This trip was also a part of the Guttman Community College’s Global Guttman Program, and it has been our longest, continuous running trip coordinated and led by Derek Tesser, my colleague at Guttman and a Doctoral Candidate at The Graduate Center in Earth and Environmental Studies. He has led this trip to Ecuador four times while teaching Biology, and in 2019 I was lucky enough to be his co-pilot and teach the Issues in Global Learning course with a focus on climate change, environmental studies, and sustainability.
This was the college’s first trip to Ecuador in which only young women applied for the summer program, making the trip special–to me–as it provided a rare opportunity for a group of strong young women to travel, grow, laugh, and learn together. I have to admit that I loved being with them for three weeks–I learned so much about how differently their generation sees the world from mine. They were brilliant, smart, funny, and amazing.
Our trip started in Guayaquil where we acclimated to the Southern Hemisphere (!) and did some sightseeing, and then we moved on to the coastal town of Puerto López where we studied marine ecotourism and went on a whale watching tour (got very seasick, but it was worth it to hear whales sing underwater), visited Isla de la Plata (and saw blue-footed boobies!), went to several beautiful beaches and had great hikes, and visited Agua Blanca Museo archeological site.
Next we traveled to edge of the rainforest in Puerto Quito, where we worked with Raul Nieto, Director of Itapoa Reserve, and explored primary and secondary rainforests, went on a night hike in the rainforest, deployed microclimate sensors and dataloggers, collected data from senors installed in previous years, used a drone to map secondary forest, learned about the devastation of palm oil and African Palm plantations, harvested cacao and made our own chocolate, and learned about Afro-Ecuadorian music through a cultural exchange with a local town.
Lastly, we went to Quito–a drive from the rainforest into the Andes mountains during which the weather shifted dramatically from the moist, humid rainforest to a chilly, dry air–what a beautiful drive and what a relief. While in Quito, we visited El Cráter–a tour of the volcano Puluhua, stood on the equator at Mitad del Mundo museum, walked all over the city, visited the artisanal market many times to pick up souvenirs and gifts for family and friends, took the TelefériQo and and hiked the Pinchincha volcano, and ate amazing food. We left Quito and returned to New York City after three incredible weeks of learning and traveling.
Lori Ungemah 