A Memorable Last Week in Ecuador

As I flew to Cuenca Saturday morning I only had 1 ½ days to spend with my GAIAS friends before everyone started to go their separate ways. Getting in the taxi to go back (sigh) to the airport was sad. I’ve spent 4 months with a fairly large group (34 or so, I believe) of mostly 19-21 year olds and I’ve become close to a number of them.

There’s something kind of funny that I forgot to post in my last blog. Upon arriving to Quito fro the Galapagos last Thursday, the elevation in Quito (2800m; ~9000 ft) caused me to hallucinate. I thought there were ants crawling over the sleeve of my raincoat, haha. I didn’t freak out, but kept turning it around looking for more ants until I realized there wasn’t any. I guess that’s bound to happen when you go from 0m to 2800m in a matter of a few hours. 

Flying into Cuenca reminded me of California. The rolling mountains were basically treeless and the sun was shining upon them. Domestic flights are super easy in Ecuador (and take less than one hour!!) so it wasn’t long before Jairo and I had our bags and were looking for a hostal, which we found within our first stop.

The Catedral

Cuenca, like the other cities in Ecuador, has large, beautiful churches and the Catedral is no different. To better my spanish, Jairo and I have been switching roles when we go to restaurants. I speak his native language (espanol), and he speaks mine. I came close to ordering the wrong thing one day, for instance, I almost ordered rum and cokes instead of cervezas. Funny, but no esta bien.

 

The road to Canar

Sunday we hopped a bus to Cañar, Jairo’s hometown. Our main objective was to see the Inca ruins called Ingapirca, but the icing on the cake was seeing where he grew up and meeting numerous family members.

My house is out there somewhere ;-)

These are the largest known Inca ruins in Ecuador. The most significant building is the temple of the sun, an elliptically shaped building constructed around a large rock. The temple of the sun was positioned so that on the solstices, at exactly the right time of day, sunlight would fall through the center of the doorway of the small chamber at the top of the temple. Unfortunately, most of this chamber has fallen down.

Ingapirca "The Inca Wall"

The Sun Temple

The Incas were not the first inhabitants of Ingapirca. It had long been settled by the Cañari indigenous people, who called it Hatun Cañar. The castle-complex presents an Inca-Cañari origin.

Sun Goddess

Parque Nacional Cajas

Monday we were joined by mi amiga and Anna, Jairo, and I went to the Parque Nacional Cajas, located within the Páramo. I could actually feel the pressure changes from the increasing altitude. We hiked around a beautiful lake at about 4000m. It wasn’t as bad as my first trip to the Páramo, when we drove up to 4300m and slowly (very slowly, as to prevent heart attacks) started walking down to 4100m. As I’m still on island time, I require my afternoon siesta, which is exactly what I did. I’m telling you, it’s bad. If I don’t get my nap in by the time 5pm rolls around I’m exhausted. This does make me a wonderful traveling companion for my Opa.

Mirror Image

Muy bonito!

Nuestra última noche en Cuenca :-)

The tower atop the Basilica

Tuesday meant it was time to return to Quito because….Kristen was arriving from her week-long cruise around the Galapagos! So now Kristen and I are together, running around Quito, two peas in a pod. I’ve attempted to be her guide around the city, and she tells me I’m pretty bad at it, because although I have a good idea where I’m going and can get us around, I’m really bad at explaining things. I haven’t been to Old Town Quito since August, and well, if you heard my explanation of the Ecuadorians (or someone) beating the Spaniards (or someone) for independence, you’d probably be a little confused too. Our time in Quito has involved churches, food, and late-night Irish coffees in La Mariscal with Jairo and Daniel. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of these fun events because I joined the group of people who have lost their iPhones. Mine was left in a taxi around 4am and it had many of those great late-night photos that tend to make you cringe when you look at them the next day.

Climbing stairs at 2800m can be rough...

Saturday was our last full day here in Ecuador. We spent the day at the Quito Market (which I luckily got us there on a bus I'd never been on before) and Teleferico. Jairo and I said our "see you later"'s this morning as he had to return to the Galapagos. Kristen and I leave for Chile en la noche and should be arriving in Santiago around 6am mañana en la mañana after a somewhat long layover in Bogota. So far, our plans are to spend 4 nights in Santiago, and drive up the Chilean coast to Arica for NYE (I need beach!). After that, we're on to Peru! 

Teleferico! 4100m...no problem :-)

 Saturday was our last full day here in Ecuador. We spent the day at the Quito Market (which I luckily got us there on a bus I'd never been on before) and Teleferico. Jairo and I said our "see you later"'s this morning as he had to return to the Galapagos. Kristen and I leave for Chile en la noche and should be arriving in Santiago around 6am mañana en la mañana after a somewhat long layover in Bogota. So far, our plans are to spend 4 nights in Santiago, and drive up the Chilean coast to Arica for NYE (I need beach!). After that, we're on to Peru! 

Many new adventures await us!

I’ve had an amazing time and have met such wonderful people who have enhanced my experiences on both the mainland and on the Galapagos. Ecuador is an amazing and beautiful country and I wish I'd had more time to explore more of the country. Living in the Galapagos has taught me to appreciate life for what it is; don't look to the past, instead, live in the present; slow down because I don't have to run through my life as though I'm walking down a Manhattan street; love openly, it's okay to give your heart away, no matter what the potential consequences could be. I've gotten so much out of this experience and I'm very grateful, although I feel as though I haven't given much in return. Having grown so accustomed to the culture, people, and lifestyle of Ecuador and the Galapagos, this now feels like home. I'm afraid that when I return to the U.S. I won't have a place within a society where people are constantly trying to get ahead instead of just enjoying life. I've given my heart to Ecuador, therefore I will no doubt return.