February 1st, 2010

February 1st, 2010, will the Ground Hog see it's shadow? Not so important in Ecaudor, as temps are currently around 95 F! For those of you in the land of the ice and snow I wish you the best, as for me, I'd love to give you 10 or 15 degrees!

I feel a little guilty as I feel like I am doing what I hate doing on a blog; simply regirgitating (spelling) the events of the trip rather than expressing the joys of traveling in an interesting storytelling type fashion, however it seems as though I am always trying to update just before my mind is turning itself off for the night and my body is ready for the bed.

SO, here is a potentially not so interesting recap of the last few days events.

We flew to Quito, Ecaudor on the 29th of January and since have toured the city and driven south about 500 kilometers to Guayaquil and then farther west to the beach for an evening before returning to the port of Guayaquil tommorrow to start the process of retrieving our car from customs.

More importantly, the country of Ecaudor has been more than what I expected with amazing people and sights. They claim to be one of the most eco-diverse countries in the world has been 100% confirmed with everything from beaches, lowlands, mountains of over 20,000 feet, active and inactive volcanoes around every corner, "cloud forests", Amazon rainforest in the east, the second highest "metropolitan" area in the world in Quito at about 9,500ft., and the famous Galopagos Islands. The country also boasts over 20 different cultures, languages, and people. Obviously in the course of 3 days it has been impossible to see all these things, but that is the luxury of a trip like this, simply wetting the appetite of future travels.

As we drove down the "Avenue," we stopped at a hacienda called San Jaun de Callo (www.incahacienda.com ) and ate lunch in a 500 year old Incan ruin. The hacienda was rebuilt in the early 1900's right on top of the Incan ruin, thoughtfully placed in the foothills of Cotopaxi. As a local Ecuadorian woman eating with us put it, "it is amazing to touch the stones layed hundreds of years ago and feel the energy of the history and people who placed them there."

Tommorrow we travel back to the big city to start the process of getting our car back. According to the woman in Panama, the Ecaudor side of things will trump any experience in Panama, (instructing us it could be 3-4 days of paperwork, just to get the car from the port). As optimistic as I can be, it's hard not to take a futilistic approach to the upcoming days, especially with the experience in Panama. Then again, our ship came in a day and a half early and with a little luck and my charming blond hair and blue eyes, maybe we can quicken the process! (OK, maybe not the hair and the eyes, but my amazing spanish, oh wait again!!! ha ha)

I'm sure within due time, we'll see the car roll from the container, and the journey south will continue. Untill then, I'll just continue to enjoy the opportunity of this grand voyage and continue building my "list" for the future!

P.S. Ecaudor and Peru are known for the local food of Guinea Pig, I will be trying this at some time so I'll keep you posted. Also, I know that I am spelling Ecaudor wrong (Ecuador), but for some reason it just types easier that way.

What I Learned: Shipping a car "across the pond" is not that hard, you just need to provide yourself with a new level of patience!

(i'm working on pictures and maps of the drive, i guess i'm being lazy, excuses, excuses!)