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 II

We hadn't spent much time in Quito yet and thought the best way to show Mom and Dad around town was with a hop-on-hop-off tour.  On our way to catch the trolley we stopped off to show Mom and Dad the view of the valley from the top of the Guapulo hill.

Looking out over the valley (there is another volcano you can sometimes see from here...but alas...more clouds)

First stop was the Basilica. Javier and I learned something new at this stop...the gargoyles on the Basilica are the animals found throughout Ecuador including pink river dolphins and turtles!

Staples family outside the Basilica
We didn't have time to go in, but the building is beautiful from the outside

Next stop: Plaza de la Independencia.  Mom and Dad were worried we'd be bored, but we kept learning new stuff!  Here we heard about an arrogant man that repeatedly insulted the rooster weathervane that perches on top of the Cathedral in the square until one night when he was drunk, the rooster flew down and attacked him.  Now the rooster stands as a symbol of protection in the square.

Quick stop in Plaza San Francisco!  

Mom and Dad on La Ronda.  La Ronda is a popular evening destination for salsa dancing and canelazo drinking.
(It's also a beautiful street!)

The tour also took us up the Panecillo to see the statue of the Virgin.

and gave us this gorgeous view of Quito

Saturday night dinner was at our favorite burger place: La Burguesa!  We usually order milkshakes or the artisanal beers they have on the menu....but with Mom and Dad we got BOTH!

We clean up good for Easter Sunday!

Javier found a church that held mass in English.  It was a short walk from our apartment and a really beautiful church.

inside the little church

We were worried about having a seat, but when we arrived 15 minutes before mass we were the only ones there....so we walked around and took some fun pictures.  Mass was quick, but really nice.  It was wonderful to hear some familiar songs - made it feel like Easter!!

After mass we headed off to brunch so Mom and Dad could meet the Andersons!  We really like the food at Warmi and the company wasn't bad either.  It was really nice to have Mom and Dad meet some of the people we've become close with here.

In the afternoon we headed back to Centro Historico to try to go inside La Compania (our favorite church downtown).  Typical Ecuador...we kept being told that it was opening any second....but it never did.  Instead we walked through a free exhibit of South American art.  Some of it was really cool! 

Day of the Dead art.

and Mom got a new beach hat!  (look at her wearing her backpack in front like a good Quito tourist)

We wanted to show Mom and Dad Parque Carolina.  It's one of the most beautiful parks and is packed on weekends with families playing all sorts of games and sports.  Also...look at that view.

I had made jokes about it, but we saved all the best restaurants for their visit.  When do you think you get too old to be excited about having your parents take you out?  Sunday night was italian at La Briciola.

Javier had to work on Monday, but I took the day to hang out with Mom and Dad as long as I could!  Where better to go on your last day in Ecuador than the center of the world?  Here they are, splitting two hemispheres. 

llamas!

We wanted the good picture at the big monument, but Mom and Dad had to try all the fun games at the other (supposedly more accurate) equator line.  Here we are at 00'00'00" (the other one).

Balancing an egg on a nail head...no problem for this guy!

she needed her glasses to do it...but once they were on....she got it immediately!

Picture of Mom and Dad in front of the rotunda at school
(picture added late because it could not be found...but was eventually discovered on Javier's phone)

After our equator adventures, Mom and Dad got to see our school and meet some friends.  It was just amazing to see them walking around a place that's become so familiar to me and yet so foreign to friends at home.  I think they really enjoyed seeing how our life is down here.  And truthfully, I was worried about how the trip would go, but it was just about perfect.  Mom and Dad were so go-with-the-flow about everything (like at lunch when one person's entree came out a good ten minutes before the rest....that's Ecuador).  They also seemed to really enjoy our outings and agree that Ecuador is beautiful.  We really have fallen in love with this place, so it felt great to have people I love affirm its good qualities.  I am so thankful and happy that they made the trip!