Today, we drove back into the Andes mountains, this time to visit one of the many volcanos that are Ecuador. It was great to see the beautiful scenery and get out of the city and into the countryside. We did a difficult hike inside of a caldera that is filled with water and then took a quick hike around the rim as well. All-in-all, it was a wonderful day, but quite exhausting. We still have many more adventures left and look forward to providing details on days like today. There are only a couple of days until we return to the Amazon jungle for four days, during which we might be completely out of touch, so forgive us if we don’t post for a few days. Enjoy a few photos from our day.
Driving through the AndesView of the Caldera and LagoonSteep Cliffs of the CalderaStopped at a Canyon Stream along the WayGoing Down was Easier than Climbing Back Up
We have been anticipating returning to South America, specifically Ecuador, for quite a while. We spent our first day in Quito getting the lay of the land and recovering from our late flight, which did not land until almost midnight. We have ten exciting days of adventures planned, so this is going to be quite an exciting trip. We can’t wait to experience everything that we can during our time in Ecuador and then ultimately sharing those explorations with everyone else. We will be doing a more comprehensive tour of Quito later during our trip, but for now, here are a few photos of our first day as we made our way from the hotel to old town.
Street MarketInteresting Statue near Our HotelTheatre in Old TownWalking the StreetsStatue in a ParkOne of the Many Churches
Many of the travelers that we meet have very specific goals that they would like to achieve from their travels. We’re not talking about bucket list items, like visiting a specific place, but these are bigger goals. Some people have goals like 30 countries before the age of 30 or traveling to all 50 states in America. Perhaps you want to visit all of the countries that make up your ancestry or maybe you want to visit all countries that make up the European Union.
Lighthouse on the Northern Coast of Africa in Morocco
Our goal is going to be difficult to achieve, especially since we started traveling later in life. We want to make it to all seven continents. At this point, we have been to five of the seven continents with Australia and Antarctica left. We have been looking at going to New Zealand in early 2018, but it isn’t technically part of Australia, but is part of Oceania, which includes the islands that surround Australia. In order to keep it official, we are now looking at combining Australia and New Zealand into the same trip next year.
Andes Mountains in South America
Just because we have a goal to go to all seven continents, that doesn’t mean that it limits our travel choices, it just enhances them. We have smaller goals, like exploring more of Central and South America, which is why we are going to Ecuador in September. Obviously, we had been to Europe before, but that didn’t stop us from seeing as much of it as possible during the time we stayed in Germany. Travel is rewarding in and of itself, but sometimes having a goal can give you something to focus on or to help push your boundaries.
Castles in Europe
What is your travel goal? Is there something specific that you hope to achieve through your travels?
