Mountains or Beach?

 





Mountains or Beach?

Hello all from Ecuador! 

It has been awhile since the last post… you can blame that one on the lazy, beach vibes here. We are currently on the coast of Ecuador on a small island called Portete right off the main land. It is beautiful, serene, and very low key compared to the Southern California beaches we are used to. And also a very different change of pace from the rest of our journey so far. Our current “job” is to house-sit and care for 2 sweet dogs and 1 adorably feisty cat while their owner is away. Not a bad gig. We have been enjoying some down time and getting the opportunity to practice and integrate all that we learned in Peru. It has already been over 3 weeks since getting here.. so let me catch you all up!

Some miscellaneous things so far here:

  • Our host is from Lebanon and super well-traveled. We spent a few days with him before he left and picked his brain about all the amazing plants that are found in the Andes and jungle of Ecuador. 
  • Connor has finally landed a nickname that I think may stick - Condor. Yes, like the bird. As he has been introducing himself throughout South America it has been a challenge for people to understand and pronounce his name (there are a lot of “o”s for the Spanish language). So, one person mispronounced it and said “Condor” and he has been introducing himself that way ever since. It is his South American alter ego. 
  • We had literally NO summer/warm-weather gear. We bought our first pair of flip flops, shorts, and swim suits our first few days here.
  • We took a night-time kayak trip to check out the plankton in the water. Super cool, neon greenish-blue light when you put your hand or paddle in the water. 
  • Tried surfing and caught a few waves. And then I (Abby) got stung by a sting ray for the first time!!!
  • One of the dogs ate something poisonous and had to carry her across on a boat and then a taxi ride to the nearest town that had a vet to get her medicine. The vet was in a hardware store. Only in South America. Thankfully she is fine and nothing bad happened on our watch!
  • Having coconut trees around is the greatest. Free electrolytes and coconut shreds all day! We also learned that there are orange and green coconuts, both delicious!
  • We are living with some unique animals… lots of frogs, geckos, iguanas, bats, cockroaches, and mosquitos. We once saw an iguana not move from a palm branch for 3 days. 
  • The Pacific Ocean near the equator here is super temperate and nice. It has been our goal to get into the water everyday and we have (mostly) succeeded so far! 
  • Hammocking has been one of our favorite pastimes - there is a 3rd story in the house that is a perfect room for yoga, meditation, and hammocking!
  • Visiting “Playa Negra” which has the most beautiful black sand - the softest and most sparkly we have ever seen!
  • We have been enjoying some classic Ecuadorian food, especially on the coast - fish, rice, and fried platano (plantain). Can’t beat it. We had something called a “Bolon” which was essentially a big ball of cooked plantain mixed with shrimp with a delicious peanut butter sauce. WOW.  
Macchu Picchu Trek:

Prior to coming here, we spent our last week or so doing the Salkantay trek to Macchu Picchu. This was a guided, 5-day trek through the mountains and high jungle to end at the ruins of Macchu Picchu. We were part of a group of about 15 people from a variety of countries, and had 2 guides and 2 cooks that were with us the whole time. Due to it being rainy season, we stayed in small cabanas along the trek. The first day we went to a high alpine lake (at about 14,000 ft), making it to our camp just in time for a hail storm. The first night was pretty cold and there was concern that we didn’t have the right gear for this type of trip. The second day, we hiked 15 miles over the Salkantay pass (about 15, 200 ft elevation). There were challenging moments of course, but we were thankful we had spent about 3 months before this trip living at close to 10,000 ft to prepare for this feat. The next day we started to transition from being in the high alpines to the high jungle…things started to get greener and more humid. We went to an organic coffee plantation and got to see what the process is from pulling the fruit off the tree to roasting the bean to drinking it. Later that day we went to some natural hot springs pools to rest the sore muscles. The following day was another long hiking day, around 14 miles where we walked through the high jungle and got our first (semi) view of Macchu Picchu from a distance. The day ended in Aguas Calientes (or Macchu Picchu Pueblo) with a deliciously warm shower waiting for us at the hostel. The following morning, we went into Macchu Picchu and got to experience the magic of these crazy ruins. Truly very surreal when you see them in person and what work went in to creating these massive ruins. We also hiked Wayna Picchu which is the tall peak opposite Macchu Picchu to get a view of the ruins from above. Super cool. All in all, it was a great trek! The cooks were fantastic, it was fun to walk this route alongside people from around the world, and it was the perfect send-off from our time in Peru - goodbye beautiful mountains!


So that is about the just of the last month of our travels. It has been just over 10 months! Wow, time is a flyin’. We will be here for another week and then heading east into the cloud forest to do something similar for another month. We are forever grateful for the experiences and the opportunities we have found ourselves in. Excited to see what comes our way next!

Love and miss you all! Please reach out whenever <3 

Con amor, 

Abby y Connor

 

Macchu Picchu:










































Abby talking to immigrations leaving Peru 
because she “accidentally” overstayed her visa 


Portete, Ecuador 


We’ve arrived! From hiking in the mountains 
in Peru to the beach 

Welcome to our new crib (cabana)

The host’s home



Boots, the queen.


Ace and Machete, the pups 

Got coconuts? 

Kayaking, of course the pups had to join!

The master coconuter 


Some early morning tea ceremony

Ace loves his tassels, he just tickles 
his head all day on these haha 

Our 3rd story meditation/yoga room

Sweet, sick pup 

Connor taking a dip right outside the 
house during high tide 

Always making chapati since Argentina… 
look at that perfect puff!



Planted some papaya and neem trees! 
Hoping they live in this sand, fingers crossed!

New invention to meditate while
 keeping the mosquitos out

Took a boat tour of the island and the mangroves


Such a beach bum, barefoot and all 

We have really gotten much more 
beautiful since traveling 

Found Playa Negra with black sand

Mr. Crabs everywhere!

Fish, rice, and PLATANOS!

Tough work to get those nuts 

Master with the machete





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