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.