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Trip Planning
We are now serving with Missionary Ventures. If you would like to plan a trip to serve with us in Ecuador, please email us so that we can put you in contact with the people at Missionary Ventures International so that they can help with team preparations. The information below is for teams and visitors coming from our home church.
The first thing each person who wants to come will need to do is to fill out our information sheet. Please have each team member fill out the Information Form here and email it or mail it to us with a photo. We require the completed forms be received within 60 days of your teams arrival. This is not optional. Below you will find some general information on planning a trip.
Print a Packing List and Printable Planning Check List Groups need to be 12 or fewer people.
The total cost of the trip with vary depending on how many people are in your group and which flight you take. The items in red are required items that the team will need to bring cash for while in Ecuador. Remember that there are fees associated with obtaining a passport if you do not have one, immunizations, and transportation to and from Shell Ecuador. In General, the cost per person per trip including airfare will generally be somewhere around $1000-1300 Since credit cards and travelers checks are not used here, this money will need to be brought down in cash. You can bring a personal check to pay for housing in Shell if you stay at the HCJB guesthouse (checks made out to "HVO"), but everything else will need to be in cash. Most groups are not comfortable carrying that much cash around in the country, so you can turn it over to us at the airport if you wish and we can put it in our safe. A $500 deposit is required to reserve your team's spot at the HCJB guesthouse in Shell. Until this is given, no reservation can be made. This is a new policy that has been put in place by HCJB (checks must be made out to "HVO"). There are other housing options available though. You can give your in country expense money to us when you arrive and we can cover all expenses, or you can designate a team member to be in charge of paying for meals (paying individually will not be an option). You can expect to pay around $15 per day per person for food and $15 per day per person for housing in Shell. Each could be as much as $25 per day while in Quito. A bus for the 5 hour ride from Quito to Shell (and back) will be around $300 each way). The only extras would be extra snacks that you wish to purchase as well as souvenirs and laundry (laundry is $2 per load at the guesthouse - no quarters needed). This fee does not include airfare or travel insurance.
Air transportation - Please be sure to run your itenerary by us before purchasing tickets. Tickets must be purchased 2 months in advance and we must have a listing of team members, applications from each member as well as the flight itenerary. For Group rates try: Exito Travel or Copaair phone: 1-800-FLY-COPA When looking for tickets, the airport code you will be landing in is UIO (Quito) Good sites to check on are:
Passport and Vaccines - costs will vary. It is suggested that you go to a foreign travel nurse at your local health dept. The suggested vaccines for Shell are Hep. A and B, tetanus, typhoid, and the typical childhood vaccines (polio, mmr). Malaria mosquitoes are NOT present in Shell. You will not need Malaria medication. If you plan on taking a plane ride into the deep jungle, you will need to discuss malaria medication and yellow fever vaccine with your travel nurse. If you do not yet have your passport or vaccinations - you will want to do this in the early stages of your trip planning as the Hepatitis series takes 6 months to complete. Yellow fever is also not a problem in Shell.
Materials Fee - If you choose to go with the per person fee for the trip, in addition to covering your food and housing expenses, the per person charge covers materials used for construction while you are here. If you choose to designate a team member to handle the money for the team, there is a per person materials fee. This covers materials for the team as well as ministry expenses throughout the year (church construction/Bibles, materials for teaching/community outreach and support) Travel Insurance - We strongly advise each visitor to purchase travel insurance with emergency evacuation available. www.medjet.com is just one of many sites that offer short term trip travel insurance. Exit Fee - There is a mandatory exit tax when you leave the Quito Airport. This must be in cash. It is currently (as of May 2009) around $41 for each person.
Lodging- If your flight arrives after 2pm in Quito, you will need to stay overnight in Quito before traveling to Shell. In addition, if your flight leaves Quito before 3pm, you will need to stay in Quito overnight before returning home. There are three different guesthouses in Quito. Expect to spend more for overnight stays in Quito as well as food in Quito. The bus from housing in Quito to the airport will be under $50 each way. Below are visuals of the two housing options in Shell
Food - We will accompany you to all meals and will only take you to places where it is safe to eat and drink. Other things to spend money on- Puyo has a balsa wood factory with many souvenir items (very reasonably priced), they also have some blow guns, mounted butterflies, bats, and other unusual items. The Mission hospital has a gift shop with items that tribes have traded for medical care. There are also some neat places along the drive from Quito to Shell to find woven items. MAF offers flights into the rainforest if they have planes available, the cost is about $80 per person when a group is going. You will need to let us know a few weeks before you come if you would like to fly into the jungle. This is a tourist thing to do, not a ministry opportunity. Flights also depend on fuel availability. Sacha Runa has some local crafters. Pottery, jewelry, and hammocks are sold here (all made by hand right there in the community using natural items). The tour is free, but we would appreciate if you would consider buying an item or two (pottery is as low as $1 per piece - hammocks are $40-50 and are made by hand out of dried palm fiber and natural dies). You may want to buy snacks and other misc. items while in Shell. Laundry - The HCJB guesthouse has laundry facilities - you wash your own and it is around $2 per load. - there are a few "lavadorias" (laundry mats) around Shell that will take your clothes and wash them. It is around $2 for a load the size of a kitchen trash bag. Telephone - There are "cabinas" in Shell where you can call the US for around 50cents a minute. There are also internet cafes that are very reasonable. You will need small bills to pay as they do not always have change.
Due to the limited availability of items in Ecuador, many visiting missionaries choose to pack their items in one suitcase or a carry on and use their other allotment for items that the missionaries or locals could use. We will email you a list of needs. Please plan on bringing the maximum luggage allotment allowed by your airline. Any items you want to leave (clothes, shoes, shampoos, extra suitcases, umbrellas, Spanish dictionaries, etc) would be appreciated by the missionary and jungle communities. Altitude: Be aware that Quito is 9,200 feet (2,800 m) above sea level which can present problems for patients with heart conditions and/or chronic lung disease, especially those who require home oxygen. It is recommended that patients with a history of asthma, stroke, or lung disease check with their physician before coming to Quito. If you fly on the COPA early flight, you will only be in Quito for a short time and will make your way over the Andes down towards the jungle the same day. Clothing: Be prepared to dress in such a way as to not draw attention to yourself. Please do not bring leather or studded clothing, we request that tattoos be covered when possible and piercings other than earrings for girls removed. Most women here do not wear shorts. Please no short shorts for girls (capris are fine). You do not need to bring food for your visit unless you want a particular kind of snack, a couple of granola bars isn't a bad idea though (again, uneaten food can be left here when you leave). Shell has a small grocery store that caters to gringos. Karen's has some common snacks and convenience foods that you will recognize from home (they are more expensive than in the states though). Karen's also carries shampoo, laundry soap, Styrofoam plates, soap, trash bags, deodorant, etc. There is also a military grocery store that is open to the public. If you are staying at the Germany Hostel or HCJB guesthouse, they provide a wonderful breakfast. They also have coffee, etc. Do not drink the water from the tap. The HCJB guesthouse does have a clean water tap. Please bring a personal water bottle Map of Shell - we suggest printing this and bringing it with you Documentation, Money, and other items To start, be sure to make two copies of your passport. Leave one with a friend back home and the other in your carry on. Do not put your passport in your carry on, carry it on your person preferable in a pouch under your clothes, with your money and airline ticket. Speaking of money we use the dollar here in Ecuador so you will not need to change your money. However, change can be a problem so I would recommend that you bring small bills not larger than a $20. Fives and tens are best. Do not bring travelers checks. Visa or MC are accepted in Quito but not much down here in Shell. Credit card numbers have been stolen at stores where they are used, so we suggest that you do not bring them. The hospital will cash a personal check for you, but they will charge a 1% fee. The hours vary and they do not have enough cash on hand to cash larger checks. Ecuador is in the same time zone as Florida, but they do not have daylight savings time. In Shell, daylight is from about 6am to 6pm. Please bring a Bible, journal, and pen. Ecuador is a beautiful place, so you most likely will want to bring a camera. Computers, etc There is no need to bring a laptop or cell phone. It will just be more for you to keep up with. Please do not expect to use the internet. If you would like to give us everyone's email addresses, we can email the group and let family know that you arrived safely. There is an internet cafe in Shell. It will be up to your group leader as to if/when you go there. There are Cabinas and internet cafes that you can use to call home or email. Digital cameras are fine to bring, just be sure to keep it with you (most everyone brings cameras). You can leave your passports with us when you arrive and we can keep them in a small lock box until departure. This is up to you. Please do not leave valuables in the hostel.
We pray that your time in Ecuador is life changing and that lives are changed through your team coming. The best preparation you can do, is to pray. |
