Saludos a todos! Moira and I are currently in Cusco, Peru after leaving Quito this morning. I am absolutely elated to be back here, if only for a week. I was pleased at how well I remembered all of the streets today when we were wandering around the city. I can't wait to go back to the orphanage and the Spanish school and see my friends from last year! It's going to be great.
Our airport experience today was a little bit hectic, given that we booked our Lima-Cusco flight approximately one hour before take-off. Teníamos mucha prisa in order to get to our gate on time, but luckily everything went off without a hitch (except for how expensive the flight was, but we don't need to talk about that here). We also decided to fly to Lima on the 17th from Arequipa instead of Cusco and save ourselves yet another ten hour bus ride, so that's nice. Plus, it will give us an extra day in Arequipa to have tea with Moira's friend Alonso's grandmother. Should be great.
Well, Moira and I have been discussing the past few days making a Best of Ecuador list, in order to commemorate our time there. Here goes!
Best moment of triumph: Climbing Cotopaxi in inappropriate gear, then celebrating with a Clif bar and lots of Oreos. Although, capturing the escaped monkey is also up there.
Best way to eat a banana: For me, a tie between steamed maqueños in the peel, maduros con queso, or the classic banana chip.
Best trago: Canelazo, a mixture of cane liquor, jugo de naranjilla, and cinnamon, served warm. really, really excellent.
Best jungle cat: The ocelot. Period.
Best children's t-shirt slogan: Found in tienda Rose: "Pacific Ocean, the largest body of water on Earth," on a little boy's shirt accompanied by a picture of a giant sailboat.
Best sweet treat: The best chocolate brownie covered in ice cream, chocolate syrup, bananas, and strawberries at Kallari Coffee in Quito (this place also had the best coffee).
Best bar: La Casa de Cerveza in Quito, for playing Bon Jovi, Blind Melon, and Maná all in one night, and Guapulo in Quito, for having an adorable resident cat and the best canelazo in Ecuador.
Best fruit not commercially available in the USA: The granadilla, which on the inside looks like a sac of alien larvae or eyeballs or something, but is extremely delicious. Don't let appearances fool you.
Best instance of rural/urban overlap: Downtown Cuenca, where we saw a man walking a herd of goats selling goat milk directly from the goat.
Maybe I will add more as I think of things, but that's all for now! I have to go on a quest to find lúcuma ice cream, because it is the best ice cream in the universe and I've got a craving.
Love to all!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The Oriente and the Colonial South
So, on a whim yesterday, Moira and I decided to leave Puyo/Yana Cocha (don't worry, our time was up), and go to Riobamba. We got in around 7:30 that evening and stayed the night in this not-quite-finished hostel on the edge of town. It's a second branch of another hostel that we tried to go to, but there weren't any rooms available. Anyway, essentially it was like a big mansion with no furniture and would have been totally great to stay in had we not been exhausted. There was a really beautiful kitchen that I only got to use to make oatmeal at six o'clock this morning before Moira and I jumped on yet another bus to Alausí.
We got to Alausí around 9:30 this morning with the intention of taking the train through the Nariz del Diablo (Devil's Nose) loop. It's supposed to be one of the most spectacular sights in Ecuador, but we didn't make it in time for tickets. But, no matter, because we immediately hopped on a bus to Cuenca.
Initially, Moira and I thought we wouldn't have time to come here, but lo and behold, here we are! The bus ride from Alausí was about 4 or 5 hours, which means that we're in for a 10-hour ride on Wednesday night in order to get back to Quito. For those of you who don't know, Moira and I decided to spare ourselves even more hours of bus-riding in favor of flying to Peru. Flying out of Quito meant being able to leave some things at Toni and Rolf's which was incredibly nice of them (and convenient for us). So we fly into Lima on Friday morning. We still don't have tickets to Cuzco, but there are so many flights a day that we figure at worst we'll have to stay overnight in Lima. So that's that.
Anyway, Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador (after Quito and Guayaquil) and it's close to the largest Inca ruins in the country. It's got a really nice old colonial flair, and there's a river that runs along the south edge of town that is supposed to be really beautiful. We're going to spend tomorrow wandering around and going to churches and things (also, maybe, a Panama hat museum!), then head to the ruins at Ingapirca on Tuesday.
In other news, this week involved wholesome family activities such as: wrestling a caiman, capturing an escaped monkey (this was by far the most painful experience at Yana Cocha--that little jerk bit me something fierce...but he's still really cute), having a boa constrictor photo session (boas are the smelliest animals ever--who knew?), eating breakfast while sitting immediately next to a rabid kinkajou in a sack, catching poisonous snakes (we let Manuel take care of that one) and caterpillars, building an epic mud/rock wall next to the kinkajou cage so the little devils can't escape again, and spraying the ocelot with a hose and convincing her that the water was some sort of prey, then laughing at her when we turned the water off and she tried to follow the scent of whatever strange "animal" was taunting her. Ah yes, the joys of the Amazon.
Well, Moira and I are going to go scope out Cuenca for a place to eat on a Sunday night (harder than one might think), so I'll end this post here. Hope all of you are doing well and taking care--we're one half of the way through this adventure! Back in three weeks.
We got to Alausí around 9:30 this morning with the intention of taking the train through the Nariz del Diablo (Devil's Nose) loop. It's supposed to be one of the most spectacular sights in Ecuador, but we didn't make it in time for tickets. But, no matter, because we immediately hopped on a bus to Cuenca.
Initially, Moira and I thought we wouldn't have time to come here, but lo and behold, here we are! The bus ride from Alausí was about 4 or 5 hours, which means that we're in for a 10-hour ride on Wednesday night in order to get back to Quito. For those of you who don't know, Moira and I decided to spare ourselves even more hours of bus-riding in favor of flying to Peru. Flying out of Quito meant being able to leave some things at Toni and Rolf's which was incredibly nice of them (and convenient for us). So we fly into Lima on Friday morning. We still don't have tickets to Cuzco, but there are so many flights a day that we figure at worst we'll have to stay overnight in Lima. So that's that.
Anyway, Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador (after Quito and Guayaquil) and it's close to the largest Inca ruins in the country. It's got a really nice old colonial flair, and there's a river that runs along the south edge of town that is supposed to be really beautiful. We're going to spend tomorrow wandering around and going to churches and things (also, maybe, a Panama hat museum!), then head to the ruins at Ingapirca on Tuesday.
In other news, this week involved wholesome family activities such as: wrestling a caiman, capturing an escaped monkey (this was by far the most painful experience at Yana Cocha--that little jerk bit me something fierce...but he's still really cute), having a boa constrictor photo session (boas are the smelliest animals ever--who knew?), eating breakfast while sitting immediately next to a rabid kinkajou in a sack, catching poisonous snakes (we let Manuel take care of that one) and caterpillars, building an epic mud/rock wall next to the kinkajou cage so the little devils can't escape again, and spraying the ocelot with a hose and convincing her that the water was some sort of prey, then laughing at her when we turned the water off and she tried to follow the scent of whatever strange "animal" was taunting her. Ah yes, the joys of the Amazon.
Well, Moira and I are going to go scope out Cuenca for a place to eat on a Sunday night (harder than one might think), so I'll end this post here. Hope all of you are doing well and taking care--we're one half of the way through this adventure! Back in three weeks.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Here is a list of animals that Moira and I feed and play with while we're at the animal reserve in the Amazon:
Squirrel monkeys (these guys are crafty--they're not in cages, so when we're feeding the other animals out of buckets, sometimes we'll have two or three squirrel monkeys perched on our shoulders trying to steal bananas)
Capuchin monkeys (three different varieties)
Woolly monkeys (so cute, but they pull your hair pretty bad while trying to be affectionate)
Spider monkey (poor Manuel is all by himself)
Bearded tamarin (which is about a third the size of a house cat, but totally has a feline-like face, even though it's a primate)
Agoutis (smaller relative of the capybara)
Coatis (look these up--they are hilarious looking)
Tayras (relative of the mongoose--these guys have sharp claws but are generally pretty docile. I had one on my back yesterday while I was refilling their water pond)
Kinkajous (terribly vicious--Moira and I don't go in this cage)
Guantas (Also capybara-like)
Olingo (this is a noctural, lemur-like creature and he is so, so cute, if not difficult to see most of the time because he sleeps inside a log during the day)
Parrots and macaws
The largest pigeons I've ever seen
Tortoises! (so funny to feed because they often get disoriented and move so slowly, so usually I'll just pick them up and turn them around so that move toward the food)
Porcupine (I haven't actually seen it, but Moira says it looks like an evil sorceress)
Wild boar
And of course...a margay, a tigrillo, and an ocelot! No one can seem to tell us what the difference is between a tigrillo and an ocelot, so they might actually be the same thing? Anyway, we can't actually go in the cages with them (well we could...but probably won't), but the ocelot is an attention hog and comes right up to the cage and lets us pet her. The margay is terribly grumpy (probably because she's noctural but is often disturbed during the day), and the tigrillo is relatively underwhelming. Mostly we love the ocelot and spend our time doting on her. Also, yesterday there were in fact discussions among the folks who actually know what they're doing about capturing a jaguar that's loose somewhere near Puyo (which is the town that skirts the Amazon and is relatively close to the reserve). So maybe Moira and I will, in fact, get to see all three. Unlikely though.
Anyway, our daily activities range from capturing escaped baby chickens to holding giant boa constrictors (true story--we got delayed from leaving for town today because some people brought in a wounded boa, which lead to a big dog and pony show wherein the Eucadorian owner of the reserve had me, Moira, and two other volunteers take a photos with a full grown boa in our hands). Mostly we chop fruit and get covered head to toe in mud, so it's not particularly glamorous. Still, I'm having an absolutely wonderful time and I know Moira is too. The animals are just so dang cute.
Our commitment at Yana Cocha ends on Saturday night/Sunday morning, and we leave for Peru from Quito next Friday, so we're not entirely sure what we're going to do in the intermittent time. It looks like we won't be able to go to Cuenca, so we will probably end up spending those few days in Baños or Ambato, both of which are much closer to Quito than Cuenca is.
Maybe one of these days I'll try to figure out how to post photos. In the meantime, just imagine us in thick rubber boots covered in squirrel monkeys and I think you'll get the idea.
Squirrel monkeys (these guys are crafty--they're not in cages, so when we're feeding the other animals out of buckets, sometimes we'll have two or three squirrel monkeys perched on our shoulders trying to steal bananas)
Capuchin monkeys (three different varieties)
Woolly monkeys (so cute, but they pull your hair pretty bad while trying to be affectionate)
Spider monkey (poor Manuel is all by himself)
Bearded tamarin (which is about a third the size of a house cat, but totally has a feline-like face, even though it's a primate)
Agoutis (smaller relative of the capybara)
Coatis (look these up--they are hilarious looking)
Tayras (relative of the mongoose--these guys have sharp claws but are generally pretty docile. I had one on my back yesterday while I was refilling their water pond)
Kinkajous (terribly vicious--Moira and I don't go in this cage)
Guantas (Also capybara-like)
Olingo (this is a noctural, lemur-like creature and he is so, so cute, if not difficult to see most of the time because he sleeps inside a log during the day)
Parrots and macaws
The largest pigeons I've ever seen
Tortoises! (so funny to feed because they often get disoriented and move so slowly, so usually I'll just pick them up and turn them around so that move toward the food)
Porcupine (I haven't actually seen it, but Moira says it looks like an evil sorceress)
Wild boar
And of course...a margay, a tigrillo, and an ocelot! No one can seem to tell us what the difference is between a tigrillo and an ocelot, so they might actually be the same thing? Anyway, we can't actually go in the cages with them (well we could...but probably won't), but the ocelot is an attention hog and comes right up to the cage and lets us pet her. The margay is terribly grumpy (probably because she's noctural but is often disturbed during the day), and the tigrillo is relatively underwhelming. Mostly we love the ocelot and spend our time doting on her. Also, yesterday there were in fact discussions among the folks who actually know what they're doing about capturing a jaguar that's loose somewhere near Puyo (which is the town that skirts the Amazon and is relatively close to the reserve). So maybe Moira and I will, in fact, get to see all three. Unlikely though.
Anyway, our daily activities range from capturing escaped baby chickens to holding giant boa constrictors (true story--we got delayed from leaving for town today because some people brought in a wounded boa, which lead to a big dog and pony show wherein the Eucadorian owner of the reserve had me, Moira, and two other volunteers take a photos with a full grown boa in our hands). Mostly we chop fruit and get covered head to toe in mud, so it's not particularly glamorous. Still, I'm having an absolutely wonderful time and I know Moira is too. The animals are just so dang cute.
Our commitment at Yana Cocha ends on Saturday night/Sunday morning, and we leave for Peru from Quito next Friday, so we're not entirely sure what we're going to do in the intermittent time. It looks like we won't be able to go to Cuenca, so we will probably end up spending those few days in Baños or Ambato, both of which are much closer to Quito than Cuenca is.
Maybe one of these days I'll try to figure out how to post photos. In the meantime, just imagine us in thick rubber boots covered in squirrel monkeys and I think you'll get the idea.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
OH HI
I am blogging. CHECK IT OUT. I would just like to say that you should SIMPLEMENTE CHECK IT OUT.
But seriously, what I would really like to say is that I wish I had mosquito netting back in Chicago. It rules. There weren´t any sharks and I don´t think we got any sand parasites.
LA PLAYA
Greeting from Bahía! Moira and I are still on the coast of Ecuador, waiting for the night bus that will take us back to Quito.
Starting with Saturday, our excursion to Cotopaxi was great. We got to the base of the trail around 10:30 that morning (we left Quito at 7:00) and it took us about an hour to climb up to the little refuge just at the base of the snowline. The side of the mountain is red from all of the iron deposits and it looks incredible next to all of the greenery covering the surrounding mountains. Cotopaxi is an active volcano and supposedly erupts every 100 years (Last eruption? 1895. So looks like she´s due.) and apparently smokes and spurts from time to time. One of the problems visitors to Cotopaxi often face is dense fog, but it was completely clear during our entire hike. Anyway, once we arrived to the refuge, we rested for a moment then climbed for 45 more minutes up to the glaciers. I think the elevation there was something like 5000 meters, so Moira and I felt pretty tough. We showed up all of the other climbers in their North Face gear with our rugged Colorado dispositions, even though I forgot gloves and was wearing several pairs of socks on my hands instead. While I'm sure that does reflect somewhat on my poor planning skills, I would also like to think that it reveals what a tough lady I am.
When we got back to the parking lot, we were each assigned to different mountain bikes and had to bike down to a little laguna for sixteen kilometers. This was mostly terrible since all of the bikes were in an incredibly low gear, and were partially disassembled so as to be unable to shift. So it was really hard to maintain any stability on these things and we had to ride our brakes the whole way down, which is particularly unpleasant on an unpaved, bumpy incline on a mountain road. Oh well. The views were spectacular, so I can't complain too much.
Sunday, we left for Bahía around 1 in the afternoon and arrived at 9:30 that evening. We spent the night in some hotel that smelled kind of like drying paint and Clorox, took a sea taxi to San Vicente the next morning, and then a little commuter bus to Canoa. To be honest, not much to say about our time there. We spent the past three days taking naps on the beach for hours (no terrible sunburns to speak of on my end, although Moira is noticeably pinker in places), reading, and hanging out with some herpetologists who are working in refuges in northern and central Ecuador. One of said herpetologists, Paul, gave us a clue that there is a little shop in Canoa whose specialty is frozen bananas covered in chocolate, so we got a few of those before hopping on another bus back to Bahía.
Tonight, another 8-9 hour bus ride awaits us to get back to Quito. Our plans for my birthday include seeing Harry Potter 6 and eating cake, which is pretty much all it takes to please me. Hopefully we'll also figure out how we're getting to the Amazon, since we are presumably leaving for Yanacocha wildlife rescue on Saturday night. Fingers crossed for baby ocelots!
Take care all.
Starting with Saturday, our excursion to Cotopaxi was great. We got to the base of the trail around 10:30 that morning (we left Quito at 7:00) and it took us about an hour to climb up to the little refuge just at the base of the snowline. The side of the mountain is red from all of the iron deposits and it looks incredible next to all of the greenery covering the surrounding mountains. Cotopaxi is an active volcano and supposedly erupts every 100 years (Last eruption? 1895. So looks like she´s due.) and apparently smokes and spurts from time to time. One of the problems visitors to Cotopaxi often face is dense fog, but it was completely clear during our entire hike. Anyway, once we arrived to the refuge, we rested for a moment then climbed for 45 more minutes up to the glaciers. I think the elevation there was something like 5000 meters, so Moira and I felt pretty tough. We showed up all of the other climbers in their North Face gear with our rugged Colorado dispositions, even though I forgot gloves and was wearing several pairs of socks on my hands instead. While I'm sure that does reflect somewhat on my poor planning skills, I would also like to think that it reveals what a tough lady I am.
When we got back to the parking lot, we were each assigned to different mountain bikes and had to bike down to a little laguna for sixteen kilometers. This was mostly terrible since all of the bikes were in an incredibly low gear, and were partially disassembled so as to be unable to shift. So it was really hard to maintain any stability on these things and we had to ride our brakes the whole way down, which is particularly unpleasant on an unpaved, bumpy incline on a mountain road. Oh well. The views were spectacular, so I can't complain too much.
Sunday, we left for Bahía around 1 in the afternoon and arrived at 9:30 that evening. We spent the night in some hotel that smelled kind of like drying paint and Clorox, took a sea taxi to San Vicente the next morning, and then a little commuter bus to Canoa. To be honest, not much to say about our time there. We spent the past three days taking naps on the beach for hours (no terrible sunburns to speak of on my end, although Moira is noticeably pinker in places), reading, and hanging out with some herpetologists who are working in refuges in northern and central Ecuador. One of said herpetologists, Paul, gave us a clue that there is a little shop in Canoa whose specialty is frozen bananas covered in chocolate, so we got a few of those before hopping on another bus back to Bahía.
Tonight, another 8-9 hour bus ride awaits us to get back to Quito. Our plans for my birthday include seeing Harry Potter 6 and eating cake, which is pretty much all it takes to please me. Hopefully we'll also figure out how we're getting to the Amazon, since we are presumably leaving for Yanacocha wildlife rescue on Saturday night. Fingers crossed for baby ocelots!
Take care all.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Cotopaxi/Canoa
Today Moira and I climbed a volcano, then biked 16 km down it! Tomorrow we are going to Canoa, so I won't have any updates for you until we get back to Quito on Thursday (my 19th birthday!).
Also, we found out that we can spend a week in the Amazon working at a wildlife rehabilitation center, so baby ocelots here we come! More on that to come.
Chau. See you in a few days.
Also, we found out that we can spend a week in the Amazon working at a wildlife rehabilitation center, so baby ocelots here we come! More on that to come.
Chau. See you in a few days.
Friday, July 10, 2009
One of these days I'll get Moira to make a post, I swear.
Anyway, an update. Wednesday, Moira and I went to Otavalo which is a town about two hours north of Quito. The primary attraction is the mercado artesanal, with rows and rows of vendors selling everything from textiles to jewelry to clothes to pottery. We bought some pretty choice items, most notably a pair of orange overalls for me and a sweater for Moira embroidered with llamas, flowers, cacti, etc. The best part about both of those items is that you can find them everywhere, but only in children's sizes. Both of us were pretty convinced that we weren't going to find any adult sizes, so thank goodness for Otavalo's artisans and their understanding of our demand for child-appropriate clothing.
We had intended to stay the night in Otavalo because apparently there are some great hikes around the town with views of waterfalls and lakes. But, after a day of intense shopping and haggling, we decided to come back to Quito. However, we did make time to stop at a pie shop so Moira could eat pie de mora (ha). Mora means blackberry in Spanish and is an incredibly popular flavor here, and we never seem to get tired of making jokes about Moira eating mora. Jugo de mora, yogurt de mora, batido de mora. Really, it never gets old.
Yesterday, we took the teleferico (aerial tram) up Pinchincha, which is about 4300 meters in altitude. The last few vertical meters are left to hike, so we climbed up most of the way and got to see a beautiful view of Quito and the surrounding mountains. Quito has a strange layout for a city, in that it's something like 8 km wide and 80 km long. It's divided into the Old City in the south, where all of the cathedrals are, and the New City, where Moira and I are staying. The view was breathtaking and there was some incredible, unique vegetation all along the mountainside. Definitely a wonderful little day trip.
After our return to the city proper, Moira and I went to book our excursion to Cotopaxi. This was more of a hassle than it probably should have been, but ultimately it got sorted out. Cotopaxi is a national park and no one can enter without a certified guide. The problem is, a lot of questionable folks stand at the entrance to the park and try to charge ridiculous prices to unsuspecting tourists, then slip them into the park illegally. This can be avoided, but apparently there aren't many travel agencies that book legitimate tours. Luckily we finally found one, so we're going for the day on Saturday. Apparently our excursion involves hiking up to some glaciers, biking 16 km down the volcano, and eating chocolate cake. Sounds pretty okay to me.
After that, Moira and I roamed around La Foch trying to find this great antique/handicraft store that we went to last week with Toni. I think it took us about and hour to find it, but in the meantime, we bought these strange fruits called tunas. They're about the size of an small egg and are bright red and covered with spines. When you open it, there is this strange, clear, jelly-like entity with a seed in the middle. Pretty flavorless, but worth the five cents just for the sheer bizarre factor.
Anyway, while we were still searching for this store, I ran into a fellow Reedie who was sitting in front of a cafe. Reed has a club called the Ecuador Service Project, and participants spend four weeks in rural Ecuador doing community development projects. Robin is the signator of this club and has been coming to Ecuador for years. She just graduated and is hanging out in Quito before the service work actually begins. She gave us her contact information so we can meet up before we all head our separate ways.
Sorry to cut this short, but we're leaving to go fruit shopping. Toni's son and his girlfriend arrived last night from North Carolina, so we're going together.
Chau!
Anyway, an update. Wednesday, Moira and I went to Otavalo which is a town about two hours north of Quito. The primary attraction is the mercado artesanal, with rows and rows of vendors selling everything from textiles to jewelry to clothes to pottery. We bought some pretty choice items, most notably a pair of orange overalls for me and a sweater for Moira embroidered with llamas, flowers, cacti, etc. The best part about both of those items is that you can find them everywhere, but only in children's sizes. Both of us were pretty convinced that we weren't going to find any adult sizes, so thank goodness for Otavalo's artisans and their understanding of our demand for child-appropriate clothing.
We had intended to stay the night in Otavalo because apparently there are some great hikes around the town with views of waterfalls and lakes. But, after a day of intense shopping and haggling, we decided to come back to Quito. However, we did make time to stop at a pie shop so Moira could eat pie de mora (ha). Mora means blackberry in Spanish and is an incredibly popular flavor here, and we never seem to get tired of making jokes about Moira eating mora. Jugo de mora, yogurt de mora, batido de mora. Really, it never gets old.
Yesterday, we took the teleferico (aerial tram) up Pinchincha, which is about 4300 meters in altitude. The last few vertical meters are left to hike, so we climbed up most of the way and got to see a beautiful view of Quito and the surrounding mountains. Quito has a strange layout for a city, in that it's something like 8 km wide and 80 km long. It's divided into the Old City in the south, where all of the cathedrals are, and the New City, where Moira and I are staying. The view was breathtaking and there was some incredible, unique vegetation all along the mountainside. Definitely a wonderful little day trip.
After our return to the city proper, Moira and I went to book our excursion to Cotopaxi. This was more of a hassle than it probably should have been, but ultimately it got sorted out. Cotopaxi is a national park and no one can enter without a certified guide. The problem is, a lot of questionable folks stand at the entrance to the park and try to charge ridiculous prices to unsuspecting tourists, then slip them into the park illegally. This can be avoided, but apparently there aren't many travel agencies that book legitimate tours. Luckily we finally found one, so we're going for the day on Saturday. Apparently our excursion involves hiking up to some glaciers, biking 16 km down the volcano, and eating chocolate cake. Sounds pretty okay to me.
After that, Moira and I roamed around La Foch trying to find this great antique/handicraft store that we went to last week with Toni. I think it took us about and hour to find it, but in the meantime, we bought these strange fruits called tunas. They're about the size of an small egg and are bright red and covered with spines. When you open it, there is this strange, clear, jelly-like entity with a seed in the middle. Pretty flavorless, but worth the five cents just for the sheer bizarre factor.
Anyway, while we were still searching for this store, I ran into a fellow Reedie who was sitting in front of a cafe. Reed has a club called the Ecuador Service Project, and participants spend four weeks in rural Ecuador doing community development projects. Robin is the signator of this club and has been coming to Ecuador for years. She just graduated and is hanging out in Quito before the service work actually begins. She gave us her contact information so we can meet up before we all head our separate ways.
Sorry to cut this short, but we're leaving to go fruit shopping. Toni's son and his girlfriend arrived last night from North Carolina, so we're going together.
Chau!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
La primera semana
Hola a todos!
Well, Moira and I are rounding out our first week in Quito. On Sunday, Toni and Rolf took us to la Mitad del Mundo to see the Equator. I think my level of enthusiasm for this event was much higher than it needed to be, but I got to be in both hemispheres! At the same time! I thought it was pretty exciting.
Yesterday we went to speak with a travel agent Toni knows since Moira and I have so many excursions planned for the upcoming weeks and need to figure out bus departure times etc. We found out that the train to Cotapaxi only leaves on Saturdays, the same day as the mercado artesenal in Otavalo. Luckily, there is another, slightly smaller version of the mercado tomorrow, so we're waking up at the crack of down and taking the bus to spend the day in Otavalo. I'm glad that everything worked out and that we get to go to both places. Cotapaxi should be great (it's a national park/forest) with lots of hiking. I'm really looking forward to getting out and doing something physical, because I have been pretty floja since our arrival.
Speaking of being floja, Moira and I finally went out last night for the first time. For the first few days, we kept promising one another that we would go to a discoteca or two, but we kept ending up falling asleep early. Sunday night, we were a punto de salir, but none of the taxi agencies picked up their phones, so we watched Romeo y Julieta, Baz Luhrmann edition, instead.
Last night, however, we were successful. We ducked into a little place for empanadas and pan de yuca (sidenote--I have eaten more dairy in the past week than in the previous four years and I think it might be taking its toll. I look forward to welcoming a mostly vegan diet back into my life upon my return to the States) before heading to La Plaza Foch.
There, we spent the night talking with two guys from Brussels, a woman from Calgary, and two guys from Quito. One of the Ecuadorian guys is going to be in Atacames next week when we're there, so we got his email to keep in touch (playing it safe, of course). An older customer in the cafe gave us some advice as well of how to disfrutarnos in Atacames, but I think that we'll be able to figure that out in a town known for it's beautiful wide beaches and its perpetually-open discotecas. Yeah, we'll be fine. I'm especially looking forward to spending my birthday there.
Take care all--I'll try to convince Moira to make a post at some point so you can know what's happening on her end.
Chau,
Adrien
Well, Moira and I are rounding out our first week in Quito. On Sunday, Toni and Rolf took us to la Mitad del Mundo to see the Equator. I think my level of enthusiasm for this event was much higher than it needed to be, but I got to be in both hemispheres! At the same time! I thought it was pretty exciting.
Yesterday we went to speak with a travel agent Toni knows since Moira and I have so many excursions planned for the upcoming weeks and need to figure out bus departure times etc. We found out that the train to Cotapaxi only leaves on Saturdays, the same day as the mercado artesenal in Otavalo. Luckily, there is another, slightly smaller version of the mercado tomorrow, so we're waking up at the crack of down and taking the bus to spend the day in Otavalo. I'm glad that everything worked out and that we get to go to both places. Cotapaxi should be great (it's a national park/forest) with lots of hiking. I'm really looking forward to getting out and doing something physical, because I have been pretty floja since our arrival.
Speaking of being floja, Moira and I finally went out last night for the first time. For the first few days, we kept promising one another that we would go to a discoteca or two, but we kept ending up falling asleep early. Sunday night, we were a punto de salir, but none of the taxi agencies picked up their phones, so we watched Romeo y Julieta, Baz Luhrmann edition, instead.
Last night, however, we were successful. We ducked into a little place for empanadas and pan de yuca (sidenote--I have eaten more dairy in the past week than in the previous four years and I think it might be taking its toll. I look forward to welcoming a mostly vegan diet back into my life upon my return to the States) before heading to La Plaza Foch.
There, we spent the night talking with two guys from Brussels, a woman from Calgary, and two guys from Quito. One of the Ecuadorian guys is going to be in Atacames next week when we're there, so we got his email to keep in touch (playing it safe, of course). An older customer in the cafe gave us some advice as well of how to disfrutarnos in Atacames, but I think that we'll be able to figure that out in a town known for it's beautiful wide beaches and its perpetually-open discotecas. Yeah, we'll be fine. I'm especially looking forward to spending my birthday there.
Take care all--I'll try to convince Moira to make a post at some point so you can know what's happening on her end.
Chau,
Adrien
Saturday, July 4, 2009
I wrote this on an iPod
Hola a todos!
Moira and I have arrived safely in Quito and are staying with her godmother Toni in the city. We have been working in Toni's cafe since Thursday, getting to know our coworkers and making food and coffee. Tomorrow our hosts are taking us to La Mitad del Mundo so that we can all be in two hemispheres at once! We're going to keep working next week, making excursions here and there to sights in and around the city. Next weekend, Toni's son is coming from the US with his girlfriend and the four of us are traveling to the market in Otovalo.
In the next couple of weeks, we're going to the beach and we're going to try to volunteer on an animal preserve in the Amazon. If we can't swim that though, we're still going to spend about four days exploring the jungle. We'll get to Peru at the beginning of August to go to Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, and Cusco. So excited to see the boys in Cusco!
I'll be back with updates soon.
Best,
Adrien
Moira and I have arrived safely in Quito and are staying with her godmother Toni in the city. We have been working in Toni's cafe since Thursday, getting to know our coworkers and making food and coffee. Tomorrow our hosts are taking us to La Mitad del Mundo so that we can all be in two hemispheres at once! We're going to keep working next week, making excursions here and there to sights in and around the city. Next weekend, Toni's son is coming from the US with his girlfriend and the four of us are traveling to the market in Otovalo.
In the next couple of weeks, we're going to the beach and we're going to try to volunteer on an animal preserve in the Amazon. If we can't swim that though, we're still going to spend about four days exploring the jungle. We'll get to Peru at the beginning of August to go to Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, and Cusco. So excited to see the boys in Cusco!
I'll be back with updates soon.
Best,
Adrien
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