Ecuador

Ecuador to Peru – Meeting My Second Home For The First Time

April 18, 2012

I wasn’t sad to leave Ecuador. Getting from Cuenca, Ecuador to Mancora, Peru seemed pretty straightforward. A company called Pullman Sucre offered the route directly, though you’d take them to the border, switch to another bus, and continue the journey. I opted to do the journey at night since it took 8 hours and I [...]

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Cuenca, Ecuador – Ending Ecuador On A Great Note

April 17, 2012

I came to Cuenca so I could visit Ingapirca, but without question it was my favorite city in Ecuador. It’s relatively safe, it’s beautiful, well-organized, and historical. The climate is comfortable. With sun it’s a bit hot, but without it it’s a bit cold. At night it’s cool, but not too cold. But it seems [...]

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Lost In Translation – I Can’t Spell, Apparently

April 16, 2012

In Latin America I have had to spell my name out many, many times. I can honestly report that not a single time have the ten letters been transcribed correctly by the person on the other side – and that is when they actually try. Often they hand the pen or keyboard over to me [...]

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Ingapirca – An Inca’s Face And Two Civilizations Living Together In Harmony

April 14, 2012

Ingapirca is a 66km/2.5 hour bus ride away from Cuenca. It’s a popular day trip for visitors as it gives some insight into the former inhabitants of this land, though many of the descendants of the Ingapirca builders still live in the surrounding areas. The pre-Columbian site was built on top of a previous Cañari settlement by [...]

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I Am Off Balance

April 11, 2012

As I leave Baños I realized that I am off balance. I’m not in as good a mood as usual and something is just generally off. It didn’t help that in Baños I got sick again, battling giardia for the second time on this trip. But despite my illness, and despite the snafu in Lago [...]

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Baños, Ecuador – Small Town, Nature, And Bathrooms

April 10, 2012

I decided to stop in Baños because it was about halfway between Lago Agrio and Cuenca. People had told me it was nice, and I found an opportunity to write a review for a hostel in exchange for accommodation. But I really didn’t care much for the town. When I arrived via the night bus [...]

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Lago Agrio – The Amazing Amazon Experience That Didn’t Happen

April 9, 2012

The only thing I wanted to do in Ecuador was go to the Amazon and see the damage oil companies have inflicted on the indigenous people there. It’s a long-running court case dating back decades and, in my opinion, serves as a perfect microcosm of how our lack of balance in life and in nature [...]

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The Green Ecuadoran Coast – Fun, Semi-Volunteering, And Awesome People

April 7, 2012

Sua is a city with only three letters and I’ll always associate it with a word that has three letters: fun. I went to Sua to spend time with Jennifer, the awesome Peace Corps Volunteer who went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure I had a good time in what she calls [...]

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Ayahuasca – My First (And Probably Only) Experience With A Hallucinogenic Plant

April 4, 2012

As I mentioned in the post about rappelling down a waterfall, I didn’t really know what was going on or what to expect that day. I’d say that summarizes relatively well my ayahuasca experience. Melissa, the Peace Corps volunteer who helped me get in with the Tsachilas, told me they do ayahuasca ceremonies. ayahuasca is [...]

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