This post features student writing by Jake, Sophie and Claire

Hola desde Ecuador!

Upon leaving the village, we traveled with Fernando, our main bus driver, to a restaurant that prides itself for its fish. We had the opportunity to fish for our own trout for lunch, which was a first-time experience for many of us. With our wooden fishing poles and bait in hand, we threw the string out into the water, anxious for the fish to bite. We had varying levels of success, some catching the fish in one try and others with two or three tries. Unfortunately, Connor had the worst luck of us all. Not only was he not able to catch the fish, but when he caught one, it slipped off the hook and back into the water. This happened four times (Connor gets points for his perseverance). Eventually, we managed to catch the right number of trout and sat down to enjoy our lunch.

After lunch, we continued on the bus ride to our hacienda in Cotopaxi. It was called Hacienda Porvenir and looked like a nice, warm place to live out our days in the mountains. When we reached our rooms, we realized that, because we were staying in the upper floor, the straw roof was amazingly sloped.  During our stay at the hacienda, there were many things we could do. For example, some of us got massages and went into the spa. Some of us learned how to make emapanadas, a traditional food in Ecuador often filled with cheese or meat; aji, a spicy dip; and canelazo, a cinnamon drink that has apples, oranges, or other fruits in it.

We all went on a horseback ride up a trail behind the hacienda. Early in the morning, we suited up in multiple warm layers, anticipating a windy ride. Outside of our layers, we were given chaps, which were furry goat hide pants that covered our outer legs, ponchos, and helmets. We walked down to where the horses were and divided into two groups: people with experience and people without experience. We were assigned our horses and mounted them. Many of us tried to move our horses, but couldn’t get them to budge. As soon as the guide mounted, his horse trotted away and we followed him. The view was astonishing. We could see Cotapaxi and all of the way back down the mountain. 

We trotted back down another path that wound down the mountain. Eventually, the hacienda was visible from where we were. When we were going downhill, we were able to appreciate how high up we were and how beautiful the mountain was. As we finished up the ride, dismounted our horses and went back inside to the hacienda, we received a warm drink that was later known as canelazo.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at the hacienda´s spa. Several people got massages, which were well received after the two hour long horse ride, while others went to the sauna and pool. The sauna, a brick igloo which some described as a ´giant pizza oven´, was warm and helped relax the muscles after weeks of strenuous activity.  It was yet another great experience to add to our memories of Ecuador.