So, last week I went to the Amazonian region, known as Zamora Chinchipe. The drive was so beautiful! As we continued to travel, the plant life changed to more tropical ferns and that sort of thing. Then we start passing small waterfalls. Unfortunately, they came up suddenly and we were driving so I was unable to take pictures of them. But when we came across the waterfall that's in this picture, known as Velo de Novia (Bride's veil), there was a place to stop on the side of the road. So we all got out of the truck and took pictures. This is actually only half of the waterfall, I couldn't get it all in one picture. But it was absolutely magnificent! After taking the picture, we contined driving for a while. When we made it to Zamora Chinchipe, we ate and all of that lol... The weather there was very nice. It was warmer and a little bit more humid, but not bad at all. Then it started to rain, and didn't stop until we made it back to Loja at around 6 pm or so.
This was a picture I took while we were driving through Zamora looking for a particular plant. This old house looked abandoned, but it has a certain charm to it that I couldn't resist. You can also see the banana or plantano trees and ferns. Absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately, one of the plants we were looking for we were unable to get to because there was a huge mudslide about 2 km away from the site, and we were unable to pass. I have pictures of that, but forgot to put them on here. Sorry about that. You can see them on facebook if you have one, or you can wait until I get back to look at them :)
Saturday I went to Catamayo with Paola and her sister, Yadira. We went to a big park there, and I took this next picture at the lake that is part of the park.
Catamayo was very nice. The temperature was probably in the upper 70's or lower 80's, but it was a dry heat, so it wasn't too bad. Yes, I got a little hot, but it was nothing like AR! We also went to a water park where we ate lunch. The picture below was of a dish that is called "Cesina". Catamayo is famous for its cesina. I must say, it was very delicious! It's pork, but didn't taste like any pork I've ever eaten, so that was definitely a plus. And if you'll notice the size of the portion, this was what they call "media", or half. I would hate to see what a full portion looks like. Needless to say, I wasn't able to finish all of it, but I sure tried!
After lunch, we headed to a place called El Cisne. This village is known for its Basilica that houses the Virgen (a small statue of the Virgen Mary). Every year in August, people from all over South America come and the Virgen is carried from El Cisne to Catamayo, then from Catamayo to Loja, a trip that is about 2-3 hours by car. The kicker is that these people WALK the entire trip. Through the mountains! Crazy! But I guess, not being a Catholic, there are some things that I will never completely understand. Anywho, while we were there, clouds started rolling in (I think we were 2800 m up?). It was absolutely gorgeous watching them come in. The picture below shows the clouds in the village. It was so cool!
I think one of the things that I will miss when I leave here is the different things that I've never seen. If that makes any sense at all.... For instance, the clouds rolling in, much like fog would at home. But knowing that it's just the clouds because we're so far up in the atmosphere. Or all of the waterfalls and plantlife. Arkansas is beautiful, there's no doubting that. But this is a different kind of beautiful altogether. Breath-taking and magnificent. A place that could only have been created by a Divine Creator who knew exactly what would take my breath away at this very moment. A God who is a wonderful Artist. I thank God for my time here. It's coming to a close very soon. I start my journey home in 10 days. I am happy and excited to be coming back home. But also very sad to leave such a paradise. Bittersweet is the only word I can use to describe the emotion.
