Jardín Botánico

Sunday 21 August 2011

Today I visited the Jardín Botánico in Parque La Carolina.  Parque La Carolina is a large park north of La Mariscal.  On weekends it fills with families who come for the paddleboats (there is an artificial lake complete with island in the centre of the park), football and volleyball games and to exercise along the bike paths.  the Jardín Botánico is the park’s newest attraction and contains more than 300 plants and tree species from around Ecuador.  It also has an outstanding orquideario (orchid greenhouse) which I couldn’t visit as it is closed for maintenance work at the moment.  Apparently it contains nearly 1000 orchid species.  It was much smaller than I thought it would be but still interesting to see the different areas.  I’m hoping that the orquideario will be open in September so that I can visit it.

I then wandered around the park, it really is huge and has everything you need for a family day out.  Unlike British and European parks, it hasn’t really been landscaped.  There are some trees, including palm trees of course, but no flower beds or shrubs.  There are lots of benches to sit on and watch the world go by.

I then wandered back to La Mariscal and, at long last, uploaded some photographs to my blog.  I hope you like them.  I also planned what I want to do with my last two weekends in Quito.  Next Sunday I am going on a day trip to Parque Nacional Cotopaxi.

A relaxing and enjoyable Sunday!  I was feeling quite low and alone at the start of the day but have perked up now and am busily planning what I still want to see in Quito.

Lx

Lazy Day

Saturday 20 August 2011

A large chunk of today was spent in my favourite café doing some freelance proofreading.  I still amn’t feeling quite 100 per cent well so I didn’t feel that I was missing out on an action-packed day of sightseeing.  Fingers crossed tomorrow I’ll feel better as I’m planning to visit the Jardín Botánico, botanic gardens in case you weren’t sure.

Lx

No volunteering today

Friday 19 August 2011

I have food poisoning!!  I feel awful and was very ill during the night.  So no volunteering for me today.  After spending the morning sleeping I headed out for some fresh air in the afternoon.  Things are looking up now (during the night I truly wanted to die).  I’ve had a glass of coke (ugh!) and some rusks and life seems worth living again.  Oh well, all part of the adventure!

Lx

Volunteering Day Six: Sangolquí

Thursday 18 August 2011

The children were so naughty this morning!  I don’t know what was wrong with them, but I was glad when the morning session finished.  The afternoon session was much better, even though we could hardly hear ourselves over the din of the rain thundering down on the roof of the market.  We were all very happy that we were inside!  We did get rather wet on the way home though.  My trousers were absolutely soaked but they dried quickly (thank you clever quick-drying fabric!).  I really hope it doesn’t rain every afternoon now!  I’m sure the land needs it, but I prefer being dry!

Lx

Volunteering Day Five: Chillogallo Indoor Market

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Indoor market this morning.  I was in charge of maths.  Stop laughing, I was working with the youngest group (3 and 4 year-olds).  They were given a worksheet with two pigs on it, one thin and one fat, and they had to stick pieces of paper on the fat pig.  We then painted a section for the Ecuadorian flag the children are making(I stood well away as they were painting with their hands).  We are also teaching the children the Barney song to sing at the end of summer programme celebrations next week, as well as a short poem about the Ecuadorian flag.

In the afternoon I stayed in the office with Lulí and another volunteer to prepare pictures, bow ties and banners for the aforementioned celebrations.  We traced and coloured in the pictures (the children have to be able to identify them; my freehand drawings might have been a bit too abstract for them!).  The bow ties were made out of crepe paper and sellotape.  I was very glad that I was in the office as it poured with rained.  I mean, it was a mini monsoon.  The roads turned into rivers instantly.  The other volunteers returned to the office soaked to the skin!  The rain stopped briefly and I make it home just before it started again.  Due to the torrential rain and lightning, there was no electricity when I got home, but I was able to read my Kindle thanks to my fantastic light.  It came back on after an hour.

Lx

Signs

Guess where these were taken? Cuenca!! Some of the street signs I saw in Cuenca.

Lx

Nueva Catedral, Cuenca

Several views of the Nueva Catedral (new cathedral) in Cuenca. I became slightly obsessed with photographing the blue domes from as many different angles and views as possible!

Lx