Our Final Service Day – Manual Labor In The Andes

Location: Andes

This morning, Camrin, Alexis, Nicolette and I woke up to a shock – that we were 15 minutes late for breakfast because our alarm didn’t go off due to the one hour time change from the Galapagos to the Andes. Today was our last day of service, and to finally complete our 100 hours, we had to hike up the mountains carrying our pick-axes and shovels. Although I wasn’t feeling my best and struggled to make my way up the mountain, I along with Casey finally reached the top after two hours, out of breath but ready to finish our work. We chipped away at the side of the mountain to widen and level out the trail so it would be easier to walk on. Although the dirt looked like it would be solid rock, it was loose dirt, so it wasn’t too hard, but what made the work so difficult was the intensely strong gusts of wind that blew the dirt and the dust everywhere. And by everywhere, I mean everywhere. While the walk up the mountain was tough – especially due to the fact we were extremely high up, to begin with – the walk back down was extremely fun and exciting considering Nicolette, and I were running to get the first shower. Once we were back at the lodge, we got three hours of free time during which I took the opportunity to take an incredibly relaxing nap. We had our daily group meeting at 6:00 pm and rushed to dinner an hour later where we enjoyed a delicious all-vegetarian dish in the Ecolodge. We finished the night off together, hanging out and writing cards for each other.