Simply Life Changing

My volunteering experience in Ecuador was simply PERFECT. I spent four weeks on the Amazon station and two weeks on the San Cristobal, Galapagos station. The whole process was smooth, safe and comforting. The amazon station is beautiful, the volunteer cabins are double cabins with basic beds and amenities and they are surprisingly very comfortable, you fall asleep every night to the sounds of the rain forest creatures. The work is amazing and so fulfilling, Monday mornings consisted of five hour hikes in primary and secondary forests, some of them were medicinal hikes (learning about the different plants and trees and their benefits), other were bird watching hikes or just informational hikes about the forest. The afternoons were always spent in the botanical garden that belongs to Jatun Sasha, planting seeds, cutting down invasive plants, replanting endemic plants, raking leaves, learning about the different plants and their benefits in the classroom, building bridges, collecting fruits and vegetables in the organic garden and planting new ones, the botanical and organic gardens are huge forests on their own. Simply surreal.
Wednesday afternoons were social afternoons, we would walk through he forest to reach a huge clearing where the river napo would greet us, we would swim, play soccer relax and then head to town in Tena for a fun night out. The work is hard and tedious at times but extremely fulfilling. Breakfast was served at 6:30, lunch at noon and dinner at 6. Work hours: 7:30 to 11:30, 1:30 to 3:30. Hammock time after a cold well deserved shower was the best thing ever, the food is simple but satisfying and the cooks are wonderful jolly people who become your friends. Weekends were amazing, there is no shortage of things to do, from rafting trips, to 3 days in banos town, to visits to the indigenous communities and waterfalls, simply amazing!! I was so sad to leave the amazon it was the most fulfilling, fun, rewarding time of my life, I cannot wait to go back.
The volunteering in the galapagos was just as amazing. The reserve is different, it's a 40 min cab ride from the san cristobal airport and you reach this gorgeous isolated reserve, the volunteers are either housed in the new house or old house, and share rooms with 1 to 5 people. The morring view is simply gorgeous, the balcony looks onto the ocean in the horizon, pure bliss. The work hours were similar to the amazon except the volunteers are expected to help in the kitchen for either the morning, afternoon or dinner shift, which is actually very fun if you like to cook or just want to learn (like me! i learned knife skills...). The work involves a lot of machete and hand work, it's tough at time but simply amazing. Tuesday and thursday afternoons consist of a trip to the Gualapaguera, a gorgeous tortoise reserve where you get to see huge turtles in their habitat, help maintain the reserve and work in the nearby greenhouse planting coffee and chocolate, SO MUCH FUN. Friday mornings consisted of hikes or wonderful trips to beaches where you tan next to sea lions and blue footed boobies, what a dream! Most weekend are spent outside of the reserve in San Cristobal town where you can go eat drink and island hop to all the nearby islands, which is simply surreal. The staff and coordinators on both the reserves are so caring, friendly and wonderful people who watch over you day and night and respect your needs and likes. GVN was wonderful at facilitating my entry into this program and I could not recommend going to Ecuador enough, it will change your life forever!