Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Life is good

Life in Vilcabamba is good.

Lots of walking, hiking, talking, time without the internet.

I, Kristine, go to the meditation center most days 12 - 1.  I also attend conversation Spanish classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

There is a lot that we do in and around the town - hiking the numerous trails through hills, valleys, river beds, etc.  It is endless here!  Today, we hiked for about 12 km finding along the way new plants, trees, ways of being.  It was beautiful!  Also, we go to movie nights hosted at neighbors houses.  We watch people, talk to people.  We cook good food.

At our house and on our street we have 2 cats, multiple dogs, lots of chickens (1 that comes around daily is now named Goldy Locks) lots of insects, spiders, strange creatures... and a donkey.

Here are photos:

This is my walk back to the house from the meditation center.

Another part of my walk home from meditation.

The river by our house

Looking from our driveway toward town

Our driveway

From the hike today - direction is SE of Vilcabamba

While walking, a running cow.

Hiking today

Donkey on hike, packing dirt


Friday, September 20, 2013

In Vilcabamba!

We have arrived in Vilcabamba, and within 24 hours of being in town we have an apartment and are moved in!  It is a small village... we have great neighbors... and there is a lot to do for a town this size!  Here are photos of where we are living and the a little of the town.  More to come later.







Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Visiting the Orchidarium - Cuenca

Today we went to the Orchidarium.  We walked down the main river a few miles, and then started asking around for the location, we found it eventually and weren't far off.  For $1 we got a tour of the whole facilities by the doctor himself.  There are multiple green houses for different stages of the orchids.  The even harvest the soil with tweezers from tree trunks.  There is one plant here which is the last of it's specific kind. It is very precise, and I understand why people working there wear lab coats!  Here are some of the beautiful orchids we saw, and some photos of our visit.

The Doctor of Orchids
Monkey Face Orchid

In one of the greenhouses









Lady Slippers


Raw material for planting