We had quite the long day today…we left Otovalo at 7:00am to catch a special train out of Ibarra that went through the Andes mountains towards Carchi province.  The train has seats on top and people who sit up there sometimes have to duck because of stray branches and wires.  We had fun chewing on raw sugercane and spitting it over the edge of the train that rode on the edge of the mountains.  I made it though without getting my face scratched.  We went through the most beautiful scenery and passed through at least 12 mountain tunnels.  We had to duck down a little lower in the tunnels so we wouldn´t get dripped on or hit our heads.  It was a very pleasant two hour trip.  We took vans from the end of the line to the Golondrinas Ecological Reserve in Carchi province.  The road up the mountain to the cloud forest was interesting as we got stuck in the mud a couple of times.  Luckily, our drivers were talented enough to get us out.  We were shown two different one room school houses on the mountain that have between 20-25 students.  They are very low on supplies and have very little money to get students more than a 6th grade education.  The high school is 7km away from the primary schools and most students drop out because their family cannot pay to put them on the bus and the walk is too far.  We will have to see if there is some way that we can help.  Our host here in Otovalo is going to set up a volunteer and charity organization to help them.  The people in the cloud forest have beautiful surroundings, but live in poverty.  Before lunch, we took a hike up the mountain to a waterfall and went swimming- it was amazing.  We hiked back for lunch prepared at the equilvilent of a cabin.  We had fresh trout from the river steamed in banana leaves seasoned with cilantro, garlic, and onions.  There was lots of fresh pineapple and tropical fruit as well as black beans and rice.  We also had white carrots, yuca, and naranjilla juice.  Amazing.  It was a three hour ride home in the vans.  I hope that I remember to pack everything as we are heading to the Valle de Chota tomorrow to visit an Afro-Ecuadorian community.