Excursion to Baños, Ecuador: See Ecuador Part 3

Our first big excursion was to a beautiful little town called Baños or Baths in English. Baños is a city in eastern Tungurahua Province, in central Ecuador. Baños is the second most populous city in Tungurahua, after Ambato, the capital, and is a major tourist center. It is known as the "Gateway to the Amazon", as it is located on the Pastaza River in the Amazon Riverbasin.

Our first day in Baños we walked around the city and enjoyed the sights of a city nestled between the mountains. We walked to a nearby waterfall and spring, enjoyed chewing on sugar cane, drank local beverages made from sugar cane and took pictures of the colonial church. We then enjoyed a Ecuadorian lunch together at a local restaurant. After an hour break, we had a hike up a very steep mountain to a cafe called "Cafe del Cielo" or Cafe in the Clouds. For many the hike was very tiring because we have not yet completely adjusted to the altitude. It took us about an hour and a half to reach the cafe, but it was definitely worth the climb! The views, as you can see from the pictures are spectacular. The cafe was quite nice and we purchased beverages and food to enjoy while we overlooked Baños below. We then went back down the mountain, but took a different route that led us by a Virgin statue and eventually back to Baños. After the hike, many of the students decided to go to the nearby hot springs to relax and recover.

The second day in Baños was even more exciting. We began by doing canopy zip lining. This is different from regular zip lining in that you're not sitting but "flying" on your stomach. Its also called "superman" zip lining. At first, it was a bit scary because we were going from mountain to mountain and in the process flying over a waterfall. The experience was exhilarating and the butterflies quickly left after leaving the platform. We flew over a gorgeous landscape and it was uniquely peaceful. After finishing zip lining, we then traveled across the same two mountains on a type of gondola. About eight to ten students travelled at a time and quite frankly, was a little scarier then actually zip lining. It was completely safe, but the gondola swayed and moved with the wind and movement of the cable. We stopped above the waterfall to take pictures from our high vantage point and then hung on tight while we zipped quickly back to the platform. Our final activity of the day was to visit one of the most impressive waterfalls in Ecuador. It was called "Pailón del Diablo" or The Devil's Cauldron in English. It was a nice little hike getting there, but it was definitely worth the walk. The waterfall is 100 meters high or about 328 feet high. The power of the waterfall was intense to say the least, and we all got wet just getting near. As the water crashed on the rocks below the sound was deafening, we were all awestruck by the power the water produced. After spending a few hours at the Pailón del Diablo we made our way bak to the bus and on our way home. We were all tired and slept quite well on the bus...it was a good trip!!

Excursion to Historic Quito: See Ecuador Part 2

Our first excursion was to visit the historical are of Quito. We spent over an hour in traffic crammed into a small bus. It was a little tight with thirty cadets, two professors and two guides, but the cadets took it in stride and enjoyed being out in the city. We first passed by one of the historic cathedrals in Quito. It's a beautiful 19th century cathedral, especially at night. We took a lot of pictures and then continued to old Quito.

Old Quito is a colonial part of town with small tight streets and many shops. Its also known as "La Ronda." We walked around for a bit and then went to a restaurant to eat "empanadas de viento," which are kind of like the Mexican quesadilla. The empanadas were delicious, however, given the cadets were hungry I think they would have eaten anything at that point.

After spending some time in the historic district, we then climbed a hill up to reach the "Virgen del Panecillo." This is a statue of the Virgen on top of a hill that overlooks Quito. The climb wasn't too bad, but remember we've only been in Quito for a few days and were at 10,000 feet elevation so we definitely got a little winded. After about a week or two we'll be much better suited for the elevation.

Overall, the students were delighted to get to know the town and have already started making plans to return to "la Ronda" to do some shopping and continue exploring the city.

First Week of Classes: See Ecuador Part 1

The first week of classes went well! It was quite an adjustment to the altitude and feeling like that wherever you walked it was uphill. Most students live within a 30 minute walk to the Academy where they are taking intensive Spanish classes. They are divided into several groups depending on their level of Spanish. Each week they will change teachers and classrooms, which helps to break up the monotony and keep the students motivated.

The Academy is comfortable and the teachers are well trained in teaching second language acquisition. As you can see from the pictures, there are hammocks for the students and throughout the week the cadets participate in a variety of activities like dancing classes, cooking classes, bowling and going to the movies.

We made it to Quito, Ecuador!

After a very long day at the airport, we finally made it to Quito Ecuador!! I wanted to provide a forum for posting pictures and discussing out study abroad experience for parents, family and friends.

The main photo of this blog is taken from my balcony. As you can see, Quito is nestled tightly within the Andes mountain range. While the actual city is around 10,000 feet elevation, all the students as well as myself and Dr. Urroz are located high above the city. My guess wold be that we are pushing around 10,500 to 11,000 feet. the air is a bit thin, but the students seem to be adjusting nicely.

First impressions of Quito is that its a big city, around 1.5 million inhabitants. Its a nice city, clean, quaint and pretty quiet for a city this large. The Ecuadorians have been very kind and the mother's of the families where the students are staying are excited to have the students. All the students are within walking distance of the school where they will be studying, taxis are cheap and the food is delicious. One interesting note, Ecuador uses the American Dollar as the monetary system, which has been nice to not have to worry about exchanging money and dealing with exchange rates.

Some of the students are already out and about and called me to let me know about a chocolate festival that was going on downtown. Its good to see the students enjoying the city already and I'm sure they will have many adventures to talk about when they get home.

I will be uploading slideshows about once a week containing select photos for your enjoyment. Please feel free to comment and discuss our experiences.

Cheers,
Dr. Zane U. Segle