Shame. That's the word that comes to mind when I write this, on account of me not writing about some pretty major events that have occurred! I have been to Quito, the Galapagos, Peru AND I nearly contracted a tropical disease known as the Dengue Fever. So much to tell! I only help I can put my experiences into words.
Firstly, my trip to the incredible, stupendous, amazing capital city of Quito. Since being here, I have always known that Quito would capture my heart, but never in a million years did I imagine that it would have swallowed my heart whole leaving me empty without it. Sounds dramatic to you, but I'm serious. I fell so in love with Quito. The cold weather, the cloud cover, the hills, the history, the scenery! It was just all so amazing and after being in Machala for the last 7 months, I couldn't picture myself ever leaving it! That's one thing, if I had the chance to redo my exchange year, I would have really pushed for living in the Highlands, but oh well. What's done is done.
A week before I headed off to the Galápagos, my mom, sister and I boarded a big charter bus to embark on our 12 hour trip up to Quito. Ecuador is a small country, but getting from point A to point B in any part of the country takes a tremendous amount of time due to their lack of an advanced road system and getting up the Andes. I didn't sleep a wink the whole way there, but mostly because I was so excited for what was in store!
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| The mountains of Quito, wishing me a "good trip" |
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| Actual Green Grass! I was amazed! |
While in Quito, my mom and sister took me exploring. Our great aunt, who we stayed with, lives right in the center of the Historic Downtown and getting around to explore was very easy. The first actual day we were there was mostly sleeping since none of us really got a good night's rest. The second part, we woke up and went all around downtown. They showed me churches, the President's Plaza (since it was the capital of the country), historic buildings and the cute little stores the neighborhood had to offer. We ended the day perfectly with cappuccinos (hot, and I didn't break a sweat while drinking it!) and humitas (which if you're familiar with mexican tamales, these are just like that except for with just corn. Sooo good!).
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La Bacílica: the most famous (and one of the most impressive)
churches in Quito. Modeled after the French Gothic style,
architects put fauna local to Ecuador in lieu of gargoyles.
Behind the church is where all the late presidents are burried. |
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| My host sister and I at La Bacílica |
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| The historical streets of downtown Quito |
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| Señor Presidente lives here! |
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It was a solid gold church! Absolutely gorgeous!
But photos inside were prohibited! |
Our second day was spent trying to look for a hospital for my sister because she had a fever and... well that's just what the Ecuadorians do. But the third day my sister was feeling better and together we took a funky tour bus all around Quito to see the sights. It was just a good recap of everything we had seen before and a good bonding experience for my sister and I!
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| Just arrived and ready to explore! |
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| Old George himself! Cute as can BE! |
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These scary looking things were all
over the islands! |
Our second day, we got up nice and early and headed to Santa Isabela which is about 2 hours away from where we staying in Santa Cruz. The first thing we saw were pink flamingos and after we went to the Charles Darwin Research Center to look at more tortoises! From babies, to teenagers to mating adults. Later, we headed out to an open space to go snorkeling. There wasn't too much to look out in this place, but we were promised some incredible sights the next day. We did find big shells and some large fish though! After we got in from snorkeling, we headed over to look at the island's penguin population. We saw a small family of penguins and they were absolutely adorable! We then got out to take a look at the "tide pools" that are created by cooled lava flow. We found Manta Rays and white tipped sharks and then a lot of the black iguanas pictured above. We headed back for lunch after that and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and taking the local flavor.
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| The pink Flamingos grazing in the water for their bacteria! |
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The Manta Rays flying in to meet with the
sharks. It was MAJESTIC! |
Our "third" day was a water day. We woke up early and took the short boat ride over to a lagoon on an unknown island (at least I forgot...) to go snorkeling. I don't think any of us were really expecting to see what we saw. The colors, the fish, the sharks, the reefs, it was just incredible! We swam through countless numbers of fish and some of us even got stung by little jellies! I got stung on my lip and my friend got stuck on his arm, but we were both fine! We saw sharks, sea turtles, more manta rays and countless numbers of fish. We even got to swim with sea lions! One of the first things I saw was a bright yellow puffer fish! The whole cast of Finding Nemo was there, it was just incredible. After lunch, we headed back out to go cliff diving where we felt the thrill of throwing ourselves off high cliffs only to be saved by crystal clear ocean water.
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| Even Crush came to say hi! |
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| Bombs awaay! |
Our last day was a little more relaxed. We headed out for a hike and ended up at a beautiful beach. We couldn't swim in the beach because the waves were too dangerous, but there was a bay just on the other side that we all swam in. It was refreshing after the nice long hike! We spent all morning swimming in the bay and after hiking back for lunch, most of us fell asleep. We were all getting little to no sleep, but we were okay with that! It was for fun! After everyone's nap, we all headed out again to explore the 2nd longest tunnel in South America. It was created by a certain lava bubble that's created by making little tunnels. This, happened to be a really big bubble! It was a great end to our days. Our last night, we headed to a ranch where we sang karaoke, danced and played pool! It was great and the pictures were amazing!
A week after we got back from the Galapagos, we were out and about again for vacation with my family and this time to Peru! My parents took their first host daughter, from Austria, too, which was great because I had a buddy the whole time! We stayed at this suuuuuuper nice hotel in Punta Sal, Peru. The weather was perfect and the sun was strong. We spent our stay there swimming, and hanging out with the other people staying there. It is getting to be the end of the busy season down here and so there weren't a lot people staying with us, but we made friends none the less. One of the days, we went into a really popular gringo town called Máncora. Here, a lot of tourists come to surf, party and who knows what else! It was fun though and I got a lot of great goodies for my friends. It was also fun to use a different kind of money! I don't know if I've mentioned it, but here in Ecuador, we use the US dollar. In Peru they use Sols, and it was different to be able to use a different form of currency. The vacation lasted 3 days, but it was quality family time none the less.
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| The sisters in Máncora! |
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| The pool side bar at our Hotel |
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| The Girls in the pool at sunset! hahaha |
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| The baby owl I bought for my momma! |
That's about it! As far as the Dengue Fever goes, I obviously didn't get it- but I almost did! The only thing that differentiated my sickness to Dengue was that my fever dropped, but I got pretty darn sick! Next on the bill is our final trip where we'll go all around Ecuador. I'm sooo excited for this trip, as we'll spend the majority of the time up in the highlands, which means we'll be in the COLD! After the big trip, we will all have to return to school :( School officially starts April 16th, but since we'll be out and about, Rotary kids don't start school till the 25th! Whoo! Alright, I'll be back to update soon enough, I promise!
Until the next time,
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