Ecuador Eco Volunteer

Archive for the ‘Animal Rescue Center’ Category

Finn from the Netherlands just finished his time volunteering in the Amazon Rescue Center and this is what he has to say about his time there:

It is, indeed, a challenge to write a unique entry about the time I had. I struggle to think about what to write, without repeating previous entry’s by saying,’ I did [this], and I loved it’. That, of course, is not a bad thing. Seeing that everyone did something and ‘loved it’ just goes to show how such a diverse selection of people can share the same love, joy and experience.

Ok, introduction over, here is my entry:
I have taken many (literally hundreds) of pictures whilst I have been here. However, amongst the endless amount of smiles and laughter, there is just something about this place that can’t be captured by a camera. What makes this place so special? The animals? This would be the obvious answer.

However, from my experience, it’s the people; Lucero (the mother) is one of the kindest, sweetest types of person I have met. Her love and care for the animals and plants is inspiring. The world could defiantly do with more Luceros.

Medardo (the father) is fantastic. He is one of those people who you cant be around without big smiles and much laughter being present. His passion for bambi is what is needed to help these astonishing animals stay with us on this planet.

David (the son) is brilliant. I often wonder why I get on with kids as good as I do. The conclusion I usually come to is simply; because I am one. This being said, I also have a phone he liked to play on. I will always remember David. He is fearless, funny and a pleasure to be around.

‘What about the animals?!’ I so desperately hear you cry. Well, what is great about the animals is that they all have their own quirks and characters. I could list them all but I simply don’t have the space, time or vocabulary.

I hope the videos I made will, in some way, bring more money to this precious sanctuary. I will truly miss this place and I have no doubt I shall return with better spanish, more people and some good old ‘can-do’ attitude!!

Until next time,
Finn

Here is Carol from the Netherlands testimonial after spending three months volunteering in the Andes and the Jungle of Ecuador on one of our Volunteer Packages

I worked 3 months for Ecuador Eco Volunteer, in 3 different projects. The first project was in the jungle near Puyo, volunteering at an animal rescue center. The people there know only some words in English so it was direct a good practice for my Spanish. I was picked up by the owner at the bus station in Puyo. The refuge is in de middle of nowhere so we needed to do shopping’s for a whole week first.

The centre had several animals; parrots, caimans, peccaries, turtles and a paca. And there are also some half wild animals like a tapir and several species of monkeys. 2 Weeks my work was helping with cooking and cleaning because there where big groups of students there. And 2 weeks we worked on a new stair to the turtles. And some days we went looking for the tapir, to see if it was still ok. These were some very nice jungle trips! I also liked the cooking because I learned some typical Ecuadorian meals.

The next month I worked in an orchid garden, also in Puyo. I stayed in the house of the family. The family was very nice. The owner is a special man, with a great love for nature. He created a little forest near the city with beautiful orchids and many plants and trees that are used by the people in the jungle. I learned a lot about orchid pollination and the eatable, medicinal and other useful plants. I gave tours to ingles speaking tourist, planted a lot of seeds, replanted trees, put new sawdust on the walking paths and I made a start for posters for the new museum.

My last month I got to Volunteered in Mindo, a beautiful, small and save town in the middle of a lot of nature. Here I also worked in an orchid garden. I helped with the orchids, labeling them, cleaning them and I cleaned the paths and helped when there were tourists. Also I helped with working at the canopy lines. The family was really friendly and again I learned a lot more about orchids, but also about birds, because the owner is also a great bird guide and in the garden are many hummingbirds!

Wlady and the Ecuador Eco Volunteer organization arranged everything very well. He always helped me how to get to the places, and made sure I was picked up. Although I used many weekend to discover more of Ecuador I was always welcome in his house! I was even welcome to celebrate new-year with him and his family!

All this moths I learned a lot and had a great time!

Anika from Dural in Sydney, Australia has left us this great testimonial about her volunteer work in the Andes as well as her time at the Amazon Rescue Center in the Ecuadorian jungle.

The reasons she chose to come to Ecuador were because she found our Volunteer Programs in the Andes to be some of the most affordable on the internet. Secondly because she was training for the 20 Day Base Camp Trek in Nepal and wanted to spend some time at altitude.

The Andes Alpaca Ranch is an indigenous community located in the highlands surrounding Ecuadors highest mountain Chimborazo. It was the perfect choice for her acclimbatization training.

My time in Ecuador was memorable not only because of the amazing experiences I had there, but also because of the warmth and helpfulness of Wlady and Jake, the masterminds behind Ecuador Eco Volunteer. I spent some time volunteering in the Andes Alpaca Ranch, in a remote mountain community where I helped tend to the animals. Surrounded by a stark, almost moon-like landscape, it really hit home how hard these people work and what an impressive strength of character they have. It was absolutely beautiful there, and the people were warm and friendly and always ready to talk. It certainly tested my Spanish ability!

I also spent some time volunteering at the Amazon Refuge Center in the jungle. I had such a fun time. We built a cage door, which was the first time I’ve had to use a hammer and machete! It was hard work but we had such satisfaction when we completed the task. We spent some time taking the tayra for a walk, teaching her how to climb trees (and humans). It was such a different experience to the high altitude Arenal and I loved every minute of it. It was a wonderful opportunity and I would highly recommend that anyone wanting to take part in some grassroots volunteering and meet some fascinating people, to get in touch with Eco Volunteer.

As a volunteer she also took advantage of the discounts on our eco-trips for trekking and horseback riding (an avid horseback rider herself back home) Ill post photos of our high altitude horseback trip around the extinct volcano Chimborazo soon and here is a photo of Anika on Ecuadors most beautiful trek, the Lagoons of El Altar.

Here are two testimonials from an Australian couple Angela and Jye the first for the time they spent studying spanish in Riobamba and the second is about their experience volunteering in the jungle inside the Amazon Rescue Center

Riobamba Spanish School

Ecuador Eco Volunteers organized for us private tuition in the bustling country town of Riobamba. The classes were great and we learned a lot very quickly! With the teacher speaking only Spanish to us, it forced us to learn how to ask the right questions to assist in accelerating our learning. Our teacher was energetic, patient, and listened to our needs in what to focus on during our brief 2 weeks there. We were even luck enough to accompany another teacher from the school to a local comminuty to help teach English for school children. Such fun! And aside from learning a lot, the courses were very affordable, and we were able to stay at the oh so comfortabel house provided by Eco Ecuador Volunteers. It was all too easy!

Volunteer in Amazon Rescue Center

Our time with Medardo and his family – human and animal alike – was beyond what we had ever expected, but what we hoped for! We spent two weeks at the Amazon Sancturary, where rescued animals from macaws to turtles to caiman live free in safety to recover from their otherwise dismal fate of illegal trade.

Each day we had to be ready for whatever task or activity Medardo had in mind, and simply go with the flow. Generally, around the several hours for cleaning, path grading or gardening, we had a blast feeding the birds, hanging out with the monkeys, and going on searches to feed and swim with Bambi, Medardo’s dearest tapir.

The rainforest setting is stunning, and perfect for the chilled afternoons, that lead into balmy evenings accompanied by a textured chorus of frog song.

We were fortunate enough to head out for an evening on a frog research mission with a biologist, as well as help out the local community of Mariscal Sucre, creating a sign to be used to deter fishing and hunting in the area. Painting this was in amongst the football games with the forever smiling kids!

Overall, it was a fantastic and chilled volunteer experience. We shared in Medardo’s love for the animals, whilst having plenty of time to ourselves (to practice, practice, practice our Spanish!) and we never felt overworked nor exploited on our volunteer experience. I would recommend it to anyone who loves animals, can appreciate rustic living in remote locations, likes a little physical labour, and has a big heart.

Here are some photos off Dane from Melbournes camera first of the Animal Rescue Center and then on the coast at Canoa where we celebrated New Years Eve!

Check out these photos of the Tapir, the largest land mammal in Latin America. It roams around in the jungle around the Animal Rescue Center and it took Dane and Medardo three days to find it – below it is licking the salt out of Danes hair!

The Tapir wasn’t the only one that took a liking to Danes hair….

Here are the photos from New Years, behind us is a paper mache model full of fireworks that the locals set on fire

Lots and lots of cheap cocktails were consumed!

At around 4am we were all wasted and Gerald, Teresa, and Dane were running in the water and Dane decided to drunkely tackle Gerald for a joke and Gerald accidentally knocked him with his elbow — ouch!!

Ten minutes later Dane is up and dancing on the streets! What a champion :)

We had such a fun New Years, unfortunately Dane left today for Peru but i’ll no doubt catch up with him when im back in Australia, all the best buddy!