A Traveler´s Notes - Ecuadorian Comments

The camera and I are back in action like Action Jackson, moving furiously forward for the last big week in country; including the Colombian border trip to Tulcán and then, the AMAZON! Crazy glue can work wonders on modern electronics - shhh - don't tell them back at the factory. There's a service advisory out for this specific problem and they will be replacing the entire internal chassis once the job is finished, otherwise, the job was finished.

• 'Travelers Diarrhea' they call it in my Moon Handbook... Cormac McCarthy calls it the 'drizzilin shits' in Blood Meridian. Dehydration got the best of me a week back but after sampling all flavors of Ecuadorian Gatorade and a few hits of Imodium, I'm now back to 90%. Changes in altitude, climate and temperature on a frenetic pace works work wonders on the body. A great way to clean the colon though...

• Came across a GIANT earthworm up in the Bellavista cloud forrest. It reminded me of a few weeks back when I visited 'Love Apple Farms in the Santa Cruz mountains and Cynthia, the owner, dared me to eat one of her wriggling red worms fresh from the compost bin, which I did. Protein, lots of protein (I've seen Man vs. Wild eat far worse). This sucker, however, would have fed a whole family!

• Panama hats actually come from Ecuador and can cost upwards of $600 and take about 6 months of manual labor to make a hat that is so finely woven, it'll hold water without leaking a drop. They used to SHIP out from Panama, hence the name
• Che Guevarra is alive and well in the hearts and minds of the Ecuadorian people, many of them at least.
• Museums are closed on Monday's here too.
• Latin American buses - unforgettable. Can't believe I forgot how gnarly they can get on the steep and curvy one-lane mountainous dirt roads, especially in the rain. Like Ethan always said, ¨guys like us are going out on a bus off a cliff in Bolivia.¨ (paraphrase)
  

• Butterflies are always so beautiful, especially to photograph up close and personal

• Latin American dogs are the best and Ecuadorian perros are no exception. Pick one up with direct eye contact and a simple nod of the head at any local beach and you've got a best friend for the day, free of charge
• Straddling the equator at 0,00,00 latitude was cool, for about 5 seconds
• The indigenous Sierra communities are so united that they recently amended the constitution to give them their own governing rights. A few weeks back one small mountain town caught a man stealing a radio and BURNED HIM ALIVE - the whole town blocking the regular policia national.
• Anyone that travels to Quito should eat at La Boca del Lobo in La Zona Fuch (gringolandia). Simply amazing
• Received a shot list today for Havana and glanced at it oh so quickly. I did see trannies as well as several nightclubs and some jazz on the list. Still frantically finishing Ecuador while staying sane at the same time before mentally moving on
• The planes come in overhead on final approach for Runway 35, dangerously low and loud remembering that Military Beechcraft that crashed here a few weeks back. I actually saw the apartment building cordoned off up on the hill today next to www.tierradelvolcan.com 's office where it went in. Pity
• National elections are this Sunday. I've seen more candidates names for mayor in more towns than I could ever remember. I'd vote for Freddy in Atacames though... 'Freddy por Alcalde' (mayor) was all he wrote.
• Catching a 6:30AM bus to Otavalo, then Ibarra with a lunch stop at some hacienda and ending up late afternoon/early evening in El Angel, one of the best Ecological Reserves in the world. Chau!