Grandpa Charley and Mackenzie do Ecuador                                                  

                                                                                      

From June 8 to June 20, 2013 my granddaughter, Mackenzie Mallon, and I experienced a trip to Ecuador with tour operator, Exoticca. 

After a long plane ride from Denver and a night in Quito we woke up to join our group for a tour around the old colonial center of the impressive and very clean capital city of Quito.

                                                                                      

That afternoon we took a long bus ride over the high Andes to reach our resort in the Amazon jungle. Mackenzie is pointing out the high spot on that road, 4063 meters (13,327 feet), much higher than any paved road in the USA.

                                                  

                                                                    

                                                                       

                         

We learned many important jungle survival skills like eating, using a blowgun, mud cosmetics, all weather trekking and river bathing.

We were also privileged to visit a nearby indigenous village and share in their welcoming ceremony. Yes, with a little encouragement, we all got up and danced.  

Returning to Quito, we visited "La Mitad del Mundo", a monument celebrating where 18th Century French geologist marked as the exact line between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Unfortunately they were slightly off.

                                                                                   

We also visited the famous Otavalo Indigenous Market where Mackenzie's father and I had visited 26 years earlier.

Next stop was the Island of San Cristobal in the Galapagos.                                                       

We took a cooking class and learned how to make ceviche

And we ate a lot of mariscos.

                                             
                              

                                                

Of course we saw the tortoises.    

                                                  

                                               

                   And snorkeling,                 

But all too soon we had to fly back to the mainland.

                              

                                                             

               

Along the malecon and tropical garden in front of our hotel in Guayaquil.

Our tour guide for the Guayas Estuary, marine biologist , Fernando

Learning about tides, birds and bottle nosed dolphins.

End of a wonderful trip to the Andes, Amazon, Galapagos Islands and the Pacific Coast in Ecuador.