The following post features student writing.

Last Saturday, we left our village and wound our way up and down the Andes Mountains to Laguna Cuicocha. The bumpy ride was beautiful! We spotted cows, pigs and rolling hills on all sides.

Our group was speedy and efficient on our hike around Laguna Cuicocha. We even spotted Cotopaxi’s glacier peak from our hike! After climbing up what felt like a thousand stairs, we reached the summit, which had a relaxing hut with a hay roof where we caught our breath and enjoyed the wonderful view. We finally finished our eight-mile hike at a restaurant with a view of the lake and had pitchers of some of the best lemonade we’ve had on the trip. We loved it so much, we even finished the restaurant’s supply of lemonade!

After our hike, we got back into our van for an exciting ride to the coffee rich Intag! The car ride was spectacular through cloud forests.

We then arrived at the hot springs in the Intag valley — we all jumped quickly in. That night we enjoyed our first night in real beds after a week of living humbly and working in our community service village. We all agree, we had a great night’s sleep! The next morning, we were joined by a famous local political leader who gave us a presentation on the politics of mining in the biodiverse area of Intag. After lunch, our awesome (or in Spanish, genial) trip leaders took us to a wonderful surprise: a zip line adventure in the Intag valley.

After our zip line adventure, we hiked to a waterfall. The waterfall was amazing! I cannot describe the loud sound of the beating waterfall, the spray of water on our faces or the sense of freedom. I’ll never forget my experience under that waterfall with the amazing friends I have made on this trip.

– Laura U.