Officially the at the finish line! This trip has been an experience of a lifetime and has changed my perspective in so many ways. Today was our travel day to the Quito Airport. We made many stops along the way to take Ecuador all in one last time. We had a special breakfast today of…
Tag: Maddie Listman
Day 12: Bittersweet Goodbyes in Iyarina
¡Hola! Today is our second to last day here in Iyarina. We had breakfast which was eggs and an interesting hash brown food with cheese and a mashed potato inside. We didn’t have anything to do today, so I used it to pack everything up which was very sad and take out my outfits for…
Day 11: Painting Pots, Hair Cutting, and Monkeys
¡Hola! Today was a much-needed rest day after our long travel day yesterday. I woke up for breakfast at 8am to oatmeal, fruit, coffee, and a doughy bread that almost resembled a homemade donut without all the sugar. After eating, we went straight into our pottery painting to finish up our creations. So far, my…
Day 8/9: The Ways of the Waorani
Rise and shine! Today we woke up at 6am and had breakfast at 7 before heading on our 2 hour bus ride to the boats. It was a slow day as we got onto our boats that we would be staying in for the next 6 hours. The boat ride to lunch was calm and…
Day 7: Chocolate and Forest Connections!
Wow, this is flying by! I am already halfway through my Ecuador trip and have really gotten close with all my new friends, and I cannot wait to see where this week will go! Today was a packed day filled with chocolate and walking through the river! Breakfast today had a twist, and instead of…
Day 6: Ceramics and Cacao!
Today was relaxing and informative! We started the day with yet another breakfast of bread and eggs, accompanied by a refreshing bowl of fruit. Todd, the owner of the lodge, gave us a lesson on the Waorani tribe and his background about how his lodge came to be and his connection to it. Todd is…
Day 5: Hot Springs, High Peaks, and Hairy Tarantulas
After our night filled with music and dancing we left Hostal Curiñan and started our long day of traveling. Our first stop was the equator where we got to see all three 0s, the exact line of the equator. I learned that the sun rises exactly on the East only two days of the year,…
Day 4: From Waterfalls to Guinea Pigs and Dancing!
¡Hola! Today was a great day filled with shopping, culture learning, birds, and music and dancing! We woke up early for our breakfast and took a bus down to the center of Otavalo where there was a huge market filled with clothes, bags, trinkets, jewelry, and so much more. After spending two hours shopping we…
Day 3: From Greenhouses to Goals
In our first morning in the Cayambe region, we woke up to roosters and chickens to start our day. We went to breakfast which consisted of eggs and coffee. After, we drove to Ecuaroscanada S.A. which was large greenhouses of roses of all different colors where we walked through the greenhouses and learned about their…
Day 2: Chocolate Craziness
Today was filled with a chocolate overload of history, tours, and many tastings of numerous flavors! We started our day with a learning and tasting session of Yumbo Chocolate Artesenal. We tried over 7 different chocolate flavors that consisted of 100% dark chocolate, mint, lemongrass, tangerine, chili and salt, ginger, and coffee bean chocolate. The…
Day 1: From Cathedrals to City Lights!
Today was our first full day in Quito, Ecuador! We woke up and had breakfast around 8:30 before heading into town to explore more of the culture and lively music. As we made our way to our tour Nuseo Franciscano Fray Pedro Gicial, we stopped in the Iglesia Católica San Francisco and observed the mass….
Off to the Equator!
Hello everyone! My name is Maddie Listman and I am from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I have two older sisters, a younger brother, three nieces, and two dogs. I currently work as a lead camp counselor at my high school during the summer, and I love to travel, go to the beach, and go to concerts, specifically…