Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
-Dr. Seuss
Great places indeed! In the five weeks that I have spent living on the main land in Quito, Ecuador I have visited and seen so many beautiful sights that you can truly see no where else in the world. Each day I continue to be enamored by everything Ecuador has to offer - and I haven't even made it to the Galapagos yet!
In/Near Quito:
Cotopaxi - This beautiful volcano was a struggle to climb on my third day here, but totally worth it. The elevation is insane, but the park is beautiful. Check out my post about it "Up In the Clouds".
Mariscal - Also known as "Gringo Landia", or International Land, this is the main touristy area of Quito, lined with restaurants, bars & nightclubs. It definitely made for some fun nights out and was a lot safer than the University made us think during orientation.
Artisan Market - An overwhelming amount of the same crafts overflowing from aisles, but a great place to get truly Ecuadorian souvenirs and keepsakes. Its fairly easy to get to and made for two fun afternoons in the city.
Mitad Del Mundo - Translated as "The Center of the World", it is one of the equator tourist attractions. I went once with my host family and a second time with a group of friends. It was definitely neat to be able to say that I stood in two hemispheres at once!
La Rhonda - We went to this touristy place one Friday night for dinner. The cab ride took about an hour because of traffic, but only cost $15 (gotta love these prices!). We ate at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that was packed with people. The menu had 5 entre choices. I got a huge plate of chicken with rice and a salad and a huge beer for $5.50. I'm very glad we made it down here and would definitely return to putts the shops and restaurants if we had more time here.
Teleferico - This touristy attraction is a cable car ride that you take to multiple trails. Very rigorous hiking at a very high altitude, but amazing views of all of Quito.
La Rhonda - We went to this touristy place one Friday night for dinner. The cab ride took about an hour because of traffic, but only cost $15 (gotta love these prices!). We ate at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that was packed with people. The menu had 5 entre choices. I got a huge plate of chicken with rice and a salad and a huge beer for $5.50. I'm very glad we made it down here and would definitely return to putts the shops and restaurants if we had more time here.
Teleferico - This touristy attraction is a cable car ride that you take to multiple trails. Very rigorous hiking at a very high altitude, but amazing views of all of Quito.
Hop on A Bus:
Mindo - We took a $2.50, 2 hr long bus ride to this cute little town in the cloud forest. It is full of wildlife and activities. We spent 5 hours hiking through 5 different beautiful waterfalls, enjoyed a traditional Ecuadorian dinner for $5.50 and went horseback riding. There are so many things we could have done here, but we limited ourselves to two activities, leaving out tubing, the butterfly museum, chocolate & coffee museum and canyoning.
Esmeraldas - This was our first class trip. It was about a 7 hr bus ride on some very windy roads, but we were surrounded by beautiful landscapes the entire ride. It was a very isolated beach, where we stayed at an eco-lodge with compost toilets and open-air rooms. Very interesting experience and very pretty place.
Puerto Lopez, Machalila - Our second class trip was to this more populated, touristy town with a beach, beach bars and numerous restaurants, only problem was it was a 10 hr bus ride. Another Ecuadorian class joined us on this trip, accompanied by one of the student's dogs; they were an interesting group of people to say the least. Our hostel wasn't the nicest, but the owner treated us as her own kids. We did our first dives here, and I dove at Isla de la Plata, where we got a sneak peak of what the underwater life is going to be like at the Galapagos! It got me so excited!
Same, Esmeraldas - This trip was for a class, but for the second module. Here we stayed at a very nice resort with individual cabins that could sleep up to 8 people. The ocean kept us awake at night, pounding against the cliff below us, but life could definitely be worse. We spent three days whale watching (humpbacks), and saw way more whales than we expected. It was really awesome and made me fall in love with humpbacks - they are truly amazing animals.
Tomorrow morning I'm catching a flight to San Cristobal, Galapagos for the next three months. I am so excited, but could definitely see myself returning to Quito to hit up some places I didn't get to visit in my month here. I'll be hanging out with sea lions, blue footed boobies and marine iguanas for the next three months - is this really school? I can't wait, but I am sad to leave my host family here. Until next time, Chao! <3
Tomorrow morning I'm catching a flight to San Cristobal, Galapagos for the next three months. I am so excited, but could definitely see myself returning to Quito to hit up some places I didn't get to visit in my month here. I'll be hanging out with sea lions, blue footed boobies and marine iguanas for the next three months - is this really school? I can't wait, but I am sad to leave my host family here. Until next time, Chao! <3
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