Guys Weekend

Some had Cabins, Others Tents

Hammock City

About two weeks ago, we had our annual guys trip. Every year, the teachers from our school get together and plan some sort of trip. Last year we took a big bus all the way down to the beach and hung out there for a few days. This year we decided to stay a little closer to home and go to the town of Banos.

Bonding in the Woods

Banos is one of the more famous areas in Ecuador, and one that I had heard a lot about but hadn't been to yet. It is supposed to be famous for its outdoor adventure activities such as zip lining and white water rafting. Well, there were plans for all of that but due to my feeling sick (refer to the moldy apartment post if you want to know why) and a releasing of the river's dam leading to murky water, none of that happened.

So Many Lawn Games

Instead, we drove down on our bus and got to our little cabin areas where we proceeded to spend the rest of the weekend grilling, playing lawn games, reading, sleeping in hammocks, and generally enjoying each others company. At night, we went into the towns to see the restaurants and the town itself, but it was a very low key and relaxing weekend all in all.

More Mountain Climbing

*Note: This trip took place months ago, right before the big earthquake. Circumstances dictated it wasn't a good time to talk about the awesome time we had during all of that. This is an outdated, but still solid rendition of a good time we had.

Recently, Shannon and I have been getting out into the outdoors a bit more. I mean, we live in a city that is surrounded by mountains, volcanoes, crater lakes, and all sorts of other magnificent outdoorsy stuff. Better yet, the proximity to the sun mixed with the high altitude makes it pleasantly cool here all the time. What a recipe for comfortable living outdoors.

Anyway, we've been doing a lot more outside stuff including hikes, swims, runs, and other general outdoor jaunting. Recently, we drove up on a Friday afternoon to the Otavalo area for a bit of hiking. We stayed at a hacienda up in the mountains surrounded by garden fanciness and all of that. The food was delicious, the scenery beautiful, and the price was cheap.

We set out Saturday morning for a nice hike around Cuicocha, a crater lake nearby that Shannon and I had hiked around with her sister Meagan. We decided to go the back way to avoid the main park entrance since our friends had dogs with them and...you know, no dogs in national parks. So we started walking up a street to go the back way and ended up hoping into the back of a pickup truck that took us the remaining way to the secret entrance to the back of the park.

Walking Around Cuicocha

The views were breathtaking and the hike was easy and level. We met some random farmers along the way who fed us some freshly picked mortinos (South American version of blueberries) and we continued on our way. In typical Shannon fashion, she thought the blueberries were her way in to the vast world of eating wild berries. My inner Boy Scout scolded her for eating strange foreign berries but she was determined. Shortly after, I found her with her cheeks full and a guilty smile on her face.

After about an hour of hiking, a guide came by and kicked the dogs out. One of our friends had to go back the other way with them and meet up with us later. We finished the hike a few hours later and drove over to the town of Cotacachi for lunch. Cotacachi is the town famous in Ecuador for its leather artisans. I bought myself a few belts on the way back to the car and we went back to the hacienda where we had some more food and a little wine as we read in the hammocks and relaxed post-hike.

Post-Hike Hangout

The following morning we woke up early and went to the car to go to a different hike, Fuya Fuya. Fuya Fuys is a very short but very challenging hike in terms of its steep incline. The hike was a total of two and a half hours up and back but was beautiful with the crisp and cold wind and fog rolling through the valley throughout the hike. Although the fog did prevent a beautiful opportunity at a vista when we got to the top.

At the Foot of Fuya Fuya

It was a great weekend all around and just another example of how much Ecuador has to offer, especially in terms of outdoor living.

Summit

Moving on Up/Down in the Valley

First I want to say again, there was an earthquake early this morning on the coast of Ecuador. We are alright. Please send your thoughts and prayers to those involved. Information is still coming regarding the severity of the earthquake so we have no idea as to the extent of the damage. Only that this was a 6.7.

Now to catch you all up on where we've been.

You may remember, if you are an avid reader of this blog (or at least somewhat consistent) that we recently endured another rainy season in March/April. I woke up at 4:30 one morning to find that our carpet had become a used beach towel in dryness and feel.

Well we got our rug cleaned and continued to live our lives. After about two weeks I got really sick with some sort of respiratory thing that I just couldn't shake. I stayed home from school and rested on the couch and it wouldn't go away. Then Shannon got it. Boom! Light-bulb moment of realization. Sometimes it takes us a bit to connect the dots on the seemingly obvious. Our home was infested with mold from the rain invasion. By attempting to stay home and rest on the couch, I was lying down in the very petri dish of rotting wall spores.

Cut it all Out!

We got a hold of our landlord, who didn't want to pay to have a worker come out and look at our place, so we called our own. Low and behold, our cement wall behind the couch was rotting away and would have to be cut out and replaced. Our ceiling had similar damage. Best of all, our hard wood floors would have to be cut up because the mold had taken hold of that area too. Our living room was a rotting, decaying swamp of moisture and sickness, but with paintings!

Our repair guy said it would be about 2 full weeks of work, 9-5 Monday through Friday. Then it would be three more weeks before the walls could be repainted. We called our landlord again with an estimate for repairs, but had already decided to get out of there. We didn't want to continue to inhale toxic mushy wall remnants so we began to look elsewhere and told our landlord we were leaving.

Storage and Fireplace

Kitchen Space for Days

By divine intervention, or simple coincidence, a teacher at our school had a sister who was renting out an apartment. Furnished. In a nice area. We went that night to look at it and we moved within a week.
Now, we are happily settled in to a new apartment with grass and a yard. It is relatively close to school, and it's beautifully surrounded by gardens and fruit trees. We made out pretty well. Plus, BONUS, there aren't parts of the house decaying as we live in it. WIN!

Our Front Yard