What a wonderful weekend!! Ecuador truly is a beautiful country! Getting out of Quito was just what this family needed! Friday did start out as a little bit of a fire drill. Our driver showed up 50 minutes early - because of rain that was coming, and we did have a bad storm with hail again for part of our drive. We were 99% packed and just finished with lunch. We ran around for 5 minutes getting the last minute stuff packed and out the door we went. About 20 minutes down the road I asked Hayden if he grabbed the camera - he did - but unfortunately the battery pack was dead so I had it in the charger in the wall. That is where it stayed all weekend! We did take some pictures with our cell phone. They are pretty decent. We do plan to go back to Papallacta one more time so we will definitely bring the camera and battery pack!!!
Once we are out of the city the mountains are just beautiful. There are random waterfalls, signs that said beware of wild bears, cows grazing miles up on the mountain side, small towns, it was beautiful even in the rain! Pappalacta is a small town about 90 minutes from Quito. Their claim to fame is the natural thermal pools, and they are awesome!! We rented a cabin - it had 4 twin beds upstairs in a loft area and then a small living area, bathroom and bedroom down stairs. It was kind of like camping but you had indoor plumbing! The main lodge had a small hotel, bar and restaurant - it was very nice! The food was good too. You could get burgers or Ecuadorian favorites. We had three private thermal pools in front of our cabin that varied in temperature. Also as a hotel guest you could use any pool on the grounds. There was also a huge public area that had a dozen or so large pools and a spa. You can look at the website and check it out. It was great! http://www.termaspapallacta.com/
Emma has a little brother that LOVES the water! He constantly asked to go in the water and would never get out until you pulled him out. He would dunk under and play with Emma - he had no fear. They spent hours at a time in the water. Hayden and I spent a lot of time in the water too but we spent just as much time watching them from a lawn chair!! Each day was pretty much the same - we hung out at the pools, ate lunch, hung out at the pools then dressed and went to dinner and back for one last dip!! The days were pretty nice but just like Quito we got rain each day. Saturday morning we were lucky to have blue sky's and sun and were able to see the nearby snow caped volcano Antisana. It was HUGE and amazingly beautiful! You could see it for a couple of hours and then the clouds covered it up.
There was only ONE TV in the whole place which was in the bar. We would sit and chat with other guests while we waited for dinner and that is when Emma and Danni got their TV fix! It was great!! Well for us it was but for Emma it was torture! We did bring a little DVD player so they got a movie each night before bed. They were too exhausted for much more but Emma still needs to complain! One night Animal Planet was on and Danni loved it! He would scream and tell me to look, look, look!! He is for sure an animal lover just like Emma.
Again, we had a fabulous weekend. It was very relaxing and we had some great family time. Lots of pictures attached. Look for more tomorrow too. Enjoy!!!
Mari
