Over the summer, twenty fiv
e lucky Oundle pupils had the opportunity to get a taste of the diverse terrain of Ecuador including visits to Quito, the highest capital city of the world, the Amazon rainforest areas, and the birthplace of Darwin’s theory of evolution, the Galapagos Islands.
Pupil, Bronwen Chan commented, “The first three weeks of July is certainly a great time to visit Ecuador, as it is during the dry season. We arrived in Quito, welcomed by clear skies and golden rays of sun, though to our surprise, rather chilly temperatures. This, we were not expecting – we were virtually on the Equator!”
On the second day, the group took the aerial tramway TelefériQo up the Pichincha volcano, where they enjoyed the picturesque view from the lookout Cruz Loma at over 4,000m above sea level.
Pupil, Sophia Christopoulos commented, “Although this trip to Ecuador was meant to be a Biology expedition, we also learnt some Physics on the way, from a visit to La Mitad del Mundo, literally ‘the middle of the world’. We were enlightened by our guide about the various equatorial phenomena, and were shown interesting tricks which could only be done on the Equator, such as balancing an egg on a nail.” 
The majority of the trip was spent in the Amazon rainforest, which accounts for nearly half of Ecuador’s total surface area, with pupils undertaking volunteer work for re-forestation projects.
The pupils’ arduous efforts in path-building and tree-planting were rewarded with excursions to the nearby waterfalls, caves and jungle treks in which they gained knowledge of various medicinal plants, and of course, the sense of achievement, especially when walking along their finished path.