Ecuador in 2002

After finishing school I immediatelly left Switzerland to make a great experience. The main goal of this trip was learning spanish and experiencing how life can be. I did not want to go to Australia because everybody went there. So I decided to go to South America. When I arrived in Quito I did hardly understand a word. I went to school for two weeks and decided that I needed a break. I took holidays and went to the famous Galapagos Islands. My father's present (for my birthday and for finishing school with a good result) was a one week diving tour. I enjoyed it, I have seen many new animals, thousands of sharks, manta rays, turtles, birds, ... The flora and the fauna of the islands are unique.

Boobie 

A Galapagos penguin 

Almost perfect camouflage 

Sleep well! 

Diving 

Bartholomé Island 
The day before I was suposed to leave I had an accident. I had to spend more than 10 hours in a hyperbaric chamber. And I was not allowed to leave the islands for another week. I could stay at the hospital and I helped at the Charles Darwin Research Station, which was very interesting and helped me understanding the things I once learned at school...
After two weeks I went back to school for another three weeks and took another two-weeks-break. The doctor I met on Galapagos was on the main land for holidays and he took me with him. We drove from the south to the north by car. We went from beach to beach and then back to salinas, where he spent his childhood.

Sunset at the beach 
After the last week at school I went to the jungle. WOW! A mate and me, we went to a lodge called Kapawi in the middle of nowhere. We had to take a plane which landed on a muddy runway. That was exciting!

In the Jungle, the mighty Jungle... 
I was arriving as a normal tourist. But soon I realised that I was in a confortable situation. Maybe I must explain several things about Kapawi: it is an american project. They built the lodge, train the natives to maintain it by themselves and to manage it without foreign help within 15 years. A native and a western (ecuatorian as well) form a guide team. The natives don't know english, so they need someone to translate. I had the chance that I knew spanish, so I could talk to the native. His name was Gilberto. While talking to him I learned many things about life in the jungle. I appreciated it very much. After one week I did not want to leave so I asked them if they had a job for me. And they had! That's how I became a spanish and english teacher in the jungle. I stayed there for another three weeks and learned a lot. Not only about the people there but also about life and about me!

That's the Jungle 

Kapawi lodge 

Sunset in the Jungle 

The airplaine 
Back to the civilisation I visited several market places and villages in the andes. I was very proud that I got to climb one of the high mountains. 5707 meters above sealevel! Unfortunately I forgot my camera at the hotel :-(

I returned to Switzerland as a new person. I was not the same anymore, I changed a lot in Ecuador. I love the country, it is beautiful and very divert. I still keep in touch with some Ecuatorian and with some mates from school. I hope to return there one day, a part of me is still there and will stay there forever...