MedLife - Ecuador: Quito
If you had told me that one day I would be visiting the Amazon (with students!) I would not have believed you. But as they say - never say never- and what a privilege this trip has already been.
SESO has been participating in MedLife service learning trips for three consecutive years. Our first group traveled with four students and once chaperone to Lima, Peru. Last year’s group was three times that size and traveled with two chaperones to Cusco, Peru. This year, we are traveling with 24 students and four chaperones to Tena, Ecuador.
As one of the chaperones on the trip, my main role is to watch over and support our students as they participate in this service learning experience. As a school leader, I was also very curious to see how the program runs first hand, and to be a part of the conversations and reflections of the students and staff.
While our trip got off of a rocky start and a loooooong delay which forced us to overnight in Panamá (and miss our first day of sightseeing) - we more than made it up for it in the days that followed. Sometimes travel is complicated and challenging - our students rose to the occasion, demonstrating flexibility, patience, and a postive attitude.
Our first stop after a short night of rest in Quito Ecuador was La Mitad Del Mundo - a landmark where we were able to visit the Equator line and learn a little about Ecuadorian culture and history.
After some photos, we left Quito and traveled on toward Tena and Archidona in the Amazon region of the country. In the way, we saw impressive landscapes the Andes. Next we stopped at some thermal baths for lunch and to enjoy the natural hot springs.
As we drove on, we descended in elevation and saw the vegetation change - we were entering the Amazon.
When we finally arrived at our hotel in Archidona, we ate, met the rest of the MedLife team, learned about what the rest of our week would look like, and gratefully tumbled into bed.
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