Day 73 – Bienvenidos a Vilcabamba!



This "not so little" guy was all over the bathroom this morning
I didn't want to find him in my bed when we got home
so we took him outside before we left.

9am – We are all off for 2 nights, 3 days in Vilcabamba. It’s about 2 hours away from here, past Loja. Supposedly it’s a dryer climate and a quaint town with quite a few “hippies”. We got some rooms at The Hosteria Izhcayluma (based on the recommendation of a sister in Loja).

We stopped at the Supermaxi in Loja for some snacks and then arrived in Vilcabamba around 11:30. It was a beautiful ride and I swear you could feel/see the climate changing. It seems less tropical with much dryer air, but still very beautiful. We checked in and then were off to town (2 km) to grab some lunch. We found a little place on the corner (called “la esquina”) off the main square where the park is. They had “almuerzos” (lunches) that ranged from $2-$3.50 for a bowl of soup (like repe), your choice of meat, rice, menestra or yucca & a glass of horchata. Erik ran next door and bought some avocados. Erik settled on seco de chivo (goat) and I had fish. It was all delicious and tons of food. All you foodies out there will be happy that the food photos are back.

After lunch, we were stuffed and decided we better walk around town for a bit (although some seem to still have room for ice cream). We found a little chocolate store that was owned by a man from Belgium. His son was working and Erik asked him where he was from. He’s from Ghent, which is pretty close to Dad’s hometown of Munsterbilzen. We have been there before so it was neat to talk to him about chocolate, mussels, beer and French fries (the four basic food groups in Belgium). They made chocolates (of course) and prepackaged waffles (surprisingly yummy) and cookies etc.

We went back to the hosteria and explored a bit. It was awesome. All the rooms are hidden amongst the trees and plants. They have stone paths all throughout the property. The restaurant is open air and had very good food. The owners are German and they had a mixture of German, Italian and other foods. Breakfast was included each day and they had a buffet of fresh baked breads, jams, fresh squeezed fruit juices, good coffee/tea, fresh fruit salad, granola, and yogurt. They make your eggs or crepes to order. The food was excellent, the views were even better. Hopefully the photos will do it some justice.

The rooms were really nice, as well. We stayed in a cabana. It had a queen bed, a really nice bathroom with natural rock shower and a large deck off the front with a view of the mountains. It was mostly enclosed and has a table and benches and a hammock. It was a really nice place to do the text and read the bible. It isn’t difficult to appreciate Jehovah while looking at the natural beauty.

View from the deck of our room

We feel young-Ashleigh Heiberger Skype’d us and we talked to the whole family. They got their seldom-worked territory assignment and they’re going to West Virginia (3 little missionaries in training. Sorry Josh, you’re not so little).

After that we headed down for a glass of wine and a snack and enjoyed the view of the city and surrounding valley. It was raining and the sun setting, but it still looked pretty cool.

Andrea & Aron Ladoucuer

Then, the rest of the gang joined us for more snacking and then it was down the path for some pool, ping pong and darts. This just in from the “it’s a small world” department-Ryan noticed a brother and his wife from Canada eating at the restaurant. They came down with us and we all had a riot. The couple has been down here for 15 months. They have 18 years each in the full-time ministry and were really encouraging to talk to. Well, it was a busy day. We’re tired and you’re done reading, so, see ya’!