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Itinerary - Africa and Asia Venture

Itinerary

GETTING THERE

You will need to fly into Ecuador's capital, Quito, arriving in the late afternoon/early evening, and be met by our representative. You will start your adventure with the Spanish Course/home stay and will then be whisked off to the Mariscal area of the city to meet your hosts and be briefed up on your course.

SPANISH COURSE AND HOME STAY - 3 weeks

This will be a three-week activity guaranteed to improve the Spanish and cultural understanding of everyone who takes part. Home stay families are carefully selected for their friendliness and cooking ability! You will stay as an individual with a family and immerse yourself deep into the life (and language!) of the Ecuadoreans. From Monday to Friday, by day, you will join the others in your group and attend three to four hours of Spanish at the level appropriate to you - absolute beginner to advanced. The rest of the teaching days are spent in the city doing some practical exercises, designed to bring on your confidence, and your evenings will be spent with your family or out on the town with the other AV volunteers and friends you will make. 

DEPARTURE FOR THE CLOUD FOREST

The whole group will enjoy a 3½-hour coach journey through the suburbs and out to the Andean foothills, valleys and cloud forests northwest of Quito. You will disembark at the bottom of the mountain and your bags and equipment will be loaded onto mules. Then begins the two hour climb that will take you to your home in the cloud forest for the next four weeks - Santa Lucia!

YOUR NEW HOME

Santa Lucía eco-lodge and cabanas are in the heart of the cloud forest on a mountain peak at 1900 metres. You will be accommodated in the lodge dorm rooms. Bathrooms are shared and in addition to flush toilets the lodge has compost toilets to minimise contamination. The showers have particularly spectacular views over the forest but volunteers should use water sparingly. There are solar panels that provide limited electricity in the lodge only.

Meals combine traditional Ecuadorian and international recipes and where possible organic produce is used from the Lodge garden. Volunteers are always welcome to lend a hand in the garden and kitchen.

THE PROJECT

The views are breathtaking and the air is clean. The first day will be spent on induction, where you will learn about the Santa Lucia Co-operative - a community-based organisation dedicated to conservation and sustainable development. Their aim is to make a modest living whilst conserving their remaining cloud forest through projects such as ecotourism, reforestation, small agro forestry plantations and environmental education. The community owns 780 hectares of montane cloud forest, of which about 80% is still in its prime, virgin state, and the reserve has been declared a Bosque Protector (Protected Forest).

One of the strengths of the volunteer programme is that you work alongside members of the Reserve and you will gain a real insight into daily life in a rural community.

Whilst volunteering in on the Reserve at Santa Lucia your main tasks (some are seasonal) could include:

  • Organic gardening - the garden supplies the lodge with fresh produce

  • Trail maintenance - essential to ensure that the trails don't cause erosion and that they are safe to hike

  • Agro forestry - maintaining the forests organic coffee, sugar cane and bananas and making panela (sugar) and coffee the traditional way

  • Orchid Garden - help is needed to maintain and enlarge the orchidarium

People on the Reserve are always ready for a game of football or you can spend your free time hiking, birding, swimming, visiting waterfalls and enjoying the fiestas and dances in the nearby towns. We encourage volunteers to get to know the local community and experience the real Ecuador.

 

INDEPENDENT TRAVEL - 4 weeks

This is your chance to really go out there and explore Ecuador with some friends. The Pacific provides some pretty amazing beaches; the Andes some extraordinary sites of natural beauty and the Amazon Basin's rain forests. Oh yes! There are also the people, the Indian markets, a number of volcanoes and a lot of adventures to be had! You'll have 4 weeks to enjoy them.

HOME 

The scheme will end after your independent travel so make sure you're back in Quito for your flight home! 

 

WHAT'S INCLUDED

Before departure:
  • Pre-departure information, support and advice
  • A nominated member of the UK volunteer support team
  • One-to-one face to face briefing for UK applicants
  • Telephone briefing for non-UK applicants
  • References taken up
  • Comprehensive online health check
  • Advice on group flight booking or individual flight arrangements
  • Briefing for group departure from London airport
In-country:
  • In-country representative
  • 24/7 in-country backup
  • Meet and greet at airport (if arriving with the group)
  • Airport transfer (if arriving with group)
  • In-country induction course
  • Transfer from induction course to school/project
  • Accommodation (except during independent travel)
  • Food allowance (except during independent travel)
  • Accompanied by a guide whilst on project
  • Management of emergencies, including lost passport, illness, etc. whilst in-country
  • Language school accommodation
  • Spanish lessons
Upon returning home:
  • Returning home advice
  • Full telephone debriefing

WHAT'S NOT INCLUDED

  • Flights
  • Travel Insurance
  • Country visas
  • Meeting of non-group arrivals
  • Accommodation for early/late arrivals
  • Medical expenses, e.g. inoculations, malaria prophylatics
  • In-country medical expenses
  • Drinks
  • Tips/gratuities - No tips/gratuities for AV staff are necessary or expected
  • Spending money
  • Extra activities that you choose to do
  • Independent travel
  • Bus fares to and from the language school

 

dates and costs

apply

need_help

If you need some help and want to talk about your plans to volunteer, please Get in touch 

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