Isabel's Visit! (Part I: Baños, Quito, and Papallacta)

Javier and I returned from Peru and had a couple short days to do our laundry and prepare for our next summer adventure: Isabel's visit!  We were so excited to have the first member of the Cabezas clan to come see our Quito digs before she headed back to school.  We had discussed some options with her while we were back in the States and had a jam-packed itinerary planned for her 10 days!

She arrived safe and sound!! (And sporting the most awesome hat ever!)

After a late night arrival, we went to bed early to travel to Baños the next morning.  Day 1 meant waterfall hiking!
These two crazy kids were braver than I and crawled through a little cave to get this close to the very powerful waterfall (Pailon del Diablo)

Here I am with our visitor on the dryer, safer viewing platform!

Nothing alerts you to Ecuador's safety standards like a quick tarabita ride to the next waterfall!  Isabel seems to be enjoying it though :)

Me and Isabel in front of Manto de la Novia (the Bride's Veil)

Selfies.  Can you see that a bridge was taken out by the water just behind us?  Apparently the community dammed up a second waterfall to push all the flow to this one, but it caused some damage!

We've been to Baños a few times now.  It is a truly gorgeous place.

The next day took us a few hours away to Puyo with Imagine Ecuador.  On the way we stopped for some additional waterfall seeing.

Our first stop was a Quichua indigenous community where we tried our hand at blow gun hunting. (you know, firing darts out of a ridiculously long shaft using only your air)  Here is Isabel's attempt.

And here is our target.  We were better than you'd think...Javier had one of those darts in the chest, mine is sticking out of what would be his knee (if parrots had knees) and Isabel's is in the pole there.  Not bad for our first session.  I mean this parrot is clearly not living so we must have done something right....

While in the community we got the chance to have our faces painted with traditional, natural dye.  Yes, please.

Even Javier got in on the fun.  (We felt super authentic when we ran into some kiddos from the community that were sporting the face paint as well.)

Up next, our canoe ride down the river.  It was incredibly tranquil and beautiful.  We saw a few birds, but mostly heard the wildlife living in the surrounding trees.

We had the chance to take a short hike up a hill for what was promised as a spectacular view.  No complaints here, we could see far down the river and miles of surrounding amazon.

What we weren't told was that there was an AWESOME Tarzan swing at the lookout for those brave enough to jump.  Our guide went first, but I was a quick volunteer.  (I just told you guys about how I hate heights....so why do I love doing things like this?)  While the Casa de Arbol (The Swing at the End of the World) has an amazing view, it is not scary at all.  This. Was.  (Ecuador safety standards....)

But once I'd gone, Javier had to get in on the fun.

Isabel, too, jumped at the chance to swing out into the abyss of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

We finished our day with a guided tour through the amazon.

Awesome teepee trees.

Javier may have taken a wrong step somewhere that left him with a boot and sock full of mud.  (It was actually pretty terrifying to see how deep the mud was where he stepped and how hard it was to get him out....lightning sand)

We ran into lots of crawling creatures.  This one is crawling on Javs.

Did you know that orchids are native to Ecuador?  They are!

Also spiders.  Lots. Of. Spiders.  All very large.

This is Elizabeth who was on our tour for the day.  Don't we look so amazonian with our paint and headbands?

Our tour ended at a gorgeous waterfall.  We all stripped down and took a turn swimming around and through the falls.

On our last day in Baños, we had to take Isabel to The Swing, but it was an unfortunately cloudy day.  It didn't make for the best picture (no view) but still not a bad swing set if you ask me!

It was kind of a rainy day all around, but we decided to brave the zip lines.  Javier and I had never zip lined in Baños and were looking forward to seeing what it was like (versus our Mindo excursions) 

Isabel rocking the zip in this bat position.

Beautiful falls that we were zipping over!

These lines also offered a chance to go tandem on one line.  The siblings that zip together, stay together.

When we returned to Quito, Javier and Isabel visited the Guayasamin Museum.  (Not a bad view from the pool.)

Afterwards, we all headed south to Centro Historico. First stop: the Basilica.

I wussed out again and let Javier and Isabel do the climbing up to the towers.

No Quito tour is complete without a trip up the hill to see the Virgin.  We had some excellent weather for our touring day!

There is a great view of the city from up there!

And in front of Iglesia de San Francisco we played the part of the demons building the church for Cantuña.

That night we bundled up and walked around La Ronda, stopping in to have Isabel try authentic canelazo.

We sat on a balcony and drank our warm Ecuadorian fare with this view.

After our Quito day, we hopped in the car again for a quick dip in the Papallacta pools.  Javier and I had stayed at Termas before, but we had never been to the spa pools.  They were pretty amazing (lots of hydraulic massages) and came with these stylish swim caps.

On the way home, we stopped at school to show Isabel around (and oddly this is the only picture I have of the event)

And finished our tour of fine Quito sights with a stop at La Burguesa for burgers and shakes.

On our way to the airport we decided to cram a bit more sightseeing in!  Including this deep crater that is just past Mitad del Mundo that Javier and I had never visited. (Wahoo wah!)

Gorgeous in the early morning light.

And....of course...the opportunity to straddle two hemispheres cannot be passed

Then we were off on a flight to the coast!  If you think we fit in a lot while Isabel was in the highlands...wait 'til you see what jumped out at us on the coast!!

Mom and Dad in Ecuador!! Part I

To say that I was excited for my Mom and Dad to come for a visit would the biggest understatement of a lifetime.  I was so excited to show them this beautiful country that Javier and I have fallen in love with and the little life that we've built here.  I was excited and nervous...Ecuador is very different from the US in the most random and unexpected ways, and I was worried about Mom and Dad being uncomfortable or inconvenienced.  My concerns started with customs at the airport since they were graciously bringing the entire contents of a Target store with them for us.  But in reality we almost missed them because they flew through without a second glance.  First success of the trip!

We're so excited!

Proof they both made it safe and sound!

Day 1 started the slow parade of treats (those we ordered and some surprises) delivered from Mom and Dad's bags....
starting with the most AMAZING surprise of all....a CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE!!!  My childhood and all-time favorite!
I cannot believe how thoughtful and adventurous they were to bring such a treat across the ocean to Ecuador!
(I averaged two pieces a day until it was finished)

Travel is exhausting and Quito's high altitude was taking its toll on Mom so we had a quiet evening to let everything settle.  Besides, we had an exciting trip to Banos planned for the morning!

Mom and Dad were as appreciative of the view as we are!  I've said it before, but it never gets old and is fun to hear others ogle over it the way that we do!

We rented a car for our big trip to Banos.  It is a beautiful drive, but was unfortunately too cloudy for Mom and Dad to see Cotopaxi (the volcano) from the road.  (This became a running joke of the trip...we continued to point out where volcanoes should be...but Mom and Dad continuously saw only clouds...)  We grabbed lunch as soon as we arrived and hoped that our delay would stop the rain....but it didn't.  The bad weather changed our plans a bit and we decided drive to see a few waterfalls.  Our first stop was Cascada Manto de La Novia or The Bride's Veil (because that's what it supposedly looks like).  After getting out of the car and taking a short walk, we had nice view of the falls from across the canyon....aaaaaand learned that we could get closer after a short, but terrifying ride on a tarabita.  Javier and I had taken a tarabita a few times in Mindo.  This one was particularly large and open.  There was some discussion of the obvious safety limitations in design and structure of the contraption, but Mom and Dad were troopers...

Braving the tarabita in the rain!!
I have such adventuresome parents!!

the view up close was totally worth it!
(as was the coffee we got at the little cafe to warm up a bit)

Our next stop was Pailon del Diablo.  It is the largest waterfall in Banos and boasts a rock in the shape of a Devil's face (which is where it gets its name).  The rain had still not let up and the hike down to the falls was at least 30 minutes, but our crew agreed it was worth it.  The hike down wasn't too bad and the intensity of the falls at the bottom was amazing.  We were actually able to get up close to the waterfall which was very wet and kind of scary.  Then we crossed this clearly secure and safe bridge to have a picturesque view.

We made it down to Pailon del Diablo!

pictures just don't capture how strong this waterfall is!

That night we had a lovely dinner on the patio of the Swiss Bistro!

Mom and Dad were fans of the little patio at our hotel (Hotel Volcano) but missed the message that 'on time' in Ecuador means 10-15 minutes late always.  They arrived promptly at 7 for breakfast to learn that the coffee wasn't even ready...

We wanted to swing by (pun intended) the swing at the end of the world on our way out of town and stopped at a spot that looks out over Banos before making it to the top.
What a handsome looking couple taking in the sights of the Andes!

Daddy-o swinging off the end of the world!

Mommy Mommy taking her turn (and turning around to give the camera a smile)

This is the woman who asked me about a safety harness the first time I went...NO HANDS!

Daddy-o tipping his hat to the clouds

We wanted to make it back to Quito in time for the Good Friday parade that we had heard about from other teachers that attended last year.  Ecuadorians take Holy Week pretty seriously and Quito in particular is one of only two cities in the world that still performs the dragging of the capes ceremony.  The parade on Good Friday (or Procession of Jesus of Great Power) was to include several characters reenacting Jesus' walk to crucifixion and those taking on the punishments he endured as an act of contrition.  We barely made it to the parade and the streets were very crowded with onlookers.  

The purple robes and hoods are supposed to hide the identities of those sinners seeking penance. 

Several participants were carrying crosses, some covered in barbed wire.  It's a pretty intense scene to witness.  We didn't stay long.

For lunch we went to Vista Hermosa to try some traditional Ecuadorian cuisine and take in the beautiful views.
We got some empanadas, ceviche and Javier tried fanesca, a soup only available during the Easter holiday.

Great view of the Basilica!! 

After lunch we took a quick walk to some of the churches close by in Centro Historico to see the floral crosses they place in front of them during holy week.  They were really beautiful.  The streets were crowded with folks enjoying the festivities.  

We had our big fancy dinner at Zazu on Friday night.  All (well except maybe Javs) were thankful for the English menus!  And the food was delicious too!!