Day One - Hello from Ecuador!

Monday
Hello from Ecuador!!! The entire group has made it to South America after several hours of flights.

From across the airport, the group spied a UW-River Falls sweatshirt. Mario, our translator, had a huge grin on his face as he greeted us with his River Falls apparel. Joining him was our other translator and MERGE leader, Mandy.

Yes, Nicky is that popular in Ecuador

Boarding the bus, we were quickly driven through the busy streets of Quito. Cars swinging in and out of lanes, a few travelers were surprised by how crazy traffic is in other countries!
We arrived at the MERGE house for our first night. After some instructions on the next day’s journey up the mountain, the 12 weary travelers headed for bed.