Goodbye Ecuador!

We deeply miss your beautiful scenery, vast flora and fauna, comfortable weather and the availability of OXYGEN....

Yes, it's has been three weeks since we left Ecuador and every day we find a reason to miss Montañita. Above was the day we left and images of the Airbnb that we stayed at. It was our little home for two months and everything we needed. :) There were other places you could rent around there as well, but our spot was probably the best out of them all.

On our last day, it was both a bit stressful and sad. Our flight was at 1 am in the morning and the last bus left at 5 pm. We would've taken a taxi but we were getting prices of $70 to Guayaquil Airport. So that morning we spent our time cleaning everything, organizing what we weren't taking, and enjoying our last morning in Montañita. We had been packing our belongings for that week prior so it didn't take much time for us to finish that task when the day arrived. Our goal was to take back as much as we could of shells, Tagua nuts, rocks, and candy/coffee for family gifts. So during that week, we decided what we were ok with leaving behind.

Not pictured what we left behind: bed sheet to help repel bugs (currently used on the bed). Kind of pictured but on the floor: black boots I wore there. Also not pictured were all the locally purchased tools and various items we needed/wanted on our stay there but couldn't take back. That was about half of what is shown. Part of us wishes we left more behind but we are pleased with our results.

Unfortunately, the ONE time the bakery was closed (when we needed it) was the day we left. :( I do hope they got the gift we made for them but I am not entirely sure. I get really nervous giving gifts to people (in person) and for some reason the knowledge of them knowing me and what I've done (even if a positive thing). So I made gifts over the month for seven select people who made our stay enjoyable in Montañita.

The first two pictures also have a little section for candy, stickers, and other goodies. The last image had a little more detail on the front but no extra space on the back. There were some people I wasn't sure if giving them candy and stickers would be appropriate so I held back...but still wanted to show appreciation. We are glad three of the recipients were very happy to receive these!

I didn't expect to give the following away as well, but with our packing, we couldn't take these with us: too fragile. I hope to make more now that we are in the states. In the second picture, the first shell picture was my favorite. I didn't want to leave it behind and John really liked the bird one. But they were far too fragile with the amount we were carrying for almost 18hrs of travel at probably around +40lbs we each were already carrying.

Sherlock did really well and was amazing during this whole journey. She already knows to wait until she has cat litter before she goes to the bathroom. We found out they are able to hold it for a day or two but of course, we got it available as soon as we could. Since we had to leave a lot of her toys, we bought her a new bag of various items and pulled out her other toys that we left in storage. As you can see she is quite happy with her new playthings! We aim to keep her happy. 💕

She's adorable, isn't she? We aren't going to drag her onto those long trips anymore. At least if we can prevent it. She deserves more stability. ☺️

We have been greatly blessed for the chance to visit Ecuador. We actually managed to save more money by staying in a cheaper country for two months which is a double blessing. What travels are we planning to take next? Shall we do an in-state (USA) location or another country down the line? Of course, we are going to do both, but which one NEXT?