Its been a long time since I’ve posted!! The whole month of January I was traveling in the sierran region of Ecuador.
Tessa finally arrived in Guayaquil after her flight was delayed 8+ hrs from Brazil. The next day we flew to Quito and spent two days exploring the beautiful centro historico in downtown Quito. My favorite part of our time in Quito was walking up the spiral staircases to the top of the Basílica del Voto Nacional. Voto Basilica is the largest neogothic basilica in the “New World” and is noted for its gargoyles in the form of native Ecuadorian animals (armadillos, iguanas, and Galapagos tortoises).
After two days of exploring Quito, we took a bus to Cayambe, the town where I was trained as a Peace Corps Volunteer. We visited with my host family in Paquiestancia, milked cows, rode horses to a waterfall and explored the different communities around Cayambe.
Our second week in the sierra we visited two Peace Corps volunteers in their sites in the northern province of Imbabura. We traveled to see Ben in Cahuasqui where he is serving as a Youth and Families Volunteer. We also stayed with Marisa in Ibarra, another volunteer from my omnibus. Half way through the week we took a flight from Quito to Cuenca, which is in the southern part of the sierra. The first night that we got to Cuenca we went to go watch two of my Peace Corps friends at open mic nite at a bar called Inca Lounge.
Over the course of the two weeks we traveled to 8 cities, stayed in 4 hostels, took 10+ bus rides, hungout with 11 peace corps volunteers in their sites and spent more than 50+ hrs hiking/ walking. Overall, it was trip of a lifetime with my sister. Tessa is currently off traveling in the Dom. Republic….and then Cuba and Thailand….Quite the world traveler!
Here are some pictures from our two weeks in the Andes.
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and some videos too!!
