USA! Killeen, Texas

Well folks, i've made it back to the USA! It was a long day of flying, but i'm happy to be back. I'm currently visitng my college friend Anna, who works for the army as an EOD Tech (aka. the army's bomb squad). The weather here in Texas has been great, sunny and warm, but not too hot. I've been doing some laundry and getting organized. Also have been enjoying having a kitchen to cook in! While here i'm hoping to visit as much of texas as i can, Austin, Houston ect.

Yesterday i spent the afternoon cheering on anna and her boyfriend pat at their army softball game. Though i was asked to participate, i feel that i made the right choice not to. I am much better at cheerleading than playing softball!

Pic 1: Anna and Pat
Pic 2: Me and Annie
Pic 3: Me and Pat
Pic 4: Anna up at bat!

Quito, Ecuador

Well, the end is near... i´m here in Quito, Ecuadors capital trying to get organized. As my trip finishes up, i realized i´ve accumulated quite a bit of junk! the city itself is beautiful, broken up in to two main areas. Old town, the historical area, were most of the old buildings are small, and painted white ( a result of trying to erradicate disease by painting all the homes with lime), and the new town, the urban center with its big buildings and busy streets. I´ve some how become allergic to museums. As much as i should try and take in the sights compeletly, as it is my last city here, i´m just fed up with being a toursit, so aside from a little walk around the old city, i´ve been spending my time enjoying what Quito has to offer in a non touristy way, movie theaters, good resturants, ect. Also trying to stay warm in this mountainy area, and missing the beach very much! The pics below are of a few of the buildings in old town, really lovely and colonial. As i have plans to return to ecuador with my sister to go to the Galapagos, you´ll have to wait until my next visit for more exciting pics of quito and around!

Canoa, Ecuador

Ok, so this is offically my last beach town before heading back to the states, and I LOVE IT! Its going to be really hard to leave. It took about 3 buses and many sweaty hours to get here from Monatnita, but it was well worth it. A small blip at our first hostal, it was INFESTED with mosquitos. Very tramatising, i am absolutly covered in bites. But we survived, moved to a nicer hostal, and are now back with the living. We spend our days lounging under colorful tents watching the waves, swimming in the warm ocean, and buying treats from vendors that walk up and down the beaches. The tropical, ocean influence reaches to the resturants as well, we drink coconut smoothies, lap up passion fruit popsicles, and sit down to the worlds best arroz con mariscos (shrimp and rice- to die for!). Theres not much to the acutal town, but hostals. No shopping, no high class dining, no tourist traps. It has been a welcome respite from the usual touristy places we visit. There´s always a hammock open for napping, and a cool beverage to be found easily to refresh. You may have ants crawling on your dinner table, a cockaroach crawling in your room, or bats chirping next to your hammock at night, but your so relaxed from your day at the beach, that it all just seems to not really matter. aaahhh paradise.

Pic 1: Beach tents, we always had a pink one :)

Pic 2: Boogie Boards lined the beach

Pic 3: the long strech of Canoa Beach

Vilcabamba-Ecuador!!

Peace out Peru, Hello Ecuador! Well, Erin and i were able to tear ourselves away from the lovely beaches of peru, and actually make our way to Ecuador. We crossed the boarder by bus, a mostly painless process, and followed the winding road to a small town called Loja, where we immediately jumped on another bus to Vilcabamba, where the fountain of youth is believed to be. Thank goodness, becuase about 15 hours of bus riding did not make me feel very young! We checked in to an awesome hostel on the outskirts of town. A nature retreat really. Good food, pool, spa, hot showers, their own river which they filtered specially for us to drink, lots of nature, and all for $9! Life couldn´t be better. During our stay in Vilcabamba we visited the teeny tiny town, got massages, and did an all day horse ride. The rided consisted of 3 hours of riding into the Cloud Forest surrounding Vilcabamba, then lunch, an hour long hike to some secret waterfalls (maybe the fountain of youth, i´m not allowed to tell for sure) and then 3 hours back. The ride was beautiful and the surroundings amazing, though i must say, not being completely experienced, my butt was seriously damaged after all that riding. Luckily i had a very well behaved horse named Tequila (very fitting, seeing as thats what i had to drink in large quantities after my ride). All in all, Vilcabamba was a treat, very relaxing and refreshing, just what we needed.
Next it was on to Guayaquil, a big costal city that claims to be a huge rival of the capital of Ecuador, Quito. Well, i don´t really have much to say about it really. It was big and dirty, and it took us 3 hours to find a resturant to serve us breakafast. I have no pictures to show of this town, as i was not inspired enough to actually take them... neither was erin, so yeah, we weren´t too impressed.
Now you´ll find me at Montanita, a small small beach town on the coast of ecuador. Still working on my tan! Ecuador is by far the most lush and beautiful of all the places i´ve seen in south america so far, and i really am loving it here. But fear not, I have resigned myself to buy a ticket back to the US as funds are running very low. I¨ll be landing in Killeen, Texas on April 16th to visit my pal Anna. My time on this crazy adventure is running short! so i must be off to enjoy as much of Ecuador as possible! As to when i´ll be hitting the east or west coasts, who knows, i´ll keep you all posted when i make a plan! thats all for now folks!
Ciao Bella,
Cassidy
Pic 1: Vilcabamba
Pic 2: Fountain (Waterfall) of Youth?
Pic 3: Me and Tequila