The first of November Ecuador celebrated Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). While we didn't celebrate, we took advantage of everything being closed down to take a road trip!
We first headed to Shell (about 3 hours from Sucua) to visit Roberto's grandma! She LOVED having the boys all to herself and proudly introduced them to all her neighbors and people we saw in town! Jeremy enjoyed playing on the play structure in the park, and even got to sleep in a big boy bed at Abuelita Maria's (great grandma) house.
The next day we headed a bit north to Tena (about 2.5 hrs from Shell) and we met up with a missionary couple that Roberto had met back in May. They are a sweet couple that decided to do retire in Ecuador and serve as missionaries! They were wonderful hosts and patient with us as we had both boys with us. In the afternoon they took us to Misahualli (aka The Monkey Town), about 30 minutes away. We went with the excitement and intention of seeing lots of wild monkeys in the town park. We arrived and didn't see a single monkey around...DISAPPOINTED!! We were hot and hungry, so we looked for a place to have lunch. While eating we saw a monkey running down the road toward the river. After eating we went on a monkey hunt. We walked about a block toward the river and saw a few monkeys around the local venders. Then we saw a big crowd of people down by the shore of the river...and sure enough what did we find...wild monkeys frolicking in the trees. They were so entertaining and playful! We saw one monkey take a WHOLE bag of salt out of one of the venders hand! As I took pictures with my phone, many people warned me about being careful as the monkeys are known for taking cameras and phones from people!
As we headed back to the main park we saw one monkey licking the leftovers of someones ice cream that got left on the ground! It was definitely a day/trip to remember and we all thoroughly enjoyed being entertained by the monkeys!
As we drove home, I (Jill) felt my heart fill with thankfulness! Thankful for the opportunity to travel, thankful for a safe car to travel in, thankful for the opportunity God has given me to raise my children in a country filled with his MIRACULOUS creation!
We first headed to Shell (about 3 hours from Sucua) to visit Roberto's grandma! She LOVED having the boys all to herself and proudly introduced them to all her neighbors and people we saw in town! Jeremy enjoyed playing on the play structure in the park, and even got to sleep in a big boy bed at Abuelita Maria's (great grandma) house.
The next day we headed a bit north to Tena (about 2.5 hrs from Shell) and we met up with a missionary couple that Roberto had met back in May. They are a sweet couple that decided to do retire in Ecuador and serve as missionaries! They were wonderful hosts and patient with us as we had both boys with us. In the afternoon they took us to Misahualli (aka The Monkey Town), about 30 minutes away. We went with the excitement and intention of seeing lots of wild monkeys in the town park. We arrived and didn't see a single monkey around...DISAPPOINTED!! We were hot and hungry, so we looked for a place to have lunch. While eating we saw a monkey running down the road toward the river. After eating we went on a monkey hunt. We walked about a block toward the river and saw a few monkeys around the local venders. Then we saw a big crowd of people down by the shore of the river...and sure enough what did we find...wild monkeys frolicking in the trees. They were so entertaining and playful! We saw one monkey take a WHOLE bag of salt out of one of the venders hand! As I took pictures with my phone, many people warned me about being careful as the monkeys are known for taking cameras and phones from people!
As we headed back to the main park we saw one monkey licking the leftovers of someones ice cream that got left on the ground! It was definitely a day/trip to remember and we all thoroughly enjoyed being entertained by the monkeys!
As we drove home, I (Jill) felt my heart fill with thankfulness! Thankful for the opportunity to travel, thankful for a safe car to travel in, thankful for the opportunity God has given me to raise my children in a country filled with his MIRACULOUS creation!