Trips, Trips, Trips!!!

Taking A Dip

Very shortly after my 28th Birthday - two very sad things happened. The first was that my good friend Henry had to leave Ecuador once and for all. He had extended his trip just to stay - not specifically for me (maybe 20% or so) - but mainly because he started to date my girlfriend's sister - Grace. They hit it off pretty well and as such, Henry stayed for as long as he possibly could - just to spend a bit more time with her. We were good mates - we had spent 4 months hanging out, went to Peru together and got through seasons 1-6 of Curb Your Enthusiasm. We ultimately had some last meals out, said some sad goodbyes and then - he was gone. The second sad thing that happened was that a few weeks later Grace left too - she went off to study English in Canada. It wasn't fully planned yet so at the time we didn't actually know it - but in just a few months - we would all be reunited again - so it wasn't all that bad in the end.

After Henry and Grace left - life continued as normal really. Work kept me busy during the week and Maisa kept me busy during the weekend. Towards the end of the year, between October and December Ecuador has its made rush of holidays and festivals. That meant two good things - time off work and trips away. Over the next three months I would head off to a number of exotic places for some very relaxing fun.

The first trip - Maisa and myself, Maisa's mum and little Domi all headed off to Papallacta. It's only an hour and a half drive and you're soon at the small town made famous for its geothermal hot pools. Naturally heated from nearby volcanoes - Papallacta is the perfect place for a Quiteno to escape the city and sit in hot water for the day. We spent our time relaxing in the morning and then eating in the afternoon - it doesn't get too much better than that.

For the founding of Quito festival, which takes place at the beginning of December - Maisa and the family, plus myself, all took a trip down to Tena. I had been to Tena before - a small town on the edge of the Amazon. It's a brilliant place to get away and take in the jungle vibe. We quickly found a perfect river, in a perfect climate - so that all we wanted to do was get straight into the cool water and go for a swim - which is exactly what we did - it was perfect. In the middle of the river was a huge rock - which Maisa and I swam to and clambered up on. We lay on that rock for about an hour - just talking about how amazing life was. The only downside wouldn't hit me until later however, when I would realise that my entire body had been fried to a crisp.

We later headed onto Banos too, which was a few hours drive from Tena - and where the Coello's have a family holiday home. Unfortunately we didn't stop there for too long, for reasons beyond our control - an erupting volcano emitting gas and ash all over the place. That's usually a holiday killer.

During those months Maisa and I also travelled south to Latacunga to see some of Maisa's family, we headed north to Otavalo - to check out the market and naturally to buy many of the things they sold, and we also spent some time in Quito - where we went to a big event, as Maisa's aunt and uncle renewed their vows and essentially had another wedding party.

All in all Maisa and I had done a number of great trips away, both near and far - and we did all that with my work as busy as ever as Tungurahua Volcano decided to go off one more time and also, while we were planning an even bigger trip away................