So I arrived in Quito on Tuesday, Oct. 5th. I came here to do an editorial internship with VIVA Travel Guides for two months. I start on Monday. I'm living with an Ecuadorian family of 5 - mother, father, 2 sons and a girl (10, 12, and 14). They have a patio one floor above the rest of the apartment - and up there is the room where I'm staying. They are a beautiful family - very very nice people. Anyway, the day I came to Quito, they sent me off to a place called Ambato, about 2 and half hours away, where the rest of their extended family lives. They wanted to show me around their home city. One place they took me to, about a half hour away from Ambato, is called Banos - a big tourist attraction actually. I guess I should mention that all these places are in the mountains - the greenest ones I've ever seen. In Banos there are beautiful waterfalls and hiking trails, and lots of spas and hotels and hostels. There's one waterfall in particular, called Pailon del Diablo (The Devil's Hollow), where you can actually go up and stand behind the waterfall, that is, after crawling up a ways on all fours to get there.
One of the great things about Ambato - everything is so cheap! There's no WiFi around, but I went to an internet cafe and paid 55 cents for 40 minutes online (Ecuador uses the American dollar, quite convenient).
One of the great things about Ecuador in general: the fruit - the fruit is so fresh - it's incredible! and freshly squeezed juice with every meal. I'll never be able to drink tropicana again...
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