Here, There and Ecuador

Our time at the beach came to an end, and after saying goodbye to our new friends, Tom and I left Kamala.

Before we could enjoy seeing the sights of Ecuador, we needed to resolve our visa situation.  This resulted in us having to cross back over the Peru border.  The immigration officials made us sweat for a while (holding out for a bribe, which they did not receive) but eventually everything was set in order.

We spent a couple of days relaxing on the beautiful, quiet beach of Mancora, before re-entering Ecuador and continuing our journey.

From the border we travelled to Cuenca, the third largest city in the country.  It is a beautiful place, set against a green landscape.  After over a month of being on the beach and in cities, it was refreshing to be back in the countryside.

Rio Tomebamba

We walked upstream along the Rio Tomebamba, a path which shows the contrasting aspects of the city.  To the left stood the charming, colonial style buildings of an old day Cuenca, and to the right we could see the modern buildings of the business and education centre of the city.

We visited the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the largest of several in Cuenca.  It is a vast building that inspires awe, with impressive architecture and elaborate works of marble inside. 

After our brief, but lovely time in Cuenca, we moved on to Banos, a town set on the hillside of the Tungurahua Volcano.  The town is close to the jungle and there is much rainfall, which accounts for how lush and green and almost tropical the plant life is there. 

On the outskirts of the town are the hot springs of El Salado.  These thermal baths draw hot, volcanic water from underground and are slightly discoloured because of the high mineral content.  There are pools of varying temperatures and massage showers, which fire out powerful jets of water.  Some of the older local people visit the hot springs for relief from aches and pains.  We relaxed for some time in the water here, taking in the beautiful view of the hillside and the river which runs alongside.

In the dirt buggy

From a day of relaxation to one of more action, we hired a dirt buggy, which was automatic with just two seats and no windscreen or windows.  We zoomed out of the town up towards the waterfalls of Machay, accompanied by Jess and Jeannine, two friends from the CELTA course in Kamala.  It was certainly an experience, having never driven on the wrong side of the road, or the wrong side of the car.  We drove though dark tunnels which dripped water onto us, the wind whipping our faces and barely able to hear to speak to one another.  It was a lot of fun, as was the short cable car journey we took across the waterfalls, watching the powerful water cascading into the river.

We visited the church La Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Rosario de Agua Santa, which although seemed relatively small compared to some which we have seen in South America, contained many impressive religious paintings and beautiful art on the ceiling.  At night, the domes of the church are lit up, a bright purple colour, a view of which we had from our room.

Leaving Banos, we travelled to Quito, the capital city of Ecuador.  We are here now, enjoying our final days in the country before travelling on to Colombia.

Becoming CELTA Qualified - Ecuador

For 5 weeks between April and May I have been on an intensive teacher training course. The CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) is designed by the University of Cambridge and Southern Cross Teacher Training centre in Ecuador. It is a globally respected certificate through the fact that it includes so much input on behalf of the person who decides to take the course with seminars, workshops, essays, in-depth analytical lesson plans and assessed teaching. Stress levels on the course are high and free time is minimal.

Luckily though, this course was held on a beautiful beach location and was spread over 5 weeks, rather than the average 4 weeks. The place we stayed at was called Kamala Playa, an ecological hostel resort placed between the fishing village of Manglaralto and the surfing and party town of Montanita.

To say all this is however misleading. Although beautiful, the place could be deadly. An 'eco-resort' now means to me insects. Small insects that bite and leave your body covered in red spots and huge insects that, albeit interesting to look at, frighten the life out of you. Our accommodation was also extremely basic. Made from bamboo it had more holes than a colander. This allowed the insects easy access and meant that Sophie and I spent most nights hiding under the mosquito net.

Another attraction of the course was that it was fully inclusive. Three meals a day were provided which meant everybody could commit their full attention to the course. The meals, however, were a bit hit and miss. Sometimes plentiful portion sizes and sometimes not enough. Sometimes extremely tasty and others unimaginative and bland. There was a particular fried rice dish that was served four nights out of seven one week which we had all grown to hate.

Don't, however, let my honesty about the food and accommodation lead you into thinking this was a bad place to be. On the contrary I loved the time I spent here. The trainers, Cathy and Nicola, were extremely good at their jobs. With their passion and experience you always felt in safe hands, and that you were getting the best teachers available for your money. I came on the course thinking CELTA may be overrated in terms of what it was going to teach me. I was happy to say that the course exceeded my expectations. I learnt so much and I will definitely be applying what I have learnt in my future teaching.

It is a demanding course in terms of workload but as long as you manage your time effectively and start your assignments and lesson plans as soon as possible then the course is achievable. I was even able to manage my time so that I could fit in a full day off to spend with Sophie on Saturdays. Saturday mornings were usually spent nursing our Friday night hangover with a Mai-Tai cocktail and the best apple pie this side of the equator. Being on the beach also meant you could easily take a 15 minute break when needed by either walking on the beach or swimming in the sea.

Now that I've finished the course its time to look for my next teaching job. I am extremely happy to have received a Pass A grade, an honour that I share with only 5% of people who take the course globally. Hopefully this will open up a few more opportunities for me. All I know is that it shows how hard I worked and that my efforts were noticed. For now I will keep doing what I love, teaching amazing people in some amazing locations.

Thanks for reading, Tom.

The teachers and trainers.
From top left - Tom, Justine, Nicola, Holly, Cathy, Daniel, Monica, Hannes, Jess, Marc
From bottom left - Jeannine, Eden, Emily