Loja, Ecuador

Had an amazing opportunity to head to Ecuador to meet up with my good friend Meghan. Meghan spent 3mos living in Ecuador doing conservation research. Her particular field of interest was Andean Bears- think Paddington. After a couple of flights and a four hour bus ride I arrived in Loja.

Flying over Ecuador from Quito to Cuenca. Great views of Cotopaxi from the airplane

Views from the bus rid- Beautiful country side.

one of the little towns I saw along the way

more sights

Loja, located in Southern Ecuador is a city of approx 200,000 and sits at about 2060m or 6700ft. The city is not a popular tourist destination, which I thought added to its appeal.

Taxi's are super cheap here, but we did a lot of walking

Some sights walking around the city

This is the campus Meghan's research was based from. Had an opportunity to go hear about everyone's research- Very Interesting

A club beer. Ecuador's local brew

While in Loja got to stay with Meghan at her host home.

this is the living room. It was nice to have home, instead of just a hotel room since it allowed us to not have to eat every meal out. We were also spoiled with some delicious breakfasts that Maria, the host mom made for us.

Ava our protector and guard dog-GRrr

Puerta de la Ciudad (Gates to the city)

Everyone getting ready to head out of Loja and on to explore other parts of Ecuador

Loja, was a great city. I'm glad I had an opportunity to explore it.

New Jersey/NYC

Made it down to Union City, NJ to visit my good friends Phil and Lara.

Always have a wonderful time with these guys. Arrived in NYC on Friday evening and headed out to Montclair, NJ to have dinner with some of Lara's co-workers. Small world as my parents are from here. Great food/drinks and conversation.

On Saturday we did some touring around Hoboken. Union City is just a short walk to here. Checked out a farmers market and had some refreshing juice. Yum. Then continued to walk around Hoboken and check out the sites including views directly across to Manhattan.

Met up with my cousin Emily that evening for dinner and drinks at the Pilsner Haus. I didn't take any photos from this- having too much fun to worry about it.

Sunday- Phil, Lara, and I headed into Manhattan. Had an awesome brunch,
did some shopping, and then watched the World cup game before heading home.

Thanks Phil and Lara. Had an awesome time. Hope you'll have me back that way soon.