Ecuador - June 7, 2023
Daily Routine
As we settle into our temporary home here in Ecuador, the boys and I have fallen into a routine similar to the one we have back home in Colorado. We try to get out of the apartment by 9am, explore either our neighboring park, or venture to a site we all want to see. Then we have lunch, head home, and have a quiet afternoon with rest time, reading, and board games. Here is a typical morning at the playground and getting some delicious watermelon from one of the many vendors in the area.
Botanical Gardens
Earlier this week, we spent one of our mornings at the Botanical Gardens, which are conveniently located right across the street from our apartment at Carolina Park. It was such a beautiful oasis, we ended up spending nearly two hours exploring all of the different environments! All of us agreed that the carnivorous plants were our favorite, followed by the koi pond and the orchid gardens.
El Panecillo
La Virgen de El Panecillo is considered one of the best viewpoints in Quito city, so we made this one of our destinations for our morning outing. It did not disappoint! We took an Uber up the Panecillo where we were able to see for miles over colonial Quito. We even saw the Basilica and other buildings we visited when we when to the Historic Center last week.
One of the cool things you can do is pay just $1 (adult fee, kids were only 50 cents) to climb the stairs that lead you through a museum and up to the Virgin's feet. The climb was easy and the views were spectacular. We met a couple at the top who were both English teachers from Costa Rica and were kind enough to take our picture for us (if only I could get both kids to look at the camera at the same time...). We chatted for a while about where we have been touring - they were trying to hit all to top spots before their teaching conference began.
After we got back down to ground level, the kids enjoyed running around in the many open spaces surrounding the monument. We met a very nice elderly lady from Argentina who was there for a pilgrimage. She loved watching the boys play and we got to chat for a bit while we waited on our Uber to pick us up. This is truly the thing I love best about travel, getting to communicate and connect with so many different people.
Day Trip - Mindo
Today (June 7th) we departed from our usual routine to take a full-day trip to Mindo, Ecuador with Latin Adventures Tours. We had an exceptional guide and driver and got to see so much of this area of the country, which is mostly cloud forest and a completely different environment from Quito city.
Hummingbirds
The first stop on our tour was a hummingbird sanctuary just outside of Mindo. We took so many pictures and had a great time spotting all of the different birds. It is amazing how loud those small birds are when they zoom right by your head!
Cloud Forest
The next item on the agenda was to take a cable car (powered by a truck motor!) up into the cloud forest. From there we went on a beautiful hike to one of the many waterfalls in the area, Nambillo. I was so proud of both the boys for hiking all the way down to the river and then all the way back up to the cable car. They covered a lot of ground and had a great attitude! They were by far the youngest on the trail and did a fantastic job. Along the way our guide taught us about the bright pink bananas we spotted, how vines grow into new trees, and so much more. He was great at keeping Rick and David engaged from start to finish!
Chocolate Tour
The final portion of our tour included a chocolate tour and tasting at Yumbas Chocolate. We were fortunate to get a tour from the owner, as his guides were all at training today. We learned so much about why Ecuador is known for its chocolate. The tour was very interactive and we started by learning about the fruit that chocolate comes from masorca de cacao. The best part was of course...the tasting! We sampled 12 types of chocolate ranging from 100% cacao to 60% with lemongrass, and all three of us enjoyed every single sample. While we ate, we were able to cleanse our palate with fresh pineapple and watermelon between bites. We also had hot chocolate that was 100% cacao and were able to add sugar to our liking. We finished the tour off with a decadent brownie.
