Day 12 - Travel day to Guayaquil

We spent a lot of time on the bus again today, but it was a good day overall. We left the Pacific Coast around 8:30, and drove about 3 and a half hours to our "swanky" hotel in Guayaquil (Oro Verde). We could not check in yet, so we left our luggage here and were off in the bus to get to lunch. We ate at a place called Lo Nuestro. We had a fancy lunch and even had cold drinks! We have not had any ice on this entire trip!

After lunch, we got back on the bus to drive to Old town Guayaquil, to a place called Las Penas. This is where the old city of Guayaquil was founded. We climbed up 485 stairs on Santa Ana Hill, to the top of a lighthouse where we could overlook the city from there.
 Picture of our group at the top of the lighthouse:

 Picture of Santa Ana Hill from closer to the river (to show how high we climbed!):

We walked along the Guayas River for some time, walking past a playground, city shops, vendors, and a boardwalk area. We also walked to a town square in front of a fancy church. We were completely surprised to see land iguanas walking all over the square! What a shock, but cool, too.

We were on our own in the hotel tonight, so we split up to do different things. Some ordered pizza, others had room service, others went to one of the hotel restaurants. We need our rest, since we have to be in the hotel lobby ready to go to the airport at 6:45am. Our flight to the Galapagos Islands leaves at 8:40, so we need to be on time. :)

Day 11 - Isla de la Plata (Island of Silver)

Today was another fun day, but let me start by saying, "No whales." :(  We sort of saw them - Dr. Campbell saw a big splash as one crashed back to the ocean, and we saw 2 blow hole fumes. But no whale. Maybe in the Galapagos Islands.

We started our tour at about 8:00, driving to Puerto Lopez and boarded a boat to take us to the island. We could only fit 16 passengers in the boat, so Dr. Campbell and our driver Dinelo had to ride in a separate boat with other visitors, and we were separated the entire day. The ride took about 1 hour 20 min (about 45 km) to reach the island and we had a wet landing to get off the boat.  We hiked up the "blue" trail, after climbing about 170 steps to where the trails split off.

 Students giving the "Goya" stare...

This was the first time students saw blue footed boobies and frigate birds. Quite beautiful, especially when you can see them up close. A blue-footed booby turning his head to watch us..

 Frigate birds: female on the left, male on the right, puffing out his red chest. The female chooses the one she thinks has the best red chest.

We walked around for over an hour, up and down the slopes of the cliffs, then back down to the boat docking site. We climbed back on the boat and saw some green sea turtles hanging around the boat - awesome!

We then had a small lunch of sandwiches, watermelon and Coke, and drove to the other side of the island to snorkel. Most people jumped, and everyone who did got stung by jelly fish. Only 3 students were left out snorkeling - Taylor, Evan and Logan. The rest of us stayed on the boat, away from the jellyfish, and got to climb to the top to watch for whales (and again, we did not see any).

Once we were all back on the boat, we rode back to town, did a little shopping as we waited for the second boat to return to shore, then came back to the hotel. Some went swimming in the pool, hanging out in the lodge, etc. Dinner was at 7:00, and we had hamburgers and french fries!!! Yum!!! Before dinner, I asked each of the students to write a quote. Can you guess which is your student?
"Fear overpowers the deet!"
"The WeeFee isn't working"
"Can I order guinea pig on my pizza?
"Sarcasm is alive and well on this trip."
"The ocelot takes the cake in November."
"Is that a toucan?"
"First stop in Ecuador, the Ecuador."
"Can we play Bio would you rather?"
"The fact that moths fly to lights because they think it's the moon makes me so overwhelmingly sad."
 "Dr. Campbell, have you ever been arrested?" (The answer was NO)
"Last night, the cat crawled through our window and pounced on my head through the mosquito net! It was terrifying!"
"I wonder if these guinea pigs know they are delicious?!"
"Stop the bus! Like right now, I need to take a picture of that bird!"
"Hey, can I focus that for you? ;)"

Answers to come in a few days! :)

Day 10 - Beaches on the Pacific Coast

Today was an awesome day! I feel sure if you ask the students, that would be a unanimous opinion! We had breakfast at our hotel, then off to the first beach around 8:30. We drove about 30 min to the Machililla National Park. We walked along the beach, climbed some rocks to a cave, took a hike to a "mirodor" and had fun swimming in the ocean. And yes parents - wore lots of sunscreen! Some students even made the HPU Panther in the sand! Way to go Taylor, Brianne, Halley, Adam and Lauren (and their cheering squad)!

 At the "mirador" - ledge that overlooks the ocean:

Above - Logan and Evan investigating the wild life...

We left this beach around 12:30 to go to lunch at Montayara Lodge. We got to go swimming in their pool (pretty awesome) and infinity hot tub that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. It was hard to get them moving for our next stop!

We split into 2 groups at this point. One group got off at our hotel to walk the beach, go for a run, or just take a nap.  The other group (my group) went to another town about 30 min away called Montanita. This was a surfer town, with lots of beach vendors and a little mini-market. Some walked the beach and others went shopping. We met back at the bus around 5:30 to head back to the hotel, and saw a howler monkey climbing a tree along side the road. What a unique find (yes, this is actually my picture!)!

Before dinner, some walked to the ocean to see the sun set (every day at 6:15pm), so that makes a total of 3 beaches in one day!!! Dinner was at 7:00, and we ate pizza and ice cream.  Wow - just like back home.  After dinner, we just hung out to talk, or go to bed early. We have another full day of activities on the Pacific Coast.  Here is a picture of the students sitting the the main lodge part using the WiFi before dinner:

Day 9 - Travel day to the Pacific Coast

Today was a long day of riding on the bus. We got up and had breakfast AT 6:30, then left the lodge in Mindo by 7:00. We traveled West through Ecuador, and stopped about 2 hours into the trip at an African Palm Tree farm, owned by our guide's friend, Xavier. We got to see the tall palm trees and learn about their uses. The owner sells the palm fruit to the processing companies that will make the palm oil. The trees last about 30 years, and will make fruit every year. After that time, they chop them down to plant new ones. The new ones will be ready to make new fruit after 3 years. Pretty neat to see these up close.

We got back on the bus for a long drive. We stopped about every 2 hours, and even ate lunch on the bus. We headed West through Ecuador, then traveled down the Via del Sol (road of the Sun) toward our destination of Ayampe. Below is a picture of what they use for taxis in the small ocean towns:

We finally arrived at the hotel around 5:00pm. We checked into our rooms/cabins, then met up for a walk down to the beach. The sand is darker than we expected, but the water was warm (for those that wanted to swim in the ocean). As promised, my picture of the group on the beach:

 The sun set on our first day at the Pacific coast:

Supper was at 7:30, so most just talked and used WiFi until then in the lodge area. Today is Taylor's 21st birthday, so we had the hotel bring a cake for her to celebrate. Happy Birthday, Taylor!

After supper, the sky was extremely clear, so we hung out on the upper deck to look at the stars. Since we are now in the Southern hemisphere, we do not see the same constellations as we see from home. Pretty awesome! Tomorrow we hike the Machalilla National Forest, and swim at some beaches. Don't worry - we have plenty of sunscreen to go around!

Day 8 - Mindo, Ecuador

Good evening! Today was a little less strenuous than the others, since we only had a morning hike around the grounds of our lodge. We met at 7:00 for breakfast (yes, all of your children were up at AND ready by that time) then went to our hike around 8:00. We saw some more native plants, walked down some pretty steep trails, then up some more steep trails. We crossed a really pretty water fall/bridge area. At the top of a hill, our guide surprised us by pulling out a rope swing! Very cool! We all took turns swinging and yelling like Tarzan (no, not really, only some yelled). After the hike we had several hours to relax, swim in the pool, read, walk around the other parts of the lodge area to see birds and flowers, or take a nap.

 Above - picture on the bridge during our hike; Below - picture of the waterfall (taken by Hannah)

Above: Dr. Crater swinging in the trees; Below, lunch outside at our lodge, overlooking the valley.

After lunch, we went for a drive into the nearby town called Mindo. This area is well known for activities such as rafting, tubing, zip-lining, bird watching and a butterfly farm. We rode around the small town and stopped to tour a chocolate "factory." It is not what you would think of as a factory, since it started as a restaurant, and they developed it into a factory with small tours. We saw what happens to the cocoa (pronounced here like ku- COW) plants, how they ferment and dry the seeds, where the roast the seeds and break them into little pieces (called nibs). From there they melt it in a hot room and mix it with sugar and then the cold room where they separate it into bars. We got to peek into some of the rooms through glass windows  - reminded us of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!"  At the end, we got to taste some 100% chocolate, mix it with some sugar or ginger or chili peppers. We also tasted chocolate honey. At the end, we got a small chocolate fudgey brownie that was like heaven!

After the tour, we bought some souvenirs for home, and got back on the bus. We went into another nearby town, Los Bancos and visited another hostel, Mirador Rio Blanco that overlooks a nearby canyon.  We got a chance to walk around a little, see some birds and buterflies, and talk to some other Americans that were staying at this hotel on a bird-watching trip. They had some pretty extensive camera set-ups that made several of our students quite jealous!

We left for our lodge, had dinner, and relaxed in the lodge. Since this is only place with WiFi, students seem to be hanging out here more than in their cabins. Some are playing games, shooting pool, or reading. We have a VERY early morning tomorrow - breakfast at 6:30am and on the road by 7:00. We have an 8 hour drive to the coastal lowlands, and will be stopping along the way for one excursion.  Hopefully on the next blog I can show pictures of the beaches! Yeah!

Some silly pictures of today...:
Kara, Tia, Skylar, Evan and Logan in one of the cabins:

Above: Taylor and Brianne with chocolate "stuck" in their teeth; Below, our version of "blue footed boobies" outside of the Galapagos Islands... (can you guess whose feet are whose?)

Day 7 - The Cloud Forest

We said good bye to Quito for 2 weeks, and traveled West to the cloud forest. We first stopped at a volcanic crater, the only one in the world where people have built a settlement. It is called Pululahua Volcano Crater.
Students taking a "selfie" at the crater...

After a short hike to see the crater (and yes, I did take a selfie with the "crater" in the background...) we got back on the bus for another hour drive to our hiking spot. We stopped at the El Pahuma Orchid Reserve. We saw several different kinds of orchids, some insects and lots of other native plants. We got another awesome surprise - a giant waterfall!!!! It seemed about 30 feet high with very strong water.

 After the hike, we rode to our hotel. Sachatamia in Mindo, Ecuador, for lunch and an afternoon excursion.  We rode the bus to an archeological site of the Yumbo native people and saw some hieroglyphics and stone ceremonial baths on the grounds near Tulipe. We learned about what the symbols mean and a little about the customs of these people (run out of the area by the Spanish invaders around the 1600s). We were followed by some local dogs that wanted to follow the bus back to the hotel.

It was a calm night, just eating supper (yeah - some celery soup and spaghetti) and hanging out in the lodge. Some were on their iPhones with the Wifi, others read, played pool, etc.  Relaxing evening, but we have to get up for breakfast at 7:00 for our 8:00 hike around the grounds.

(Adam and Brianne trying out for the PGA - pool game academy)

Day 6 - Travel day back to Quito

We are safely back in Quito after a long drive from the rain forest See the picture above, the students walking in the primary forest). Let me catch you up on what we did yesterday afternoon, then finish about today.

It did stop raining after lunch, and we set out on our hike into the rain forest. We saw all different types of native plants that are used for medicinal purposes to the native people. It was quite interesting to touch some of them, and see what other uses they can have. We had a great surprise - crossing a small "canyon" in a zip-line chair! Each student got to cross, and once on the other side got to hold the rhinoceros beetle (it was about the size of your hand!). We also ate some ants that tasted like lemon - really, we all ate them and the actually did taste like lemons! To cross back over the canyon, we walked on a swinging bridge. We finished our hike and road back to the lodge in the canoes. To cool off, most of us went for a swim in the pool - quite refreshing after the humidity of the rain forest. We ate dinner in the lodge, and many hung around to play "Heads Up!"  (Quite entertaining, I must admit!)

Today (Wednesday, May 14), we left the lodge in the rain forest, and headed back to Quito. We were supposed to stop at a town square to see wild monkeys that live in the trees, but it was raining pretty hard, and the monkeys were hiding in the trees. We hopped back on the bus to head back up the Andes. We stopped for lunch (and a bathroom break where one of the students got stuck in the bathroom...), another traditional Ecuadorian meal. Actually, most of the students ate hamburgers which I don't think is traditional Ecuador food.  For desert, we had banana with a thick chocolate sauce - YUM!!!! I loved it so much, I ate most of the students' extra sauce on their plates. I LOVE Ecuadorian chocolate!!!!

We returned to Quito at about 4:00 this afternoon for some free time in the city for dinner. Tomorrow, we start to head West to the cloud forest. I am having problems with the internet in the hotel, so I will try to post some pictures later. Sorry - I know you want to see what is going on! :(

Dinner at the lodge:

 Breakfast, saying "good bye" to Casa del Suizo:

 Walking across the Napo River to the town of Misahualli: