February 2012

I had to laugh when I read @Tracy this morning – Mr @Tracy just returned from a month away and had so many shows to watch that he had recorded.  He and I did that too…even after just over a week, I’m still trying to get caught up on Housewives of Orange County, the Mentalist Read more

Middle of the World – Mitad del Mundo This is one of those touristy things I just had to do..and I’m glad we did.  ya…I’m a dork with my camera and purse cris-crossing my body…guess I didn’t know I would look like this 🙂  Of course, just the fact that I thought it would be Read more

Teleferiqo Up the side of the mountain to volcano Pichincha – 14,000 feet by cable car…incredible… yes…cows..   …and the reason we went…wonderful dessert and I’ve developed a love for sugar in my Ecuadorian coffee …thanks for getting us both while we are chewing. Here’s the write up I copied from a tourism site.Quito’s latest Read more

Here’s the toilet lid and cover – they are throughout the complex…Chairs are also made like this…such a quaint touch. Look at this awesome picture of a storm far off…not that far off…wasn’t long before we were taking down hammocks and heading for the butterfly suite. Some random pictures of Quito.  First the home where Read more

  auto-rickshaw aka taxi which you will see all over the beach/village areas.  There were always several waiting around the Mandala Hosteria in the mornings.  Although we didn’t – this is the way to travel over to Machalilaa State Park – Los Frailes beach – a beautiful horseshoe beach surrounded on both sides by cliffs…actually Read more

I thought I had a picture of the toilet when I downloaded..will have to check for it.  Beautiful wood toilet seat and cover – I’ve never seen one like it.  Check out the window above the bathroom door – Christa said at night when the bathroom light was on, it was a beautiful glow.   Read more

     http://www.hosteriamandala.info/menuin.html    The pictures are beautiful – but you can’t capture the beauty and the feel for this wonderful place in a picture.  There are many of these paths and they all lead to private rustic lodging/cabins.  I posted the link to the resort in case you want to go in and browse Read more

It is good to be home. Left Ecuador around 7 am eastern time and arrived Des Moines 2300 Central Time. It’s a long trip by air but a blink of the eye if you consider how long it would take traveling northbound on the Pan-Am highway. Because I had only precious minutes of internet time, Read more

Relaxing.We were told that there was a beach 5 kilometers down the road with white sand so we started there…not so white just a little lighter than we were used to. Because you cannot spend a lot of time in the ecuadorian sun when you are as incredibly white as we are, we decided to Read more

We have an incredible advantage traveling with Spanish speaking friends; but I must say it is not imperative to speak the language to totally experience the Hosteria Mandala at Porta Lopez Ecuador. The adorable couple who own and care that your trip is spectacular are Swiss and Italian…she is a long legged middle age blond Read more