Left life at 11,200 feet

After volunteering at The Secret Garden in Cotopaxi, Ecuador for two months we finally left and have continued on with our travels.  We are currently in Iquitos, Peru which is in the Amazon jungle!  While we were in Ecuador we were so lucky to be able to stay at the Secret Garden and eat amazing food, sit by the fire every night, lead horse back rides and hikes, have beautiful views with fresh air everyday, converse with the locals and practice our Spanish, get away from the internet and TV,learn about sustainibility, learn about farming and meats, meet interesting people and make some friends during our stay!  I could say a lot more but I mainly just want to show some photos!

You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

Our room that we lived in for two months with no electricity.  We decided it was more comfortable to put a mattress on the floor than sleep on the bunk bed.  And it was more comfortable to sleep with Daisy, the dog!

Christmas Eve Day at the local village school.  One of the guests at our hostel decided to dress up as "Santa's Helper" and pass out the gifts to the children after they performed traditional dances in ponchos.





Mike and I riding the two fastest horses!  We took a group for a gallop on Christmas Day through the valley near Cotopaxi Moutain.  The mountain behind is is Sincholagua.




Me, Mike and Karolina preparing the Christmas dinner.  The chef outfits were mandatory.  This starter consisted of cured ham laid over a spring salad mix with tiny crackers with cream cheese and lox!  Beautifully plated by Mike.




CUY (guine pig) is a traditional Ecuadorian food.  It doesn't taste like much and has very little meat.  At least ours wasn't prepared the traditional way with a broomstick coming out of both ends! :(




On New Years Eve day me and the chicas of the Secret Garden staff played a brutal football game against another local team.  We were in the lead during the first half but ended up losing by 1 point in the end.  1st place prize was a trophy and a case of beer...2nd place was just a case of beer.  We were happy with that!  It was really hard playing soccer at 11,200FT!
Christina, Janet, Faviola, Karolina, me, + Monica.

 



Bringing in the New Year.  We had a small party with the staff :)




 Another photo of me sitting with Basil and Milo, the dalmations.




The view from our room (mattress on the floor) was similar to this every morning.