Back in Civilization
Hey there, I've finally hit civilization again (well, Quito anyway) and have found fairly reliable Internet access. The computer in the nearest town to the reserve was crap, it took me 40 mins just to get a connection and send 1 email to the parents before the computer crashed for the third time. That's when I thought ‘sod it’ and went to the beach.
The last month has been so amazing! I've loved every minute and have rarely stopped laughing, There were 5 volunteers: 1 Aussie, who cracked me up - he was so funny; 1 Yank, who was having a tough time on Lariam and was a bit paranoid and untalkative; 1 other girly who was a Scot (we did a girly weekend in Atacames, the beach resort where Ecuadorians flock to - It’s really tacky in a good way); another Brit; Robert and me.
The work was a bit like what I did in Burngreave, we did a lot of scrub clearance but with machetes, which are a lot more fun than loppers. I managed to embed a machete into my hand. One minute I had machete in one hand and a stick in the other, the next I had one bloody hand and a bloody machete. Still not exactly sure how it happened. I'm hoping I'll still have the scar to show when I get back, if not I took a photo for prosperity.
I saw snakes, birds and fruit bats, got covered in tics and provided food for sandflies and mosquitoes. In fact, I’ve become something of an expert on bites. Mosquitoes are one of the least irritating. The worst by far are red ants followed by sandflies. Tics are just tedious as there are loads of them and they get everywhere - I had to pick 1 off my bum cheek! We had intensive tic checks after finishing work. Gaffer tape is good to pluck them off and we've tried lots of variations on tic disposal.
The food was fantastic. We harvested all our fruit from the jungle and out here, everything that we do with potatoes, they do with green bananas, I’m green banana-ed out.
Although we were there to work it was really relaxed. Our boss Vicente spoke little English but we started to get to know the word ‘recesso’ fairly early on. Sometimes ‘recesso’ took 30minutes and was taken on the beach. Questions were asked in pigeon Spanish, pigeon English and gesticulations. My Spanish is getting better. I know the words for bucket, hammer, barbwire etc. I'm not sure exactly where I’m going to be able to use this new vocabulary. I might try and do another volunteer project in Bolivia or Argentina to get some use out of it.
I'm ready to move on now and should be making my way to Cuenca in the south of the country sometime during this week. I've got a month in which to leave Ecuador before my visa runs out.
Love ya!
BIG hugs, Jen xxx
