So sadly one of my roommates from the US had to head back but that just meant there was another reason to have a party!! That's one thing I love about here, there's always a reason to have a party and dance! With my time here wrapping up my other friend from the US and myself wanted to checkout a few more places, some for the second time and another for the first time. The first place we headed was Vilcabamba which is an hour from Loja and is at an altitude of 1,500m (4,921 feet) so is a bit warmer then Loja. We had this amazing weekend planned out, we stayed in this hotel that had a full spa but unfortunately most things weren't running since it was Easter and the hotel had a pool but it was always in the shade so it was kind of too cold to swim. It worked out okay, we rested and slept which we needed, got massages and walked around the tiny city center. Only about 4,000 people live in Vilcabamba and most are foreigners but it's surrounded by mountains and the local people are known in the Country to have the longest lifespan due to the tranquility of where it's located. The weekend didn't end up being what we thought it would be but it was still very enjoyable! This past weekend we visited Zamora. Zamora has about 15,000 inhabitants and is at an altitude of 970m (3,182 feet) and has way more humidity then Loja. It's actually very tropical there and as a result has a lot of exotic birds and plants. It is 1-2 hours by bus and is a very curvy road. . . . on Saturday we traveled there and we thought it would be quiet but because there was a referendum going on, everyone had to return to their home cities to vote and so the bus was PACKED on the way there. We were sitting in the first two seats and there was a woman standing in front of us and her two children sitting at our feet. The isles were completely packed with people AND they just passed a law a month ago that says they can't have people standing on buses . . go figure! At one point I turned around and there was a man firmly holding his chicken. Had that thing gotten loose, it would have been pure caos!! Also, because of the winding roads and people stuffed everywhere, everyone was getting motion sick. There was a guy at the very front standing looking back and he would yell for a bag from the front and then quickly pass it back. I swear 10 minutes didn't go by without someone needing a bag. I on the other hand was fine! I wasn't feeling the great but we had fresh air and not too many people around us so we were okay. And in true Ecuadorian fashion, we stopped every 30 minutes in random places and dropped people off. When we finally arrived in Zamora, it was overcast and drizzling, much like it had been in Loja. We immediately got lunch and then set out to find an animal refuge that was suppose to be near the city center. After following a completely wrong map we found it and it was fantastic! It is really tiny since it's in the city center but it's called the Refugio Ecologico Tzanka and takes in animals that need caring for or in the case of these certain parrots they had, never learned to fly. They had all these different animals I've never heard of but the parrots were especially entertaining. They were extremely curious and came right up to the cage to greet us! The Refuge has another larger refuge outside of the city which we wanted to see but didn't have a chance. We were staying in cabinas outside of the city about 2.5km but on the road to the Podocarpus National Park which is why we were really there! When we arrived at the cabinas we were tired so we rested up and then did a short hike around where we were staying. The next day we got up and headed into Podocarpus to start hiking! Podocarpus is amazing! Because the altitude differs between 900m (2,953 feet) and 3600m (11,811 feet) it is said to have some of the greatest plant and animal diversity in the world. They estimate that 40% of its estimated 3000 plant species are nowhere else in the world and close to 600 bird species have been recorded. The park is named for the giant Podocarpus, Ecuador's only native conifer but sadly loggers have removed almost everyone of these trees from the park years ago. We followed some of the trails though and saw some gorgeous waterfalls! When we arrived we had the park virtually to ourselves which was such a gift! We stayed in the park almost the entire day and then headed back for a wonderful dinner at the cabinas. The next day it was raining so we got up and headed back to Loja! We loved Zamora though and would definitely recommend it for anyone who is even considering it!
