With over half of my time in Ecuador finished, I spent the past weekend hiking through El Cajas and exploring waterfalls in Yungilla! Here’s an update from your favorite gringita:

Last weekend, a group of friends and I took a bus to Ingapirca — ancient Incan and Cañari ruins about an hour away from Cuenca. The ruins are still under excavation but offer some insight into breakthroughs and culture centuries in the past.

After exploring the ruins, we hiked through the surrounding area and caught glimpses of pretty wildflowers, a few llamas, and beautiful scenery.

Monday afternoon my friend Ellie and I visited the local zoo, which ended up being more of a 4-hour hike with some animal sightings along the way. We were fortunate to see a climpse of the famed Andean Condor (with a wingspan of 3.3 meters — seems more like a dinosaur than a bird?), a sleepy tigrillo (last picture above), and many deer.

As mentioned previously, I recently visited El Cajas National Park and Yungilla with the AMIGOS organization! Cold and rainy weather did not stop us from enjoying a lovely hike through the mountains, and after a night’s rest in a (very buggy) hostel near Yungilla, we went for a swim under a rather chilly waterfall.

Some more updates:

– I began taking a boxing class! Twice a week, I train with a group of locals at a nearby gym. It’s important to note that I started taking this class as a form of self-defense (it’s a plus that the gym has showers that won’t electrocute me). The problem of machismo culture in Cuenca drastically increases sexual harrasment, and while I’ve never been in direct danger, I’ve been cat-called and followed as a regular occurance. In addition to learning self-defense, I rarely walk around the city alone and take other precautions.

– Every Wednesday, I attend a language exchange with students studying English from around Cuenca. Yesterday we had a fun American Halloween celebration!

– This weekend is el feriado, an Ecuadorian festival! Starting today, there are celebrations throughout the center, characterized by the traditional snack of Guaguas de Pan (baby-dolls made from bread) and Colada Morada (a purple berry drink made from corn).