Last day in the jungle

Bittersweet leaving the jungle, the friends who went with us were an absolute joy to travel with, so enthusiastic about everything and fun folks. Our guides, both driver and boat guide were very interesting people and loved to hear their stories. The last day we awoke to sprinkle and it stayed thruout the morning. We finally had to wear our rain ponchos on the boat trip back to the van. 

The little porch on the "matrimonio" cottage,  where we spent a lot of time in the evening.

Beautiful little setting,  could have spent more time, but we were all ready to head back to the beach.

The trip, which included driver from Quito, lodging along the way, and the three days in the jungle was around $500 per person, what an amazing adventure. Thanks Mom!

Wildlife we saw on the way home.  We stopped at a hotspring on our way back to Quito, much needed for our tired bodies. And saw such beautiful scenery as we went back up thru rain forest and cloud forest and then back down again into the valley of Quito. This little countey never ceases to amaze me...so stay tuned, the adventure continues!

River trip part 2

Wow, first sorry for the massive delay...

So, we awoke for breakfast,  and got right on the river. We did not really get to see much in the way of animals or birds, not sure why but the weather was great!.

One time the guide stopped it was to show us a tiny monkey...

We didnt see him, but saw where they make tiny holes in the tree trunk and suck the sap out. The pygmi monkey. We also did not see the sloth... but yall know what sloths look like,  to us, he was curled up in a ball in the tree limbs. One we did see a lot of was the stinky turkey. 

And when the people went for the sunset cruise and night walk they saw the pink river dolphins.  I was not ready to get back in the boat after only a quick pit stop, so opted to stay back and have happy hour with friends, choices...

We went to a local village and saw a Shaman (by canoe of course) He gave us demonstrations of healing/cleansing rituals and told of life deep in the jungle.  Years of training on medicinal plants and bringing up apprentices, bartering and trading and taking care of ones neighbor.

Also saw a local woman harvest yucca and make yucca flour and then cooked us a tortilla with it...one thing that surprised me, they said yucca was not native to Ecuador, hmmm. 

No spices, no oil just the heat bound the starch together, could have been better, and such a lot of work.

I mentioned great weather, it was beautiful and had been raining 10 days straight before we got there. Good thing we had boots.

One more night then we head out,  not looking forward to the loooong ride, but worth the trip. Stay tuned, the adventure continues. 

Mom's annual visit

My mom comes from California every year, and we do something different.  This year a friend of mine mentioned a cool Amazon river trip, so we asked a couple other friends and made it happen. Four of us left from San Jacinto by bus to Quito...wow, 8 hours later we finally arrived. Beautiful scenery but a looooong day.

Next day after early coffee,  our tour guide and two other ladies picked us up and off we went. We had a full day of travel by van, ugh...sure wish we hadn't spent all day the day before on the bus. The area we were traveling had had some serious land and rock slides due to rain, so we got to see some really horrific sights, of course that meant some wonderful waterfalls too. The road was closed to trucks, so the usual stop for lunch was closed, so we pressed on til about 4:30 where we stopped for the night.

After a good nights sleep and breakfast we again took off East. Finally we got to the boat launch...where we waited...and waited,  and waited. 

We were waiting for a couple more people for our canoe, finally we were loaded and ready for...a couple hour boat ride, yippee!

We did see an Anaconda, very small and maybe some birds, but it was an uneventful long boat ride, and we were all very ready to not be sitting down!

The Eco lodge we stayed in had several little cabins, solar panels for some electricity and hot water, but for the most part off the grid! Everything came in by canoe. We had no wi fi, and could only charge our devices from 6-10pm when it was lights out! And wow, was it dark!! So, after what seemed like weeks getting there, we were finally in the Amazon (but it really wasnt, hahaa) 

More to come, so stay tuned...the adventure continued!

What have I been up to?

My mom recently asked if everything was ok, she had not seen a blog post, in well...a while! Life just runs one day into the next, and then a whole month has gone by, wow! For most of May I was house and dog sitting,  doing some painting and sewing projects and hair.

While in San Clemente house sitting I had some projects to do, while a local artist was doing another mural. 

And Francisco's latest...

What an amazing talent he is! Jealous!!
I also made a new sign for them, as the first one I made was fading, and just not as bright.

Another friend moved into a new place, so I made her a sign too.

Sewing project was dog bed slipcover,  and did some dog bone shaped toys out of the  fabric scraps, but they did not last long

Always something to keep my occupied, even if its just a book on the patio. Mom visits next month, and we have a real excursion planned, so...stay tuned, the adventure continues!

Ecuadorean Easter

Semana Santa is a big deal in Ecuador. (Holy Week) Our local church had remodeling done recently and had services starting on Thursday night.  Friday morning the procession of the cross started at the Boca and they walked to San Clemente.  

There are "stations of the cross" set up along the way, and the devout stop and pray. Some people dress the parts and act out small scenes.

At the end many go back to the church and have a service. Many businesses were closed on Friday and the weekend beach goers was smaller than usual. 

School here in Manabi starts again after Easter, so many families were busy getting ready. The weekend was also about life, and many ecuadorean enjoyed family day at home. No Easter baskets filled with jellybeans or chocolate bunnies here, no colored eggs...but stay tuned, the adventure continues. 

House sitting

One of the great opportunities I have now is house and dog sitting, I get to stay in different places and houses and get paid! I only charge $15 a day, but have realized I may need to up my prices for multiple dogs or challenging dogs. This last one was a handful. But the house and location was beautiful and worth it!

The couple recently sold this house on the beach in "Crucita" and were traveling to see where they wanted to move to next. Ocean front has its problems and they were ready for something else. I ask the owners to stock the fridge and cupboards for me as not all of the houses are close to towns or tiendas, this was one of those. Probably 3 miles from the Boca going north and 1-2 miles south til one got to a town center. And this was still a very small town, not Crucita proper.

Perry and I always go a head of time, to meet the dog and make sure we all get along,  so far we havent met a dog we didnt like. (We may not like them by the time their parents come home, hahaa) This is Wolfie, a 3 year old German Shepherd who for the first couple days would hump Perry every minute, thankfully that subsided. But he was big, loud and required daily walks on the beach and showers after.

Beach walks everyday was the easy part, we all had a wonderful time. And had a very relaxing 5 days away. I did a lot of sitting on the patio reading and watching the waves and sun.

What a wonderful place. I am so blessed and thankful for my life. Since the weather in the States is warming up, more expats are traveling so my house sitting jobs have started back up. I am booked almost all of May and into June...so stay tuned, the adventure  continues!