Finally we have arrived at mini student directed travel! After a week in the small mountainous town of Pucara we are back in the hustle and bustle of Otavalo. After a two hour nauseating bus ride we arrived Wednesday and kicked the week off with a trip to the Condor Park. Afterwards we attempted to hike to a the Peguche waterfall but made about 8 wrong turns and were forced… Read More
Inti group during a hike near Pucara. Checking out a waterfall near hot springs! Enjoying a game of tug-of-war with local children in Pucara.… Read More
On Tuesday, October 7th, Carpe Diem´s INTI students bumped along the stunning cliffs of the Western slope of the Andes towards the small Intag Region village of Pucara, one of our final destinations in Ecuador. This region of Ecuador is home to the cloud forest habitat, one of the top 10 most biodiverse ecosystems in the World. Over the next few days we got to know the land pretty well… Read More
It`s been an incredible week in the beatiful city of Baños, Ecuador. The week was spent perfecting our Spanish, volunteering, and living with host families.
Everyone has had a different story to tell about their host families. Some good, others not so great. Yael and I were lucky enough to be placed in a beautiful house with a sweet family and the most adorable cat, Katrina. While living with our… Read More
The Inti group with Lorena and the Spanish teachers at Raices language school. View of Baños at night.
Flowers at the entrance to the language school.
Getting ready for rafting!… Read More
I don’t want to leave this city, forgive me. Baños, Baños. The place I live like being at home, the city I promise to visit every year, the homeland of people I love.
Wake up every morning in Lorena’s house, take in the fresh air by a deep breath, and then have delicious breakfast prepared by Lorena’s mother. We have Spanish class every morning. Every teacher is super patient and… Read More
The Inti group heading out for a day of harvesting plantains Members of the Inti group learn about the steps involved in exporting plantains to the USA. Posing for a group picture in front of the “marriage” tree in the tropical reserve near the banana farm.… Read More
This past week on the banana farm has been an incredible experience filled with music, delicious food, Spanish, dirt, jokes, discussions, bugs, and of course, tons of bananas. With an average consumption of 3 to 5 bananas a day (not including the bananas in our meals), we knew from the beginning that the farm was going to be a great place. In fact, the family on the finca (farm) created… Read More
Hola from Baños!
We are all exhausted from our travels today. We left the banana farm at 1:30 am and arrived in Baños around 8:30.
The farm was amazing, as well a our wonderful host family. We had a day to help out with the process of gathering and preparing the bananas and plantains for shipping. Everything on the farm goes out to Dole, so think of us the next… Read More
A few group photos from the South America group’s orientation. They are at language school on the coast currently and have limited access to internet this week. But look for more posts from them next week!… Read More
Hola Amigos!
Today is day two of our three month adventure. We are currently in the historic district of Quito, Ecuador getting acquainted with the area as well as the language by doing a Busqueda del Tesoro, or Scavenger Hunt. After three hours wandering in circles and struggling to find a single avocado for a sandwich, we are thankfully seated in an internet cafe to update everyone at home of… Read More
We are running around Quito, Ecuador! It took us a long time to find an internet cafe, but after asking about 20 people we finally found one! Everything is great here and todo es muy divertido!
At Iglesia de San Francisco
… Read More
Hello! It is Ciaran and Keely from a random internet Cafe somewhere in Quito, and we have just visited the Iglesia de San Francisco. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, we are unable to upload the picture. We apologize. But it is awesome, we assure you.… Read More
we took our first ride on the public transportation here. It was certainly a rough ride, but fun all the same. Now that we have arrived in Old Town Quito, Team Carolina Girls is on a mission to complete the given tasks for our scavenger hunt. We are thoroughly enjoying our time here in the beautiful, quaint town surrounded by the incredible Andes mountains. Our biggest challenges now are map… Read More
The South America group arrived safely in Quito yesterday and are settled in to their hostel and diving into their orientation. We are so excited for them to begin their adventures! Stay tuned, as the group will begin to post blogs about their experience soon. Much gratitude to all of the friends and family who have helped the students arrive at this moment.… Read More
Amidst smiles, handshakes, hugs, and a whole lot of excitement – the South America crew have all rendezvoused and are getting ready to head through security at LAX, and into the adventure that awaits…
Stay tuned to the blog as we will post again when the group arrives safely in Ecuador!
We wish you all the best team Inti!… Read More
Excitement is growing as our departure day quickly approaches for our upcoming adventure to South America. Ryan and I (Cheridyn) are here in Portland at Carpe Leader training, busy with preparations. To you amazing 12 students who will be joining us on this adventure, let us know if you have any questions or needs as you continue with your preparations.
After three nights of camping in the woods, it was… Read More
Hola SAM students, friends and family!
Well it´s finally happened, our adventure has come to an end. It has been a wild three months of Spanglish, host families, bus rides, llamas, stunning scenery, lots of stairs, and of course, rice, potatoes, yucca and plenty of bananas (sorry Casey).
Our South American family has expanded beyond our group of 14 to include Pete in Pucara, Juan Carlos and his family in… Read More
Our asses may be sore and our clothes may smell like five days of sweat and bug spray, but we are alive and well and loving all up on each other for our last day here in South America. To close out the semester, we spent our final week trekking the Salkantay trail through the Andes to visit the Incan treasure, Machu Picchu.
Bright and early Monday morning, our guide… Read More
