October 12-13
The first Friday in October was a holiday for Guayaquil, so we decided to go to the Jungle. The city where we went was Misahualli. We left about 9:30 in the morning and then stopped to get snacks about half way through the trip!
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| This is the junk food that I love!!! I am addicted to those chips. |
When we were about an hour out of Misahualli we went to a zoo that had the animals of the jungle! It was so cool! We were literally up close and personal, the animals were about 3 feet from them. Santi loved it, he's in the stage of acting like an animal..it was so cute watching him coming up to the next animal and him either acting like that animal or freaking out that they had one there. There were lions there.....the closest any of us have ever been to one, and the closest I think I'll ever want to be near one. I don't it helped that the guys who worked there were arousing them and getting them mad.
These are Ecuadorian Jungle Lions!! The guy in blue was one
the guys who got the lions riled up..he would shake the fence!!!
I wanted to bring one of these home, they were so cute!!
He's 150 and still young!
movie quote
The smallest elephant!!!! :)
When we finally got to the hotel in Misahualli, we got our rooms, and we set out to Robert's house. He's the school coordinator to the sister school of Montebello. We were there for a few hours, then went back to the hotel and had dinner. The dinner we had was Richard's favorite. A creamy soup from a vegetable that I can't think of at the moment! It was really good...especially when you put some popcorn into it. Yes, it sounds really weird and possibly gross, but surprisingly it was really good!!! (Mom don't be surprised if I start doing it) We ate at 6 and by 7:45 I was in the bed. I was so tired and plus wanted to have some energy for the next day because all I knew was that I was going to be seeing Misahualli.
My comfy bed....and no lie!!!
This was outside my room! It was a mini courtyard!!
The next day we went to Roberts house to pick two of his boys and they went with us to visit the city! We went to a village named Kamak Maki. It took about a 5 minute boat ride out to this village. It was really cool because it was not only a village but also a museum! There were animals, little huts, they talked about the different medicines that came from the trees, how they hunted, the typical clothing, musical instruments, ritual stones, and ceramics. We had a native guide from the community, and he told us of the old uses of these instruments of survival. I got to hold a parrot on a stick! It got kinda heavy after 2 minutes....I don't know if it was me being weak or the fact that my hand was at the end of the stick and it was jabbing into my hand.
After we docked, we got some ice cream and went back to the hotel to check out. Next we went to the Avatar tree. That's what Richard calls it! It was all curvy and it's roots were about as big as me!! The base was huge...I don't even know how to estimate it. After we took the boys back to Robert's house to drop off the boys. While we were there we met a missionary American family. It was like music to my ears to not only here English, but English with a southern accent!! The campus has two cabins, the school, and Robert's house. They were living in one of the cabins. We left and headed home! But before we got home we stopped in Papallacta. They are known for their hot springs. It was so amazing...you are warm in the water, but outside its freezing. The spot where we were was in the valley of two mountains, so you got the steam and the mountains as your view...nothing could compare to that!!! I am so mad I didn't take any pics, so sorry!! :(
Junior, Me, and Anthony!
On the canoe boat going to the village.
Me holding the parrot with our guide...he was singing hoping
the bird would start dancing!!
HAHAHA and I had just washed these, the first step I take out
of the canoe and I step into a huge pile of mud.....of course that
would happen to me!!
Water, Earth, and Sky!! Doesn't more beautiful than that :)
After we docked, we got some ice cream and went back to the hotel to check out. Next we went to the Avatar tree. That's what Richard calls it! It was all curvy and it's roots were about as big as me!! The base was huge...I don't even know how to estimate it. After we took the boys back to Robert's house to drop off the boys. While we were there we met a missionary American family. It was like music to my ears to not only here English, but English with a southern accent!! The campus has two cabins, the school, and Robert's house. They were living in one of the cabins. We left and headed home! But before we got home we stopped in Papallacta. They are known for their hot springs. It was so amazing...you are warm in the water, but outside its freezing. The spot where we were was in the valley of two mountains, so you got the steam and the mountains as your view...nothing could compare to that!!! I am so mad I didn't take any pics, so sorry!! :(
The dirt road!......
The really dirty road!.....
Definitely in the Jungle!!
The Avatar tree. It literally takes up the pic!
Little huts on the side of the road.
You would see waterfalls randomly in the mountain side.
It got foggy really fast! Can't even see down the mountain!!!
This doesn't capture the gorgeous sunsets that Ecuador, but love how the
shows between the hills!
