A Beautiful Morning in Tumbaco

The Amazon program has officially begun. This morning, after breakfast and a medical and health orientation, we spent some time getting to know each other and forming a group contract that will guide the interactions and experience of all Sustainable Summer participants for the next 2 weeks. Here’s a pic of the group engaged in an icebreaker activity: Everyone just departed for a short hike into Chiche Canyon, about 5 minutes down the road from our guest house, where participants will complete a goal setting exercise in their journals before returning for lunch.

After lunch, we’re heading east over the spine of the Andes at Papallacta pass (elevation 12500 ft) and then descending into the Rio Quijos valley. We are going to meet our local guide, Rodrigo, and Matt Terry of the Ecuadorian Rivers Institute for a visit to one of the many hydroelectric facilities in the valley. This will kick off our segment on water resource management for the next couple of days.

We will be based out of the town of Baeza, nestled in Ecuador’s cloud forest region at about 6000 feet of elevation. I’ll be updating the blog every couple of days with pics and reports from the field. Stay tuned for more.