Ecuador 2019
So, it’s finally here. The post I have been promising for like half a year now… better late than never amirite? LOL… Enjoy my experience in Ecuador!
I am finally going to talk to you about my adventures in Ecuador. This post isn’t going to dive intensely into the impact of my journey but I will do my best. Honestly, this trip is still something I am digesting. With that being said, I think each and every one of you should do a trip that puts you way outside your comfort zone, makes you question everything, and helps you better understand the world. My number one takeaway from this trip is that I am lucky – that is it. I am lucky that I just happened to live the life I live.
If you want to read more about the impact of my journey, check out this article I was featured in.
If you want to see some of the things we did on this trip, check out my friend Ana’s youtube video.
What I Did in Ecuador
To start, I was able to have this opportunity because of a program my uni does called Alternative Spring Break. The trip I went on was ran through Me to We. Both the Alternative Spring Break and Me to We were wonderful throughout the entirety of the trip and I would deffo recommend participating in programming ran through either.
There was a group of about 20 of us that all travelled from Ottawa to Ecuador together.
February 17, 2019
Location: Quito, Ecuador
How I got here: Bus/Plane (Bus from Ottawa to Montreal, plane from Montreal to Mexico City, plane from Mexico City to Quito, bus to the hostel)
Where I stayed: Hostal Andalucía
Weather: Sunny and Hot
This day was our day to explore Quito. We started at the equator. At the equator there is the Museo del Sitio Intiñan. At this museum we were able to see the effects of being on the equator while also learning about the history of the peoples of Ecuador. Some fun facts about Quito that we learned at this museum is that Ecuador is at the centre of the world and only has 2 seasons because of this. We did different experiments to test the pull of the hemispheres and attempted to balance an egg on a nail (some succeeded, I did not).
Next, we went and had lunch in park outside the Basílica del Voto Nacional. After lunch we explored the Basílica and tried to get to the top but ran out of time. We were still able to climb up a tall ladder in the church to really experience the view but we weren’t able to go all the way up.
After that, we did a walking tour of Centro Histórico and learned all about Quito’s past. The architecture was breath taking and the stories were beyond fascinating.
After the walking tour, we ventured to Pizza SA and had dinner. Here, we signed our names on the walls with all the past visitors of this pizza restaurant. We actually found people’s names that we knew.
ALSO!!! I tried coffee for the first time this day since the traumatic experience of chocking in a car and stale Tim’s coffee being the only beverage in the whole car. I tried it black off of the recommendation of an advisor (Thanks Shannon) and LOVED it! This moment kick started my coffee snobbery and addiction… ooopss.
February 18, 2019
Location: Alausí, Chimborazo, Ecuador
How I got here: Bus
Where I stayed: Hosteria Pircapamba
Weather: a mix of sun, heat, clouds, and mist
This day was essentially a travel day. We travelled from the city of Quito to the Andes mountains. Seeing the landscapes of the Ecuador highlands and the view from our hostel were breathtaking. I bloody love mountains and these were some of my favourite.
Some fun facts about Alausí, is that it use to be the city that the train use to come to from the shore to the mountains.
This day, we did one of my favourite reflection activities – The Story of My Life. As someone who doesn’t typically open up super fast, this activity forced me outside of my comfort zone and to really reflect on my life. It was a great way to get to know everyone too.
February 19, 2019
Location: Shuid & Alausí, Ecuador
How I got here: Bus
Where I stayed: Hosteria Pircapamba
Weather: Up in the mountains it was pretty cold, cloudy and rainy
This day was the first day we went to a village to see the work the village has been doing. In the village of Shuid, there are 130 families.
We worked with the supervisor to help dig holes for the foundation of a green house. These holes had to be super deep, perfectly square, and pretty wide. We had to use hand held tools to do it. The people who permanently work on the project from the village made it look so easy during their demonstration – it was not. It was some of the hardest work I’ve ever done but alleviating some of that work for the permanent staff was great as they were able to work on things they might not have had time to work on.
We ended up getting rained out as the mountain side road was getting dangerous for the bus to go down. In total, myself and my partner dug 2 complete holes.
Let me take a moment to talk about this bus and our amazing bus driver, Frankie. He drove a coach bus up a gravel road that was literally on the edge of a mountain with no barrier and a bus full of people. It ended up being too unsafe to drive back down so we had to walk about 20 minutes to Lower Shuid to meet the bus where it was much safer. The view during the entire bus ride was amazing. The highest elevation we got to was about 10,000ft. Being that high up makes it difficult to even walk until you acclimatize. I was fortunate to not have any severe side effects of altitude sickness.
February 20, 2019
Location: Shuid & Alausí, Ecuador
How I got here: Bus
Where I stayed: Hosteria Pircapamba
Weather: Up in the mountains it was hot and cloudy
We went back to Shuid this day. The road was still wet from the day before so the bus couldn’t go past Lower Shuid so we had to hike up the mountain at an elevation of like 10000ft. I (luckily) had to wee real badly so the emergency driver drove myself and a few others up in the emergency truck. However, it meant that I missed out on the highlight of many peoples trip – the hike. Everyone was gone for like 45 minutes and we were super confused about that. Turns out, it was so foggy they missed the turn to the village and ended up hiking higher up the mountain.
One thing that those of us who got a ride got to witness though was a minga. A minga is where the village gets together to work on something – in this case it was bringing rocks up the mountain to the build site. The village formed a line up the mountain and passed each rock along until they got them to the top. It was amazing to see a whole community come together to get some work done.
During this day, we were able to finish, in total, about 24 holes for the foundation of the greenhouse.
February 21, 2019
Location: Guamote, San Miguel & Alausí, Ecuador
How I got here: Bus
Where I stayed: Hosteria Pircapamba
Weather: The weather was brilliant – sunny and mild
On this day we went to the Guamote Market and had to buy food to feed a family with just $1. We had to speak Spanish to do so. The Spanish part was the most difficult. It was surprisingly not too difficult to buy food for a meal with only $1. My group ended up buying like 5 different vegetables and were going to make a soup with it.
This market is huge and happens every Thursday. They sell almost everything you can think of – fruit, vegetables, grains, spices, protein, clothes, shoes, and so much more. This market was so filled with people, it was difficult to walk through.
After going to the market, we travelled to a different village – San Miguel. Here we met some lovely girls who were part of a girls group. This girls group sells bracelets, headbands, and necklaces. They were kind enough to let us learn how they make their products. We were able to make all three of their products. The girls told us about their stories as well which was really eyeopening. We were able to see what girls our age were doing in their day to day lives in a small village in Ecuador. At the end, we were able to purchase some of their products and I bought some bracelets and headband.
February 22, 2019
Location: Santa Aneta & Alausí, Ecuador
How I got here: Bus
Where I stayed: Hosteria Pircapamba
Weather: it was a mild day
On this day we woke up early in the morning to an earthquake. The earthquake was in Peru but it was close enough and strong enough that we felt the after shocks. Most of the people we travelled with had never been in an earthquake but for the people of Ecuador, this was a relatively normal occurrence.
We ventured to a new village this day to meet women from a women’s group. This women’s group makes products out of sheep and alpaca wool. We were able to hear the women’s stories and I also got to chat with some young boys who were practicing their English on myself and a few others. The women in the women’s group were kind enough to teach us how they sheer a sheep (I did not participate in this – it really hit me even though they were doing it in a safe way for the animals), how to turn the wool into yarn and then how to weave it. The weaving was my favourite. It was so cool to see how they made the different clothing and seeing what tools they used. We were also able to buy some products so I bought alpaca socks, gloves, a shall, scarves and a beaded bracelet. AND ALL OF IT WAS SUSTAINABLY MADE!!!
After that, we got to help pick potatoes on one of the ladies farms! It was super fun but hard work!
One super cool thing that happened on our ride to Santa Aneta was that we were finally able to see the peak of Chimborazo Mountain. It is rare to see the peak of the mountain because of the clouds but we pulled over and were able to see it. The view was absolutely breathtaking.
Since it was our last night in Alausí, Courtney and Lucy (our Me to We advisers) surprised us with a live band from the area. They were great! We all got up and did some fun dancing – it was the perfect end to a perfect time in Chimborazo province.
February 23, 2019
Location: Quito, Ecuador
How I got here: Bus
Where I stayed: Hotel San Francisco de Quito
Weather: it was mild, cloudy, and rainy
Well, that was the quickest week of my life. We were already back in Quito. On our last full day in Ecuador we travelled from Alausí back to Quito. When we got to our new hotel, we chilled out and took in the views from the rooftop patio (The hotel as a whole was one of the most stunning hotels I have ever stayed at – I highly recommend). It was rainy outside but I didn’t care (typical Kiana). I sat on that patio and took in the beautiful views of Quito.
Before dinner we went to a fair trade store where I bought some Ecuadorian coffee, chocolate and a lip balm (Accutane problems – side note: do you want me to write a post about my experience on Accutane now that i’m off it? Let me know). We had the most delicious dinner in a restaurant next to the shop and enjoyed each others company on our last night in Ecuador.
The next day we woke up super early and travelled back to Ottawa the same way we came.
To be honest, before this trip South America wasn’t at the top of my bucket list of places to go (other than Machu Picchu) but after my trip to Ecuador that has changed. The people, the landscape, the food – I fell in love with Ecuador and South America as a whole. I am itching to get back to that beautiful continent.
Sorry this post took so long for me to write and hopefully finally writing this post gives me the motivation to hammer out my Italy one but we will see.
I am hoping to pick my blog back up again. I’ve just been lacking motivation and inspiration lately but I know that is going to change.
Things are looking up for me and I have exciting things to look forward to in the future.
All the best my dudes,
Kiana x
Follow my blog with Bloglovin