Hello from Ecuador :)

Hey Guys,

Sorry, I haven´t written since we´ve arrived...I´ve just been too busy enjoying myself with the team here in Ecuador.
Just to let you know, we all arrived safety in Quito (Ecuador´s capital) although Karolin´s bag didn´t arrive with us and came 4 days late which was a pain but we adapted and later it was dropped off in a building which local people call a ´house´(that´s what Flo put in the team diary).
Since we´ve been here in Ecuador we have done some very hard work! On the first day, we had a relaxed morning and afternoon to rest outselves from our long plane journey which turned out to be 3 plane rides as not expected. Then the next day, we travelled to a reserve called La Hesperia which is a conservation area in the Cloud Forest. The drive there was 3 hours long and it was along Ecuador´s most dangerous road and we came along an overturned lorry on the cliff side which was awful. In La Hesperia, we all shared a ´villa´ together and we did lots of work, first of all we had a machete lesson from the ´Machete man´which the boys loved and with this we cleared paths and planted hardwood sustainable trees. Pele and Pete killed anything in their path and knocked down a banana tree but then again Pete did wake up thinking we were doing DEforestation and not REforestation...we kind of mocked him for that. We also cleared a vegetable patch and went on a waterfall hike with 2 guides which was the one we think Mawer warned Pele not to go on...and it was really good fun but slippy and Devon fell in but carried on really well.
ALso, when we were mailing the cows which we had to do everyday and make break, a cow pooed and Pete moved Devon in front of him, so she got the poo on her!!!
White water rafting was a great experience for all of us, I fell in with Flo and we got pushed under the boat which was scary as you don´t know where you are but once I reached the top I just floated down the river laughing in hysterics. In the other boat was Pele, Sophie, Tom, Devon, the guide, Karolin and Pete and their boat hit a rock and bounced and Pele, the guide, Devon and Pete were thrown out but they survived...and that was Pete´s birthday and I think he enjoyed it...he got a cake too by the side of the river.
Today, we went to the Day Care Centre in El Tejar where we are going to be based for the nbext few days. The children are so cute and we are painting a rainforest mural for them which should be good fun.
Also, I must mention when we went out for Dinner yesterday for Pet´s birthday, these American people were slightly drunk and started to talk to our group and Pete told them it was his birthday and this girl abour 20 got up and kissed him as she thought being seventeen deserved a kiss and before that she said he was ´So Damm Cute´which we keep`mocking him about..haha )I´ll put the photo´s on facebook.

Anyway, nice to speak to everyone back at home, we are going to collect out laundry now and then to dinner.

Love from Ecuador xxx