It has been a dream to go to a rainforest ever since I was small. This December, I achieved that dream. Whenever I tell my friends that I’m heading somewhere really cool as a part of my course, to do some fieldwork, instead of staying in a classroom, they are understandably resentful. This time I was heading to Ecuador, a country located in the North West of South America. I have been looking forward to this trip for years! It was one of the main reasons I chose to study at Sussex!
The flight there took the best part of 24 hours and was tricky with my limited of Spanish. On the flight from Madrid to Quito (Ecuador’s Capital city) a game of musical chairs was played where no one spoke but just expected you to move – I ended up being sat next to a nun. She only spoke to me once the entire flight, to go to the bathroom, and did nothing else – no reading, didn’t watch any of the in-flight entertainment, barely ate. I had never been this close to a nun before, so it was something of a novelty for me.
My first experience of Quito, and South America, was in the taxi ride from the airport to La Mariscal area, where we were staying. Quito is situated in a valley, between a number of mountains. The roads were barely big enough for one car in places but were being used as two-way streets. Every 500 metres or so there would be a beautifully decorated shrine to the virgin Mary or some other Catholic icon. The taxi wound up and down various hills for the most part of an hour. In this time I saw probably around 50 stray dogs – all of them cute.
Quito lookin fly
Quito is a beautiful, sprawling city with few tall buildings. It is evident that people there are poor. As we drove through the city, people were walking through the traffic selling various items, offering to clean car windows with a squeegee and a water bottle, or performing for money. As it was nearly Christmas, they were selling Christmas decorations – selling plastic snowmen when it 26°C outside.
The market that caused me to buy so much stuff, it warranted a second suitcase.
We had a couple of days in Quito before we were gonna drive into the rainforest with the rest of the uni group. We made it our goals to see all of the tourist attractions in and around Quito – we managed three. My favourite place in Quito was the Mercado Artesanal – a bustling market filled with handmade Ecuadorian goods. The atmosphere and vibrancy were magnetic. We knew everything we bought had the ‘white tax’ added but they were still such good value for money that you couldn’t complain. I bought so much stuff that I had to buy another suitcase to bring it home in!
In the rainforest we were staying at the Santa Lucia Eco-lodge – which was created by a community of farmers as an alternative to deforestation. The lodge is on the top of a mountain. There are no roads up the mountain. You have to walk. For two hours. I felt like I was going to die, but it’s so worth it! I have never felt happier than when waking up to sunshine and the view of rolling green mountains below me. We were in a cloud forest and being on the top of a mountain meant that in the afternoon when the clouds came in you couldn’t see anything. I can now say that I have been inside a cloud!
A good way to start the day
On top of this gorgeous mountain we had to give two presentations, numerous lectures, an exam, and to carry out our own research project on some aspect of the forest’s ecology. And even in spite of all this hard work, the forest is one of the best things I have ever had the privilege to experience. From the fascinating wildlife to the fact that the lodge had no electricity, all of it was thoroughly enjoyable. I only got to spend three weeks in Ecuador and there is so much more I would want to do there, if I can. If you ever get the chance, you have to go!
A really big moth, and a friend.
If you have any similar experiences, tell me about them in the comments!
Jessica xx
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