Otavolo, Quito, and the Galapagos Islands!

Hey everyone!
The last week or so has been crazy as the trip wraps up faster than I could have imagined. First we spent two days in Otavolo shopping for souveniers and spending wayyyyy too much money. Then we spent another two days in Quito, the capitol of Ecuador, which I think was my favorite city over the whole trip. We stayed in New Town, a super hip part of town with lots of yummy food, but spent one day wandering around Old Town. In Old Town we climbed to the top of the Basilica, where we got a 360 degree view of the city, and ate lunch near the cute town square which is surrounded by beautiful old colonial buildings and lots of other pretty stuff to look at.
Next we flew to the Galapagos for the final hoorah of the trip- a four day yacht trip around the southern islands. The boat was an amazing place with 3 floors, lots of lounge chairs, and a bar. During the day we snorkled, took dingy rides to look at the animals on the coast, walked around a couple different islands, jumped off the boat, and tanned. My back is currently beet red and crazy ichy. Oops. Oh yeah, and we ate a lot, like usual. We came back into Porto Ayora for our last two nights and spent an extra day shopping and checking out the Charles Darwin Center. Over the week we got to see an amazing array of animals such as sharks, giant schools of fish, lots of baby sea lions, galapagos penguins(my favorite!!), blue-footed boobies, crabs, marine iguanas, pelicans, friggate birds, the famous Darwin Finches, and (of course!) giant turtles!
This morning we took a taxi, a bus, a boat, another bus, a plane, and another taxi and we have now arrived back in Quito. Tonight we have our final night ¨closing ceremonies¨where we stay up all night and then we leave for the airport at 3am in the morning! I´ll be back in the States midday Wednesday and back in Seattle by tomorrow night. Thanks to everyone who followed my blog and I hope to see you all very soon!
Lots of love,
Burns

Campo Cocha and Arajuno Jungle Lodge, Ecuador

12 days living in the middle of the Ecuadorian jungle.... Who thought I´d ever do that, huh? We spent the first week living with host families in Campo Cocha, a VERY small native community that farms communally and lives with only the basic modern anemities. Most families in Campo Cocha have at least five children(or six, seven, eight, all very common), but my family consisted of only my father, my mother, and one daughter, a spunky six year old named Lisa. Our home was on stilts and though it had a small amount of electricity, there was no plumbing or other power source, so all cooking was done by fire and the bathroom was a small shack on the back of the property. Every morning I woke up early (my homestay partner, Danielle, was sick with an ameoba all week, so I spent most of the time alone with my family) to help with breakfast and the chores of the day. The chores ranged from sweeping and washing dishes and laundry in the nearby creek, to more exausting tasks like chopping firewood, pulling yuka (a yummy potato-ish food), and working in the plantain fields. My family spoke only spanish and quichwa, so I ended up speaking spanish for all but two hours every day, when I met up with my group member for the camp we were running for local kids. I taught english class with two other girls, Karly and Emma, during the camp, which was challenging, but hilarious.
Though I was extremely uncomfortable in the beginning of this homestay (our house had a number of tarantulas that would wander the walls at night plus my spanish is ok, but definitely not good...) I was the most sad to leave this place out of all of our stops so far. It was an amazing experience to see how people live their lives so differently than I do, and yet watch the interaction of a family of three, so similar to my own upbringing. Leaving my Campo Cocha family was really hard, and I hope to send them mail and keep in touch with them somehow as Lisa grows up...
This week we stayed at the Arajuno Jungle Lodge, just a couple minutes up river from Campo Cocha, and worked for Tom Larson, a former Peace Corps volunteer who moved to Ecuador in 2000 and built his eco-tourism lodge for travellers soon after. He also runs a non-profit that works on projects around the community related to breeding and protecting native species. We worked on his yellow-spotted-turtle ponds (Cecil´s long lost relatives), which included many, many hours of manual labor in the mud, bugs, and hot, hot sun, but it felt great to be involved in such an amazing project. Tom has a pretty good life going for himself- his lodge is right on the river, his wife is the most amazing cook ever, and they have a 3 year old woolly monkey named Mona who keeps them occupied. She is a character, that´s for sure!
Today we just arrived in Otavollo, Ecuador for a day of shopping, and then we head to Quito for the last big event of our trip- 5 days in the Galapagos Islands! I´ll update again soon, and then be home on May 5th! Can´t wait to see everyone back in the PNW and be able to contact those of you who aren´t!
Love and miss you all,
Burns

Banos, Ecuador

After another long day on the bus, we made it to Banos, Ecuador late on Saturday night. Banos is a tiny tourist town known mainly for the natural baths on the edge of the city, which we didn´t quite manage to get to.... But that´s ok, it has been a great two days anyways. Yesterday we wandered the city and ate a lot of food, as we tend to do, and today we went white water rafting on a nearby river about an hour away. Rafting was great, especially as the river ran especially high due to recent heavy rains, and we all enjoyed the beautiful Ecuadorian men who enthusiastically led our group.
I´m currently sitting just off the town square enjoying some delicious chocolate ice cream as I mentally prepare myself for getting back to work tomorrow. We´re heading back into the hot, hot jungle to run a kids camp for 4 days and then do some conservation work for another week or so, which is the last volunteer component of our trip. We´ll be out of the reach of technology until then, but I´ll let you know how everything goes when we get out! Cross your fingers for me that the bugs don´t eat me alive!
Best wishes to everyone!
Burns

Cuenca, Ecuador

Hello all!
We finally made it to Ecuador late Wednesday night and, man, are we all excited to be here! Cuenca is an adorable colonial city that is super walkable, has beautiful architecture as well as the most delicious food! We´ve spent the last two days wandering the streets, eating an incredible amount, and taking in the sights. I honestly have had dessert like seven times in the last 48 hours... It´s a rough life I live, isn´t it? Tomorrow we head to Banos, Ecuador, a small town at the base of an active volcano.
All the traveling is still going quite well, though our group has definitely had its share of sickness, bugs, and translation issues. For example, my thumbs are currently peeling and an interesting purple color due to my malaria medication... Interesting, huh? My spanish is still pretty basic, but I´m feeling more sure of myself every day! I´m thinking Spanish classes at Seattle Central Community College are in the near future for me if anyone wants to join!
Love and miss you all!
Burns

Mancora, Peru

Mancora, Peru is our last stop in Peru! We got here super early Sunday morning after a 17 hour bus ride up the coast (phew!) and arrived ready for some serious relaxation time. Mancora is right on the beach, with our hostel sitting an easy 30 second walk to sand and a 5 minute walk to town. We´ve spent the last 3 days sitting on the beach, reading and napping in hammocks at our hostel, and wandering around town buying the best fruit you have ever tasted. Oh yeah, and getting nice and sunburned... Definitely a nice reward after all of our hard work last week!
Tonight is our last night in Peru before we head north on a bus into Ecuador tomorrow mid-day. We´re planning a BBQ at the hostel before going out for Karly´s 19th birthday, which is tomorrow! Now if only I can get all this sand out of my hair...
Love to all,
Burns

Cusco, the Salkantay Trail, and Machu Picchu

What a week it has been! Last weekend we were in Cusco, which is a beautiful city with lots of old Spanish churches along with lots and LOTS of tourists. We spent the one full day we were there wandering around the square buying snacks and other last minute supplies for our trip.
We left for the Salkantay Trial (which replaced the Inca Trail as originally planned) super early Sunday morning. Over the next four days we hiked up and over Salkantay Pass for a total of 80 km and reached an altitude of over 15,200 ft before reaching Agua Caliente, the town just below Machu Picchu. The views on the trail were amazing, the paths were defintely interesting (we were the first group to return to it after the whole area was shut down due to landslides), and the waterfalls were plentiful and kept everything very interesting... Trench foot doesn´t begin to explain what my feet looked like at the end of each day!
On our last trekking day we took the new "cable car"(virtually a shopping cart on a thick metal cable) to cut off a couple hours, and had to get up at 4:45am in order to beat the police to the site and get across the river it spans before they shut it down. Once we reached the boundary to the Machu Picchu Sanctuary we found out that they had changed the ticket rules since we had left Cusco and weren´t allowed into the park without them (ours were in Agua Caliente, 12 km away). After waiting a couple hours we decided, along with the 40 or so other hikers waiting to get into the Sanctuary, to storm the gates and just walk in on our own. It worked! We walked right past them, and 3 hours later were officially done with our trek.
We headed up to Machu Picchu the next morning (yesterday) at 6am. It was beautiful. Definitely rainy, but very beautiful. We wandered and took pictures until early afternoon and then headed back to Agua Caliente for a nap before our nighttime trip back to Cusco and on to Lima. I´m currently in Lima until tomorrow night, when we start our trip up the Pacific coast. It feels great to be back at sea level and by the ocean again!
That´s all for now! Love and miss you all!
Burns

Puno, Peru and Lake Titicaca

Hey guys!
So we finally made it west to Peru and have been here for about six days now. I´m currently living in a homestay in downtown Puno with two other girls from my team. Our mom runs a hostel while our dad works at a nearby hotel (He even speaks a little bit of english! But we don´t see him much; he works all the time.), and we also have a little sister who is 10 and has very little interest in the 3 older gringo girls who live upstairs... We eat rediculously often here - breakfast, lunch, another lunch around 4pm, and then dinner at 7ish. I am constantly uncomfortably full. It is rough. But I definitely can´t complain about the consistent supply of amazing fresh fruit!
During the week we have been volunteering at a orphanage about 15 minutes outside of downtown Puno. We are working on a plethora of murals, six altogether now, under the direction of an amazing local artist, Samuel. Samuel is a veteran of the Peruvian military and fought the Shining Light in the late 80´s and early 90´s and has an amazing story to tell. If anyone is interested, remind me about it when I get home! We also spend the afternoons hanging out with the kids and trying to practice our spanish with them. The kids are super friendly and interested in us, and love to help out with the painting whenever we give them jobs.
Last weekend we took a boat trip out on to Lake Titicaca to visit the floating islands of Uros and a couple other islands a couple hours away from Puno. Uros was really cool, but felt awkwardly touristy, as they dressed us up and then tried to sell us their crafts. I also managed to get super sick on Saturday and spent most of the 3 hour boat ride after Uros vomiting over the side of the boat. No joke. We stayed the night with a homestay that night, but I don´t really remember much of it due to the consistent vom'ing... But luckily I was feeling good enough the next morning to do a quick hike up a nearby island, as we try to prepare for our 4-day trek up to Maccu Picchu next week!
Overall, I am LOVING Peru. Puno is loud and bustleing, and everyone here is super friendly. We stay here until this Friday, when we move to Cuzco! Can´t wait.
Love and miss you all - keep those emails and facebook messages coming!
Burns