Saturday, March 27, 2010
La Basílica del Voto Nacional y El Panecillo
I visited these sights around Quito a few weeks ago, but didn't have the time to update the blog before my spring break so we're going to go back in time a bit...
My friends and I had seen a lot of Quito at this point, but there were two main spots we hadn't made it to yet. First, the Basilica, which is located in the historic 'old town.' Although there are dozens of churches in this area, the Basilica is by far the most impressive and if you have the nerve to climb to the top of one of the towers the views are incredible. I made it to the top, but not without a lot of encouragement from my friends, it seems like every excursion we do here involves heights! First we climbed up about a million flights of stairs inside which had us all catching our breath (blaming the altitude) until we reached the top story which is as high as you can go inside. We walked across a long wooden plank/bridge that takes you to the other side of the building where you climb one last ladder that takes you outside. The fear really kicked in about here when I realized that we weren't at the top yet. In fact, there are two more ladders to climb, outside in the open air, but once I reached the top I was glad I made the hike. We took lots of pictures, it really is gorgeous up there. We decided to head down (another fun experience) and take a cab to our next stop, El Panecillo.
El Panecillo (literally the Little Bread Loaf) is a hill in the southern part of Quito which is visible from most areas and is where the huge statue La Virgen de Quito stands--she's the only Madonna in the world depicted with wings. We took a cab to the top, because when I say hill I mean a hill in the Andes, and got more great views of the city and of the statue. We all wished it had been a little less cloudy that day, but we still were happy to get to these crucial sights in Quito. [Mom, let me know if these look like something you want to check out!]
Anyways, back to the present. My week started off really well, I taught two days and the kids were really great. I got two mandarin oranges, a pear, another weird fruit and a cookie from random students and they're all pretty excited to have me there. Unfortunately I got pretty sick towards the end of the week and got to take my first trip to an Ecuadorian hospital (which pretty much resembled an American hospital). They did some tests and it turns out I have a bacterial infection that I must have gotten from something I ate or drank. The prescribed me some medications and I'm already feeling a lot better. Next week I have another break, my school is closed for Semana Santa so I'll hopefully go visit my friends that have moved away from Quito.
Chau!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Spring Break! Puyo, Tena and Cuenca
I just got back from a week of traveling through Ecuador with my friends Becky and Sarah. We wanted to see/do a variety of what Ecuador has to offer, so we decided to make it to both El Oriente (the western/Amazonian part of the country) and La Sierra (the central part of the country/Andes mountain range). So last Saturday morning, we hopped on a bus from Quito to Puyo, our first stop. It was about a six to seven hour bus ride descending from the mountains around Quito to the flatter rain forrest where Puyo is situated. In Puyo we visited a nature reserve which sits on land that just 30 years ago had suffered severe deforestation and now is a thriving beautiful rain forest. We also visited an animal rescue with 52 monkeys, birds, turtles and other animals. The rescue center consists of an empty house which the monkeys have taken over and surrounding forests where the animals are free to roam. Most of the monkeys have been rescued from animal trafficking, so they are pretty used to being around people, some very affectionate. Once we walked into the area, we were greeted by many of them, and they promptly started climbing up our legs onto our arms and heads just checking us out. They were also very playful and before we knew it, one of us would be covered with three or four monkeys. It was a really cool experience, way way better than a zoo. One of the curious monkeys even managed to grab my headband and run away without me noticing!
Sunday afternoon, we took another bus trip about two hours north to Tena another city in the Amazon. That afternoon we checked out a park which also had a lot of rescued wildlife. In the park we took a dip in one of the rivers where we saw a Tapir also taking a swim. Tapir are big black animals that look like a mix of a pig and an anteater. It was quite a sight seeing him swim around in the river, definitely didn't want to get too close. On Monday, the three of us got in touch with a small company that does river rafting in the area, in rivers that feed into the Amazon. We went on about a four hour trip, it was absolutely beautiful, we were surrounded by lush forests and we could see the peaks of the Andes in the distance. When we stopped for lunch, one of our guides even climbed up a tree to bring down some Guaba fruits. It was a really cool day, we definitely went through a couple exciting rapids, but there were also some calmer pools so we got to jump in and take a swim various times. By the end of the day, we were exhausted, which was perfect because Monday night, we took a 12 hour night bus from Tena to Cuenca!
We got into Cuenca, a cute colonial city in the southern Sierra, at about 7am on Tuesday morning and started looking around for hostals. We ended up choosing Hostal La Escalinata where we paid five dollars a night (!) for a cute room with three beds and a little balcony. It was also in the perfect location, so we were pretty pleased with our find. The next few days we explored the city which is just full of old cathedrals and colonial streets. It also has a beautiful river, Rio Tomebamba, running trough the center which was just down the hill from our place. We met a few Peruvians and Argentines and one night all went out Salsa dancing at a little place called La Mesa. We all really enjoyed Cuenca, it was a relaxing end to our trip and it was nice to stay in one city for a few days for a change.
We finally headed back to Quito on our last 10 hour bus ride Thursday night. Fun fact about the trip: we spent $26 the entire week on hostals--total! We were pretty proud when we added that up, and yet the trip definitely wasn't free : )
On Monday I start teaching, so wish me luck!
Monday, March 8, 2010
El TeleféfiQo
This past Saturday I finally made it to the TeleferiQo, one of Quito's biggest attractions. It's an enclosed 'sky-tram' that seats six and takes riders 2.5 kilometers up the side of Volcan Pichincha. From here you can continue to hike to higher spots, and ambitious hikers can even make it to the summit of Rucu Pichincha.
A group of my friends and I decided to get there Saturday morning to avoid the lines and crowds, and it worked perfectly. We got onto the TeleferiQo without any waiting and started heading up the mountain. The ride was easy with beautiful views, and only a few spots where the heights got to me. Once we got to the top, we could really take in the surroundings. To our east lay the long expansive body of Quito filling the valley, and to our west was the rocky peak of Pichincha. We began our hike, snapping plenty of photos along the way. After a short walk, we reached a field where you can hop on a horse for $5/30mins. We decided to go for it, hoping that the horses would help us conserve some energy so that we would be able to hike further up the mountain. After the ride we hiked up a bit until we were satisfied, the hiking is slow and tiring at that altitude, and with clouds starting to come in we decided to head back. The entire time on the mountain was simply gorgeous, from the rolling to the rocky peaks, and even the impressive views of the city below us, we all had a great time just taking in the sights. Living here is really teaching me to love mountains more than I even had before, even though the heights can still be a challenge.
After this week, I will be done with the in-class portion of my time in Ecuador. I'll have a week off for Spring Break where I'll be heading to Tena (a jungle town in the Amazon, or,'el Oriente') and Cuenca (a colonial city in the southern 'Sierra') with a few friends. After that break, I'll begin my internship at Colegio Camilo Ponce Enriquez (a Catholic primary and secondary school here in Quito) where I'll be helping in the English classes. It's really hard to believe that my program is already about half way through! But I am excited to get started with this next part and look forward to telling you all how the teaching goes.
Chau!
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