Back to the Home We Love

We are back in the USA and our home of Colorado.  What an adventure!!  We have many amazing memories to look back at...meeting up with the Truebloods; Rio Muchacho; surfing; paragliding; whale watching; blue boobies; monkeys; zip lining; waterfalls; mariposas; negotiating the country by bus; the market; Quito; and just being in a different country, culture and speaking a different language.  

We are so grateful to have had this opportunity - especially me, that I could share this with my children.  

Who knows where this will take them...if anywhere.  All I can do is plant the seed and watch to see if it grows.

Until our next adventure.

Otavalo

Our last big excursion was to go up to the markets in Otavalo.  It did not disappoint us.

Everywhere we looked was color, color and more color.

Bags, blankets, dream catchers, scarves, silver, hammocks, wooden figurines, crystal and stone figures.

Yarn stores were also very big in Quito.

Cassi and Hayes had different ideas on what kind of hats they liked.

All in all, a fun day of being in the markets of Ecuador.

Tomorrow we will start packing up to head back to the States.  

Old Town Quito

We decided to stay in Old Town in the Historical Center.  It was very beautiful.

We walked around and tried to get used to being in a big city - so many people and traffic.  Walking was the best way to get around.

Grand Plaza.

The kids liked the Basilica the best.

With it's high alcoves and they had also never seen such architecture before.

We climbed up to the Clock Tower - very steep and caused a bit of vertigo.

But worth the view.

This stained glass window was awe inspiring....but, being up close, we saw that it was really just painted.  Regardless, it was gorgeous.

We liked Old Town - everywhere you looked was quite a bit of history.

This area is fairly new - called La Ronda - is a street that is lined with quaint cafes and restaurants.

Tomorrow we head up to Otavalo - to the markets.

Mariposas in Mindo

We went to see the butterfly farm that they have in Mindo.

They hang the cacoons on a board and they looked like earrings - very colorful.

We got to feed them bananas.

And Hayes's favorite landed on his shoulder.

Cassi is in the background trying to save one that fell into the water - she did!

We decided to head to Quito this afternoon, so we will say goodbye to beautiful Mindo.

Zip Lining over the Canopy and Chocolate!

We decided to go Zip lining over the Canopy of the Cloud Forest in Mindo.  We first had to get suited up.  Again, we did not have to sign any waivers.

Cassi and Hayes went first.

It was a gorgeous ride over the canopy.  This tour had 12 lines that we got to zip over.  It took about an hour to complete all 12 of them.

One of the things they do is guide us over in a Superman position or a Mariposa position. The Superman position, I think you know what it looks like.

However, the Mariposa has you upside down, legs spread and arms hanging down.  Cassi was glad she put on her long pants and wasn't wearing her short shorts!

Hayes did the Superman as well, but, loved the Mariposa.

The kids talked me into doing the Mariposa as well - I preferred right side up.

Afterward, we decided that we deserved chocolate.  So, we went to El Quetzel, which is  a restaurant that grows and makes it's own chocolate.  We got to see how it is grown and processed. It was interesting.....

.....but, we preferred to just eat it.

We will be back tomorrow!

Public Transportation

Public transportation in Ecuador is really amazing and allows you to get all over the country quite easily and cheaply.  

I want to take a moment to show you the different ways there are.

There is the pedi-cab (50 cents a ride)

The Panga (50 cents a person)

The bus - price varies.  Mostly 50 cents to a dollar between close towns.  From the coast to Quito (a 10 hour ride) is $8/person.

The taxi, of course.  Usually $1.  The driver had a seatbelt, but, never were there seatbelts in the back where we sat.

The bike and motorbike as depicted below.  Most were filled with 3-4 people on road bikes and the motor cycles.  The were usually families - mom, dad, and 2 kids - sometimes infants.

The motor cab - never seemed like the motorcycle was going to make it far before breaking down - but, usually it got us there.  $1.

And gas prices!!  This is NOT $1.48/liter....it is $1.48/GALLON!!  Boy, would I like to see these prices back in the U.S.

Well, we have tried all of these and survived.  Thank you Ecuador!

Volcano and Thermal Baths

There is an active volcano here in Baños.  It is the one in the background with the snow on top.  It always has clouds around it, but, some of that is the smoke from the activity.  They just had some explosion 2 weeks ago.  Yikes!

We then went over to the Thermal Baths that Baños (bath) is known for.  We were very confused as we thought they told us to take a shower with caps before getting in.

What they really meant was that everyone is required to wear caps in the thermal bath area!  When in Rome...

Then we took the cool dunk (freezing really).  My kids kept asking me why this was healthy.  I told them, "it just is, so do it".

They became happy participants.

There was a beautiful waterfall that fell just next to the thermal pools.

So, another way to do the "cool down" was to get under the diversion tubes set up directly from the waterfalls.  It was especially, delightfully, cold.

Well, this is goodbye to Baños.  Tomorrow, we head up to Mindo Cloud Forest - yes - on the bus - but, during the day!