Grande Cascadas, Detours and Doorways

As advertised, we had a pretty entertaining weekend here in the valley.   On top of having two fabulous Manna females in our midst, we also hosted the installment of a door to our apartment.  For those of you who don't know, we have a three-bedroom apartment that's attached to our house where a couple of PDs (myself included) reside and where we house our spring break and summer volunteers.  Before yesterday, we had to use a hand-crafted ladder to hoist ourselves over a wall to get into the apartment.  But thanks to some handy Ecuadorian carpenters and Bibi who sat in our house all day eating M&Ms while we hiked the waterfalls, the hobbit door was installed!  

From left to right: new mini door, scary old ladder

Meanwhile, us newbies along with Lori and Maria, ventured to the Las Cascadas de Pita, a scenic ecological reserve outside of Sangloqui with lots of waterfalls.  After two bus rides, squeezing into the back of our new friend's truck (a man after Shawn's heart), and a hearty Trout lunch we were told by a guide to walk down the hill and hang a right towards the Grande Cascada.  We spent the afternoon hopping rocks, climbing ladders, jumping through waterfalls, and swinging on branches.  Two hours later we were stopped by a large gate/water treatment pipe... slightly different than we expected from the Grande Cascada.  We called Serena, who asked us if we had been walking on the left bank of the river, and in fact we had been on the right side the whole time (oops).  Slightly disappointed, but still satisfied with the other less grande waterfalls, we decided to follow signs for the "salida" when we ran into another sign pointing towards the Grande Cascada (insert confusion).  Even though we were about to be late for our truck ride back, we decided to head towards the waterfall because, well, wouldn't you?

When we got to the waterfall, we found that in the dry season it was a little smaller than we expected.  Nevertheless, the hike and subsequent trek back to the valley (with a gorgeous views of Cotopaxi from the truck) was a lot of fun and a great way to spend time with Lori and Maria. 

Mike, Krysta, Shawn, Lori, Sarah, and Sonia on the way to Las Cascadas de Pita

Walking along the right (or wrong, rather) side of the river

In awe of Shawn's handstand

Lori pointing to the Grande Cascada sign 

We found it!!!

Chet empowering the waterfalls

Newbies making a Maria sandwich 

 - Jackie