ECUADOR 🇪🇨🦙🏔️❤️

Welcome to the highest capital in the world!

On Sunday, November 17, I arrived in Quito, the highest capital above sea level at 2850 m.

My flight was very relaxing; I was picked up directly from the airport and met my host family.

My host mother is named Monika, and she lives in a large house in downtown Quito with her 90-year-old mother and the housekeeper Paulita.

She is incredibly warm, and I felt welcomed right away.

Along with me, there is another German, a Swiss woman, and two friends I already met in Costa Rica :)

My first day on Monday in my new project was really amazing; I work on a charity farm that specializes in birds. In addition to the usual farm animals, there are many parrots and birds of prey.

A highlight of the farm is the big bird of prey show with eagles, buzzards, owls, and more.

My task is to clean the cages, then we feed the birds and do flight training with them.

In the afternoon, I went downtown for the first time; Quito is really exciting!

It is very crowded and loud, but also incredibly colorful due to the clothing of the locals or the many fruit and vegetable stands along the street.

There are hardly any tourists to be seen, so people look at you a bit strangely.

A major highlight of downtown is the basilica, but there are countless richly decorated churches since the Catholic faith is very important here.

In the evening, we went to a restaurant with a view over the whole city; it was truly indescribable!

Currently, Ecuador is experiencing a severe drought, which is why electricity is cut off twice a day for about 4 hours.

Everyone is affected, even restaurants and cafes have to work with generators. This is particularly dramatic for cooling food and caring for sick people.

For me, it was something new not to always have electricity available, but I have gotten used to it after a few days. It is a privilege that we have electricity at any time of day or night in Germany!

For the last four days, we had dinner in the host family by candlelight; candles are not common or too expensive, and the electricity was off.

During the city tour we did on Tuesday, we tasted real Ecuadorian chocolate, which is truly delicious!

Ecuador is very different from home, and also quite different from Costa Rica, which I experienced in the last six weeks.

It is not a vacation destination but a land for adventurous travelers! I love the new impressions but also had to adjust a little at first.

This weekend, I'm going on a huge adventure! I will be heading to the Amazon for three days and living right in the jungle.

There is no reception there; you are completely cut off from civilization.

Moreover, you get to see and meet completely unknown animals, and on the last day, we will meet the indigenous people of Ecuador and have lunch with them.

I am very grateful that I have the opportunity to take this trip to the Amazon and look forward to all the new stories!

Stay tuned for what’s to come!

Warm regards from Ecuador,

Besos,

Paulita