Ecuador - Day 1, 2, & 3

We arrived safe and sound Thursday evening around 9 p.m. Jonathan, Irena and Ruthie were there to greet us at the airport. We checked in to the hotel and got our suitcase to our rooms and then went out to a restaraunt & bar with Jonathan, Irena, Ruthie, Ryan and Keith. We didn't last long as we were exhausted from our trip. Friday we woke up early because of the sunlight. It is very light at 6 a.m. We managed to go back to sleep for a little bit and got up around 8. Jonathan had a busy day for us and took us on a whirlwind tour of Quito.


This is where we ate lunch. It was excellent!! And we were very hungry!! There was an elderly man here who was sketching cartoon pictures of Keith at our table. It was very funny. He drew several of him but also one of Darin and we paid him $1 for it. We'll have to frame it.

Darin and I in front of the Presidential palace.

This little kid just wanted to be in our picture. I think he tried to sell us some candy first. We ended our day with a trip very high on the mountainside to a statue of the Virgin Mary. She overlooks the city. It was very beautiful and we were able to see the whole city. We went to a restaraunt there that had floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the city and drank a traditional ecuadorian drink. It was quite an experience.
Saturday we left early for the Galapagos Islands. After getting on the wrong bus at the airport. (oops ... it was definately my fault we almost went on a cruise) we headed back to the airport and found the right bus. We arrived at our hotel around 12:00 p.m. Ate lunch and hung out at the hotel until we could get into our room. Darin was almost attacked by a sea lion that was lounging around the hotel deck. After that we headed to the Charles Darwin Research Station, which is just a short walk or bike ride from our hotel. We got to see many tortoises and walked along the beach as well. We had dinner at the hotel and then went to bed quite early.

I will post more when we have time some time. We took a trip in a little boat today and the waves were huge! I was scared! We saw lots and I will posts pictures from today when I have some more time.