Sites Around Mexico City

Today was a day well spent, Ana who is my hostess took me a tour of downtown to check out some of the sites and learn some history. The weather is really good right now so walking around was very comfortable as there was no unbearable heat to contend with. Where I am staying is not too far from downtown so getting there took less than 15 minutes using the metro.

Today the metro was free because the city is encouraging more people to use public transport instead of their cars to cut down on pollution, this incentive attracted so many commuters so you should have seen how packed the metros were! to make matters worse it was hot inside so that combination of heat and too many bodies squeezed together was not fun at all. 

Downtown Mexico city is very vibrant with people everywhere, music at some random corners, vendors galore selling all kinds of things, restaurants and lots of shopping. I love it! we walked around as Ana pointed out different buildings and what they are, we went to one of the Aztec temples for a tour and learned some history about the Aztecs which really reminded me of what I learned about the Incas in Peru. Very fascinating indeed.

An ancient Aztec temple that was uncovered in the city.

There are so many museums within the city so for anyone who fancies museums and such, they would be in heaven here. Some of use can only bear an hour or so before we call it quits but I did learn some fascinating history about the Aztecs from the museum we went to. PS: I still fail to understand why museums never allow flashes when taking pics, anyone care to enlighten me?

We decided to take a "hop on, hop off" bus to see more sites. It felt good sitting down for a while after all the walking we did.

The building below used to be the house of a former president, the details on it are very beautiful it was hard to capture it in pictures but I tried.

Closer look

That's it folks, I will be celebrating my birthday in a few hours time so I will keep you posted on that.  In the meantime I need to be in bed because tomorrow I will have a very long day.

Random Thoughts of The Day:

I really like the barrio I am staying at currently, its so cute and colorful and very tranquil plus its not too far from downtown if I need to go enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life.

Most people assumed I was going to be staying in a resort of visiting Cancun when I mentioned I was going to Mexico so I got strange looks when I said that I was actually just visiting Mexico city for now. I am not that big on resorts, but then again I have never stayed in one to begin with although I wouldn't mind staying in one. As much as white sandy beaches look very beautiful in pictures I am just not a beach person as I have mentioned before. I really like cities, colonial towns, history & culture, nature (just not the beach) you get my point.

"Aren't you afraid of narcos?" that was the common question I got prior to my trip. Nope! I did a lot of research prior to my trip plus there are certain well known areas which are no go zones otherwise, I am pretty safe and very happy actually. I am staying with a very nice family and I feel at home.

This morning I went to a local market with Ana's mum to buy some stuff. We stopped at this one store to buy something and the guy asked me where I am from. I told him I am Kenyan and the first thing he asks is, "isn't Kenya dangerous? aren't kids starving?" I was taken aback but I bounced back quick and asked him, "isn't Mexico dangerous with all the narcos and violence?" he didn't get it at first but I kept looking at him smiling till he finally got it. Stereotypes.........unfortunately the negative ones are the ones that are highlighted the most creating misconceptions. For the record, Kenya is a very beautiful country so check it out if you can, don't believe the hype.

The food.........this is just the beginning but I have to say I love Mexican food and there are so many varieties but I am determined to sample as much as I can.

And The Winner Is.............

Mexico!!!!!! I will be spending my birthday in Mexico.

For the longest time I have wanted to visit Mexico but for some reason never got round to it despite its very close proximity to the US. I think sometimes we tend to take what we have close by for granted and that was the problem with me. I always figured Mexico is close by so I could always visit anytime and that's why I kept procastinating.

My trip was uneventful although for a minute there I thought I was going to miss my connecting flight to Mexico city. I only had 30 minutes to get to the assigned gate and you should have seen me running through the airport like a mad woman, I was determined to make it and I sure did but it was such a close call.

The flight was pretty short and we landed in two hours. It was a late night flight so the airport was pretty empty and passing through immigration was a breeze! that's one of the advantages of late night flights. From the airport I got a taxi and ended up at my host's house in less than 20 minutes. I will be staying with the family of a friend of a friend.......talk about connections. Anyway, the family seems really nice and friendly and have welcomed me into their home with open arms which I think is really sweet of them.

This was a welcome note from the little girl in the house, I heard she was very excited to learn I would be staying with them and she wanted to give me a special welcome so she left this note on my pillow. I arrived late at night so she was asleep by the time I got to the house.

I will be staying in Mexico city and will keep you updated on my adventures. The internet is really slow where I am but I will try to make the best out of it. Thats it folks, watch out for the next update.

It's That Time of The Year Again

My birthday is in 3 days time and in keeping with this tradition, I am heading off to a place I have never been before as a birthday treat to myself. Way to make getting older exciting, right? When I was deciding on where I would like to spend my birthday I had a few countries in mind and it was hard picking which one to visit. It would have been great to visit all of them but you know, I have this thing called a job so taking off for an extended period of time is not an option at this point.

My top choices were: Guatemala, Mexico and Bolivia (I still regret not visiting when I was in Peru but one day I will make it there). I weighed the pros and cons of each location but the main factor that was working against me was time. So what do you do when you have limited time on your hands yet each country you want to visit has so much to offer? okay, I'm I the only one who thinks right about now that my dilemma just sounded so silly? heck! I should have been just happy that I have the opportunity to visit at least one of the countries.  Anyway, yes! the decision has been made and I picked the country but you will not know which one it is until tomorrow when I travel.

I will give you some hints though: It's a Spanish speaking country, duh! not much of a hint there. It has so much history and you can still see the evidence of the great works of its past civilization....okay, enough with the lame hints you will know my choice tomorrow.

It's midnight and I am busy doing last minute packing and stressing myself out. Seriously the worst part about traveling for me is the packing, I think I have checked my passport 20 times just to ensure it's in my bag and I will not forget it..........checking it again right now. I have 5 hours till I have to wake up to go to work in the morning as I travel in the evening and I know it's going to be a super crazy busy day so that combined with little sleep will just be torture. I took a little break to update this blog but now I have to finish what I need to do and get some sleep so I bid adios, until tomorrow.

Quilotoa Take Two Part 2

Hola! so if anyone was reading about my trip to Quilotoa, this is where I left off so let's continue shall we? when we arrived to Quilotoa it was cloudy and it appeared as if it was going to rain but that wasn't going to stop us from going down the crater and back up. I was a bit nervous at first because I remembered how much I struggled the first time I had toured Quilotoa but this time round going down wasn't as challenging as I remembered. There were slippery spots because of loose earth and our thighs were trembling by the time we got to the bottom but it was fun and the lovely surroundings made it all worth it.

The trail down doesn't look steep or long but trust me, it looks tamer in pictures than in reality.

We made it to the bottom of the crater and enjoyed the surroundings even though it had started drizzling.

I don't know what kind of hostel this is but I would not want to spend a night in there, there were several tents pitched around the area so I suppose some people camp out in the crater.

We thought the drizzle was going to pass but unfortunately it started raining heavily and we had to start our climb up quick before the path became really muddy. The first time I was at Quilotoa I went up on a horse but this time round I decided to challenge myself physically and go up by foot.

I am not lying when I mention how tough it was climbing up. First of all we were at high altitude and there was no sufficient air so breathing was a problem, the path was steep at some places so you really had to exert yourself and the fact that it was raining didn't make things easier. I was panting like crazy  and I wasn't the only one. Just imagine gasping for air and feeling like you can't get enough so you pant even harder trying to suck in as much oxygen as you possibly can..........yeah, that was how it felt. It got to a point my very lovely husband even carried me on his back before he got too tired himself, I could have easily taken a horse up but I was determined to make it on my own.

There was an Argentinian girl in the tour group who got so exhausted and sick that she just stopped and couldn't move any further she almost cried saying she wanted a horse to help her get back up but all the horses had already been taken and there were none available. My husband being the lovely gentleman that he is decided that we couldn't go further without helping the girl so him and this other Colombian guy got on each of her side and held her as we continued with the trek. In the end she felt better and we all bonded within the group as we made the best out of a difficult situation and managed to share a few laughs along the way.

Finally we made it up to the top of the crater and you should have seen how happy and relieved everyone was, especially knowing lunch was to be served up next.

Exhausted but super happy

That's it folks after lunch we headed back to Quito and everyone just blacked out in the bus and slept through most of the ride. It was a day well spent if I must say so myself.

Random Thoughts of The Day:

It's been raining in Quito every day which makes for very cozy nights but during the day it sucks especially when you want to be out and about.

In Quito you will find communities of Cubans, Dominicans, Colombians and Venezuelans but each tend to keep to themselves, hang out among themselves and even eat at their own restaurants.

I had forgotten how much the sun burns in Quito especially in the afternoon when its the brightest, I have been walking around with a hat for protection. I wonder what the rate of skin cancer is over here.

At first traveling with my husband used to be tricky because we have different personalities and couldn't seem to agree on alot but now we have reached a point where our different personalities actually work in our favor as we compliment each other really well. Traveling together has become more fun and entertaining.

Quilotoa Take Two Part 1

I was trying to figure out which site in Ecuador to re-visit as a day trip from Quito since at this point I feel like I have been to most if not all the popular sites that would make really good day trips. My husband hadn't been to the very pretty crater lake Quilotoa so we ended up settling on that. There are many tours to Quilotoa and they cost $40 per person so we decided to go with a tour group and not have to worry about transportation and getting back to the city in the evening.

Our tour had about 14 people which wasn't so bad but we ended up getting a very talkative tour guide who just went on and on even when everyone was dosing off since the tour started so early in the morning, the guy just kept talking without a break! Our first stop was at a traditional market where all kinds of fruits were being sold dirt cheap then we moved on to an animal market where pigs, sheep and several farm type animals were on sale. That place stank so bad of animal excrement and you had to be very careful not to step on some of it. To be honest with you, the markets didn't do much for us (my husband and I) but there were several people from the tour group who were so fascinated. I guess we have been to so many markets that they all start looking similar at the end.

That can't be the most comfortable position for these poor sheep, can it?

After the two market stops the guide told us that we were heading to a traditional village to see how the indigenous people of Ecuador live. Seems like the local indigenous families work with tour groups who stop by their homes for viewings and in turn the families get tips from tourists. The area where we went to visit the homes was at high altitude and was really cold that's why you see the poncho on the guy in the picture below and the warm blanket and sweater on the wife and the daughter.

Inside the homes the families share their living space with guinea pigs, traditionally known as cuy. This particular family we visited had about 70 guinea pigs in the house! apparently they also help generate heat especially at night when it's super cold outside. They were so cute and reminded me of tiny rabbits for some reason.............cute as they looked I don't know about sharing living space with them though.

I got to hold one of the guinea pigs and it had the softest feel that just made you want to keep holding it. They don't bite although at the back of my mind I just kept thinking to myself "I seriously hope I don't catch anything from a scratch or an accidental bite."

PS: These guinea pigs are eaten on certain special occasions. I found cuy more popular in Ecuador and Peru.

After visiting the traditional homes, it was finally time to head to Quilotoa. It seemed like we had made many stops along the way so when the guide mentioned that the next step was Quilotoa everyone was excited although I was a bit worried about altitude sickness and braving the challenging feat of descending down the crater lake and ascending from it.

That's it folks, watch out for Part 2. I feel very sleepy and tired right now so my concentration is off but I will continue where I left off in Part 2.

Do Overs & Such

Hola!!!! guess who is back? or better yet guess where I am currently? it's a long story but in short.......I am back in Quito, Ecuador! who would have thought?! when I left Ecuador almost a year a ago I said I was never coming back yet here I am. I think the theme of my life at this point should be "never say never."

I am actually enjoying myself over here and the best part of it all is I get to share my do over with my husband. So what have I been up to over here? catching up with a few friends I had maintained contact with, eating plenty of fruits that I would otherwise not find in the US, enjoying the salsa clubs, sightseeing and basically taking it easy.  I have been so lazy about updating the blog but I will try to do better, I haven't been taking as many pictures because most of the time I keep forgetting but here are a few that I have taken so far.

Catching up with my friend Elena and hitting the salsa clubs was so much fun.

These two can dance! my friend Elena and one of my husband's friends........fun times!

My host family from when I first landed in Ecuador, we go way back and have kept in touch through out.

Every sunday there is Ciclovia whereby the main streets in parts of the city are closed off to traffic and only available to pedestrians. You can walk or bike for great distances without worrying about any traffic. This is one of the things I had missed about being here.

That's it folks, I will post more updates later so be on the look out and I promise to do my updates more justice.

2015 - My Year In Review

Hola!!! how have you lovely people been.......wait, I guess I should first ask if there is anyone out there to begin with seeing that I have been MIA for a while now. What can I say? having a full time job has kept me busy and my focus has been on other things so my travels have been significantly limited, this in turn has affected how much I post on here. Looking back at 2015 I realize that a lot of good things have happened in my life and for once I feel like all aspects of my life are in perfect sync. Without further ado let me quickly go over the main highlights of 2015:

Travel

Even though I didn't travel as much as I would have wanted, I still got to check out several places so that wasn't so bad.

Galapagos - In March there was my trip to the Galapagos which was pretty good although the heat was out of this world. It was my birthday treat to myself and it was all worth it so no complaints on this end.

Colorado - In the US I got to visit Colorado which was one of the places I had considered moving to. Although my trip was short and I felt like I barely scratched the surface, I still had a good time. My plan in the near future is to do more travel within the US because there is so much to see.

 The olympic museum

Came across a quinceañera ceremony and I spotted the girls below rushing to the party, they had such cute dresses especially the main girl who was being celebrated.

Dominican Republic - This was a memorable trip and the most non-touristic, this trip was all about meeting my in laws and getting to know each other. We bonded really well and I got to fall in love with my husband all over again seeing him around his family and friends and how he interacts with them. I didn't mind that we never got to check out the main attractions of the island because this isn't the last trip for us to the island so we will have plenty of time to explore more of it in the near future.

Career Wise 

Before moving back to the US my wish was to get a job within corporate America and I kept thinking to myself, "I want the benefits and all the perks that come with working in corporate America and please let me not get another accounting job." My wish did come true and I am truly grateful for the job I have. I also can't say enough good things about my manager, having had prior horrible experiences I truly appreciate my current manager. Actually when I came back from the Dominican Republic she organized a small party at the office celebrating my newly married status, I thought it was really sweet of her. A couple of co-workers even chipped in and got me a gift which I thought was really nice of them.

Love Life

In 2015 I got engaged and married to an amazing guy and I am really happy. He truly is a genuinely nice guy and one of the things I love about him is that he is a better person than I am which motivates me to be the best version of myself (does it make sense? Ooh! and I hope ya'll don't think I am this horrible person, I just think my husband is nicer than I am). I always tell folks that if we were not together romantically I would definitely still want him in my life as a friend and I know he would make a great friend. There is so much more I could say about my husband but then again I would end up going on and on.........so I will keep it short. He is a good man, he makes me happy and through bad times and good times it's him that I would want by my side.

I could stare at this face all day long, he really is beautiful both inside and out.

That's it folks, 2015 had its ups and downs but the ups outweighed the downs and for that I am truly grateful. It's funny how life works out sometimes, just looking at my life this past year I can't help but marvel at how a lot of things came together for me. I can only hope for even better things in 2016.......wishing anyone who is reading this a very Happy New Year.

PS: I have a couple of trips already planned for 2016 so watch this space.