Ecuador on February 13th

On February 13, 2013, I'll be going to Ecuador and the Galapagos with a group of teachers/administrators from various school districts. This will be the third professional development trip that I have participated on, so it's pretty obvious that I find them very worthwhile. This will be our itinerary.


Day #1: Quito


Day #2: Tena and Misahualli; visit Amazon Rescue Center


Day #3: Pakay Chikta (Community Service)


Day #4: Tena and Otavalo and Papallacta


Day #5: Bosque Jerusalem and Mercado de los Ponchos (and back to Quito)


Day #6: Yunguilla and the Intinan Museum at the Equator


Day #7: Balta and Santa Cruz Island; visit Charles Darwin Research Station


Day #8: Bartolome or Isabela Island


Day #9: North Seymour or Floreana Island


Day #10: Twin Craters; Fly back to Quito


Day #11: Fly back to Boston


How many of these locations are you able to find on a map? Are they on Google Earth? What happens if you just google them?

We had a meeting on 12/19/12 about our trip. Here were some of the interesting facts that I learned.

* There are Starbucks in Quito!


* Ecuador has four different kinds of ecosystems. There a cloud forest, dry forest, rainforest, and the Paramo which is the high mountain region.

* When we do our community service in Pakay Chikta, we'll be at a 'jungle community' where there are only 35 students in one school with a few classrooms. It sounds like it all of the grades and ages are housed together, so there must be a lot of cooperation among the students.


* Since 2001, Ecuador has been using US currency, so we were told to bring a whole bunch of new, crispy small bills. It's interesting to think that a country uses a different country's currency. In 2001, there was an economic meltdown, so that's when there was a shift to the US currency.