With only a 2 day trip over to Ecuador the days on the ship went quick and were extremely busy! Nothing to exciting happened that I haven’t already talked about (no hair/crossing the equator) so I was very glad to get into Ecuador and back on land and in SOUTH AMERICA! It has been a few years (what…almost 13 years now? Since I have been in south America?) so that was very exciting to see this part of the world again!

A little about Ecuador, for those that don’t know the whole country is about the size of Colorado yet is known as one of the most diverse countries in the world both in terms of its populations as well as its geography. We ported in Guayaquil Ecuador which is a very industrial port city, also the largest city in Ecuador, is located somewhat inland along a river. So the cool part of coming into this port was that we actually traveled up a river into the port city, apparently we were boarded by the port pilot at approximately 3:00 AM when we entered the river. I only know we entered the river because te ship started to rock so much that every thing in my room stared to fall off of shelves and in the bathroom. It was rocking so much that at one point I thought I might fall out of bed I was moving so much! Luckily it was only for a few minutes, things started to calm down once we actually entered the river.

Guayaquil is not known for a being a pretty city, and we definitely saw what people meant by the port area. The port was very industrious, not a place where cruise ships usually dock (not that this is a cruise, but it is nice to know you are going to be safe as you walk into town). Usually when we port, we have a diplomatic briefing, and the one for guayaquil talked mostly about how careful we needed to be in this city…my favorite part was the warning of the speedy kidnapping which is where someone follows you into a cab and then forces you to an ATM where you must withdraw money…wonderful!

So a few of us decided to spend our first day in port enjoying the hot spots in Guayaquil which took us to the safest part of town which was the Malecon 2000. This is probably the most touristy part of the city that was cleaned up in 2000 and made into a really cute riverfront walk way. Since it was so early in the morning (1000 or so) we decided to take a detour to La Plaza Semenario which is known for the hundreds of iguanas that live in its gates. The cool part is that the iguanas are not caged in, but yet they never leave the park which is located literally in the middle of the city! The iguanas were HUGE and they were all over the park and the trees. One tree in particular had so many iguanas it was hard to tell them apart from the leaves. The only way you knew it was full of iguanas was because every few minutes a huge amount of iguana pee would come falling to the ground. Tasty. We then headed off to what would really be one of my only true Ecuadorian meals at a restaurant called Los Nuestro. Here most people tried the Yapingachos (not sure what it was) but I had something that involved a steak smothered in onions and tomatoes and rice with eggs on top.

After lunch we headed to the Mercado Artesenal and I bought some gifts for people, they had some really cute stuff for pretty cheap. We then headed up to the neighborhood known as Las Penas. I guess this is another part of the renovated Guayaquil which was really pretty. It was a neighborhood of really quaint little homes along a mountain side which had a lighthouse at the top. The climb up involved 444 steps which were all numbered. Along the way were a number of shops and restaurants…we stopped at one on the way down and had a beer. After the climb we decided it was time for a quick dinner and then time to head back to the ship as most of us had to be up early (I had to be up and ready by 4:30am)…dinner was a quick stop at an empanada stand for some Colombian style empanadas.

So the reason I had to be up so early was that I was trip leading a trip to Quito with students and we had a departure time of 0500. On the trip I had 38 students, I was suppose to have one more, but the girl decided to sleep in versus go on her $500 trip to Quito…oh the privilege some of these students live with to just be able to throw away money like that! I must say that Quito has GOT to be the most beautiful city I have ever flown into. For those that don’t know, Quito is the 2nd highest capitol in the world at almost 9000 feet of elevation. Flying in the mountains start to appear almost immediately and so do some of the almost 60 volcanoes in Ecuador. The 2nd highest and closest to Quito is one called Cotopaxi and was so amazing to fly near its snow capped peaks.

The first day in Quito just involved a trip around the old town and through some of the famous churches and sights in the city. Quito has got to be one of the cutest and most quaint cities I have ever been in. The people are simply warm and inviting and so is the city as a whole. The first thing you notice about the people of Quito is the height of the people, the majority being under I would say 5’10 made me feel like a giant and I am not that tall at all! The second thing you notice is how conservative the dress is in the city, color being almost absent and shorts not even around. Some of the churches we went to were totally amazing, my favorite and the one that I could not take picture in is known as the gold church. Literally every corner of this church is COVERED in gold leafing, it is so incredible the detailing in the workmanship.

After the city tour we grabbed lunch in the hotel (5 star hotel in Quito with single room, check) and the we all had the rest of the afternoon free. My plan was to take a nap and then explore the area around the hotel and then meet up with Anne and Nate who were in Quito on there own excursion. Of course, a student spoiled this plan after she started to feel sick and thought that she might be having an allergic reaction to shellfish (which she said she never had had before). For SAS trips they give us each a medical kit so as we are waiting for the doctor the hotel calls to come I give the student an antihistamine to see if that helps. Eventually then non-english speaking doctor shows up and there I am trying to translate medical terms for the student and the doctor…lets just say I earned my 50% off the trip from SAS. After a couple of hours the student was in her room with her roommate taking the night off and I was off for my much needed nap!

Dinner I met up with Anne and Nate and headed to a steak restaurant that there guide book recommended. When the taxi finally dropped us off we realized that the place was EMPTY despite the sign stating that we were about to have “The Steak For Our Lives”…we ended up going in cause the owner opened the door and saw us out in front debating if we should enter. Of course, the steak was amazing but the restaurant and its sea foam green napkins, table cloths and chairs left much for the eye to desire. After dinner we went to a Bar across from my hotel…MARIO’S BAR!

Day 2 in Quito…White Water rafting! We were picked up and took a 3 hour trip to the river. On the way we took a road that took us down and mountain where the road dropped 6000 feet in 20 miles of blind curves and sharp cliffs on a 40 passager bus…thrilling to say the least…especially for the 3 students that lost there breakfast, literally…luckily there was only one moveable trashcan and no bags on the bus! One girl decided that coming up to me with her mouth full of vomit and then reaching over me to the trashcan in my row was a good idea…I almost vomited myself after that one!

White water rafting was a blast and defiantly something I want to do again! We were on a river that gave us about 3-4 hours of class 3 rapids. My favorite moments include paddling the boat up to a water fall and just letting us sit under the falling water for a good minute, a feeling I will always remember. We also got a couple of chances to get out of the rafts and float down the river just in our life vests (this was also a perfect time to pee, but of course I had to remember the famous pee + fish episode of Greys Anatomy…alas I had to hold it). I think the best part of the trip was that while rafting I definitely drank about half of the water n the river…I quikly learned that when I am excited and having fun I open my mouth, the problem is that when you are doing that in a river in Ecuador is that you get mouthful after mouthful of water. After getting a pretty big scare during preport that the water in Ecuador was BAD, I was afraid I was going to get the runs that night…so do I have the explosive D’s? well lets just say that Imodium and pepto are my friend J The ride back to Quito was just as eventful as the bus had many close calls making passing attempts on blind curves on the cloud filled mountain…trying to force myself to sleep was about the only option I had!

Our last day in Quito was a zip lining trip in the mountains at the base of the volcano Cotopaxi. The logistical mess that was our tour guides got us lost on the way to the zip lining area and that placed us on a steep mountain road dodging HUGE potholes and boulders. At one point the road was so steep that we all had to exit our buses and walk next to them because we were to heavy. After about a mile of walking, the tour guides realized they had made a wrong turn and that we had to go back down the mountain….of course now it was to steep going back down so we had to walk again…We also had a chance to stop by a Cuy stand. For those that don’t know what Cuy is…it is well…guinea pig…roasted usually. Some of my students definitely decided to buy one and give it a try. The best part was that at one point the Cuy lady hands the students a Cuy on a pole that was still cooking so they could take pictures…my students misunderstood and started gnawing on the little beast. After a few bites they were informed that they started to eat raw Cuy…yuck.

At the location we ended up zip lining on two different lines that expanded the length of a canyon cut by the last volcanic eruption of Cotopaxi. The first line was about 220 meters long and the second one over 400 meters…amazing! While there we also got to hike to a water fall that was near by, a hike that took us climbing over volcanic rock, black as night and really smooth, you can see how the lava dried and formed these structures. We ended this day by going to lunch at a Hacienda literally in the middle of no where (which can be said for a lot of this trip), the food was great but we were running behind to catch our flight back to quayaquil, so we had to speed through the meal.

Out last day in Port I spent it with Nate and Anne again and just had a “normal” nothing planned day in Guayaquil…which was great and much needed!
Finally I want to say sorry for not calling anyone in this port, the phone card that I had did not work on any phones and when I finally had a chance to try I didn’t have time to try and buy a new calling card. I am hoping that the card that my mom sent me works in Chile! Also…a HUGE thank you to everyone that sent mail, getting a little hello from you all at home here on the ship is amazing…and let me just say that everyone is jealous of the mail, and I like it that way! Love you all so much and can’t wait to catch up soon!