Mother-Daughter Trip to Ecuador

Happy New Year! I have celebrated at length with my family and friends during the glorious Christmas and New Year’s season, and I am starting to settle in. Before embarking on my next endeavor, I would like to complete my final entry for my journey in Ecuador. At the end of my internship, my mom came to visit me in the magnificent country of Ecuador. This marked the fifth time she accompanied me on one of my travel sojourns. With only six days, I planned an itinerary that kept us in one geographical region of Ecuador, minimizing the time we spent on travel. We started in Otavalo and the farm where I worked, returned to Quito for two days and finished our trip together in the Cloud Forest of Mindo.

Overlooking Mojando Lake

Otavalo is a small mountain town in the Sierras of Ecuador, home to many artisans specializing in alpaca wool production and crafts. Every Saturday artisans and merchants set up shop around the square and welcome tourists and locals alike to haggle and buy their wares. I have heard that it is the largest wool market in norther Ecuador and possibly the entire country. We had a great time weaving in and out of the stalls and strolling along the streets to find the perfect Christmas gifts and souvenirs. Surrounding Otavalo are statuesque mountains, so we spent Sunday hiking up to 13,700 ft. from a base of 12,000 ft. at Mojando Lake with my fellow intern from the farm. 

Sanctuary inside Iglesia de San Francisco

From Otavalo and its hinterlands, we returned to Quito to explore the historic center. The churches and colonial edifices were inviting and the Teleferico (cable car), from which we could see the entire city nestled in the valley, was an outstanding experience. We entered the presidential palace, toured the most important cathedral in the city called Church of the Society of Jesus (Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus), visited the Basilica of the National Vow with its exquisite view of the city from the top of the towers, gasped in awe at the amount of gold inside the sanctuary of the Church of St. Francis, and walked down from El Panecillo, a hill in Quito on top of which sits the 147-foot (45-meter) Virgin of Quito or Woman of the Apocalypse statue (artistically derived from Revelation 12). We even fit in a traditional meal of wood-fired Andean guinea pig.

Our last stop and first encounter with rain was Mindo’s Cloud Forest. We stayed at a hotel located next to a butterfly sanctuary, got stuck in the rain on a horseback riding excursion, gazed upon the tiniest orchids imaginable, toured an artisanal chocolate factory and trod upon a forest path leading to a crystalline waterfall. The rain did not stop us from the enjoying the local flair and natural beauty of the lush Cloud Forest. Our trip was blessed from beginning to end, and it was the perfect way to transition from my nine-week internship back to life in the U.S. 

I am currently working at a nursing home in Jefferson, WI, for the month of January. I have planned a trip to visit one of my best friends in China and some dear friends in LA in February before starting a new job at Raspberry Hill Farm in Sullivan, WI. I have signed a contract for 2.5 years. This will be the longest I have spent in any geographical location since high school in 2005. There will certainly be more adventures to share, so stay tuned!