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.