Tellus

We think death is morbid, but its actually not! It’s the other reality of life. For me, it was a little beautiful to see both sides of the life cycle. The Galapagos were an incredible experience that made me really appreciate seeing the life and then even finding the beautiful things in the things that are […]

This picture was taken on San Cristobal island in the Galapagos Islands. We had arrived in Ecuador only weeks before, and everyone was very excited for our trip. This photo is significant to me because exploring the Galapagos Islands was one of my favorite experiences while abroad. I had never been in an environment where wild animals […]

Diversity abounds in Ecuador. And I’m talking diversity in every sense of the word. From the people and culture to the ecosystem, diversity is everywhere. I mean where else in the world can you wake up on the Galapagos, have lunch in the Andes, and go to bed in the Amazon? I think that is […]

As a high school student, I reluctantly took Biology class. The only moments that I loved taking that class was  when I learned of the different ecosystems around the world. I remember learning about the Galapagos Islands and thinking “I would love to go there someday”. Through studying abroad in Ecuador the first semester of […]

So in my previous post I discussed my outdoor adventures however an equally shocking experience was when I went to an Ecuadorian wedding. All I can say about that is wow. Clearly that’s not all I can say about it because I am about to describe it to you, however, that one word sums it […]

In my last entry i wrote about some general conclusions I’ve reached during my time here. Now ill recount a few of the tales of my adventures here. I’ve defiantly made an effort to travel as much as I possibly can here. I believe I have visited every eco-system in Ecuador. One of the first […]

So I don’t really like blogs… but here goes my first online account of my experiences in Ecuador. Slash other side note this was written a long while ago and just posted now. I got here about seven weeks ago, which seems like a long time but it has defiantly blown by. One of the questions im […]

After grabbing your attention by climbing a completely random jungle volcano…perhaps I can hold on to it a little longer with a story about…CAYAMBE! Cayambe is a 18,993 foot volcano, towering above (but usually in the clouds), of a town called…you guessed it, Cayambe! The town is famous for butter biscuits called biscochos, which are […]

Sorry to leave you with such a killer cliff hanger last time (ha-ha), but this story is worth the anticipation… Brayton and I had a free 5-6 days after the postsession finished, so we had to explore this awesome country! We met a kid named Conor, who is a friend of a friend from Willamette, […]

Hello to anyone and everyone reading this, my name is Max Huecksteadt and I’ll be in Ecuador until the end of the year. I’ve been here since June 4th, yet have been too busy/lazy to start a blog…however I feel some of the adventures I’ve been on must be shared! As this is my first […]

The volume and variety of noise was astounding. We had spent an amazing night listening to the sounds of the forest and absorbing our first clear view of the Milky Way, and awoke the next morning before the sun rose in order to be out in our canoe as the Amazon Rainforest woke up. In […]

Quito, Ecuador This picture is of the Old Town district in Quito, Ecuador.  In this area of Quito one can see clearly the remnants of Spanish colonial rule. One of the main lessons I took away with my from Ecuador is the fact that big cities are not as different around the world as I […]

Quilotoa, Ecuador: 13,000 feet above sea level. Apart from the bitter cold (who knew it could be cold on the equator?), the town consisted of 100 residents, a couple of hostels, and one of the most spectacular views on the planet. When I first climbed the crest and peered down into the crater, all I saw was a dense cover of clouds. Within minutes, the clouds evaporated to expose a 2-mile wide crater lake, as if it appeared out of the sky. I felt so isolated and at one with the world, in the Andes mountains 4,000 miles from home.

This is only one of the multitude of mental images from Ecuador that I will always keep with me. Everywhere I turned, from cloud forests to the Galapagos to the Amazon rainforest, I was surrounded by a natural beauty unsurpassed by anything I’ve ever seen. These experiences will always remind me of the diversity of beauty in this world, and will never allow me to settle and stop exploring this rich planet.

Ok.  I thought I put a description in, so if this appears twice, I’m sorry. This was probably the most terrifying thing I have ever done in my entire life.  I signed up for it almost on a whim, I had heard other people speaking positively about it, so I decided to give it a […]

One of my favorite parts about my semester in Ecuador was the bus rides. Everyone there rode the bus: teenagers, old people, pregnant women, business people, farmers, families, shoppers, schoolkids, everyone. The buses were crowded and busy, and the drivers weren’t afraid of anything. They played the radio loud on the overhead speakers, and they […]