Thursday, August 4, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Adios Ali Shungu
Buenos dias! Today we're sad to leave our moutain lodge. It's sunny here and we perfect views of the volcanos all around. We'll have to come back here sometime.
The horseback ride yesterday was interesting. My horse, named Carolina, had a mind of her own. At one point, Andy and Jose Maria turned left while Carolina decided to go straight. I had no idea how to get her to turn around or stop. Luckily, Jose Maria realized that I was gone and came back for me. That was my first time on a horse!
We're headed to Banos today. Don Manuel Valenzuela is going to come and pick us up in his taxi and drive us to the bus station in Quito. From there we're going to take a bus to Banos. The whole trip will take us about 5 hours total.
The horseback ride yesterday was interesting. My horse, named Carolina, had a mind of her own. At one point, Andy and Jose Maria turned left while Carolina decided to go straight. I had no idea how to get her to turn around or stop. Luckily, Jose Maria realized that I was gone and came back for me. That was my first time on a horse!
We're headed to Banos today. Don Manuel Valenzuela is going to come and pick us up in his taxi and drive us to the bus station in Quito. From there we're going to take a bus to Banos. The whole trip will take us about 5 hours total.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Puedo usar la sopa en el rio?
It's another beautiful day at 10,000 feet! We woke up this morning to an awesome view of a snow- capped volcano that we can see from our cabana. A super nice couple from the States owns the rancho that we're staying at. They have a partnership with the local indigenous community. Manuel is always stopping by our cabana to put more lena, or wood, on the fire. Paulina and her mom have made us 2 delicious meals so far. Today we're going for a short hike around the rancho and then doing some horsebacking riding later. Tomorrow we're headed to Banos!!
p.s. Andy tried to ask Fernando, our rainforest guide, if he could use soap in the river. Instead he asked...Can I use the soup in the river? That explains the title of this post. Very funny.
p.s. Andy tried to ask Fernando, our rainforest guide, if he could use soap in the river. Instead he asked...Can I use the soup in the river? That explains the title of this post. Very funny.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Otavalo!
We've arrived in Otavalo! We spent most the day wandering around the market and eating/tomando cervezas. We had a traditional Ecuadorian meal at one of the corner restaurants. Meals here have at least 2 courses with soup always coming first. The second plate is usually rice and beans with some sort of fried meat. Juice always comes with the meal too. Most places just have one option for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So far it has all been great! The place we're staying is on top of a moutain with awesome views all around. We did some serious off roading in our taxi on a dirt road to get there. Tomorrow we´re going to do some horseback riding around the moutain that we're staying on. Right now we're headed back to the lodge for dinner! Buen provecho!
We´re off to Otavalo!
We were woken up today by what sounded like a parade right in front of the hotel. We couldn´t see what was going on because our room was on the other side. Who has parades at 6am on a Saturday? Our flight leaves from Coca today at 8. The hotel is going to pick us up at the airport in Quito and then drive us to Otavalo (about 2 hours). Now we´re off to breakfast!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Auca Hotel, Coca
What a time we had in la selva (jungle). We saw scary monster spiders and anacondas, ate ants, hunted piranhas y caimanes (fresh-water alligators) and played futbol and frisbee on the beach. And on the canoe ride back, we fit 30 people in our canoe, including about 15 native tribespeople. So fun. Too many details to write about now, because we are still recovering.
We are at Hotel Auca, the nicest hotel in Coca. Just had dinner at a streetcorner restaurant and grabbed some beers for the evening. Need to do laundry, but we´ll probably waituntil we arrive in Otavalo tomorrow. Another early flight tomorrow, so we will hit the hay early. We´re used to it -- 6 a.m. desayuna en la selva!
Don´t worry, we took plenty of pictures.
Ciao!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
(ACTUAL POST) Time to relax
Bend to Portland to Houston to Miami to Caracas to Guayaquil to Quito. And now we can finally breathe. Traveling is exhausting, especially when you're not entirely comfortable. But we finally found a nice place where we can sit and read or lie down and sleep. Or type away. It´s the Hotel Esperanza, just south of the main tourist area of Quito, called La Mariscal. The owner is a very nice lady, and her cute 5-year-old son is playing with a red balloon outside as I type. It's a world apart from the airport district, where we stayed last night and this morning.
But let's review:
Caitlin and I left Bend about 5 p.m. Friday. It was very nice to have Friday off. Most of my recent travels have involved a post-work midnight drive, but what pleasure to take our time to pack and get things organized for our trip. Of course, Caitlin did most of the work, cleaning the house and making arrangements. That in itself was exhausting. So after we had dropped the dogs off at their respective doggie day cares and said our goodbyes, we headed off to Portland.
We were late for the TV on the Radio show, and caught about half of it. Saw em play ¨Dancing Choose¨ and ¨DLZ¨ and ¨Staring at the Sun¨and some new songs I don´t know very well yet. Oh, the lady at will call couldn´t find my tickets, so she let us in ¨for free.¨ Although I´m sure I actually did pay. Nice dinner at Edgefield, but a crappy hotel across the interstate. ¨Last time you´re in charge of the hotel,¨ Caitlin said. Oh, that´s when I realized I left my thypoid vaccine pills in our refrigerator in Bend. Oh well. Bring it on, typhoid.
Early breakfast with Chris, who filled us in on his new pasttime, DJing golden oldies, including ¨Spanish Flea.¨ Then our flight to Houston, at the end of which we flew over The Woodlands. I could see the Anadarko Tower and the mall and the river walk, but couldn´t quite make out the high school or Highbush Court. Then a smelly flight to Miami, and a nice Doubletree with heated pool and bar. ¨It´s no Travelodge,¨ I say.
The International terminal at the Miami airport already felt like another country. We had some issues checking in -- for some reason, we didnt have a hard copy of our itinerary, so we had to print one out to show our return flights to the U.S. Flight was delayed out of Miami, but we landed in Caracas with plenty of time for our connection. But there was mucho confusion about the gate. We thought we were in the right spot, but the utter lack of signs and authority figures made us nervous. Finally caught the first bus to the plane, and departed a good three hours late. (But hey, at least we got fed yummy meals on both Santa Barbara Airlines flights!) So when we landed in Quito last night (Sunday night), the man holding the placard with our names on it was nowhere to be found. So we opted for an expensive, crummy hotel near the airport. Just for one night, we decided. It was not a nice place, especially at midnight. But it looked better this morning, and we had a nice breakfast.
Now, after a lovely ride through town to Hotel Esperanza, we are stress-free. And loving our new digs. Until we have to go back to the airport tomorrow morning! Ah well. Quite a place, this Quito. We hope to see the historical district this afternoon. And we might even splurge on a beer!
I have replaced one Vonnagut novel with another, ¨Cat's Cradle.¨ It´s just as wacky.
To the jungle tomorrow!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
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