Forty North Atlanta students will leave Atlanta for the South American country of Ecuador for spring break this year. The nine-day-long trip will focus on service, culture and cross-cultural education. Spanish teacher Jorge Perez-Cisneros, the organizer of the excursion, says he is ecstatic about the adventures that are in store for students who will participate.

The trip is being organized through Educational First Tours, an international travel agency with a half-century’s experience with education-focused travel for students. North Atlanta students will be accompanied by chaperones including Perez-Cisneros along with other teachers and parents.

The group will begin in Ecuador’s capital Quito, where they will meet a travel director and get settled into the country. In Quito, they will visit a stable development community in the Cloud Forest and visit a museum that displays the fascinating mix of culture and natural resources that shape the equatorially-located country. From the capital, students will travel to Baños and the Amazon Basin. Those on the trip will experience adventures like canoeing on the Napo River and visiting the famous waterfalls that have long made Ecuador a touristic destination for travelers from around the world.

From Baños and the Amazon Basin, the group will then travel to Otavalo where they get to go to markets and learn cultural understandings from a local family. Following the trip to Otavalo, the group will return to Atlanta.

Perez-Cisneros comments on what he wants students to get out of the trip, “I want students to get to see culture, see a different perspective on the world, have an open mind, make a difference, and realize how grateful we are here in our own country.”

There has been a buzz around North Atlanta throughout the student body and there’s palpable excitement about the trip. It is hoped that students will embrace Ecuador and its people, all while making memories that last a lifetime.