the farm

Nicole:

Finally able to get into town to an internet cafe! Things have been going well - I´ve spent the last week and a bit at a farm outside Mindo and Nancy has been in Quito starting her elective.

The farm has many animals and it´s been great learning how to take care of them! Though it is quite different than we would take care of them in Canada, just due to the different climate and what predators are around. For example, at the farm, the chickens aren´t locked up in a secure coop at night, which would cost you half your flock back home. There just aren´t any predators for the chickens here.

At the farm there are about 100 chickens and watching them run towards us when we bring the feed down cracks me up every time, two very stoic llamas (pictures to come!) 7 sheep, 2 baby lambs that were born just yesterday, 11 goats and baby goats including one mischevious orphaned baby goat named Jackson who I bottle feed everyday, 6 pigs, 2 cats and 2 dogs. The billy goat is named Marcus and he gets quite riled up sometimes, and has left several bruises on my legs from his horns, but I think I have perfected my strategy in wrestling with him. There are two other volunteers, Patrick and Joel, from England, and we go on afternoon and night adventures together around the property. I also saw a possum in the compost pile! I recorded a video of him, and we named him Petros.

Anyways, my hour is up at the cafe and so Patrick and I are going to go get some chocolate from the chocolate factory. I will be back on the computer on Thursday and I will give more updates then.

I love you guys!

Two llamas and some sheep

Jackson on the left and some of the other goats, and chickens

They pecked at our legs if we didn´t feed them quickly

A pig face
 

Heading to Farm and Elective Tomorrow

Nicole and Nancy:

We can´t write much now, will update in a few days with pictures and stories. Had a crazy awesome time in Mindo. We are heading separate ways tomorrow - Nicole to Mindo and Nancy to Quito for June. We are doing well! Love you guys!

Laguna Quilotoa to Mindo

Nicole and Nancy:

We arrived in Laguna Quilotoa from Latacunga yesterday. We were dropped off on the outskirts of the small town of Quilotoa by the bus, and made our way down the road to a hostel called Hostel Alpaca that had a resident puppy and cat, which made the night very comforting. Along with these two friends was a neverending supply of hot tea, and a warm fireplace to read by. There were plenty of other travellers who were all very nice too, especially a nice man from Holland who gave us a good tip for a hostel in Mindo.

Nancy and I hiked down to see the lake and saw two birds on the trail! A flowerpiercer and a great thrush, it  was awesome :) Unfortunately we couldn´t go to the bottom because I was feeling the effects of the altitude quite a bit, so we headed in for some reading and puppy/cat time. They served us a delicious full supper and we headed to bed. The next morning after breakfast we decided to catch a pick up truck (camioneta!) to Zumbahua and then a bus to Latacunga, because my body wasn´t adjusting well to the higher altitudes. Once we got back to Quito I felt much better and then we bussed through the city (El Trole!) and caught the last bus to Mindo, which is my favourite city so far :) It´s been raining non stop since we arrived, but we have a nice cozy cabin by a river so we will be nice and dry and toasty. The drive here was magical. We drove through mountain after mountain that were covered from bottom to peak by lush green shrubs and trees. It was an interesting comparison to the Rockies, which are also very spectacular, but they´re much more.. rocky. There was no space left uncovered by thick, deep green plants here. It´s called a Cloud Forest that we´re in, and the mist that shrouded the mountains and the town as we arrived definitely had it live up to its name.

We are planning lots of fun adventures here in Mindo including lots of birdwatching, a FROG CONCERT! and a chocolate factory tour.. mmmm. Stay tuned, hopefully next time we will upload our Laguna Quilotoa and Mindo pictures.

Love from Nancy and Nicole

Calgary to Quito

Nicole & Nancy:

We made it! Our flights went very smoothly, aside from asking my Dad to pull over on the highway so that I could throw up. Then again in the parking lot. But once we got past security and had a bagel and ginger ale, I felt much better!

We arrived in Quito last night and got a taxi right outside. A quiet man, which was nice because we were exhausted. To describe the driving, it was like driving on Groat Road at 130km/hr. So nervewracking, but beautiful, even at night. He also peed on the freeway. It was a relief once we realized what he was doing, but initially when he just pulled over and got out, we were a bit confused!

Our hostel was in a really cool neighbourhood on a quiet street and the sun poured into our room in the morning which was a great start to the trip. We explored the neighbourhood and stocked up on panes (breads!) and then took off for the Quitumbe bus terminal to catch a bus to Latacunga (the town south of Quito which is where we are now!). I like the slower paced, smaller atmosphere of Latacunga, and again, our hostel is great - even a private washroom!

We are going to check out the local market in the morning and then head to Quilotoa, which is where there is a large volcanic crater filled in by a lake!

Keep you all posted :)

the night before

Nicole:

We have of our things packed and ready to go. Initially seeing Nancy sitting on the floor surrounded by boxes of facemasks, surgical booties, textbooks, hospital clothes, and hiking boots - I didn't think she could do it, but she pulled it off.

One suitcase, one big backpack, two daypacks, and two shoulder bags later, we were officially ready to head out the door. We arrived at my Dads' at 9:30pm tonight. He will be taking us to the airport for 6:30am tomorrow. And as Nancy and I will be up late doing important last minute tasks such as transferring my Harry Potter audiobooks onto my ipod, it will be a sleepy morning tomorrow.

We will post again when we get to an internet cafe in Quito on Monday. Thanks for all the well wishes and thank you so much to each of our parents who have helped us so much in getting ready for this trip!

 

 

We love all of you very much!

Pre-Trip Jitterbugs

Nicole:

We leave for South America in four sleeps.

This is a blog that Nancy and I are going to be updating over the next several weeks with stories and pictures so that you guys can keep tabs on us, say hello, and see pictures of llama and toucans (fingers crossed).

We leave Calgary for Quito, Ecuador on Sunday morning. I will try to update once more before we go.

Adios! <--I've been practicing