EF+Notices

= EF Notices from EF Staff =

== This page has been set up for use by only Katie Redman and Alex Luther of EF. Please do not contribute to this page. Katie and Alex are members of this wiki and will use this page to share additional information with you that is not already located in one of the other pages I've set up in the wiki. Please check this page frequently when you visit our wiki. ==

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We can't wait to be with you all soon, in Ecuador.
=== I hope these 'final' thoughts will be helpful, but please don't hesitate to call with burning questions as you navigate through your packing process. 617-401-5934 . The reason this tour is especially unique is because we will be in such rapidly shifting and diverse landscapes. Please consider my notes here as a guideline, and as always do whatever feels most comfortable for you. === === First, this tour is a wonderful opportunity to bring only what you most need, accounting for the fact that you can steer away from fancy attire, and towards warm to hot weather gear for the most part. Ladies, bring a travel friendly sun dress/skirt if you want…[the HS girls from our most recent tour in January sallied forth in sun dresses our last day in Quito and it was rather festive. I was envious.] ===

** Day 1 – Arrive **
===** Day 2 – Happy Valentine's Day! ** We have a long way to go and we are traveling into the heart of cacao-landia. You may not find two more chocolate-minded, chocolate-dedicated, and chocolate-worshiping staff at EF than Alex and me, so let's just say this is an auspicious day and way to begin our tour :). Good job! Plus, and most importantly, we will have our wonderful tour director, Jorge, who will take great care of you and make sure EF staff don't hoard chocolate. ===

=== Luggage/packing: We will depart from the hotel on day 2 with EVERYTHING. Suitcases will remain under the bus very safely and soundly parked at the lot where we board our motorized canoes with our overnight packs for our 2 nights on the river. ===

=== So… first, don't leave anything under the bus (such as chocolate truffles) that will melt or otherwise decompose during our two nights on the river ** unless you are conducting an experiment **. The bus will be parked, awaiting us, baking in the sun. Second, please pack just what you will need for two nights and one day on the river into a small zippered shoulder bag or back pack. If you collectively bring an extra suitcase or two with supplies for the school as you did in Peru do not worry, we will haul those onto the boats even if they weigh as much as an anaconda and get them to the school with no problem whatsoever. But for yourself, ** pack light ** ! Here are some tips for what to include for our two nights on the river: ===

=== LONG LOOSE LIGHT PANTS - Do not worry about zip on, zip off legs. If they do the zip thing, great. If they don't that's fine too. The killer here is the no see'um, gnat or sand flea. You will probably not feel the bite at the moment, but depending on your particular resistance/allergy to the bite you may begin to feel the itch in a few days. I, personally, will take being hot and sweaty in long pants over having bites that only start to bother me when it's too late to give the critter the death smack. Anyway you can't see it to smack it. My vote is pants. ===

TANK TOP OR SHORT SLEEVED SHIRT AND LOOSE LIGHT WEIGHT LONG SLEEVED SHIRT
=== Short sleeves are fine – the worst problem will be if you leave skin from the hips down exposed to the gnats. Maybe they just hang out low to the ground. At any rate, no amount of deet sprayed on legs and ankles can prevent biting the way actual fabric covering your skin can. This is not a disease carrying nuisance, this is just an itch carrying nuisance! (I was HOT in my outfit but I did not get one single bite here.) === ===** My best new find of the year: UniQlo, a Japanese company, makes two kinds of shirts 1. Heat Tech that is super light weight and was actually was awesome in the jungle, but generates heat when it's cold and you are moving… and 2. Airism good for hot weather. Both are incredible. Light weight, easy to layer, easy to wash, and quick to dry. I have tank tops, short sleeves, long sleeves that all layer and keep me warm and cool. The best thing is that they cost between 12 to 15 bucks. Yes to that! I also have their light long rain wicker/wind jacket and their ultra light down jacket($67.00) that squeezes into almost nothing and generates the exact amount of heat I seem to need whether landing in NYC to 24 degrees, or heading out to dinner in Quito in 60 degrees. I am in love with this company. They have online stores in every computer! :). **===

SHORTS - we all know that no matter what, we need to bring a pair of shorts into the jungle. It just makes us feel better to have them on hand whether we wear them or not.
=== BATHING SUIT - we will not be swimming in the river. However, you will want easy access to your bathing suit when we arrive at ** Papallacta hot springs on Day 4 ** so just pack it in your Amazon bag! Otherwise, it will be somewhere in your luggage under the bus piled under every one else's luggage, and may even have melted. Haha! ===

===** Another Jen specific tip: I always bring Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap mini bottle when I travel – it is great for hand washing a few items along the way. In addition, if you do get any bites this is awesomely cooling and stops itching when used in the shower. I never travel without it. **===

=== Regarding how many times you want to shower and change and sweat and shower and change and so on in the Amazon, just don't be afraid to wear your pants a couple of days in a row and bring a change of clothes for after your shower at night. And, again, bring your bathing suit, so you don't spend the whole time at the hot springs looking for it in the luggage chambers under the bus. ===

===** Day 4 – Adventure travel day! ** Return to the bus early. Travel to Otavalo having lunch and then visiting Papallacta hot springs along the way. Coffee and snacks delicious here. It's all super cheap, and you can also rent towels and lockers for about 1$. Just don't lose the locker key! After the delicious $1.50 cappuccino it just hurts to pay 10 bucks for a lost key. When we get to Otavalo we will be back up at 10,000 ish feet so this is a great time to pull out the ultra light down coat! ===

===** Day 5 – Otavalo all morning, Bosque Jerusalem in the afternoon, sleep in Quito ** – Technically speaking, we are still "on the road" and on our way back to Quito. It is our great hope that Maria Virginia will be free and able to join us over breakfast in Otavalo. After breakfast we can go to the artisan market which will be great fun, and after lunch we will return to Quito via the Andean dry forest, hoping to get a clear view of Cayambe volcano as we pass by. **How high is this volcano? What makes it unique in the world?** Alex will give all his melted chocolate to anyone who answers the second question with the answer Jen is looking for! We will be back in Quito on this night. Use that Dr. Bronners and wash/rinse anything you want to wear in the Galapagos leaving it to dry Day 6, or, if you desperately want to you can have your clothes laundered. I am reasonably confident the hotel can get this handled for you during our day 6. ===

=== A tip for what to wear at the Bosque Jerusalem dry forest… I wore knee length shorts and rubber sandals. My feet were caked in deet and sand. I am not doing that again. I wished for my trusted long pants and sneakers. It is sandy/dusty, and the sand fleas, or gnats, or dust monsters or whatever they are took another cumulative chunk out of our student's legs. We have been back for two weeks, and the word is that they wished they hadn't worn shorts those days. ===

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Here is the presentation that Alex Luther gave at our Dec. 19th meeting. Just click to download. ~mad
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First, we have just returned from a beautiful tour in Ecuador, and I can't wait to share this diverse and remarkable country with all of you. We will be in the all of the best Ecuador has to offer, from the high mountains, to the cloud forest, the jungle, and the Galapagos, each of which stand alone in so many ways. =====

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Regarding the jungle lodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon basin: A few tips that helped me included citronella/tea tree oil (I am bringing both and will gladly share) in addition to deet bug repellant. I additionally wore light loose pants during the day in the jungle, and avoided all insect bites during our time there. At night it was cool enough to sleep comfortably, and most rooms had hot water. Electricity is on 6pm to 10pm. While it didn't rain on us, it will be wise to have a very light weight rain jacket. We also climb quite a few stairs to arrive at the rooms, and then another staircase to get to the outdoor eating area. We aren't at altitude, but it is very hot there so that adds to the stair climbing experience. We will be taking a 20 – 30 minute boat ride to the Amazon Rescue down the Napo river which flows east and then south all the way into Peru. After that we return upstream to the lodge. =====

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