Relaxing in the Papallacta Hot Springs (Tuesday, December 26th, 2017)

We have loved our time here in the rain forest!  It is one of those places that draws you in and dares you to take a closer look at everything around you.  It is intriguing, scary and completely tranquil all at the same time. 

It was raining hard this morning, which gave me a little more time before breakfast to take in the views just one last time before saying goodbye to the amazing place.

I decided to take the time to climb up to the top of the dining room.  It is three floors with an observation deck on top that offers fantastic views of the entire Napo River valley.

And the dining room itself is just really interesting to look at.

I could see most of the hotel from up here.

Then I headed down stairs, we checked out of our room and headed to breakfast.  I have really enjoyed the healthy breakfasts here, but probably my favorite thing was the home made plain yogurt.  They also had some flavored with fruits, but I really like plain with a little granola or oats.  

Today I treated myself to something very special.  Being that we are in the chocolate capital of the world, they had chocolate sprinkles on the breakfast bar each morning.  (They were supposed to be for the fresh made donuts), but I decided that since this was the last morning, I was going to add some of them to my yogurt and oats. Oh My Gosh!  I have never tasted chocolate this good ever in my life!  I should have been eating these every morning and just skipping all the rest of my meals for the day!!!!

After I came off of my chocolate high, we jumped into our canoes for the last time and headed to the point where the bus dropped us off two days ago.

We are really going to miss these canoes.  They are amazing for getting around on the river.

As we crossed over the river in the bus, there were some fishermen out fishing in the rain.  I guess that when you live in the rain forest, you just learn to do everything in the rain.

As we were stretching our legs at one of the rest stops, we were talking to Sergey and Yanna who said that they brought tea tree oil instead of full on bug spray, and they were really regretting their decision.  Sergey said he hadn't gotten much sleep in 2 nights because his legs were so itchy from all of his bites.  I wish we had known sooner so we could share our deet based spray with them.  He was covered in bites and looked miserable.

More beautiful views as we left the rain forest and made our way back toward Quito, Ecuador.

A rough spot in the highway. 

We passed this truck on the road.  He was taking his donkey out for a stroll I guess, it was tethered to the truck with a rope as they rolled down the road.

Shortly after we went back over the pass of the Virgin, we turned off the highway and drove through the little town of Papallacta.  This town is at about 10,000 feet, so it is cool and misty most of the time.

Our reason for coming to this little town is their well known hot spring pools.

When we checked in at the hot springs, they gave us our locker key and a bathing cap to use while we are here.  The locker rooms were very nice and had lots of completely private, very nice showers available as well.





There were pools of all different sizes and temperatures to choose from, and the grounds were gorgeous!

Such a styling family!

Then it was time for some lunch.



More magic aji sauce.  The Ecuadorean people love this stuff and so do we!

When we finished lunch, we jumped back on the bus for the remained or today's trip.  Our final destination in Ecuador was the Quito airport.  

Taking a little reprieve before we had to face the crowds again.

At the Quito airport, we had to say goodbye to our beloved guide Giovanna, who took such great care of us while we were in Ecuador and taught us so many great things about her country.  We will truly miss her!  

From Quito we flew to Lima, Peru where we will spend one night at the Costa Del Sol Wyndham before moving on again. 

This was one of the more exhausting days of our trip so far with five hours of driving followed by the short flight from Quito to Lima.  It was so nice to stop at the Papallacta Hot Springs to unwind and relax for awhile.  It really helped to break up the trip!