From ziplining to holding butterflies

Hola, hola, hola! Sorry for the delay in not posting the last few days, but we have been otherwise occupied! Just want to give you a quick update and let you know we are still alive and well (for the most part)!!
Tuesday was a thrilling day indeed, with many activities for adrenaline junkies, such as we are, NOT!! Haha! Well we decided to do it all- tubing down River Mindo, zipling 10 different lines, and canyoning, which is basically rapelling down a waterfall that is about 50 ft. Needless to say, it was a thrilling day. The problem with it was that it was cloudy and drizzly the whole day, so we only had a view of clouds covering the mountains, but that is a magical view in itself. David Lansdale met us for dinner and we had pizza (we have been having lots of pizza!!). We stayed in a hostel that was less than great on tuesday night and we decided that we wont spend less than $10 for a hostel again. Lesson learned! :)
Wednesday morning, we met David at the elementary school in Mindo, and some people he has been working with on projects asked to videotape Tianne and I. So we were filmed eating a typical bread for the month of November called Guaguas de pan- they are usually either filled with cheese or guava marmelaid. In addition to this, we were filmed in the butterfly farm, feeding and holding butterflies. Then David dropped us off in Mitad del Mundo, which is the closest town to the ecuator line. We took a tour, and saw the 'trick' they play with the water going down the drain. It is not true, but it is very believable when they demonstrate it. Then, one of the friends, Andres Borja, came and picked us up and took us back to his house for meeting. We had a special meeting, but it was hard for both of us to get much out of it because even in english it is a difficult study to understand! Very special to meet more new friends, and see familiar faces from Sunday! We had dinner after meeting, and sat and visited with the very special family who had meeting in their house. We had meeting, dinner, and spent the night with the same super special family. So many wonderful visits and sweet fellowship indeed. They are very hospitable- the last name of the family is Borja.
Thursday, we had a late breakfast, and had another special visit with the Borjas. Then we took a bus to Old Town Quito and ate pizza (surprise surprise!!) and then we took a walk around the park. Then we took a tour on a double decker bus, and we got to see the central and south parts of Quito. We have mostly spent our time in the northern part of Quito. Then, we came back to the Borja's apartment and ate pizza (haha) and played Phase 10. We are headed to Ipiales, Colombia tomorrow!
Some memorable moments the last few days thats for sure! :)

What it is like to get a tour in Ecuador from a German!

Well, well, well.. where to even start with this amazing day!! We woke up to the most beautiful view from our bedroom window.... tons of trees, and flowers, and a creek running outside and there were clouds peaking over the mountains! Breathtaking after getting to our hostel in the dark!! We had a typical Ecuadorian breakfast of eggs, bread, tropical fruit, and fruit juice. We got a text from David this morning that said that one of his students from the university was here in Mindo filming for a class project promoting tourism in Mindo (it is a very small town), and wondered if we wanted to get together with him. We met up with the student, Alex, and we got to spend the whole day with him. He was born and raised in Germany but now lives in Holand going to school. He is doing an exchange semester in Quito and takes 2 classes from David. He is very well traveled, and has been many places, and has lived in the US for a year as well. So off we went to the cascades! We took a taxi and got to the top of the mountain where there is a small cable car that takes you to another mountain where the cascades are. It feels like ziplining going across in the cable. We went over the hundreds of trees!!! Unbelievable!!! It looked like a carpet of green and you are able to see the various rivers and such down below from such heights! We hiked until i thought we could hike no more!! We probably hiked for a total of 7 miles, and saw at least 5 falls!!! The view the whole way was beyond magical!! You can't describe it! :) Pictures below will show you a little of the beauty, but it is nothing like hearing the birds chirping and smelling the earth, and feeling the humidity and rain on you! It was cloudy all day today, so no sunshine for us! We got well acquainted with the exchange student of David's and it was so nice to have someone showing us the ropes, because he had been to Mindo five times before! And he spoke Spanish so that made it a lot easier!!! :) Back to the downtown (all of one street about 5 blocks long haha), and we were off to the Chocolate-making factory! It showed us the cacao plant, the cacao seed, and then all the way down to BBQ chocolate sauce! We even got free brownies too!!! The chocolate we got was so rich! It tasted like 100% chocolate!!! Then Alex showed us his favorite place to eat, and we finally got some real Ecuadorian food! Tianne ordered tilapia and got the WHOLE fish!!!! Eyeballs, teeth, bones and all!!! Yuck! But you have to try it once since we are here! Tianne said she tried it once and we didnt need to order it anymore! Haha! :)
Tomorrow is going to be an adrenaline- filled day! We are going to go tubing in the river and then we are going to go ziplining, and then we are hoping to meet up with David! So much to do still and so many fun things to look forward to as well!


Side note about the taxi video: This is a sample of a classic Ecuadorian taxi ride, we just had to share ha ha! :)

Quito Reunion, One of many special days to come :)

Today was a memorable day! We enjoyed breakfast with Ximena and the girls (Karen, Gaby, y Joanna) of delicious tostada francesa (french toast), papaya, and granola with yoghurt. Meeting was at the McClains, many special friends there including a couple from Washington, the Ellys. We enjoyed lunch at David's with many friends! Afterwards we sang hymns and Heather played the piano. The friends said they wished we wouldn't leave so we could have a chance to sing all 50 hymns that are in a hymn book pamphlet. Such a special time enjoyed by everyone there. Afterwards David kindly brought us to the bus terminal and we took a bus to Mindo! We are learning that the buses are not our favorite event of the day because of the violent films they are always rolling! No me gusta mucho. But, we have now acquired a useful friend, a Spanish dictionary! Heather is good at continuing our conversation in Spanish even when we are alone, and this means tons of practice (were talking 2 hours on the bus! and our heads almost about to explode).
Funny story of the day: This morning we went to meeting by taxi. When we were getting in, I was fighting my far-too-big pack and the driver took off! Fortunately it was a slow take-off, and I yelled  "Uno momento por favor!!!!" Not so amused in the moment, but Im alive and well so not to worry. :)
We are now in Mindo! Staying at the amazing wood resort-looking place on the edge of town. People are very friendly, and there seems to be a waterfall outside our hotel! Can't see it yet, but tomorrow will be a day to explore and hike, zipline, and take a coffee tour! :)

Los colores de Otovalo! (The colors of Otovalo)

We had a wonderful, slow-paced morning at our adorable hostel in Otovalo! We called a taxi, or rather the lady at the hostel called for us, and rode all the way to the center of Otovalo, to the Plaza de Panchos, which is full of crafts! From paintings to clothing to hammocks to scarves to little trinkets to many other things, mostly all brightly colored! The street and plaza seemed like a never ending sea of little tents, that seemed to go on and on! Of course we bought some things, and tried to be locals and barter, but we still stuck out as tourists with our huge backpacks and english accents! After the market, we caught a bus from the bus terminal, and hoped on one as it was leaving. We were so proud of ourselves for catching the correct bus and navigating through the unknown city by ourselves! The bus from Otovalo took us to the north bus terminal of quito, so we had to take another bus to the center of town! These two bus rides took a total of about 3 hours! Ximena had told us the place where we could catch the bus, and she told us to look for the bus with the green sign with yellow letters! So we were proud of ourselves again when we caught the right bus!!! Yay! Ximena met us at the bus stop and we walked up the hill to her house! We huffed and puffed as we were carrying packs, climbing hills, and being in elevation! We dropped off our big packs at her house and took the bus to the supermarket maxi. We bought many different kinds of tropical fruits! Back to Ximena's house for dinner and the night! We helped Ximena prepare dinner of 'small bull' meat, mashed potatoes, salad, and fried bananas. We had dinner with Ximena's niece and 2 friends from Ipiales, Colombia that are all living with Ximena. We are so grateful for how much Ximena has gone out of her way to help us! With her help we are able to try to experience things as a local would! Looking forward to meeting more of the friends tomorrow!

:)

El desayuno esta mañana!

We had a memorable moment last evening when taking a walk on a country path, a group of kids came out of their house and yelled hola!!! and started following us. Two little girls asked if we could take their picture and were so thrilled and giggling when we did! The pictures of them are priceless! We got them on our camera so can't post here at the moment but were so glad we got the moment on film! :)

Quito y Otovalo

Last night when we arrived we were met by two friends, David and Ximena, who took us to our hostel and started us off with some great espanol practice!
This am we enjoyed trying Ecuadorian verde empanadas with delicious salsa and fresh papaya at Ximena's house! We got some guidance from Ximena to find the bus to Otovalo, where we are now staying tonight! the bus situation is so interesting! the front doors of the buses are always open and people hop on and off even while the bus is moving! It is not uncommon for people to come on to try and sell little sweets called dulces. Otovalo is very different from the big city, particularly with the native dressed folk and street markets! We stand out like sore thumbs with our american looks and crazy big backpacks! :) We love the stoney country road and fields of farming and free roaming cows and donkeys. We have an upstairs mountain view room in a very quaint hostel tonight! Tomorrow pm back to Quito :)
Will post pics as soon as the google app allows! Buenas noches!

Off we go... Arriving in Quito on 10/24! We will be meeting at 8 pm tonight! Im so glad for my travel buddy!
In case you were wondering why I am calling us Coyotes, I'm hoping we get to see Culpeos (an andean wolf that lives in Ecuador),
 here's a few pictures!




See the resemblance to Heather and I? ;) And surely they are clever travelers...

Hopefully we have more success at catching iguanas than these guys did with mice, however. Will post pictures as often as we can so stay tuned!