Quito: Bound and Ready! Mi corazon esta en Ecuador!!!

My trip to Ecuador is growing ever closer. A little over 3 weeks remain until my feet touch ground in South America for the first time. I will land in Quito on Saturday, June 4th in the late PM. From there I will enjoy my last day of comfortable living in a lovely Quito hotel with a comfy King Size bed and a nice restaurant inside.

One of the rooms at the hotel... hope it looks like this. Really nice!


Spicy Bistro (Yum!)

I planned to arrive in Quito a day early to give myself some time to actually be a tourist for a second or two. I definitely don't want to miss out on the Quito experience due to scrambling to get to the village I'm volunteering in.

I'm hoping to visit the Quito Zoo on my down day before getting picked up by my group. The Zoo seems to be named incorrectly though, considering it's not really in Quito at all and is actually in a quaint village called Guayllabamba which is a couple miles out of Quito.


Cannot wait to see some Jaguars and Andean Bears up close!

The Zoo seems like it's a big maze of animals and I'm excited to see what a zoo is like outside of the US. However, I'm definitely a little concerned over what the animals conditions will be like. I hope they won't be in poor condition. Being near poorly cared for animals will not be easy for me, so let's hope they're nice and fat! Haha.

I've seen pictures of Guayllabamba and I can't wait to see it. It's gorgeous in photos. Especially the Guayllabamba River and all the mountains and volcanoes I'll surely see on the way there.


Gauyllabamba River - Just Look At It!!!

Another place I'm hoping to see while there is San Pablo Lake and the Imbabura Volcanoe. I'll hopefully see these on my last down day before flying home on July 4th. I'll probably see these on the way to the Otavalo Market, which will likely be the highlight of my trip. There, I hope to get some keepsakes to remind me of my time spent in this beautiful country. I can't wait to see the handmade textiles and Jewelry. I will definitely be bringing home gift for my family and friends. Everybody deserves a little piece of Ecuador.



San Pablo Lake and the Imbabura Volcanoe - how gorgeous is this? I haven't seen a Live Volcanoe since I lived in HI.


Otavalo Market - look at all the color! And they're hand-made too!!

I hope my piece of Ecuador will stay in my heart, because I know a piece of my heart will stay in Ecuador.

With Love and Andean Bears,

Ashley