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Hi Everybody, Leaders of the Day (LDD), Aditya and Anson here.
Today we woke up super early at 6AM for our Fun Day, which is also Aditya’s birthday. To start off the day, we walked to Roma Santa for breakfast, which consisted of bananas, apples, granola, strawberry yogurt, pancakes, and hard-boiled eggs. During breakfast, we gave Aditya a birthday brownie, sang Happy Birthday for the first time, and Nelson presented Aditya with a gift. At 7:30AM, Don Victor drove us through stormy mountains to Baños, where we visited Pailón del Diablo. We reached Pailón del Diablo around 9:30 AM. At the Pailón del Diablo, we walked down steep stairs and crossed suspension bridges to reach the waterfall, which was amazing. After the waterfall, we drove into the city to have lunch at D’Antonio around 1PM. We enjoyed a delicious Ecuadorian carrot soup with popcorn, babaco juice, and chicken and rice. We then had free time in the city center. We all walked to the town’s artisan market and shopped a little bit before splitting into groups. Half of us continued to shop while the other half walked with Paúl and Andrea to another local waterfall. At 3PM, we were supposed to board the bus back to Riobamba, but visited Paúl’s parents instead. Paúl’s mom had baked a birthday cake and we sang Happy Birthday for the second time. At 4PM, we boarded for a long trip back to Hotel Tren Dorado. After a short break, we walked to Lina Restaurant for dinner at 6:30PM. We had burritos and enchiladas. At dinner, the restaurant baked a chocolate cake and cheesecake for Aditya’s birthday and we sang Happy Birthday for the third time. After three cakes and one birthday brownie, we ended the day with a roof party and Ecuadorian piñata. We passed the LDD torch to Samantha for Free Day #2 tomorrow.
-Aditya and Anson
Aditya, Isabelle and Anson start the day off with a cake for Aditya’s birthday!!
Isabelle’s son Nelson and Aditya have become good friends and he gave Aditya a gift:-)
Samatha’s first time trying pancakes – and she definitely enjoyed them along with Ramon, Diana and Claire!
Raging River! The sound was deafening!
Our fun day to Banos was a little wet…..looking good Glimpsers in those $2 ponchos!
Aditya leading the pack across a wet, wobbly, FUN suspension bridge!
Natalie keeping dry and looking good!
Glimpsers at the base of the waterfall! The sound was so LOUD!
Karla and Gina at the waterfall
Pictures don’t do justice to the beauty of Banos!
Jax looking for something special for Rita (Mom:-) )
Jocee and her amazing LLAMA sweater!!!
Glimpsers helping the local economy!!
Leaders of the Day – Anson and Aditya (B-Day Boy!)
Hello All, it’s so nice seeing your pictures. Seems like you all are having a lot of fun. Anson, we are having a party at your home today. We all miss you so much. Can’t wait to have you back home to have party again. Good job, Anson. Love you.
What beautiful pictures I can’t even imagine how amazing it was to experience it live. WOW!!! You guys are so lucky to get the full Ecuador tour.
Aditya sounds like you had an amazing Birthday lots of surprises, cakes and love from your new friends.
Jax I love that you are shopping for me. I miss you a lot, but I’m glad your are having this once in a lifetime experience. Since tomorrow is another free day I’m hoping for another phone call. I love you to pieces son, embrace everything around you make sure you take it all in. I’ll see you soon.
Wow, what a fun day! The pictures of the waterfall are beautiful! I’m sure you had fun shopping and eating all the treats on this day. Keep up the good work everyone! We miss and love you Sis.
P.S. We went to Dad’s high school reunion tonight and guess who was there? Ingrid and she told me to tell you “hello” and to keep up the good work! I love you Sis- Mom
Natalie you look very happy. We cannot wait to see you back in California. We miss you and we love you. You and the others look like they are having a blast. Keep up the great work. See you see soon!
Love Erika Cisneros
Glad to see you all enjoying a fun day! Love to see these pictures everyday and see that you guys are having a great time! Anson, we all miss you back at home. We are all proud of you for all you have done on this trip.
Love you,
Mom, Dad, and Serina
Claire- you are rocking the blue raincoat! So glad it came in handy. You look so happy eating pancakes no surprise! I like Jocees llama sweater! Can’t wait to see what fun day it is tomorrow! Did you go see the other waterfall? Have a great time- Mom, Dad, Tommy and Tucker.
I’ve posted the last 2 days so I’m not sure why my post are not showing but I’ll try again.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADITYA!!!
Sounds like you had a very special birthday in a very special place with a lot of new friends.
The country site you went to is breathtaking. I would have been so scared crossing that suspension bridge. Glad you all had your ponchos to help keep you dry.
Jax I love that you were shopping for me. I love and miss you to pieces but I’m so happy that you are having this experience. I can’t wait to hear all the stories.
wowie wow! that is by far my favorite sweater i’ve ever seen! i can’t believe my eyes it is just so good. (also i miss you a lot squeak)
Claire,
I took a student trip to Europe when I was 20. I still have pleasant memories of that trip What you are experiencing now will stay with you the rest of your life. I wish I could be there doing it all over.
Grandfather Inlow
jocee u look stunning in that sweater and i miss u more everyday