Familia Marcum, Operation Ecuador: Travels

Isaiah 43:1-3, 7, 10-13

But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior... Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.... “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

Isaiah 43:1-3, 7, 10-13

Saturday, August 06, 2011

Travels

I am so behind on my updates with the business of school starting that I decided to combine a few posts. We haven't done a whole lot of traveling since arriving in Quito due to being so busy and having a baby, but we did get away for our 11th anniversary to San Pablo lake, and we took a few days of family vacation to the beach - combined with a work visit to the church in Santo Domingo.

Happy 11th Anniversary! A view from our hotel room of volcano Imbabura... sacred to local people.

We took a drive up to another volcano - Cotacachi - to see a crater lake - called Cuicocha (or guinea pig lake) for the 2 islands in the middle that supposedly looks like the backs of 2 guinea pigs... and have lots of wild guinea pigs living on them.

And ate lunch at a 300 year old hacienda... where Simon Bolivar used to stay. And ate off of pewter plates!

Our beach trip was a much needed few days away. We enjoyed the peace of the ocean... the girls got terribly sunburned... and we even went on a boat ride out to see humpback whales off the coast (June and July are the best months to spot whales). It was a first for me to see whales in the wild, even though I've seen a multitude of wild animals growing up in Kenya - there is something exciting about see animals in their natural habitat. Enoch did NOT like the heat though.

Michaela got her hair braided at the beach

Gotta love the ocean

Little water bug

Enjoying the waves

Playing with Daddy

Enoch's first time in the pool

Building sand castles

At the Tsachila Indian village where the local missionaries hold a weekly Bible study. It reminded me a lot of village visits we used to make in Kenya when I was a child.