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Galapagos: Days 3-8

After a morning of napping in our new hotel in Puerto Ayora (on the island of Santa Cruz) we ventured out to find some food and explore the town. We discovered 3 things quickly: 1) it was an adorable, high-end town with all the amenities one could want (boutique organic coffee, spa, stores that clearly […]

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Unexpected (but possibly foreseeable) change of plans: Galapagos days 1-3

On Sunday morning we flew to San Cristobal, one of the islands in the Galapagos to join our 7 day cruise of the islands. Back in the spring, Steve and I went round and round on which boat (there are many) and which itinerary to take. There were so too many variables! Price, size of […]

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Cuenca Part 2 (days 20 -21)

This weekend we got out of downtown Cuenca and explored a bit. We’ve been trying to involve the kids more in planning and this weekend was a test! We had them choose between 2 day trips on Saturday, and Jack researched activities on the internet for Sunday. Choosing between a long car ride + short […]

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Otavalo (days 10-13)

On Wednesday, we transferred via mini-van from Mindo to Otavalo (much more about this charming place below) through the very touristy “Mitad del Mundo”, the number one tourist attraction in Quito (actually 30 minutes outside Quito). It is reputedly the equator though modern technology places the actual equator somewhere slightly different. It is pretty close […]

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Mindo – Day 2, a kids dream! Ziplines and Chocolate

On Tuesday we once again had a lovely breakfast at the hotel. The setting was just amazing— we could see orchids, hummingbirds and birds. We then headed to one of the two zipline operators in town which are apparently identical for all intents and purposes (they are next door to each other, same price, same […]