Ecuador: 16,000 to Sea Level

From 16,000 feet on Cotopaxi to the beaches of Canoa, the last ten days have been a whirlwind of adventure.

Overlooking the Refugio Jose F. Ribas and a stinted view of Cotopaxi, with Volcan Antisana in the distance

You may be curious about the photo of the cow carcass that was posted earlier. . .  a cow ate too much clover and died in the night on the Chiriboga farm a few days ago. Since it died from natural causes the owners were able to sell the meat for salchichas. So watch out when you eat those hot dogs! The same morning 5 cute little puppies were born.

Cotopaxi

One beautiful Saturday Connie, Victoria, Sofia and Mercedes' girls hopped in the car for Cotopaxi. The sky was clear and beautiful this time, so Ryan and I were able to hike to the refugio where serious climbers stop to make their ascent of the beautiful volcano.

A Panorama on Puente San Francisco, Banos

Enjoying the Thermal Baths in Banos

The next day we left for Banos de la Agua Santa at the base of Volcan Tungurahua, known for its thermal baths, beautiful waterfalls and amazing landscape. We spent a few days there just relaxing and enjoying the hot baths, and our last full day we biked roughly 40km, from Banos to Mera, a small town at the edge of the Amazon. The road paralleled a lush green canyon with gushing waterfalls including la Cascada el Pailon del Diablo.

The canyon along our bike ride

Overlooking the Amazon and Mera

From there we returned back to Machachi for the night and the next morning Victoria took us to Canoa, a beautiful beach town. We spent 4 days lounging on the beach at Hotel Bambu, reading, having fun with Sofia and Victoria, and reading some more. Yesterday we arrived in Manta for a quick look at that coastal Port town. We were packed in to a bus for a short 2 hour ride, and three buses later and a lot of faith put in to the ayudantes, we arrived at our destintion. Along the way we were surprised to see the girl smashed between us was carrying two baby chicks in a black plastic bag. It was only less surprising because the woman across from me had a love bird named Loco perched on her chest. This would be why they are called chicken buses I suppose!

Ceviche Mixta, so yummy!

On the beach in Canoa

Bringing a fish to the Market in Playa Turqui, Manta

After roaming the morning fish market on Playa Tarqui  today we hopped on a bus for Puerto Lopez and here we are!