Ecuador #6: Otavalo and Lake Quicocha

Two of my favorite people here in Ecuador took my family up to Otavalo (Ecuador's largest market) and we also went to Lake Quicocha and the leather market nearby. It was a fun day with great company browsing the colorful streets of the market. I didn't take too many pics at the market simply because I don't find it awe-shocking anymore after living in Thailand for 3 years, sorry for the lack of them. But I got plenty of the gorgeous crater lake! Here they are: 

These pictures just don't quite do it justice but they're the best I got. 

We took one of these boats around the islands in the center of the crater.

Kind of reminds me of Thailand's beaches with green cliffs

Interesting tidbit- the water in the crater was about 5-10 degrees warmer than it should be because it is still an active volcano underneath. There are little bubbles that pop along side the boat when you dock (probably from small vents in the volcano).

On the way back we caught this amaaazing view of Cayambe mountain/volcano? (not sure which)

Just sooo GORGEOUS. 

Another wonderful day! With wonderful people!

Ecuador #5: Mindo (Amazon Rainforest)

Day 1: Chocolate Tour/ Frog Concert

We arrived in Mindo at about 3:20 or so on Friday after a gorgeous 2 hour drive there. The road was winding but it was beautifully coated with trees and gorgeous cliffs. We went to the small tourist office first and decided what all we wanted to do and picked several activities for our time there. 

This is on the drive in,  taken from a moving car... Can you saw GORGEOUS!?

Once we got there:

The first thing we did was a chocolate tour of a small company: 

The tour started with a brief explanation of how cocoa is baked/smashed/mixed into what we know as a chocolate bar. 

This bean mixer had a funny train shaped face to it. 

Step 1- crush dried cocoa beans

Step 3: Crush to chocolate powder

Step 4: Mix cocoa powder with some cocoa butter to create a solid block of baking chocolate

Then we took a tour around the crops and kitchen to see how exactly it was done. 

Drying cocoa beans and baby spice peppers for flavor 

Sugar cane for sweetening 

After all that work, here is the final product! 

The next thing we did was the Frog Concert where we toured a hosteria's 2 acre land for animals with a flash light. No pictures because it was so dark, but I loved it! Nature is so cool and we managed to be there on the 2 days a year that a certain orange eyed bug graces the rain forest with it's presence. 

Day 2: 
We did loads our second day in Mindo. We started early with an 8 am trip to the butterfly garden in Hosteria Mariposa. We were told the butterflies would be most active in the AM. It was WONDERFUL. The garden was pretty small, but we stayed in there for nearly an hour, taking pictures and browsing around the flowers covered in butterflies. The large grey/spotted ones let you hold them and have a gorgeous blue outer wing (shown below). Here are some of my pics.

Chrysalis net. We saw some butterflies hatching as we watched. Took only a few seconds for them to pop out. 

New eye

One landed on Jared's foot :D

So pretty.. nature rocks. 

One of my favorite images- that blue shine on one and the orange on the other just makes the leaf look pathetic. 

The next thing we did was hiking to a waterfall and swimming in it. Little did we know that to get to the other side of the gorge, you had to take a little cable car 300-400 feet above the air in a sketchy little contraption. It only took about 45 seconds but it was riveting.

Mom's face... Lindsey's face. I was left to stand with no seat, so imagine my face. 

River + Me =Smile. 

It really was a great hike.

We went swimming on the way back- it was pretty dang chilly.

Aaaaaand, can't post a blog without a duck face, right?

So then we hiked back up to the awesome trolley thing and went back on over to the other side to begin more fun:

Next: Ziplining over canopies :)
Now obviously I don't have a ton of photos because I was in the air and all... but here is what I have. It was a blast (even though I got eaten alive by mosquitos and still have the scars to prove it).

I'm ready... ;)

We're ready

I think this is about half way through :)

WOOOO

This was one of the funnest weekends I've ever had in my life and will probably never forget it :) Loveeee my family. P.S. this country is just gorgeous.

Ecuador #4: Mountain Biking Down Cotopaxi Volcano

 We began our trip with after an hour and a half (maybe more) drive to the Volcano out of Quito. Upon arrival at the volcano we couldn't see anything. Fog was covering what should have been a gorgeous view. It was gruelingly cold.... sleeted in the face, numb fingers, purple lips, just painful. That's how I would describe my experience mountain biking down Cotopaxi Volcano.... The weather was just the worst you could possibly ask for. The wind sliced through our thin layers and the ice shards stung our legs and faces. Even the guide admitted it was cold, and he had thermals on. Nevertheless, the day continued and here are some of my pics. We never got to see the volcano, just some surrounding peaks, but it was still enjoyable enough. Not much else to say so let's get to the pics! (I know that's what you come here for anyways).

Beginning our adventure: That is a lone man peeing off the edge of a cliff. Class and artistic, no?

When we first go to the top of the mountain..... Dad and Jared in their alpaca jackets and we are all freezing our butts off

Still kind of a pretty view, despite my numb lips

Still biking. :)

After our first 30 minutes of biking- after coming down some it was warmer and livable. 

My favorite pic of the day :) 

Whelp :) Now I can say I've done it!

Ecuador #3: Mitad Del Mundo

One of the things that most people do here in Quito is go to the center of the world (Mitad Del Mundo). We took the hour drive (or so) up there and had an enjoyable time. There is a little touristy trap place with some constructed exhibits of ancient Ecuadorian living and they do some fake tricks like balancing an egg on the equator line. The large French monument is much more impressive and the area surrounding contains some interesting little shops and restaurants. Here are some pics :)

The red line is the supposed center of the world (depending on your GPS)

Balancing an egg... I couldn't do it....... I am unfortunately no egg master :(

0.0.0.

This guy did a fun warrior dance thing for us and then had me join in. I'm basically a professional now.

A volcano crater that was mostly covered with fog. 

The flag of Ecuador :)

So then we moved on to the french monument area and here's a few snaps from that :)

I got the whole world... in my hands :)

FLY HAIR, FLLLLLY. 

Artsy fartsy.