Traveling Ecuador with Heather!

It would be difficult, if not totally impossible, for me you to tell you all of the amazing times Heather and I had over the past two weeks. That said, I am going to try and give you the abridged version of our adventures. However, as those of you that read my blog often have probably noticed, I am not very good at doing that so bear with me. If my writing starts to get boring just check out the pictures- they tell most of the story anyways.

Alright, so our trip started out two weeks ago on a Friday night when Heather flew into Quito. After going out for a couple of mojitos and a snack, we headed to the hostel to try and get some rest for the next day. The following morning we woke up early and hopped on a bus to the famous Otavalo Saturday Market. The Otovala Market is one of the most famous markets in South America and is a place where locals and tourists come together to do some much needed shopping. After the two hour bus ride, Heather and I arrived into town and quickly headed over to the animal market, where you can buy a baby pig for 25 bucks or simply weave your way through the cows, horses, and chickens, making sure to watch where you step.

A snapshot of the pig section of the animal market

Following the animal market, we made our way over to the artisanal section, which is probably what Otavalo is best known for. Due to how unbelievably cheap the stuff is, we couldn´t resist picking up a few key souvenir items- ¨Ecua-pants, ¨ hats, purses, etc. Next we decided to check out the food market- where raw chicken is sold by a vendor in the street and red meat hangs freely throughout the halls of the market. Heather was not exactly impressed by the sanitary conditions in the food market, and I was a little worried she might not eat any meat for the rest of our trip. After having a few piña coladas for lunch, we decided that we needed to head back to Quito before Heather bought her fourth pair of Ecuadorian pants.

Me trying on one of the many random items for sale in the Otavalo Artensenal Market

A view of the market and its beautiful surroundings

Heather during our nice dinner back in Quito

Sunday morning after a nice breakfast, we took a visit over to the Old Town of Quito, known for its historical buildings and churches. We started out at the Basilica, which I have now visited three separate times, but each time it ceases to amaze me with its beauty and views of surrounding Quito. After a long climb up the stairs, Heather and I finally reached the very top, and were granted some great views of the city. We decided to go ever further by climbing out the little door/window so that we were really standing out on the edge at the very top of the church.

A view of the angel that resides over the city from the top of the Bascilica

Me standing on the edge at the top of the Bascilica

The classic feet photo while out on the ledge

After the Basilica, we took a stroll over to the grand plazas of the Old Town and did some people watching. There were lots of different activities taking place, and it seemed everyone from Quito was out enjoying a nice Sunday morning. In an effort to give Heather a real Ecuador experience, I suggested we take the one of the city´s trolleys back to our hostel. Lets just say that we really felt touched by some of the locals we met on that ride, and I don´t mean touched in a sentimental way.

We arrived back at our hostel just in time to grab some ¨batidos para llevar¨ from the restaurant across the street and load our bags up to start on our journey to the jungle. We hired a private car that picked us up from Quito and took us to the Amazon, with an overnight at the Papallacta Hot Springs. Joining us was our driver, Danny, and his friend Luis. After a fairly quick and very scenic hour and a half ride, we arrived in Papallacta. Heather and I checked into our room and were blown away by how nice it was. We had our own private hot springs right in from of our room! We spent the afternoon in the larger, public hot springs across the street. We read, swam, relaxed, laughed and chatted for hours, meanwhile enjoying the warm waters and beautiful scenery. After having our share of the springs, we had dinner and then were invited out for a drink (or maybe two) with Danny and Luis. All that really needs to be said about that event is that I can assure you neither Heather nor I will ever be drinking ¨Sodka, the Ukranian Vodka¨ again.

A view of our room in Papallacta

Hanging out by the really really hot pool and watching some others attempt to get in

Luis, Heather and Danny with glasses of Vodka mixed with lemonade (the only mixer the place has) held high

We had a long way to go from Papallacta to the Cuyabeno Amazon Reserve, so got an early start the next morning. Heather and I were both very ¨Chichaki,¨ and the curvy, bumpy, eight and a half hour ride certainly did not help. Luckily, the scenery was pretty unbelievable (maybe the most beautiful place she´s ever seen, says Heather) which made it totally worth it.

A waterfall, just a 5 min. hike from the road, that we stopped to check out on our way to Cuyabeno

After the fairly epic car/bus ride, Heather and I finally made it to the entrance of the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve. The Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve is an elaborate system of wild lagoons, rivers and flooded forest found in North-eastern Ecuador. The reserve encompasses over 604,000 hectares of primary rainforest and boasts an incredible variety of Neotropical wildlife (yes, I stole that from the tour website). After reaching the entrance to the park, we still had another two hour motor canoe ride before we actually arrived at our lodge.

That two hour ride was one of my most favorite moments in our whole trip. The weather was beautiful, the fresh air as we cruised along felt great, and there were animals coming out all over the place. Luis (a different Luis than rode with us from Quito), our guide, was quick to start telling us about all of the flora and fauna in the reserve. Not five minutes after telling us that he´d never actually seen an anteater in the park, but that they existed, we saw one! It was a really cool experience, especially since it hung out on a branch close to us and allowed us to observe it for a good bit of time.

The boat ride to our river lodge

The anteater we spotted on the way to the lodge

Before arriving at the lodge, Luis had the boat stop in the middle of the lagoon so we could have a nice afternoon swim. He assured us that through his research he discovered that the piranhas swimming in the lagoon would not attack humans, and that the anacondas tended to stay in the river channels, so we should not be concerned. For whatever reason, we decided to believe him, and quickly dove in and cooled off.

Heather diving into the Piranha infested waters for an afternoon swim

We were extremely impressed with the lodge when we arrived. It was located on an island in the middle of the main lagoon. We had our own little open air cabaña complete with mosquito netting over each bed. There was a dining area where wonderful meals would be served and lots of hammocks for lounging. That was also when we realized that we were going to be the only people staying at the lodge for our whole four day tour, so we had the place to ourselves.

That night after dinner we all loaded back up into the motor canoe to go on a search for the caiman crocodiles. It was not more than two minutes into the ride before we saw our first set of glowing orange eyes in the water. We were staring at a family of three caimans that lived in the mangroves beside our lodge. In the dark, with a flashlight, the crocodiles are actually really easy to spot, because their eyes shine so brightly. From there we headed further out from the lodge and spotted some more caimans along with lots of nocturnal birds.

The following morning we were awoken early by what reminded me of my mom trying to get me up for school when I was younger. Turns out that it was not my mom but rather our extremely enthusiastic guide yelling at us to come check out the birds and monkeys that came to welcome us. Luis then took us on a little walk around the island and pointed out all of the beautiful birds and plants as well as spotted two different types of monkeys that lived on the island.

A¨bebe leche¨ monkey that was hanging out at the lodge

Heather and I showing off the look that Luis says the local indigenous community wears during their parties

That morning after breakfast, Luis, Heather and I took the good ole dug out canoe for a little spin. We paddled for a couple hours over to another lodge that Luis wanted to show us. We were so thankful he did because that is where we met our most favorite monkey- Pancho! Pancho was an orphaned monkey that Luis discovered a few months back and is now a permanent resident at the lodge. He is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen and we could not get enough of him. We spent an hour or so at the lodge having a couple beers, hanging out in the hammocks and playing with Pancho.

Heather and I in the dugout canoe

A close-up of Pancho, our four month old monkey friend

Pancho getting comfortable on Heather´s shoulder

Pancho and I hanging out

That afternoon we headed back out in the canoe to do some piranha fishing. Before the fishing started, we spent about 30 minutes watching a pod of pink river dolphins playing and feeding in the river. The pink river dolphin was one of the animals I was most excited to see, and was glad that we were lucky enough to spot them.

The piranha fishing involved a stick with fishing line tied to it, some hooks (aka bent wire) and a big chunk of raw meat. The fishing started off slowly but before long we were all getting some good bites. Luis told us we needed to yank on the pole anytime we felt a nibble, and soon enough, Heather yanked and a carnivorous piranha came flying through the air.

Heather showing off her teeth to the piranha

The piranha showing off its teeth to us

It is probably hard to imagine why after seeing the piranha´s teeth we would still voluntarily jump into the lagoon´s waters, but hey, it was hot and we needed to cool off. So before heading back to the lodge for the night, we all went for another afternoon swim. This time a little bit more apprehensive having now seen with our own eyes the fish and crocodiles swimming around us.

The view of the lagoon as we headed to the lodge for the night

That night Luis said it was time for us to do a night hike. Heather was less than enthused about the idea of walking around the spider, snake and crocodile filled jungle at night, but she is also not one to back out of something easily, so she agreed to come. Fortunately for her it seemed as if it was going to rain shortly into the hike and Luis made the decision that we needed to head back to the lodge early. Before doing so however, he showed us some of the jungle´s insects and went prowling around by the mangroves to show us the caiman family we had seen from the boat the night before.

The next day is what I will refer to as the ¨day of the anaconda.¨ Our mission for pretty much the entire day was to see the one animal that we had really wanted to see but had not yet, which was of course the anaconda. In the morning we paddled up one of the small rivers where Luis assured us the anacondas lived. We checked every hole in every tree we could find, but had no luck. It was a pretty eerie scene regardless though due to the black waters and overcast skies.

A typical scene on our hunt for the Anaconda

Eventually we gave up on the anaconda and docked the boat on shore for a little jungle walk. On our walk Luis pointed out lots of interesting features in the jungle and taught us how we could survive on eating termites and sucking water from trees if we ever happened to find ourselves lost in the jungle. We thought that was cool enough, but what really got our attention was when a couple of girls that came with us (they were staying at the lodge as a university requirement) taught us about these twigs from a tree that you could smoke. We were a little skeptical at first, but after a nod from Luis, we both took a drag from our little jungle sticks.

Me smoking the twig from the jungle

That afternoon we headed back out for one final attempt to see the anaconda. I was in the front of the boat, and my job was stand up in the canoe and look in all the holes in the trees. At the time, this did not bother me too much. However, soon enough we paddled up to a tree and while I was about to peer into a hole, I heard a loud splash beside me and looked over just in time to see the tail end up an anaconda diving from a branch into the water. Apparently as I was preparing to look in the hole, and as soon as the rest of the boat saw the snake on the branch, it was startled by our presence and dove deep into the water about two feet from our boat. Luis says the snake was probably about 8 feet long. The anaconda can remain underwater for about 45 min. so even though we waited for a while hoping for another glimpse, it never resurfaced. One of the more memorable parts about the whole thing was that as it was happening, I was paddling backwards trying to get away (since I was in the front and practically touching the tree), Heather had her paddle lifted ready to fight (in case the snake somehow managed to get into the boat) and Luis was paddling forward (trying to get as close as possible).

That night we celebrated our anaconda sighting and our last night in the jungle by sharing the boxes of wine we brought with the lodge crew. It was a great night of laughing with Luis and hanging out in the hammocks drinking wine.

Heather and I rocking our newly purchased pants while hanging out in the hammocks

The next day it was time to say goodbye to the lodge and we loaded up for our two hour ride out the river. While loading up the island´s monkeys came out to say goodbye, just as they had to welcome us a few days earlier. After the boat ride we had another 2.5 hour bus ride on an unbelievably bumpy road before reaching the airport where we would catch a flight back to Quito. For whatever reason, they thought it would be good to drop us off 3 hours before our flight at the smallest airport I´ve ever been to in the middle of no where. We were the only ones in the airport (besides one single employee) for hours. That said, we got cozy on the floor (the chairs were horrible) and Heather read a book while I watched a movie on my ipod.

The airport scene

The next day was Friday, officially a week into Heather´s trip, and we had already set up transport to bring us from Quito to one of Ecuador´s coolest spots, the Quilotoa Crater Lake. Quilotoa is located very much outside of any city and took us about four hours to get to. Upon arrival we saw lots of people dressed up in costume and dancing around. It turns out the town was having a party in celebration of the opening of their new community center. We partook in the celebration and did a little indigenous dancing before hiking into the crater.

A young child herding cows and pigs outside of the Quilotoa community

Heather and I with some new friends we met at the party

It was very cloudy when we started our hike down the crater and I was a little nervous that we might not get to see much of the lake. After a bit of time though, the clouds started to lift and we could see more and more of what makes the place so special.

Heather in the clouds on the hike down to the crater lake

Heather and I posing above the lake

After the 45 min. hike down to the water level, we spent a bit of time just enjoying the view. We were also waiting for the donkeys that would carry us out of the crater to arrive. The last time I visited this lake I hiked out myself, but I decided that because of my ankle injury, it would be best if I hired one of the donkeys to bring me out. And not wanting to look like the only lazy person in our group, I made Heather get a donkey too.

That donkey ride was hands down the scariest thing I have done in my travels. There was no saddle, just a blanket thrown on the donkey´s back and a rope tied around it neck for me to hold onto. Along with the donkeys came two young girls from the community that hiked out with us while smacking the animals with a stick when we couldn´t get them to move. I had to close my eyes more than once while the donkey wobbled its way up the crater way too close to the cliff edges with me holding on for dear life.

Our donkey herders

Heather and I riding out of the crater

After hiking out of the crater, we had a few more hours to drive to our next destination, Uribina. Uribina is a tiny community located at the base of the tallest mountain in Ecuador, Chimborazo. We were headed there to stay the night in a mountain lodge located in the community. The lodge is also where we would begin our mountain bike ride the following morning. Unfortunately we never did get to see Chimborazo while at the lodge, as the clouds would simply not cooperate. On the bright so however, we got to play with Alpacas.

Heather hanging out with one of the lodge´s Alpaca

The first day of mountain biking could be best described with one word- muddy. It had rained the days previous to our arrival and the roads and trails we were riding on had definitely accumulated a few puddles. It was great fun regardless and we got to see lots of beautiful countryside while riding along cobblestone roads and single-track trails.

Heather riding through one of the many puddles we encountered

The next day of mountain biking started with a drive up the first refugio high up on Chimborazo. As we pulled up to the snowy mountainside, it was hard to believe that just days before we had been deep in the jungles of the Amazon. After our arrival at the refugio, we spent some time hiking around and getting tiny glimpses of the mountain. After a few cups of mate de coca, it was time to do some biking.

Our vehicle loaded up with bikes parked at the Chimborazo Refuge

Heather and I after a short stroll up the mountain

Heather geared up and ready to start the ride down the mountain

The ride started out pretty intense (for me at least) since we were literally riding in the snow. As it turns out, I am really no good at riding in the snow and I fell down a lot. Thankfully, when I fell it was usually because I steered myself into the deep powder, so most of the landings were soft. After a short while we got down to where the road had been cleared and which made the riding a little easier.

A video of Heather riding down from Chimborazo

After getting out of the snowy, desolate landscape we dropped back below treeline and did some more riding in beautiful Ecuadorian countryside. In total we did about 56km of riding that day, starting out only 1000 meters below the top of the tallest mountain in Ecuador and also the closest mountain to the sun.

A view of the countryside from our ride

After riding all the way into the town of Ambato, we hopped on a bus and were off to Baños. I was pretty excited to show Heather Baños, since it is a place that has meant a lot to me. The weather was beautiful as we arrived and neither Heather nor I could stop smiling. It is just such a stunningly beautiful place and that combined with our oh so very cozy hostel room complete with its own balcony made us very happy.

That evening was probably one of the most fun nights of the whole trip. We spent the majority of the evening hanging out with some of my local friends in Banos, Popo and Chamy. We started off the night with a ride on the Chiva, which is a big truck with bench seating that takes you high out of town with the hopes of seeing the lava of Volcan Tungurahuay. We ended up not seeing any lava, but were successful in acting ridiculously silly and laughing a lot (the rum probably helped with that). On the way down we decided to ride on top of the Chiva, and after getting smacked in the face with multiple branches, I now realize why they don´t generally encourage that. The night ended with a whole lot of salsa dancing...

Heather and I with Popo and his Australian friend on the way up in the Chiva

The next morning it was Monday and time to go canyoning. I had been canyoning a few times before but it was Heathers first time and she was really excited. The first repel that we did to get down into the canyon involved using the van as an anchor, which I found pretty interesting. From there we repelled down waterfalls, slide over wet rocks and dove into pools as we made our way through the canyon.

The first repel- anchored off the van

Heather doing one of the natural water slides

Heather repelling down a waterfall

And last but not least Heather jumping into a pool

That evening we decided to head to the hot baths that give Baños its name. Our bodies were sore from all the paddling, hiking, biking and canyoning we had been doing and we were anxious to feel the acclaimed healing powers of the volcanic water.

We woke up the next day to rainy, cloudy weather and decided that we would spend the morning just relaxing before catching our bus back to Quito. I had heard a lot about this ¨morning bath¨ thing that one of the hostels offered, but that I had never tried, so Heather and I decided to check it out. I´ll give you the rundown of what it involved- 5 min. in a sauna box with our heads sticking out, following by an Ecuadorian man showing us how to wash ourselves with a rag and a bucket of cold water, then back in the box, then more washing, then back to the box, then more washing, then another trip to the box, then some more washing following by getting into a cold pool where we were told to rub our bowels and the Ecuadorian man threw water on us, then one last trip to the box before our hose down massage. Yeah, pretty interesting stuff…. Not sure how they came up with it, but I will say it felt pretty nice.

The ¨box¨

After our ¨morning bath¨ we showered, packed and said goodbye to my friends before returning to Quito. In our hostel in Quito I ran into a friend of mine and fellow NOC instructor Dan Dixon who lives in Ecuador just about year round. He joined Heather and I for our last dinner together before she flew back to the states.

Yesterday morning I got up and helped Heather load up into the cab to head to the airport. It was tough to say goodbye, since that signified the end of our awesome trip together. I really can´t imagine how the trip could have gone any better and I am so glad that I got to travel around one of my favorite countries with one of my favorite people. I spent the rest of the day taking care of some errands and getting ready to for the next leg of my journey- meeting up with my mom and heading to the Galapagos Islands.

This morning I left Quito and boarded a plane for Guayaquil. The plane ride was great since I was able to get views of just about all of Ecuador´s tallest peaks sticking out above the clouds. I sat next to a retired pro wrestler who now does the Spanish play by play for WWF wresting matches. The way he talked he acted like I was sitting next to a celebrity- however I had to admit to him that I have never seen a WWF wresting match and probably never will.

And all that brings me to now…. Sitting at a computer in a loud, crowded mall in Guayaquil writing my blog. My mom arrives here in three hours and I will be headed to the airport to meet her. We will spend tomorrow relaxing in the hotel and maybe exploring the city a bit. Our Galapagos tour officially starts tomorrow night, and we´ll be on a plane to the islands Saturday morning. I have heard nothing but amazing things about the Galapagos and it has been a place I´ve wanted to visit ever since my first dreams of becoming a veterinarian when I was a little girl. That said, I am extremely excited about the trip and getting to see a new place with another one of my favorite people- my mom.