Helloooo
all,
Well,
I think this is going to be my last letter while I am here! Tomorrow
I leave with my class at nine in the morning to visit the Galapagos
Islands for ten days. I'm absolutely pumped to go, not to mention,
I've traveled with a bunch of the people in the class before, so I
know that I'll have a great time with them. When I'm done with my
Galapagos trip, I'm in Quito for just one more day before I hop on a
plane and come back! Although it will be sad to leave Ecuador, I
miss you all loads and want to come back to see everyone, so... I'm
super excited to return!
These
past couple days have been absolutely amazing. After taking my last
real final, I flew to the south of Ecuador to a little spa-town
surrounded by mountains called Vilcabamba (can you imagine a better
place to go after taking finals?)
We
went on a hike every day. The first day we did part of the Izcayluma
Loop (that was the name of our hostel). It was a very pretty hike up
the mountain, and the views once we got to the point we went to were
almost 360 degrees around us. We felt like we could see everything.
The second day we did a more relaxed hike around a little valley, and
got to stop in a town along the way (which took about one minute to
walk through). After our hike the second day, we went into town and
got facials, which was interesting. They only cost seven bucks for
an hour long facial, so we figured why not! The last day was by far
the most rewarding. Although our legs felt like they were going to
fall off from the first couple days of hiking, we felt like we
couldn't pass up the opportunity.
So
Laura and I set off on our own to do the Mandango Loop. The map
provided by our hostel warned us that the hike was only for
experienced hikers, and that we should not do it when it's windy out.
Well, we weren't really sure how we would classify ourselves as
hikers, and it was really windy that day. But a couple friends (who
we strangely met up with at the hostel) had done the hike the day
before and highly recommended it, so we were determined. The only
thing they told us to be careful of were the attack dogs that you had
to ward off with rocks towards the end of the hike. Hmmm. But
anyway, we got to the beginning of the trail, paid a dollar at this
little booth thing (which is the entrance fee as well as the fee for
a bottle of water... but they were out of water at the time), and set
off. The beginning of the hike was super steep. We were getting to
the top (and therefore the amazing views) quickly though, so we
didn't complain. After about 45 minutes, we had gotten to the first
cross, which was the first trail marker on our map. The views were
breathtaking!! After resting for a bit, we continued on to the
second cross. We didn't think it could get better after the first
cross, but after climbing up rocks and scaling across ledges of the
cliff (that could not have been more than 2 feet wide in some
places), we mad it, and it was unbelievable. A nice German guy and
his grandson happened to be there too, so they took our picture for
us, which was nice.
After
the second cross, the views did not get any worse. We ended up
hiking along the very top ridge of the mountain for about an hour.
It was like being on top of the world!! We hiked on and on through
the heat (it was reeeally warm that day, so thank God for the
forceful gusts of wind that made me think I was going to be thrown
off the cliffs, they helped a LOT). After about three hours of
hiking, we found a path that took us back down. We walked through a
couple pastures, luckily did not encounter the attack dogs, and ended
up following this little stream for a long time. I thought we were
lost for a while... as the road didn't show up as soon as I had
thought it would, but eventually we found it and were home free! We
then went back to our hostel, ate, and got massages. What the life.
After that, we went back into town to take a bus to Loja, where we
got on another bus for 14 hours, which took us to Quito. Luckily,
I've become pretty pro at sleeping on overnight Ecuadorian busses, so
the ride was just fine for me.
I've
put more pictures up!! Here's the link:
Hope
you enjoyed... sorry I can't write more, I have a lot to do before I
leave tomorrow morning for Galapagos, so I've got to get going, but
hopefully I'll talk to you all soon!!!
Miss
you all!
Love
always,
Jenna
