Week 62 from Quito Ecuador

It was a pretty normal week at the office.  Sis. Richardson went home to Utah for her son’s wedding.  The sad part was that President Ricardson wasn’t able to go but they used Skype and he was able to participate for at least some of it.  But that’s part of the sacrifice of serving the Lord and their family will be blessed.

This last weekend the senior missionaries went to Tena which is in the eastern side of Ecuador in the Amazon jungle.  Most of them left Quito early in the morning and enjoyed the afternoon of Friday there.  Since the president wanted someone in the office in the morning Lynn and I agreed to be there until the office secretary elders could get there at about 9:30.  The bus ride to Tena was about 6 hours on winding roads.  Thankfully I had my motion sickness pills that really helped or I probably would have gotten sick.

We stayed at a nice hotel, La Yutzos Hotel, right next to the Rio Pano, right before it joins with the Rio Tena.  The Rio Tena is one of hundreds that empty into the Amazon River. There were lots of interesting plants and cravings right within the courtyard and patios of our hotel and a great view of the Pano River.

There are three bridges that cross the Rio Tena close to our hotel, two are walking bridges and one is for motor vehicles. The first bridge had a tall tower that you could climb or take an elevator to the top to get a good view of Tena and the rivers. The middle bridge had some interesting decorations made from tires that looked like birds.

These birds were made out of tires.

Friday evening, after Lynn and I got there we went to a very nice restaurant, Chuquitos, for dinner.  It overlooked the Tena river which and, with the lights, was a very beautiful view.  We liked it so well that we also ate there on Saturday night as well.

We can now say we’ve been to the Amazon jungle.  Most the seniors enjoyed either river rafting or a boat ride into the jungle.  Lynn and I stayed in Tena. I wasn’t too keen on getting soaked in boats, besides the fact that I just don’t do well without something solid under me and Lynn wanted to just see what he could within walking distance.  Saturday morning while everyone else was gone we went to a little ecological park, Parque la Isla, located on an island close to our hotel where the Rio Pano joins with the Rio Tena.   It had a good sampling of the vegetation found in the jungle along with some of the animals.  

Breakfast each morning was provided in their nice dining room that was located downstairs overlooking the river.  They served fruit, bread, hot chocolate (coffee for those who wanted it), juice and scrambled eggs (which is usually extra but they served to us complimentary).

Sunday we attended the Tena Branch for Sacrament meeting before we left for home.  They do not have a chapel but meet on the second floor of an office building. There are about 250 members in the branch but only about 50 attend every Sunday.  Two of the speakers were over eighty years old.  The branch president spoke last and pointed out that the first speaker, a sister, lives about two hours away and gets up really early to ride the bus into Tena so that she can attend church every Sunday.  What a faithful dear sister.

Four of us took a regular taxis.  The rest of us rode in this pick up.
The brothers were in the back and the sisters rode in the front.
Wish I could have gotten a picture of it.

I came home so exhausted that I went to bed about 7pm and slept all night.   I didn’t even take the time to write my usual Sunday update. That’s why this is a day late.