What a week of travel! Monday morning we had to be at the airport at 4:30am for our 6am flight to Cuenca. Abu and Pops missed their flight because of a baggage issue so we were off on our own. I’m so thankful we had an amazing tour guide, Peter to show us the town and get us settled. We were greeted in the airport and wisked away to a nice breakfast at the hotel. Peter took us on a walking tour of the city, to a hat making factory (Panama hats are actually made in Ecuador) and then to a nice lunch. We picked up Abu and Pops from the airport then went back to lunch. (Some of us walked back to the hotel to take a break). Pops is from Cuenca. It was so neat to be with him there and see the school named after his great grandfather and street names, Bravo Malo. We had cui for dinner…which was kina of a let down thanks to all the bones. Oh and the kids fighting. It seems to happen worst at dinner (or in a taxi/uber on the way home). The next day we explored Cajas National Park and then had a spiritual cleaning in the market. The last day we went to see Canari and Incan ruins. The Canaris are the indigenous people there before then Incas. I’m impressed with how well their cultures were integrated with music, art and even Catholicism. We toured a shaw making home and a silver shop. Abu got us all a momento. It was a special trip! We flew back to Quito that night (with views of the volcano peeks as we arrived) and Ubered to Rodrigo’s. They weren’t home so we stopped at a restaurant to pick up a key he left for us and then walked to his house. The next morning we left at 6:30 to go back to the airport. We took a quick 30min flight to Coca. A guy picked us up and helped us into a taxi to the dock. It was hard for me to understand the language out there. It had more of a Quichua dialect (the native group to the Amazon). I figured out we had a 2 hour wait for the boat to pick us up. We wandered around and had a fish lunch (our guide had palm weevils!) We finally boarded the boat, a speedboat and rode for 5 hours into the Amazon rainforest to Sasha Nampi, a resort. We learned there are about 150 people in that Quichua community. The resort is run by a family. We did a 30min night hike when we arrived. Super creepy. We watched and then joined in the family dance and then had dinner. It was amazing waking up in the rainforest the next morning. We had breakfast then got on another boat going into Peru and deeper into the Amazon. We did an hour hike seeing a 300 yr old tree and so many plants, insects and birds. We got back on the boat and cruised around seeking monkeys, birds and pink dolphins! We stopped for lunch and to let the rain pass. Then we fished for piranhas. The guide caught a baby. We stopped in to see the local shaman and got another spiritual cleaning. This one with cigarette smoke and a shot of corn liquor. We had to get up very early the next morning to catch the 6am boat ride back to Coca. It was pouring rain all morning. It took us 6 hours to get back and I was so worried we’d miss out flight! Luckily, I read Ellie’s book over her shoulder the whole way. Holding up the Universe by Jennifer Niven was a great distraction! We flew back to Quito, Ubered to Rodrigo’s. They were waiting for us with a delicious meal and Maria Elena’s newphew’s family. We all crashed early. Sunday Funday we were able to sleep in. Pops and Abu and Santiago’s family picked us all up and we went to Otavalo for the day. We stopped for a delicious breakfast enjoying the biscuit biscottis the town is known for. We went to the Peguche waterfall and then San Pablo lake. A wonderful family day together. Here are the photos of the week: https://photos.app.goo.gl/4AncPV7cAwob9zhV9
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