Helping Out

Last week I cleansed my soul with a spot of volunteering at a great little project out in the sticks of Northern Ecuador. Set in an old convent, in stunning grounds, with a huge Volcano as a backdrop, Juvilus is an Orphanage for kids with HIV.

It`s an amazingly well set up place, run by a Catholic Priest who spends every hour dedicated to these kids and giving them a good, healthy life. It`s incredibly well funded, the kids are surrounded by games, toys, fresh food, computers with internet connections and much more. They are a really amazing bunch of kids with ages ranging from 6 months to 17 years old. They put Western kids to shame in terms of manners and how they look after each other, clean up, help out and generally by having consistently positive attitudes, it was pretty amazing to see at times.

My role for the week was just to help out as and where necessary, so there was lots of cleaning, washing, folding clothes, helping out with cooking and playing football/basketball. It was a tough week with early starts, long days and some difficult times where being a Gringo within such a tight group was challenging to say the least, but i`m glad I stopped and helped out. The hardest part was definitely saying goodbye at the end of the week.

Mountain Bikin´ Some Mountains

James and I took a morning off from our volunteering to enjoy a spot of Mountain Biking in the epic countryside of the Avenue of Volcanoes, in Ecuador. Starting at Lago Majanda in the shadow of the snow-capped Volcan Cotacachi, we descended from 3,500m to around 2,500 metres over a tough 40km ride.

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Volcan Imbabura, Ecuador. The past two weeks i´ve spent living in it´s shadow in the foothills. Surrounded by 3 other Volcanoes. Makes a good billboard.

Festival De Yamor

Whilst staying in Otavalo, we timed it to be here for the annual Festival De Yamour. A celebration of Maize and a pretty grim fermented drink, made from Maize, called Chicha. The Festivities last for two weeks, but the opening weekend is the big party, so on Friday night a crowd of us headed into town to join in. The streets were packed with parades, stalls, bands and people, focused around the central square, Plaza De Bolivar. It was a great night and it felt really Ecuadorian as we were some of the very few Gringo`s in town.

Saturday was also a big day, we spent it trying the local cuisine in the food market, betting on CockFights and relaxing over a few beers at the Bull Fighting. Another great Latin American Festival sampled and enjoyed.

Otovalo, Ecuador

2,800 metres high in the Andes Mountains is my current base for a couple of weeks more studying. Otovalo is an old town and a centre of indigenous culture in Ecuador. Most famed for being home to the largest market in South America, which ocurrs every Saturday, the town is surrounded by 4 volcanoes and some of the most amazing countryside i`ve ever seen.

This Friday sees the opening ceremony of the annual Festival De Yamour, then the celebrations and events carry on for a couple of weeks, so it´s a good time to be here. The Hostel i´m in is in an amazing location, just out of town. My days are currently spent wandering around with my teacher, trying the local food and drinks and trying to get my Spanish conversation flowing... tough times.