Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Going on a snake hunt....

From Febuary 11th to Febuary 20th my dad and I went on an adventure to South America. (I like to call it an adventure because it was not a vaction for sure) We started off in Guatemala were I was able to explore the city, visiting markets, museums, and taking a side trip to Tekal!
Tekal by far was one of the many highlights of my 10 day adventure. We woke up early early in the morning and took a tiny plane to the Mayan ruins. It was beautiful and green. We were able to climb stairs and stairs to the tops of temples.We also visited the old capital city Antigua where over a hundred years ago was covered by a volcanic eruption. They were able to still preserve the majority of the city but for safety reasons moved the capital to Guatemala City. We walked the cobble stone streets and took pictures of everything I saw. I felt like I was back in Spain just for a minute! After spending 4 days in Guatemala City we headed Ecuador-Quito to be exact. Once we arrived in the Quito we drove to the top to overlook the whole city. The whole city was asleep and all you could see were beautiful lights. At the top of the city lies the virgin Mary standing on top of the world-overlooking and protecting the city. It was beautiful. The next day we drove around the city-visiting cathedrals and old places where my dad had served his mission. We then drove a couple hours to the EQUATOR! I was standing both on the North and South part of the world!Sadly we were only in Ecuador for a day and continued our adventure onto Peru! HEAVENS I have never experienced such heat and humidity. It was disgusting :) I was able to meet some of the families who particiapted in Fundet and how there life has changed since. It was such a humbling experience and I fully enjoyed my time with the peruvian people. They are so kind and generous-such a change from the USA.
While in Peru we decided to take a side trip to Iquitos-THE AMAZON!!!! We flew in and went to the amazon zoo and rode on the back of motorcars to see the sunset. INCREDIBLE. The next day we took a boat ride down the Amazon stoping off on monkey and snake island and seeing some of the natives. Truly and experience! 500 pictures, 11 flights, 4 hotels, 50 infected bug bites up my legs, a million memories later I returned to real life. An experience I will never forget and always hold close to my heart.

6 comments:

Karlee Jo Waddoups said...

Oh Rachel! I envy your adventures! You look fabulous too. So amazing.

Irene said...

It looks that you had a great time there! I'm glad you got to see that part of the World. I can't wait to see it myself!

Melissa The Beautiful said...

Ahh! Your pictures are so amazing! I am so glad you had an awesome time! I can't wait to hear more!

P.S. You look fanatastic! You are such a babe. Also that monkey is adorable!

Emily said...

I love that you cuddled a monkey.

Rachel Clark said...

It was INCREDIBLE! And the monkey was a sloth and he was just real precious. I want one REAL BAD.

Lori said...

Are you kidding? That is the coolest thing ever! Your pictures are amazing also!