We got up early and shared a cab to Loja with Canadian biologist Duane and his retire teacher wife Susan. By 7:30 we were on the bus to Piura, Peru. It is about an 8 hour ride, including an hour at the border. Obviously, we were riding in style – When we reached the border, […]
Travelling
Ecuadobservations
Now that we have left Ecuador, I thought it might be interesting to put together a (potentially exhausting) list of random things we’ve seen. Dollars Ecuador uses the U.S. dollar as its currency. This can be a problem when the dollar is strong, as it makes Ecuador expensive for other countries. There is a massive […]
Izhcayluma – Virtual Community
Perhaps it’s because Izhcayluma is not on VRBO, Airbnb, or Booking.com, and that we found it through word of mouth, (Regina, our Swedish travel buddy). It seems like most of the people we met here found it the same way. In any event, it is a fantastic hotel/hostel, and we recommend it to all. We […]
Postcards from Ellen’s Edge
Wow, I have been in Ecuador for almost three months. I have been retired for almost 7 months. In many ways I feel like it is all just beginning. We are at a beautiful lodge in Vilcabamba, Ecuador taking a vacation from our vacation. I have gone to Yoga 3 days in a row, which […]
The Middle of the World
We have now been gone about 4 months. It is about the middle of our trip so we headed to Middle Earth! Quito has a whole park and museum about the equator. We went with our Swedish friend Regina, who we first met in Spanish school in Cuenca, then had Christmas with, then again at […]
Otavalo
Otavalo is a city of about 50,000 that has figured out how to balance its indigenous identities and being economically prosperous. On one side is the volcano Imbabura. About 15 km away is the town of Cotacachi with its eponymous volcano. Cotacachi is the woman, and Imbabura is the man. They split up a while ago and […]
Quito Bus Tour
We hopped on the Quito bus tour two blocks from our hotel. It is a double-decker bus that hits the main points. We went through the old town, new town, and up to the winged madonna up on the hill. We hopped off at La Ronda, a restored colonial street. This is where we ate lunch, […]
Quito – You Rock!
Quito has a beautiful new airport that is quite a ways out north of the city. We took the $25 taxi ride, as it was only a few dollars more than the shuttle. One comes into the city along a great highway that has new businesses on the sides. Eventually, the taxi goes around a […]
Adios Beach!
We got the all clear, spent a few more days chilling, and then headed out. It was about 10 or 15 minutes before sunset the night before leaving. Susan had gone to Manglaralto and was meeting us for dinner in Montañita. Eric, the Quebecois plumber who lives in the casita behind the house came in and […]
Up Up and Away (Finally)
It’s been a while, but we have great news! Ellen’s surgeon has cleared her to travel, with the proviso of regular trips to the doctor for dressing changes. We’d been discussing what to do next, but even so it took a bit of getting used to the idea of actually leaving the beach. We’re starting […]