Seeing the Sights with Beth and Jeff

At the end of July, I spent 10 days traveling with my sister Beth and her boyfriend Jeff. We started in Riobamba, nicknamed Friobamba, with plans to take the Nariz del Diablo train. Unfortunately, it is under construction til December. We made our way to Cuenca by another train/buses though. Our attempt to visit El Cajas National Park was brought to an end by rain when we arrived but it ws clear skies and travel from there. We spent a day in Cuenca visiting Ingapirca. On the way to ancient ruins we stopped at a market to see the fruits/animals being sold before learning some Incan history.

The next day was spent in a bus to arrive in Puerto Lopez. The route to Guayaquil was very pretty. While there we spent one day relaxing, the next in Los Frailles (hike through a dry forest through 2 beaches then arrive at Los Frailles - really pretty beaches). Then we spent a day taking a boat whale watching then to Isla de la Plata (walk around to see blue footed boobies and other neat birds - who knew I would think that was interesting?). On the ride back, there were literally hundreds of dolphins jumping through the water. We caught a couple of beautiful sunsets as well while on the Ecuadorian coast.

The following day was spent on a bus from 9am to 12 midnight to arrive in Otavalo. I enjoy the market there and have improved my bargaining skills! We visited Lake Cuicocha the next day. It was nice to have my sister here and see some great locations in Ecuador while visiting!

Making my way back to Tena, I was able to find some very nice people to assist me with figuring out transportation! Thanks for visiting!