Thursday, June 7, 2012

Day One in Quito

We are staying in a family run hostel some where in Quito.  This city in enormous. We got up and had freshly cooked eggs for breakfast maid by the hostel owner.  Our leaders Taylor and Sam made us order in Spanish.  The students are way better at that than I am.  Next we had a 2-3 hour orientation session and photo lesson. Then off to lunch. English is not spoken very much here so our lunch and dinners have been interesting. Let's just say I had corn nuts, pork skins and molassas soaked fruit for dinner.  Earlier in the day we took a tram up to 12,000 feet for a panoramic view of the city.  Quito is located at 9,000 elevation so what is 3,000 more feet when you cannot breath anyway. The views were grand and the students took lots of great photos.  There was a horse corral up in the mountains which also made for some interesting shots.  For our night time activity we went on a historical tour of the city with El Diablo as our tour guide. It was well done and very educational.  Now we are in our rooms trying to figure out who is showering when and how soon can we get in bed and get some rest.  The day way typical Nat Geo exhausting.  

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a pretty awesome adventure! I'll be following along, although I am rather jealous...
    -Kevin-

    ReplyDelete
  2. I miss you traveling with me this summer.

    ReplyDelete

Sunset on the Amazon

Sunset on the Amazon
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National Geographic Ecuador Group

National Geographic Ecuador Group
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White water tubing
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Biologist, Nicki, names some of the birds that we are trying to photograph.

TARABITA

TARABITA
Day four started with a ride across the canopy in the tarabita.

Bug Hunting Hikes

Bug Hunting Hikes
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Making Chocolate

Making Chocolate
As one drops the cocoa beans into the press the other pushes down and out come delicious chocolate. We had bananas, kiwis, apples, and pineapple to dip. We even had left overs....wish I knew where that tub of chocolate was.