Villcabamba and Cuenca Christmas 2008-9

Mum and Dad came out to stay with us for Christmas. They arrived from Peru whist we were still working so they spend the first few days wondering around Quito on their own. When we finished work, we flew to Loja in the South of Ecuador. From there we drove to Villcabamba and stayed in a great hostel called Izhcayluma, with hammocks and great views of the valley. We hiked and went horse riding around the town which is known for the longevity of its people. We had a massage and generally relaxed.



After Villcabamba, we caught a local bus North to Cuenca, the largest town in the South of Ecuador. We had to stand up on the bus for 3 hours amongst lots of locals and chickens crammed in! We arrived in Cuenca and checked in to our lovely hostel, which was walking distance from the main square. The town is beautiful and it is somewhere we would love to go back to. The architecture is amazing, the people are warm and friendly and it is the home of the panama hat! We were lucky enough to be there on Christmas eve and saw a wonderful parade. All the children were dressed up for the festivities, I was able to get some great pictures......

Amazon Lodge - December 2008

Whilst Mum and Dad were visiting we went to an amazon Lodge near Tenna, 3 hours south of Quito. We stayed in a Lodge that was recommended through school. It was lovely but very very over priced. We went on a jungle walk through secondary and a little bit of primary forest. We then went to a local village where we watched some traditional dances and rituals. We also visited a wildlife rescue centre. On the way back Mum and Dad went to Papallacta for the night and Tommy and I returned to Quito as we had spent a lot more than anticipated at the lodge!

December 2008

At the end of November we went round to Rosie's house for Thank's Giving. She is an amazing cook and we ate way too much. It was a lovely evening with great food and great company.


We went to see our first live football match in Quito. It was Liga versus Deportivo. The atmosphere was electric and definitely an experience, the photographs say it all!


We have found a lady who owns a corner shop who fixes our clothes for us. We took a whole load of Tom's trousers to be fixed. He then decided she might as well fix the ones he was wearing too. So, he proceded to take off his tousers and leave them with her to fix. he walked out of the shop wearing my coat as a skirt with socks and his work shoes. I have never laughed so much, neither had the owner!

We went out for the day with Sally-Anne, Orlando, Dani and Debbie. Here are some pictures of their lovely dogs.

BSQ Chrismas Appeal 2008

I helped to organise the BSQ Christmas Appeal 2008. It was lots of fun, we helped lots of poor communities and our children got lots out of it. All the Primary kids brought in gifts which we distributed to different communities. We took some presents to an old peoples social club in Lumbisi, some to an after school club in Tingo and some to a some nursery school children in Lumbisi. Each child in KS2 made a shoe box for another child which was filled with gifts. All the children in KS2 were then able to give their shoe box to another child. Tom also got to dress up as father Christmas, which was hilarious! I have never seen a father Christmas in Ecuador with such white skin. It was a nightmare to organise, but well worth the effort.

Luis Enrique Primary School

At the beginning of December we were approached by one of our cleaners, Rosa, at the British School Quito who has worked for the school for a number of years. She knew that Yvette and I are interested in charity work and told us about the state of her children's school. Her children attend Luis Enrique Raza Bolaños School in the South of Quito. Rosa was particularly concerned about the state of the school toilet block and the classrooms at the school and asked us to come and visit the school.

The school is situated in the south of Quito and is in dire need of funds to provide a healthy, safe and stimulating learning environment to its community of about 600 students and only 18 staff. We were moved by both the poor condition of the school. The main area of concern is the toilet block, which was in an unbelievably bad condition. Out of the 4 toilets in the block, only one actually worked and this was for over 600 children to share!

Over the next few months we will be trying to fund raise to build a new toilet block as well as help do up some of the classrooms that are in desperate need of repair.