By Isabella Spivey Saludos de Peru!
Isabella here, to update you on our adventure from the past week. Our second to last day in Ecuador, we said a bittersweet farewell to Sarah Beth, and joined her and her family for dinner and shared our gratitude for having her as part of our Inti Family. As sad as it is that she will be leaving us, we are all holding out… Read More
By Karly Britt Hi friends and family!
This past week, the group had the amazing opportunity to explore the Amazon! The week started with a boat ride down the Arajuno River, a tributary to the Amazon River, to our home for the week: the Arajuno Jungle Lodge. There, we met Tom Larson, AKA the coolest guy ever. Tom told us about all the work he has been doing to help… Read More
Hola familia! We spent this week in the beautiful city of Banos, a backpackers dream city full of opportunities for great food, extreme sports, relaxation, and good times. The group has enjoyed our homestays this week. We were able to become part of a real Ecuadorian family. We were treated like real daughters and sons, as we were served great meals and kindness.
One of the most important things we… Read More
By Desi Casanova Hola from Baños, Ecuador! The group and I arrived here late last night after a long and tiring 10-hour van ride. Here we will spend a week learning more Spanish and diving deeper into the culture with our homestay families. I won’t give too much away; that’s for our next storyteller! I’m here to tell you all about our beautiful stay at Finco Mono Verde, a permaculture… Read More
Semester birthdays.Working on the beach yoga thing.Harvesting wild ginger.Handmade birthday card for Audrey.Jungle walk attire.Bird watching.Roasting coffee beans.Roasting coffee beans.Pounding coffee pre-roasting.Out of the coastal humidity and back into the mountains. Wrapping up a nearly ten hour bus ride full of laughs, movies, and good music. Hola Baños!… Read More
By Alex Combs Hello Everybody,
My name is Alex Combs and I am from Washington State. I am currently 18 years old and also a part of Carpe Diem Education’s South American program. This week was full of memorable and extravagant adventures so I hope you are prepared for a decently-sized read.
Over the past week, we have been staying in the coastal region of Ecuador more commonly known to… Read More
Saludos de Quito! Today marks our final full day in the hostel, until we leave for the coast to stay at Las Delicias Banana Farm. Our journey began with landing in the magnificent city of Quito after several hours of traveling, and we were happy to finally be on the ground. After a quick nap we spent the rest of the day getting to know one another through various group… Read More
Week One:
We landed in Quito three days ago. Now, we started off pretty slow due to the intense travel. But the first day we were able to get to know each other decently well. After we checked into our hostel we got to go eat at the local market, where we tested our Spanish knowledge by ordering lunch. Day two was much more active; we started the day with… Read More
Greetings from Quito! We are currently on the first leg of our scavenger hunt and have just found an internet cafe! It took a bit of searching with our Spanish skills, but for the most part, we are getting where we need to be. We are all safe and are having a good time. The food so far has been AMAZING and the hospitality of the hostel is great, too.… Read More
By Alex M. & Audrey This is Alex Maya, and Audrey coming to you from an internet cafe. Took about an hour and a half to find an internet cafe but we made it alive. On a scavenger hunt today, we were very lucky to see the sites including a couple of art museums some beautiful churches around the area as well as community centers Thinking a ton about our… Read More
Dear families and friends of the South America group,
We just heard that the group arrived safely in Ecuador. They’ve collected their bags, made it through customs, and are getting ready to head to their hostel and begin their orientation. Everything is going well so far. Stay tuned for updates from the group – they will post updates about their orientation in Quito in the coming days.
-Carpe Diem HQ… Read More
Dear families and friends of the Spring ’18 South America group,
We are happy to report that everyone has safely arrived in LA and the whole group is together for the first time! They just checked their bags and are getting ready to head through security. They are doing well and happy to be on their way. We’ll post another blog here when they arrive in Quito tomorrow morning. We… Read More
By Overseas Educators Kate and Julian To our beloved Inti family!
12 weeks. Wow. It feels impossible to believe that adventure could ever fly by so quickly. It seems like in just a blink of an eye we have found ourselves in December, but in that blink we have come so far together and grown immeasurably both as individuals and as a group. Through the many laughs, tears, shared meals,… Read More
By Cole and Will Yo what’s up Inti fam. Wilaureneomichrisjulianyosh Colairmate Bridanachris here to give you the fill for the past week. It was the long-awaited Salkantay trek week, which in layman’s terms meant that starting Wednesday, we had 42 daunting miles staring at us in our out-of- shape, lazy bodies. To give some more context, the night before, we had met our two guides for the trek: Antonio, a… Read More
Hola familias!! Welcome to Part Two of Student Directed Travel!!
We started off part two of the week by leaving the sleepy mountain community of Lares, loading up the van with all of our bags and snacks to prepare to for the long journey to Pisac. Ater a few snack stops at fruit markets and warm lunches of rice and lentils along the way, the car finally rumbled nto the… Read More
by Josh Krauss
Welcome to Part One of Student Directed Travel. I’m your Uncle Josh, and I will be your spiritual guide for today’s blog. Our story begins after leaving Patacancha, when we went back through the windy road to ollantaytambo, where we would grab our bags and munch on alfajores, which is ranking up as the group’s favorite treat. After the two hour bus drive, we reached our destination… Read More
by Miki Lazowski
Hello blog readers!
Last Sunday morning, we finished packing our bags and had our last meals with our families in Ollantaytambo: a final breakfast. Goodbyes and see you laters were exchanged and everyone met in the square. A few people left their big bags at Awamaki and packed in their day packs while others took their heavy big bags. At 9:00 AM, we loaded into a bus… Read More
Hola!
This week we arrived in the beautiful, historic town of Ollantaytambo. After a few days of mental and physical relaxation provided to us in the form of the yoga retreat, it was time for a week of learning. On Sunday around 4 we arrived in the center of town to meet our host families. Upon arrival, the group took a moment to look around at the scenery beyond the… Read More
