and amazing country with very friendly people. The support i initially received from GVN was brilliant as i had to postpone my trip for a few weeks and their groundwork was excellent.