Pichincha otra vez

The 8th and 9th of February was holidays and I spent these days with Rebecca, before she went home to England. Yes, that is indeed sad!

So my first goodbyes have been said.

During these days I climbed Rucu Pichincha, 4,696 meters, one more time. And the first time I did it after a couple of weeks in Ecuador, we had a wonderful weather. This time it was horrible. When we arrived up with the teleferico we were immediately emerged in the clouds. During our climb we had the worst weather, and we started on the actual climbing part too early, because we could not see anything ahead of us. We might not have reached the top, unless two Ecuadorians had found us and showed us the correct way to the summit and helped us on the difficult parts. Also during this time it was raining, not making the climb any more fun.
This is just another example of how Ecuadorians are the nicest people! Because they waited for us on the summit, so they could help us down the difficult parts! Ecuadorians are so nice!
When we had climbed down the difficult parts and they were sure that we could find our own way back, they left us to go back ourselves. We did this without a single break, because it started raining so heavily that the paths turned into small floods!
The good thing about the bad weather was that we managed to do the climb in 5 hours flat!

And here we go again!
Så starter vi igen!

Straight into the clouds.
Lige ind i skyerne

The beauty of Pichincha.
Skønheden ved Pichincha

This looks and felt dangerous!
Dette ser farligt ud og det føltes også farligt

At the summit! 4,696 meters!
Bjergtoppen blev nået. 4.696 meter!

Den 8. og 9. februar var helligdage, og jeg tilbragte disse dage sammen med Rebecca, før hun tog hjem til England. Ja, det er sørgeligt!
Så mit første farvel er også blevet sagt.

I løbet af disse to dage besteg jeg Rucu Pichincha, 4.696 meter, endnu engang. Den første gang jeg gjorde det efter et par uger i Ecuador, var det dejligt vejr. Men ikke denne gang. Vejret var forfærdeligt!
Så snart vi trådte ud af kabelbanen var vi inde i skyerne. I løbet af bestigningen regnede det, og det var så skyet ved klatredelen af bestigningen, at vi begyndte at klatre for tidligt, fordi vi ikke kunne se noget. Vi havde formentligt ikke nået toppen, hvis det ikke havde været for 2 venlige ecuadorianere, der fandt os og viste os vejen til toppen og hjalp os op ad de svære perioder.
Og dette er bare endnu et eksempel på, hvordan ecuadorianere er de flinkeste mennesker. De ventede endda på os på toppen, så de kunne hjælpe os ned ad det sværeste stykke! Og de forlod os først, da de var sikre på at vi kunne komme sikkert tilbage.
Vi gjorde dette uden en eneste pause, for på vejen tilbage regnede og haglede det så meget, og der blev dannet små floder på stien.
Den eneste gode ting ved det dårlige vejr var, at det lykkedes at bestige Pichincha og komme tilbage igen på præcis 5 timer.

Carnival

If I say Carnival, then what do you think? Probably dancing all night long, and parades every day with dancing girls in bikinis and feathers. Not in Ecuador!
In Ecuador carnival is one huge foam/water/ketchup/eggs/whatever disgusting liquid you can find to throw on everyone else. Some places everything but foam is banned. Other places you are only allowed to use water. But you get it. Carnival might not be as you expected it.
Most people leave you alone if you are not armed with a can of foam to defense yourself, but not everyone is as thoughtful. I somehow avoided most of the trouble and were only foamed a couple of times.

Carnival culminates with la Fiesta de la Fruta y de las Flores (the festival of the fruit and the flowers) in Ambato. Which is more like what you are really thinking about carnival. Because you have parades and dancing and different events. Hearing about this, I decided to spend carnival in Ambato (even though I slept in Baños, because it was a lot cheaper!), and my roomie, Sofie, decided to join me.
When arriving in Ambato Saturday morning we ran in to a parade that I decided to follow, which resulted in the crowning of the queen of Ambato and the blessing of the fruit, the flowers and the bread.

During the day I also managed to see what I wanted of Ambato (A small museum about one of the three Juans of the city, a natural science museum displaying stuffed animals, an ecological walk at the river and the quinta of Juan Montalvo including a small botanical garden.)
When we visited the quinta we also ran in to a dance group performing traditional dances from the different regions of Ecuador.

The only thing we did Sunday before heading back was to watch the big parade that lasted almost 3 hours. This meant floats, dancing and music! Just as I had imagined Carnival before someone foamed me.

Ambato!

Reina de Ambato parade

Reina de Ambato Parade

Reina de Ambato parade

Reina de Ambata parade

Reina de Ambato parade

Crowning of Reina de Ambato
Kroningen af Reina de Ambato

Museum of natural science
Museum for naturvidenskab

Museum of natural science
Museum for naturvidenskab

Walk along the river in Ambato
Gåtur langs floden i Ambato

Traditional dancing from different provinces of Ecuador
Traditionel dans fra de forskellige provinser i Ecuador

Traditional dancing from different provinces of Ecuador
Traditionel dans fra forskellige provinser i Ecuador

The big parade
Den store parade

Dancing during the big parade
Dans under den store parade

More dancing
Mere dans

Another float
Endnu en flåde

Sometimes you felt like the dancers were wearing ridiculous clothing
Og nogle gange føltes det som om at danserne var iført underlige kostumer

One or two dancers danced in front, followed by a big group behind.
En eller to dansere dansede forrest, efterfulgt af en hel gruppe dansere bagved.

One of the most beautiful floats.
En af de smukekste paradevogne.

The dancing varied. Sometimes it was pairs dancing together, at other times it was only girls dancing.
Dansen varrierede. Nogle gange var det par, der dansede sammen og andre gange bestod hele gruppen af piger.

The dancers usually wore some kind of hat and had something in one of their hands.
Danserne havde oftest en form for hat på og derudover bar noget i en af deres hænder.

A reference to the Galapagos!
En reference til Galapagos!

All the colors on the floats came from flowers and fruits!

A really beautiful float as well.
Endnu en smuk paradevogn.

In the end of the parade came groups of international folklore dancers
Paraden sluttede af med grupper, der viste international folkedans frem

Japan

Hvis jeg siger karneval, hvad tænker du så? Formentligt dans hele natten, parader hver dag og dansende piger klædt kun i bikinier og fjer. Men sådan foregår karneval ikke i Ecuador!
I Ecuador er karneval ensbetydende med  store mængder af skum/vand/ketchup/æg og alle de andre afskyelige væsker du kan finde og smide efter andre.
Nogle steder er det dog kun tilladt at bruge vand eller skum. Og for det meste lader folk dig være i fred, hvis du ikke selv har en kande skum til at forsvare dig med. Jeg undgik mere eller mindre skummet, bortset fra et par enkelte gange.

Karneval er samtidig med la Fiesta de la fruta y de las Flores (festivalen for frugten og blomsterne) i Ambato. Denne festival minder mere om det du normalt forbinder med karneval og derfor valgte jeg at tilbringe karnevalsweekenden her (selvom jeg sov i Baños, da det var billigere). Min roomie, Sofie, valgte at tage med mig.
Da vi ankom i Ambato lørdag morgen løb vi ind i en mindre parade, som jeg valgte at følge, hvilket resulterede i at jeg så kroningen af Ambatos dronning og velsignelsen af frugten, blomsterne og brødet.

I løbet af dagen formåede jeg også at få set alle de steder i Ambato, som jeg gerne ville se (et mindre museum om en af byens Juan'er, et naturvidenskabeligt museum, der udstillede udstoppede dyr, en gåtur langs floden og Juan Montalvos quinta og den tilhørende botaniske have.)
Da vi ankom til Juan Montalvos quinta, stødte vi også ind i en dansegruppe, der opførte traditionelle danse fra de forskellige provinser i Ecuador.

Det eneste vi gjorde søndag var at se den store parade, der varede næsten 3 timer. Dette betød flåder, dans og musik! Præcist som jeg havde forestillet mig at karneval ville være inden jeg blev ramt af den første omgang skum.

Halfway...

Today I have been in Ecuador 6 months. Around 7,500 pictures later. I am halfway. It is a weird and I have mixed feelings. My time in Ecuador is slowly running out. I have already said goodbye to the first people who left.
I will most likely put up a more reflective post on my first six months later. (Read: I started on it but it takes me ages to write)
Until then I will keep enjoying Ecuador. I already know that this place will forever be my second home.

The daily wonders of Ecuador // De daglige vidundere i Ecuador

I dag har jeg været 6 måneder i Ecuador. Omkring 7.500 billeder senere. Jeg er halvvejs. Det er underligt og jeg har blandede følelser omkring det. Min tid i Ecuador løber stille og roligt ud. Jeg har allerede sagt farvel til de første.
Jeg vil formentligt lave et mere reflekterende indlæg på et tidspunkt. (Læs: Jeg begyndte på det og det tog evigheder).
Indtil da vil jeg fortsætte med at nyde Ecuador. Jeg ved allerede at dette sted for evigt vil være mit andet hjem.

Bird watching in Mindo lindo!

On the 29th-31st of January I went to Mindo with Stefanie. The city is only 2 hours outside of Quito, is located in the cloud forest and is known as a paradise for birdwatchers.

The city is placed in the cloud forest, a lovely setting.
We arrived Friday evening and Saturday we went to a tarabita (a cable car) that took us to a sanctuary of waterfalls, where we hiked to the different waterfalls and bathed in them. We had a lot of fun doing this until it started raining heavily and we had to hike one hour back in the rain!

In the afternoon we pampered ourselves with a chocolate tour! It was a tour explaining how you make chocolate and afterwards we finished with brownies, chocolate tea and chocolate, in bigger amounts than what we could finish.

Sunday morning we went bird-watching in Mindo and the trip was amazing! I saw six toucans in total and lots of other birds as well. We each had a pair of binoculars and our guide had a telescope, so that we could watch all the birds up close. As we were only 2 persons on the tour we got lots of time at the telescope each and the trip took almost 4 hours. What I would recommend others is to go on the tour and to bring both a camera with a good zoom (to take pictures on its own of the birds) and to bring a smartphone with a good camera (to take pictures through the telescope).

Before we went home we also managed to visit the butterfly house and a garden, where you could sit down and watch lots of hummingbirds.

All in all I had an amazing trip to Mindo and it is on my list of favorite places in Ecuador.

And I have realized how much I love toucans.

I have made a short video from my trip to Mindo that can be seen below together with a few pictures.

Tarabita

The Cloud Forest
Skyskoven

The Cloud Forest
Skyskoven

Waterfall
Vandfald

Toucan
Tukan

Toucan
Tukan

A butterfly leaving its pupa
En sommerfugl, der forlader sin puppe

Even when it snows I'm wearing flowers in my hair - Oh wait, what?
Selv når det sner, bærer jeg blomster i håret - Vent, hvad?

Hummingbird
Kolibri

Hummingbird
Kolibri

Hummingbird
Kolibri

Hummingbird
Kolibri

Hummingbird
Kolibri

Den 29. til 31. januar tog jeg til Mindo sammen med Stefanie. Byen er lokaliseret kun 2 timer uden for Quito, er i skyskoven og er kendt som et paradis for fugleobservatører.

Skyskoven er et fantastisk sted.
Vi ankom fredag aften og søndag startede vi med at tage til tarabitaen (en kabelbane), hvor vi kunne vandre rundt til en masse vandfald. Vi badede i vandfaldene, hvilket var meget sjovt indtil det begyndte at regne og vi var en time væk fra kabelbanen.

For at pleje os selv lidt tog vi på chokoladetur om eftermiddagen. Turen forklarede hvordan man laver chokolade og som afslutning fik vi brownies, chokoladete og mere chokolade end vi kunne spise.

Søndag morgen tog vi ud for at observere fugle sammen med en guide. Vi havde hvert vores kikkert og vores guide bar rundt på et stort teleskop, så vi kunne se alle fuglene tæt på. Siden vi havde guiden for os selv fik vi hver især masser af tid ved teleskopet til at observere fuglene. Jeg så seks tukaner i alt og mange andre fuglearter. Jeg ville klart anbefale turen til andre. En anbefaling til andre ville være at medbringe et kamera med et godt zoom til at tage billeder med, og derudover en smartphone med et godt kamera til at tage billeder igennem teleskopet med.

Før vi tog hjem nåede vi også forbi sommerfuglehuset og en have, hvor vi kunne observere kolibrier.

Min tur til Mindo var helt igennem fantastisk, og jeg har indset, at jeg er vild med tukaner!

Inden den danske del af indlægget har jeg lagt en video ind fra min tur til Mindo, og derudover også et par få billeder.

When horse therapy works!

The most amazing thing in my project is when we are able to see that we do a difference by being there. Some of the time, where I have been working in Fundación AM-EN I have felt like my presence did not mater, as we have been a lot of volunteers! This has changed now and I have started feeling that I need to be at work for us to be able to give the best therapy.
What is even better is that I have been able to see improvement from the therapy, which is often difficult to see as the kids have been coming to Fundación AM-EN for a long time, so improvement is slow. I will not claim that it is due to horse therapy alone, but it is a combination of the different kinds of therapy we provide in Fundación AM-EN (aromatherapy, horse therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy).

We have a little girl who comes for therapy every Monday and Wednesday. When she goes for horse therapy, she rides con apoyo which means that she rides with one of the volunteers sitting behind her and making sure that her back is straight. When I started working here, she had a tic, where she tried putting her right hand in her mouth. Sitting on the horse behind her, you had to make sure that her back was straight and that she did not put her hand in her mouth. When I started working in Fundación AM-EN you couldn't even remove her hand from her mouth, before she put it in again. Today we could conduct the entire therapy session (around 15 minutes) with her only trying to put her hand in her mouth once.

Even though it is only a small improvement, it is still an improvement.

Little strokes fell great oaks!

Fundación AM-EN: Horse therapy
Fundación AM-EN: Hesteterapi

Det mest fantastiske, der kan ske i mit projekt er, når man kan se, at vi gør en forskel. I noget af den tid, hvor jeg har arbejdet for Fundación AM-EN har jeg ikke følt, at mit projekt har haft brug for mig, fordi vi en overgang var en masse volontører. Men nu er de fleste af dem taget hjem, og jeg føler nu, at de virkelig har brug for mig, hvis vi skal kunne udføre den mest optimale terapi.
Hvad der er endnu bedre er, at jeg har været i stand til at se forbedringer blandt nogle af børnene, hvilket ofte er svært, da de sker langsomt og mange af børnene allerede har været der længe. At børnene for det bedre er ikke kun på grund af hesteterapien, men skyldes en kombination af alt det terapi, der bliver udbudt af Fundación AM-EN (aromaterapi, fysioterapi, hesteterapi og sprogterapi).

Hver mandag og onsdag kommer den samme pige til Fundación AM-EN. Hun har en tic, hvor hun hele tiden forsøger på at putte hånden i munden. Hun ridder con apoyo, hvor en volontør sidder bag ved hende, når hun er i terapi. Både for at holde hendes ryg rank, men også for at vi kan forhindre hende i at putte hånden i munden.
Da jeg startede mit arbejde i Fundación AM-EN, var det så slemt, at man ikke kunne nå at fjerne hånden fra munden, før hun havde puttet den tilbage igen. I dag lykkedes det os at gennemføre terapien (cirka 15 minutter) og i denne tid forsøgte hun kun at putte hånden i munden en enkelt gang.

Selvom det kun er en lille fremgang, så er det trods alt en fremgang.

Mange bække små gør en stor å.

Baños - I'm falling, falling, flying!

On the 22nd - 24th of January, I went to Baños for the second time with Brónagh, Rebecca and Stefanie. I went again as there were some places I missed the first time!

Saturday we started out by renting bikes and biking Ruta de las Cascades (route of the waterfalls), going from Baños to El Pailón del Diablo, around 15 kilometers in total and luckily going downhill all the way (we paid a car to take us back to Baños as almost everyone does).
On the way, we saw lots of waterfalls, ending at el Pailón del Diablo, the last waterfall.
At el Pailón del Diablo it was a short hike before reaching the waterfall and we got soaked! You can even walk behind the waterfall, but this includes a path not build for tall people! I needed to crab walk during the small passage. As my friends told me: I am just too tall for Ecuador.

When we arrived back in Baños, I decided to do puenting (bridging). Puenting is a version of bungee jumping, but instead of bouncing up and down afterwards, you end up swinging from side to side. But you still dive head first into nothing! The bridge you jump from is at an elevation of 120 meters above the ground.
I walked out on the bridge and looked down, but I had already decided to do the jump, so I ignored the nervousness, paid 20 $ for doing the jump and got strapped into the harness.
I climbed up on the platform and was told not to look down - guess what I did! Looked down.
Way to fast I was given the instructions and the operator started counting down from 3.
"3", "2", I am not ready for this, I thought "1", "Jump!!".
As soon as I left the platform, I regretted my decision to jump. Because could I be sure that the rope would not fail? But I fell towards the ground and suddenly I felt the pull from above! I started swinging from side to side and the scary part, falling, was over way to soon!
I feel proud of myself for taking the leap after the first countdown, and it was a great experience. Just before my turn, a guy between 30 and 40 year old went, and the operator ended up pushing him off the platform!

Sunday we went to Casa del Arbol, also known as the Swing at the End of the World. It is famous among backpackers and I knew that I could not leave Ecuador without having a picture taken from this swing! The cool thing about the swing is that you are swinging out in nothing! You have an amazing view while swinging.

Afterwards we went to El Vuelo del Condor, another swing nearby, which is best described as a more extreme swing than Casa del Arbol. For this swing, you actually need security equipment! And you swing far out over the valley 200 meters below you! This activity can be done for only 5 $ and is well worth the price and offers amazing views!
I went first on the swing and had not seen anyone use it before me, so I did not expect it, when the ground all of a sudden disappeared under my feet and I started swinging out to see the amazing views and enjoy that the swing was actually safe to use!

Everything you want is on the other side of fear!

Biking! From the left: Stefanie, me, Rebecca and Brónagh
Cykling! Fra venstre: Stefanie, mig, Rebecca og Brónagh

First waterfall
Første vandfald

Two waterfalls. The black waterfall was cool!
To vandfald. Læg mærke til det sorte vandfald!

Ecuador makes me happy!
Ecuador gør mig glad!

Smaller waterfall at the side of the road
Et mindre vandfald ved vejen.

Yet another waterfall
Endnu et vandfald

The landscape
Landskabet

The penultimate waterfall
Det næstsidste vandfald

A butterfly we saw on our way to Pailón del Diablo
En sommerfugl vi så på vej til Pailón del Diablo

Pailón del Diablo

Pailón del Diablo

Pailón del Diablo

Canyon for puenting
Kløften til puenting

Face your fears!
Stå ansigt til ansigt med din frygt!

I'm flying!
Jeg flyver

La Casa del Arbol

La Casa del Arbol

La Casa del Arbol. From the left: Rebecca, Brónagh, me and Stefanie
La Casa del Arbol. Fra venstre: Rebecca, Brónagh, mig og Stefanie

El Vuelo del Condor

El Vuelo del Condor - I'm flying one more time!
El Vuelo del Condor - Jeg flyver igen!

It is all about trust!
Det handler om tillid!

From the left: Stefanie, Brónagh, Rebecca and me
Fra venstre: Stefanie, Brónagh, Rebecca og mig

Den 22. til den 24. januar tog jeg til Baños igen sammen med Brónagh, Rebecca og Stefanie. Jeg tog dertil igen, da jeg ikke fik det optimale ud af min første tur til Baños.

Lørdag startede vi dagen med at leje cykler, så vi kunne følge Ruta de las Cascadas (vandfaldsruten), der går fra Baños til el Pailón del Diablo. Hele turen er i alt omkring 15 km og heldigvis går det ned ad bakke det meste af turen. For at komme tilbage igen betalte vi 2$ for at en bil kørte os tilbage med vores cykler (de fleste vælger denne mulighed i stedet for at kæmpe med de 15 km op ad bakke igen!).
På vejen så vi rigtig mange vandfald og sluttede af ved el Pailón del Diablo, det sidste vandfald på turen, hvor vi blev gennemblødte! Fra parkeringspladsen er det en kort vandretur til vandfaldet, og du kan endda gå bag ved vandfaldet, men turen hertil krævede at vi gik igennem en meget smal passage, hvor jeg måtte gå krabbegang! Som mine venner siger det: Jeg er for høj til Ecuador!

Da vi kom tilbage til Baños besluttede jeg mig for at afprøve puenting - en version af bungey jump, med den forskel at springet ikke er elastisk, men at du bagefter svinger frem og tilbage som i en gynge. Men du springer stadigvæk hovedspring ud i ingenting og broen jeg hoppede fra var 120 meter høj.
Jeg gik ud på broen og kiggede ned, men jeg havde allerede besluttet mig for at springe, så jeg ignorerede nervøsiteten, betalte 20 $ for springet og fik udstyret på.
Jeg klatrede ud på platformen og fik besked på ikke at kigge ned (hvilket jeg selvfølgelig gjorde) og alt for hurtigt begyndte nedtællingen.
"3", "2", Jeg er ikke klar til det her, tænkte jeg "1", "Hop!!".
Da jeg forlod platformen, fortrød jeg min beslutning. Kunne jeg overhovedet være sikker på, at jeg var spændt ordentligt fast og at rebet ikke ville knække? Jeg kunne se jorden komme nærmere, indtil jeg følte et træk fra oven og jeg begyndte at svinge frem og tilbage under broen. Den skræmmende del, det frie fald, var alt for hurtigt overstået.
Jeg var efterfølgende stolt af mig selv for at tage springet (ved første nedtælling). Manden på 30-40 år, der sprang før mig, blev skubbet ud over kanten af platformen, fordi han ikke turde!

Søndag tog vi til Casa del Arbol, også kendt som gyngen ved verdens ende! Stedet er kendt iblandt backpackere og jeg vidste, at jeg ikke kunne forlade Ecuador uden et besøg og et billede fra dette sted. Det der er med gyngen er, at man svinger ud i ingenting, imens du har en fantastisk udsigt!

Efterfølgende besøgte vi også El Vuelo del Condor, en anden gynge i nærheden, men denne er endnu mere ekstrem, hvilket man ved ud fra, at man rent faktisk har brug for sikkerhedsudstyr for at gynge her. Du svinger langt ud over dalen langt under dig og aktiviteten koster 5 $.
Jeg var den første på gyngen, og da jeg ikke havde set nogen bruge den før, fik jeg et kæmpe chok, da platformen pludselig forsvandt ud over mine fødder og jeg begyndte at svinge ud! Men da jeg først var kommet mig over chokket, kunne jeg nyde den fantastiske udsigt.

Den modige mand er ikke ham, der ikke føler sig bange, men ham der besejrer denne frygt.