The Hilleary Family: Hot Springs of Papallacta

Apologies for the lack of posts lately! We haven't been extremely busy but we haven't been laying around, either. Our days have been filled with visits to the park, play dates at friends houses, BBQs at the homes of other Embassy folks, and just routine activities. All good things, but not activities that involve taking photos to post!

We are still waiting for our car to arrive- they say it's being processed through customs, but they've been telling us that for a couple of weeks and I'm beginning to wonder if it's on a boat headed for another country! I say that, because we had a package sent to us over a month ago, only to find out that it had been delivered to Bolivia! Anyway, so because we have limited transportation and hadn't been outside the city limits, we decided to take advantage of some day trips offered by the CLO. The Embassy (like the military) has all sorts of acronyms that I have had to become familiar with- CLO is the Community Liason Office. This office is really responsible for many things but they really support the families here in country. They stay very busy organizing all sorts of things including trips to various parts of the country.

A couple of weekends ago, we went along on a trip to a town called Papallacta. This town is about 1 1/2 hours outside of the city and they are known for their thrermal pools heated by the nearby volcanoes! Papallacta is this tiny little village nestled in the mountains at an altitude close to 13,000 ft. It's a beautiful place. The pictures on the website showed a spa resort on a bright sunny day, with people lounging around the pools in their bathing suits, drinking tropical drinks. So, we packed bathing suits, snacks for the kids, hats, sunscreen, and everything else you might need for a sunny day at the pool. HA!! Rookies! Ecuador lesson...let's say #10- ALWAYS be prepared for any kind of weather, especially COLD weather! We didn't realize before we went that we would be going UP in elevation and we didn't realize that the weather forecast for Papallacta that day was rainy, windy, and frigid (about 40-50 degrees). Thankfully we did pack sweatshirts for the kids, and the weather encouraged our thorough enjoyment of the thermal pools:) The resort was really neat. It was designed to look like an old adobe hacienda with fireplaces scattered throughout. The pools are outdoors, each one was designed differently with various fountains and jets which the kids enjoyed. We also were required to wear some fancy bathing caps which the kids thought were hilarious (see photos!) The kids, of course, wanted to try out all of the pools and considering the attention span of a 5 year old and 3 year old, we switched pools frequently- with weather conditions, I felt like we were doing the polarbear sprint between pools! Because of the rain, I had to snap pictures of the surrounding scenery quickly. It looked like what I imagine parts of Ireland to look like. The clouds and mist hanging down over the mountains, everything a vibrant shade of green- unfortunately the pictures don't really do it justice. We had a great day exploring a new place, getting to know more embassy folks, and spending time as a family!

Part of the lobby at the resort. The architecture and use of beautiful wood is awesome around this country, and there is so much talent amongst the woodworkers.