After our return from the Waorani Nation, we didn’t have much planned for the rest of the time that we had down in Ecuador. The main thing on the agenda was finishing up our presentations on chocolate in Ecuador and creating an ad for Ecuador. Once we had breakfast, our group met up to start our presentation and we almost got it done in our first time working. The only reason we didn’t finish it was because all of us were starving, so we all ate lunch and eventually went back to the lodge so we could start working on our ads. We then learned that we were actually going to visit a town that was down the Rio Napo river from us which meant that we had to postpone our work for the presentations.
The boat ride took around 20 minutes, but we eventually arrived to a small little town called Misuallahi. While there wasn’t too much to the town, there were a ton of monkeys running around everywhere, which was definitely something new for me. Because we didn’t have too much time here, we quickly got pizza and snacks and headed back to the canoes so that we could make it back in time before the sun set. All of us didn’t do much for the rest of the day as we were all still exhausted from the previous journey, so we all rested for the night and sat outside talking on the porch.
Thursday consisted of everyone getting their projects and ads all ready, which meant another fairly chill morning and afternoon. Our presentation consisted of talking about BIOS Chocolate and how they can expand their company and recommendations on how to do so. Everyone’s presentations took around an 10-15 minutes to get through, and all of them were very good. We then prepared ourselves to watch the ads that we had been preparing in front of everyone else and the staff at the Iyarina Lodge, which was a little nerve-wracking but it was nice to hear a couple of laughs throughout our ad. While we didn’t win the vote, Rohan and I were just glad that we got more than one vote. We then got ready and went off to a close town called Tena to experience the nightlife and to just walk around on our last day in Ecuador.
On Friday, I woke up with a very bittersweet feeling. While I was happy to go home, I was also sad that I was going to be leaving everyone. We ate breakfast and packed our luggage onto the bus, and we first stopped at a place called the cloud rain forest. Because of the high elevation it was located at, it felt like you were walking through clouds which made for a really cool feeling. We soon departed and stopped at another place that was home to a ton of hummingbirds. The sheer amount of hummingbirds was crazy, but the cutest part was the little dog that lived at the park. She was timid at first, but would warm up to you once she smelled that you had food. After this, we stopped at this little restaurant place where you could catch fish in a small pond and explore trails around the area. Our last stop was the Quito airport, which definitely wasn’t the best stop as it was almost time for all of us to leave each other. Some of us got KFC at the airport which definitely wasn’t the move as it destroyed all of our stomachs.
We first went from Quito to Miami, then from Miami to Philadelphia, which was where half the group were done and ready to go back home. Saying goodbye to everyone was very tough and sad, as we had all been interacting with each for two weeks straight. While it was sad, there was a sense of satisfaction as we had all just finished our trip and experienced a completely new country and culture. Reflecting on the trip, Plus3 Ecuador was definitely a once in a lifetime kind of trip as we experienced things that even Ecuadorians have never experienced. The trip was 100% worth it, and it made me realize that I would love to travel abroad again in the future. (ALSO SHOUT-OUT TO MEG FOR OUR LATE-NIGHT TALKS)