Vilcabamba During Carnival

Our time in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. First of all, for both of us, it was one of our most favorite places in the world!! A city of about 1000 people (about 4200 when including the surrounding valleys), it is an excellent option for those wanting to relax.

It is known for having some of the best water in the world and so is home to numerous centennials (folks over the age of 100!). Although, you can not drink the water from the tap, the rivers apparently give long life if you bathe in them.

Outside the dates of Carnival, Vilcabamba is a sleepy town. However, during Carnival, thousands of people pour into the city to celebrate the holiday. In fact, they hold a desfile (parade) the first day.

I love that this float says, ``Fuera Gripe Porcina´´ (``Away Swine Flu´´) Here´s to Lisette in the ISA office for that one :)

This is Wilson. He works with the owner of the horseback-riding company through whom we rented horses. He was in the parade and apparently is well-known in the town because he was on the posters for Carnival.

We avoided getting bombarded with bombas most of the time, but we did receive carioca (foam spray) in the face a couple of times. The first day, we rode horses through the mountains, starting off in the center of town.

Once we got to the mountains, the view was breath-taking...

Looking down into the valley.

Yes, moms, we were that close to the edge, but it was beautiful. We kept telling ourselves that the horses wouldn´t want to fall, so they are careful.

Lindsay in the left-hand corner.

We hiked down to a beautiful waterfall. Can you find Lindsay in the picture? (I´m wearing a green jacket.)

Mark was bold enough to take a shower in the frigid water!

The last day, we decided to rent bikes (no pics because we were mojados-soaked). The first part of the ride was fun, with a few buckets (baldes) of agua being thrown at us. The second part of the ride was not as tranquil. We chose a route that was filled with people and their very large buckets of water, which they poured on us (and everyone else) over and over and over and over. Needless-to-say, we took a shower on bikes.

We returned to the hostal to shower and replace our ropa mojada (soaked clothing) with dry apparel. There, we met a really cool couple from Idaho who has been living in Guayaquil, Ecuador teaching at an English school. They were married, in their early thirties, and had normal jobs (teaching, and sales) in the US, when they decided to move abroad to teach, after attending an international teaching fair. They said the pay is pretty good, and it is a way to travel for free. In the next four months, they will be moving to Vietnam to teach at an English school there. Pretty cool!