Gap year & Travel News

Hi, This week has been really exciting; we have learned a lot from each other and about the customs of Ecuadorians. Today the last team member (Rob) arrived safely and enjoyed a delicious breakfast for dinner we all shared! The team have been learning Spanish and started working on Monday in two different groups: 1. [...]

Hola from Ecuador, Our biggest Leap team EVER arrived safely last week after a mammoth flight. Thankfully those coming from the UK avoided a couple of days of windy weather and lengthy delays (thank you Leap Gods!) and we volunteers flying in lots of other directions too – England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, Spain, Italy, Colombia [...]

2011 has been an exciting year for the Leap in Ecuador, seeing the launch of a fantastic new conservation and community project in the Galapagos,  intern placements in the capital Quito and strengthening our working relationship with the mysterious Shaman Tsa’chila communities in the rainforest. We sent 36 lovely Leapers to Ecuador in 2011 and [...]

“Hey Leapers! My name is Claire Brady. I am from Minneapolis, Minnesota and I am a student at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut where I am studying Government and Environmental Studies. I have studied Spanish for 8 years and have spent time living in Luque, Paraguay as well as Xela, Guatemala. I am currently learning [...]

This year James Duddy took The Leap to Ecuador and had the time of his life! Now he’s made a film of his trip so that he’ll never forget the good times and can share them with others too…. If you’re planning a gap year, or in the middle of one right now but stuck [...]

Hola from the Galapagos! In the group’s first week in here, they have experienced farm life and the hard work that the locals put into preserving the beauty of these unique islands.  One of the main tasks was removing invasive blackberry plants to make room to plant native and endemic species.  During work breaks, they [...]

Hi everyone! Yesterday concluded our time in the Tsachila community of Búa, located just outside of Santo Domingo in the Rainforest. Last week was spent helping various local families with different farmwork including planting yucca, corn, plantain, and achiote as well as clearing fields of yucca for future planting. We also continued painting and rust-proofing [...]

Hi from sunny Ecuador to everyone in the office! Our first week in the Rainforest consisted of gathering huge palm leaves, learning to fold them in a rather intricate way, and using said leaves to thatch the roof of the newest addition to the cultural center in the Tsachila community of Búa. We also had [...]

Hola from Ecuador, land of Condors and BBQ-ed Guinea Pigs! The Leap Team (Eliana, Alyssa, Casey, Rosy, Nicole and Emma)  had a lot of fun volunteering in their last week in Quito.  Half of them were volunteering on conservation projects at Parque Itchimbia and spent most of their time cleaning out a pond so that [...]

A week has already flown by and the Ecuador Leapers have settled into the hostel that will serve as their home for the next two weeks in the beautiful colonial city of Quito. Last weekend´s activities included climbing the shaky spire of the Basílica, roaming the colonial streets of Quito´s historic center, enjoying local blackberry [...]