Ecuador - Day 40

Inside of Outside

I slept in, Ashley went out 'early' for breakfast. Watched a lot of TV and movies today. Sat in the park for a couple of hours and Ashley crocheted while I listened to my book. Got spit on by a drunk / high / or mentally unstable man. Delicious burritos for dinner. Brass band in the park. Hide and seek around town with Ashley. Cane juice and ice cream. More movies. Early sleep for Ashley, I wandered the streets a while longer and had more ice cream.

Ecuador - Day 39

Inside of Outside

Packed up and had to taxi to the other terminal to leave for Baños. Bus was really bumpy. Listened to my book to zone out. Arrived in Baños. Beautiful little town. Kind of touristy. Active volcano nearby. Walked around and found some parks. So many channels here. Watched Australia in Spanish. Watched some CSI. Delicious veggie sandwiches for dinner and veggie soup. Bed is soft compared to the rock bed in Rio Bamba.

Ecuador - Day 38

Inside of Outside

Mtn. Biking Chimorazo, highest point from the center of the earth (due to equatorial bulge). Bkfst on the go. Bread and yoghurt. Guide = Mario. Canyon. Drive to 1st camp. Hike to 2nd. Can feel the thin air. Then bike almost 40 km almost completely downhill. Very scenic and beautiful w/ a Mtn in the background. Saw lots of vicuñas. Lunch at an old Inca ruins, and a natural mineral spring. Water tastes fizzy, straight out of the ground. Chased by dogs, lots of curves, very fun. Dinner, shower with electrical switch, bad movie, and bed.

Ecuador - Day 37

Inside of Outside

A day of relaxing. Couldn't sleep last night. So much noise. Also, just restless. Slept-in. Breakfast of Eggs w/Bread and then walked down to the Bike tour place. Signed up for a Bike Tour of Chimborazo. Got fitted for bikes, helmets, etc. Then went to a park and napped. Got cold, so went back to hotel and napped there. Bought some cheese + bread + snacks + H20 for tomorrow. Went out for sushi. Expensive but decent, except no wasabi or ginger. Spent the evening online, researching natural building methods.

Ecuador - Day 36

Inside of Outside

More heating oil issues. Hopefully got it figured out today. Fingers crossed. Walked around town, saw some parks and cool buildings. Went to El Rey del Burrito and ordered Fajitas and Quesadillas. Quite good. Went to the s at the train station. Ashley got some llama and alpaca wool. IN the afternoon, she crocheted and I finished getting my book. Went to Happy Pizza for dinner and rushed off to a movie. Jack Reacher. It's pretty good. Spanish subtitles help a little with learning. Our floor mates aren't very quiet.

Ecuador - Day 35

Inside of Outside

Another day of buses. Took a truck to Zumbahwa. Had to bargain. Then bus to Latacunga. Bought peaches and researched where to go next. Heating oil almost figured out. Took a bus to Ambato and then Rio Bamba. Hotel Canada! Found a place for $5/night. Got Chinese food for dinner. Way too much food. God a doggie bag. Went to several internet cafés to try and download my book. Got kicked out with 5 minutes left. Try to resume tomorrow.

Ecuador - Day 34

Inside of Outside

Baby cows everywhere, umbilical cords dragging in the dust. A cool water powered milking machine. Hitched a ride with Patricia and Hannibal to Quilotoa, stopping at scenic spots on the way. Only got lost once. Hiked down to the crater lake. Beautiful and mind blowing. Hid the 6L water jug behind a shrub. Camera is working again. Watched a shepherdess and 1 in training herd a hundred sheep + 1 ram + 1 goat to water and then up the hill. Took a nap. Ate a simple dinner. Flavourless meat is hard to stomach. Oh, the silence.

Ecuador - Day 33

Inside of Outside

Bkfast at Residencial Viajero. Admonitions from Hilda. Ashley not feeling so good today. Bus towards Quito. Another bus to Latacunga. Standing room only. Started feeling sick. Got off at a random spot and sat in the grass for a while. Debated with Ashley bus or hitchhike. Hitched a ride then nabbed a bus to some other random spot, where we caught a bus to Latacunga. Got grapes, chocolate, yoghurt, ice cream, and noodles, then caught a bus to Pujili. No hostels in Pujili. Took us an hour to realize. Hitched a ride to Tigua in a pickup with a gravestone. Awesome home grown dinner by Marcos and Margarita.

Ecuador - Day 32

Inside of Outside

Up the hill, down the hill, so many times today. 1st to hunt for breakfast. Than the hot springs. Very nice. 1st pools of different temps from nearly scalding to frigid, fed directly by hot springs or mountain stream. Hot/freezing/hot/freezing etc. Locro for lunch. Good. Might try to make it at home. Splurged on a deep tissue massage for me and Ashley got a relaxing massage. Mine hurt, but was great. And a nap after that, then hunted for a place to eat dinner and got a small pizza.

Ecuador - Day 31

Inside of Outside

Last day at the farm. Woke and packed 11 people, plus their luggage, an empty gas bottle, several large boxes, into a 7 seater. Dropped us at the road. Ashton forgot to exit at Mindo. Me, Ashley, Sebastien, and Noemi had bkfast, then hitchhiked to Quito w/Paul the cray but relatively good driver. They went to Colombia, we bused across Quito (me tired, dehydrated, and very grumpy), and cought a bus to Papallacta. Found a beautiful hostel. La Residencia Viajero, kept by Jorge and Hilda, who are awesome. Platos vegetarianos for dinner. These mountains are much different--grassy instead of jungly. Hot Springs tomorrow.

Ecuador - Day 30

Inside of Outside

Last day of work. Chainsaw morning. Mushroom logs and palm walk to new greenhouse with Romain and Ashton. After lunch, moved the pigs and brought more logs from below, than macheted through the jungle to the water source, up a creek, to cave. Cleared out the dam. Very col. Broke a pipe. Fixed a pipe. Saw a big snake. Black, maybe 1.5 m long, and fast. Dinner corn cake deliciousness, with a real cake with sprinkles for dessert. One last Ingo story time.

Ecuador - Day 29

Inside of Outside

Tired today. Ashley is still sick, not getting better. Fixed the corral 1st. Helped fix a fence. Then hiked up the mountain to clear some area and make more logs. Did some tarp adjustments. Got soaked with rain after lunch under the tarp. Sme people complaining about cutting down trees. Thunder! Fed the pigs. Dozer got left behind. Dinner of potatoes in delicious white sauce and scrumptious cabbage rolls. Played with Laia -- watermelon, bread, and paper. Mountains are still amazing.

Ecuador - Day 28

Inside of Outside

Spent the morning hiking through the jungle, machete-ing and rappelling our way to the river. Creeked all the way back to the road, checking every trail and pasture along the way. Found and ate some naranjillas. No horse though. Ingo and Genny return. Ingo isn't too upset. Fixed the pig pen and trained the donkey, and redid the carport. Finished the cob book. Excited to try it out. Played multi-lingual broken telephone and then an early-ish bed time.

Ecuador - Day 27

Inside of Outside

Pretty relaxed day. I'm tired of making decisions though. Fed all the animals extra food and molasses. Pigs are fun. 3 people went on a useful walk to find the missing horse but no luck. ne neigbour thinks their hired hand saw it up by the river. Tried to give a shot to Whitey again and got kicked in the hip. Rode the horses to the other pasture to see if the missing horse had gone there. Picked lemons on the way back. Sebastien is good company. Played President, French / Swiss style. Wish we had a chore matrix.

Ecuador - Day 26

Inside of Outside

Spent the morning mostly with the horses. One is missing. Corralled the other 3, treated for ticks, and gave two shots. Chainsawed some posts while on a ladder. Kind of sketchy. Brought up some logs to make mushrooms with. Worked on the cowhide and sliced my finger open. Ribs for dinner. Delicious! Kinda surprised. A very hot wood heated hot tub night. ashley isn't sick anymore. We moved into our own room downstairs with a bug net! Feels like a fort.

Ecuador - Day 25

Inside of Outside

After bkfast, lost a 5 day old calf. Found it. Carried it to slaughter. Held its twitching body. Helped skin and gut it. Cleaned it. Ate it later. Roast leg. Tried liver and lung. Created an awesome tarp shelter for a pile of timber. Cut barbed wire, and moved logs for a fence. Washed my clothes -- filthy. Ingo and Genny are leaving for a couple of days and I'm in charge. Huh. 9 Woofers here still. Jurgen and Nele are leaving. To bad. Really like them.

Ecuador - Day 24

Inside of Outside

Morning off. Drove to Mindo and checked emails, called Matthew for an early bday wish. Hope our oil lasts. Bkfast with Momi, Manuela, Nicole, and Marie. Met Ashton and Astrid. Ingo has a 4 day old calf to eat tomorrow. Had to ride outside the car in the rain. Sheared a sheep in the afternoon. So fun. Tackle, grab, and subdue, then snip, snip, snip with the EMT shears. Sore by the end. Jurgen and Nele made pizza for dinner. Delish. Jurgen is so funny. Romain showed up. Good stretch.

Ecuador - Day 23

Inside of Outside

Went and got the horses before breakfast. Very beautiful and peaceful. After eating (oatmeal as usual), into the jungle to haul logs with horses.. Brown horse was very stubborn. Hardly worked. White horse awesome. Also awesome: lunch. Potatoes with béchamel and roast peppers. Afternoon, leveled ground a trenched area for BBQ. Pakora dinner, and hot tub evening. Awesome shooting star and moonlight. Read some Principito. Going to Mindo tomorrow.

Ecuador - Day 22

Inside of Outside

Had to put on wet-clothes this morning. Felt like the river. Chainsawed a lot. Mushroom logs and fenceposts. Worked on cementing the fish pond after lunch of fried rice soup cakes and pasta. Sheared half a sheep then relaxed and read. Dinner was hummus. Delicious. With beets and greens and potatoes. Chill evening and games around the table. Is this a pen? Tank and Dozer are ridiculous. Made friends with a donkey.

Ecuador - Day 21

Inside of Outside

Up to a rainy day. Spent the morning trying to concrete the fish pond. Sometimes good. Other times frustrating. Lunch is good. Bruschetta bread. Very rainy afternoon. In charge of the forest expedition. Took the horse and hauled logs and macheted the jungle. Very cool. Very tired. Very muddy. Bad transition to dinner prep. Dinner was ok, except I burned the rice. Twice. After that I got grumpy. Organizing my stuff, stretching, and chocolate made me feel better.

Ecuador - Day 20

Inside of Outside

Woke up. Didn't have to! Fed pigs special breakfast. Read a lot about cob. Very cool. Lunch of spaghettis. Helped make bread. Trained dogs. Read some more. Went and chopped down some plants. Giant bamboo-like thorny things. Rode horses back to the farm. Bare back. Fed pigs. Dinner - soup and salad and bread. Very wholesome. Chocolate. And chats into the evening.

Ecuador - Day 19

Inside of Outside

Up early, but not as quick as yesterday. Bkfast, then up into the jungle to haul out logs. Yesterday felt like a human lawnmower. Today, like a donkey. Afterwards, dug a lot of dirt for a cob BBQ. Then learned how to mix concrete and put posts in. Pretty fun, but another hard day. Five chickens killed today for dinner. Yum? Wood heated hot tub, very nice. Finished reading about human manure composting systems and grey water systems. Early bed time.

Ecuador - Day 18

Inside of Outside

Up early. With the sun surprisingly. Bland but filling breakfast, 2 porridges and bread. Dishes, pig feeding. Hike up the mountain, waving a machete. Got pretty god by the end of the day. Cleared a chunk of woods. Cut down lots of trees with a chain saw - broke the chain. Back for a new one. Helped the girls bring lunch up. Rice, beans, veggies, cabbage salad. Palmito--so god. Deadly snake falls from tree. Learned how to attach a bar to chainsaw and more. Trained dogs. Relax. Dinner. Dice game with cup. Rose and thorn. Ha.

Ecuador - Day 17

Inside of Outside

Up and out. Ice cream snack. Not very good whole wheat buns for breakfast. Waited at the restaurant for our farm hosts. Seven other people also coming. Gringo Alto appears. Very charismatic and matter of fact. Ginny seems nice too. Bought lunch for everyone. Tax to the farm. Carried a heavy bag of corn up the hill and unloaded cement. Got the talk and the tour. Beautiful and by the river. Steep green valley. Wrangled baby pigs for cholera shots. Sharpened machetes. So many dogs. Going to be fun.

Ecuador - Day 16

Inside of Outside

Pretty good sleep in the open air and hammock. Breakfast in town, then exploring. Hike down a creek and then up a mountain. Hitched a ride back down in the back of a pick-up. Cute little shy girl. Even cuter little puppy. Veggie burgers and bamboo swings. Met Dan and Sue. Had dinner with them at the taco place. Had the worst shave of my life. Scary, painful, and patchy. Cheap though, $1.50. Tomorrow, to the farm.

Ecuador - Day 15

Inside of Outside

Up and pack and eat and out. Walked to the wrong bus stop. Found the right one. 2.5 hour bus to Mindo. Slept / listened to my book most of the way. Found a cheap hostel in Mindo. Tried and failed to hike to the river, but saw a lot of amazing jungle plants. Pineapple smoothie and roasted corn with cheese. Carnaval mud / water / foam fight. Watched for a while and then got muddy. Cleaned up and went for wood fired pizza. Chill, chess, bed.

Ecuador - Day 14

Inside of Outside

Restless sleep. Up late. Went to an artisanal market in the morning. Ashley got a purple alpaca blanket and scarf. Then went to Old Town. Saw the giant angel statue, and lots of cool old buildings and a big basilica. Got rained on. Back to the hostel and grabbed sandwich fixings for lunch - fried eggplant, onion, zucchini, avocado, tomato, and cheese grilled sandwich. Delicious. Also bought some ujillos, a small orange fruit. Napped the afternoon away. Ate anything we had left. Bought a tub of chocolate ice cream. So good. Another fine evening of intelligent conversation with Raoul, Yonika, Adrian, and Ceri.

Ecuador - Day 13

Inside of Outside

Late beet breakfast with fruit, yoghurt, freshly squeezed OJ. Got geared up and hiked to Volcano Park. Rode Teleferiqo 3/4 up the mountain. Beautiful cloudy, foggy views. Rented horses and a guide and rode / hiked almost to the summit. Very beautiful green valleys, misty mountain tops, craggy outcroppings, and steep drops. So good to ride a horse again. Our guide Luis gave us plants from the mountain to make a medicinal tea. Tasted gross, we'll see if it works. Spent the evening playing guitar with Ashley. Then veggie-fried rice for dinner, and an international chat - Canada of course, and Norway, France, and The Netherlands. We meet the stereotype - outdoorsy and friendly.

Ecuador - Day 12

Inside of Outside

Breakfast of omelettes and veggies, with all yellow fruit salad - pineapple, mango, and some weird melon thing. Read for a while. Ashley's stomach a bit upset. Cyber cafe for a bit, looked up a lot of Spanish words, then to the park for ultimate. But it was a no show. So instead, walked to the airport and stood at the end of the runway. Landing planes 15m overhead. Take offs blew our hair back. Then we went and watched El Vuelo (Flight). Good film. Oh, cheap fast sushi snack and lots of chocolate today. Excellent sandwiches for dinner and met Adrian and Ceri. Hot shower! First in Ecuador. Up the mountain tomorrow.

Ecuador - Day 11

Inside of Outside

Woke and wandered. Breakfast at a cafe. Wandered some more. Must have walked 6 hours today. Found a used bookstore. Bought Walden, El Principito, and El Alquimista. $1.50 Lunch. Hostel is beautiful. Quiet. more like a home. $7/night. Walked to the park in the rain then tried out Quito's bus system. Bought a new headlamp and rubber boots (for farming). Bought some groceries (fruits and veggies) for dinner and breakfast. Cooked. Chatted with other guests from Germany and Japan. Stomach feels a little weird. Wow! My headlamp has a dimmer. Started reading El Alquimista.

Ecuador - Day 10

Inside of Outside

Another restless night. Getting lots of sleep feels good though. Packed and organized and farewell to Javier. Bus to Tosagua and then to Quito. Buses pretty much all day. Ashley's bus curse struck. Stuck for 45 minutes with a broken bus. Had sweet smoothies though. Figured out tostada means grilled cheese. Finally got to Quito. Taxi drivers at the station as expected. Walked around a bad section of Quito, hookers on every corner. Decided a taxi was prudent. Our hostel is classic. Great ideas though for travel. And bookstores.

Ecuador - Day 9

Inside of Outside

Bad Sleep. Bugs and barking. Ashley went out and got breakfast. Fried eggs with veggies. Rented surf boards. Felt good to get back on a board. Ashley did really good. Spent the afternoon nap / reading / snacking on granola. Evening - beach combing and a beautiful sunset. Shopping for dinner. $3.50 got plenty of veggies and salad fixings. Coked. Left a plate for Javier. Ashley keeps beating me at Speed 2.0. Bought a comb. Needed it. Wrote haikus for something to do.

A love-sick cricket
My bedroom, his microphone
Flushing ends his song

A fillet for her
Birds, dogs, tug-o-war for guts
Heads and tails for you

Pepper, onions, lime
Tomatoes, potatoes, cheese
rice, spice: three fifty.

Dinner here, or here?
I dunno, what do you want?
Rock, paper, scissors

A dog on the roof
And twenty-three in the streets
Two sniffing my heels

Ecuador - Day 8

Inside of Outside

Maybe my most relaxed day yet. So hot. Had avocados for breakfast. Naranjillas = good. Tomate de arbol = bad. Book a hostel for Quito, paid some bills, etc. Made our own lunch--guacamole with lime, and fried veggie sandwiches--delicious. Found a sweet shell. Read all afternoon. Ashley went swimming. Dinner at the same pizza place. Walked to the park and played on the swings. Back at hostel for 2 games of chess. Lightened my backpack by burning papers on the beach. Bed.

Ecuador - Day 7

Inside of Outside

Wow. One week. Time flies. Another lazy day. Had a huge breakfast. Rented body boards for $1. Ashley caught more waves than me. Spent the afternoon reading Nat Geos and napping in hammocks. Planned to go to a nice restaurant for dinner, but not open, so ate rice and menestra at a hole in the wall cafe. Got a tomate de arbol and a naranjilla to try. Went for a drink at the pizza place and had a conversation with the family there. Watched the hostel for an hour during Javier's birthday dinner. Then convos with Marcos, Kristina, Javier, and Jenny: travels, biological effects of darkness, beer, wine, happiness psychology, all in Spanish.

Ecuador - Day 6

Inside of Outside

Slept in. Love it. Had to because so much noise last night, between upstairs partiers and crickets. Spent an hour hunting the cricket in our ceiling. Finally got it. Spent the morning looking for a cheaper hostel but no luck. Walked to the cliffs--beautiful--and collected some sweet shells. Swam and played in the ocean too. Caught in a rain storm but decided to walk in the rain and get soaked. Was sweet. Chilled at the hostel and read and played games. Could be the frog chorus that keeps me up tonight.

Ecuador - Day 5

Inside of Outside

Stayed awake an hour, imagining tsunami escape plan last night. Slept-in til 8ish. Explored the rest of San Lorenzo. Didn't take long. Balones for breakfast. Bus to Manta right on time. Tom Cruise marathon on bus to Canoa. Got lost at a random bus stop. Tried yucca bread. Good. Weird sweets, not so good. Found a decent hostel in Canoa. Swam in the ocean. So fun and warm. Busy though. Asmost as busy as Montanita. Dinner was good. Fish soup, patacones, rice, menestra, and mora juice. Gotta find out what a mora is. Wandered the streets. Cool launchy-thing. Awesome live music at Coco Loco.

Ecuador - Day 4

Inside of Outside

Slept-in late. So good. Watched the lanchas come in from fishing. Divided fish to many people, and the rest to market. Many 3 ft. long, and some maybe 4-5 feet. A few hammerheads too. Guts and heads all over the beach and fought for by dogs, vultures, and seabirds. Rained hard today. A new flow to the sea. Hiked to the rock islands. Very cool. Climbed 600+ stairs to a lookout / lighthouse (solar-powered). Beautiful cliffs and jungle on the other side. Giant butterfly. Played chess and watched Jet-Li at the Blue Dolphin.

Ecuador - Day 3

Inside of Outside

Night-time cat invasion. Ugh. Early morning beach and met Renato. So hot. Mango blend for breakfast. Long bus ride to Manta. Almost peed myself. Countryside and ocean views beautiful. Bussed to San Lorenzo. Walked around. Met Manuel. Adventure to find a room for the night, but found a small cabin on the beach. Renters hooked up lights with car battery. Walked in the surf. Can't swim--riptides. Dinner at the Blue Dolphin. Saw Manuel again. Delicious fish. June-bug eating frog.

Ecuador - Day 2

Inside of Outside

Woke. So hot. Walked around the city in the heat. Had eggs and muesli for breakfast. Asked many people for directions to the bus station. Finally found it. An old man cut us in line. We stole someone's seat on the bus, which was playing Bourne Legacy. Montanita is sooo touristy. Yuck. Tourists. Huh. Beach is nice though. Watched the sunset together. Later, felt uninspired. Bought fruit from a cool lady and watched a soccer game. Pelicans fly in a V! Tomorrow, San Lorenzo.

Ecuador - Day 1

Inside of Outside

So early start. For naught. 1st US border crossing with a passport scan and no secondary inspection. Maybe I'm off the list? Flights uneventful. So much sitting. So much layovering. Had sushi. It was alright. Watched a movie in Spanish on the plane. Customs -- no problem. Taxi and lodging probably overcharged us. So hot and humid. So sticky. Reminds me of India. Wonder how Brad is. The real adventure starts tomorrow.

Ecuador - Day 0

Inside of Outside

Hung out with Elle, Sarah, and Noelle last night. Played Munchkins! Skyped with Rob and Ohio. So good. Lazy morning, and dropped off the car in Waterdown. Kevin dropped us at the train, after final prep. Stopped at Union Station for a Chipotle burrito. Yum! Dinner and chill with Gus and Loaf. Home-made tortellini = amazing. So full. Think I might be getting an ear infection. Sewed up a hole in my jacket. Need to organize my papers. Bed and ready for an early, early start.