Our Family Adventures 2018 / 2019

On Saturday we went looking for the Loja Botanical Gardens, we thought it would be simple enough, but of course we got a little lost, followed a wrong path, and instead found this really cool hiking path.  It reminded me of Fish Creek Park back home. Although you are still inside the city it felt like you are in the middle of nowhere. We totally want to try this city hike again, next time with snacks, and water along...oops. Terran and Maija at the beginning of the path

For our second Saturday here in Loja we decided to check out a park called Parque Jipiro. From the first day that we arrived here in Loja people had been telling us about this park. As usual we did not know what to expect, but the park did not disappoint. It is a huge green space with small monuments paying tribute to different parts of the world. This cool Loja signs are all over the city Maija with a Chinese dragon

Plaza En El Centro Histórico (Plaza in the Historic Centre)  I think Ecuador is a very nice place. I am in Loja right now. Loja is in the SE corner of Ecuador, deep in the mountainous highlands. Loja is known as the capital of music in Ecuador. Loja is not very hot, and that is nice after a month of 30 degrees Celsius every single day. Here it rains a bit. The weather forecast is not usually accurate. It claims to be raining every day yet it is not.    Loja is very different from every other place we have been to. Why? These are my reasons:

Another post by Terran...in these posts Terran writes a journal entry, and then I copy it out, add a few explanations, and add pictures for our blog: Dear Mrs. L-J, I saw PIGS! In Zorritos (Peru) the pigs like to walk about 5-6 meters away from the sand. You might think of pink perfect pigs, but they are not that pink, they are more brown. Street pigs in Zorritos, I saw them all over the town.

So after a very early morning, my Mom, Prima Elen, Emilio, and us headed to the border city of Aguas Verdes (Peru)/Huaquillas(Ecuador). We were sad to say good bye, and at the same time excited to see a different country, and continue this little adventure of ours. Looking over the bridge that divides Peru and Ecuador. If you don't care about having your passport stamped you can basically just walk right in to the next country.

There are so many things about Peru that we will remember fondly...our list below is not in any particular order, just a way to keep some fun, interesting, and good memories. 1. The Beach! It so nice to have the beach right across the street from our home to cool down after those hot, hot afternoons. Maija enjoying an Inka Kola by the beach

Not having a car during our trip has been a HUGE bonus in our point of view. Both of us don't really enjoy driving a lot, so not having a car is kind of nice. We are forced to walk more, and slow down more. Back home if I need something from a store I just hop in the car and go, here I either walk, or plan a little head, or better yet take a MotoTaxi!...ok, you are probably thinking, is not having a car really that great? well if you see Peruvian drivers, and you are trying to share a road with them, you might be inclined to agree with me. ;) So on the topic of cars, here are some cool rides we have taken here in Peru, unfortunately I did not think to take a picture of all the "combis" we took around Arequipa. Basically it is a small or large 12 seater van or small bus. There is usually a person riding half in and half out of the combi yelling the destinations. It is hard to explain, and my kids love them! Even now they walk around mumbling..."Cayma, Cayma, Cayma,

For our last Saturday in Peru we decided to take a little day trip out to the town of Puerto Pizarro. Everyone we talked to in Zorritos kept mentioning what a cool destination Puerto Pizarro was, so we decided to check it out. Maija, Terran and Gabrielito at the Mirador of Puerto Pizarro Pelicans hanging out by the shore

Those of you who have known me for a long time may know that I had ambitions to be a marine biologist in a previous lifetime.  For better or for worse I have long since abandoned that dream, but it has been a very neat experience to see the tropical oceans and the life they contain. On Saturday Feb 3rd we took a day trip to Organos, about two hours (i.e. 80km on Peruvian roads) south from Zorritos.  The attraction here is that there is a sea turtle 'sanctuary' (I use that term loosely - it is just an area of the open ocean where they feed turtles so they are almost always present), and since they are a source of tourist income they are less likely to be killed by fisherman. We thus all had the opportunity to swim with sea turtles!  It was a very neat experience, although Terran and Monica got a bit freaked out and only stayed in the water for maybe 10 minutes or so.  We hired a local photographer with a GoPro to take some pictures and videos of Maija and I.  The quality is