Great program but definitely could use a bit of work

This was an incredible experience. I was on the bio-med trip which meant I got four days of med rotations, a week in the Galapagos, but only 2 whole days of volunteering. Honestly, I was ok with that. I've volunteered many other places and my main focus of this trip was for the med rotations. Honestly, I could've used a couple more days for med rotations but what I got was sufficient. The volunteering was fine but I did feel a little awkward when we were getting accolades from the community when I didn't really do much at all. But oh well.

The "Discover" portion was amazing. I did some incredible things in Ecuador. Things I would have never been able to do otherwise.

All of the leaders were awesome, however, I actually really disliked when the owners, Juan and Jose, were with us. For the most part, they're nice, but they seem more concerned with being best friends with the "cool kids" than making sure everyone is happy. They go on and on about how they want everyone's experience to be perfect. They even point out that it's great that we have access to them because if there's something we don't like, we can tell them directly. However, more often than not, when you would go to them with issues, they would reply back with either a defensive or sarcastic remark. I never felt comfortable saying anything because of that. It was very intimidating and disheartening. It's cool to want to be friendly and chill with everyone but try to show a little professionalism as well.

Another thing I disliked was the lack of communication before the trip. I've never ever been on a trip where I wasn't given an itinerary beforehand. I specifically asked for one and was told I would get it once in Ecuador. Ok fine, I guess I'll send the info to my family when I get there. But wait! Wifi was absolute garbage everywhere we went! Also, I had no idea who was going to pick me up from the airport or where I was supposed to go. It was quite scary. Luckily once I was in Ecuador, things were more organized. But it didn't make for an exciting departure at all.

Regardless, it was a very fun trip. They could definitely improve in some areas but I would still highly recommend the trip. I just hope Juan and Jose are actually reading these.