Ecuador Trip Concludes

In celebration of my departure, all of Gringolandia is coming out to party. Rumor has it Tom and Katie have flown down for the occasion, hookers have been rented out and the pinatas are all shaped like Larry King. He and Gene Shallit are like Gods here. I will try to keep it under control so you won't worry.

So I have been on a quest for crap today; as I truly need to thank those that covered for me at work with some $2 trinket with Ecuador printed on it. I need to relax my standards, because I am actually trying to find something they will not throw away upon receipt.

I also got lost today. B, think St. Petersburg subway lost. Lonely Planet has failed me for a third time on this trip. I got on the bus that they said, and ended up somewhere well south of the city. Ummm... did I stand out... well lets see... white kid, backpack - daypack, shorts, hiking shoes and an expression of "Christ where am I?" Its times like those that I turn to religion, in this case the Virgin Mary that sits on a hilltop in the middle of Quito. From there, I could tell sort of the direction I needed to go. Still, panic was starting to set in when I could not flag a cab and all the buses that went by did not have a familiar destination on them. Finally, I found one though and made it back to Old Town.

For the first time in this town, I had some sunlight for decent photos. I took a few but really I got kind of bored without having a little something more planned.

Speaking of plans... my whole day plan was ruined when I got to McDonalds at 8am for a pequito desayuno and found out that they do not open until 9:30am, at which point I got lost on the bus and by the time I got back, they were open. The Ecuadoran Ronald likes to sleep in... So I go in, really craving a salchipa mcmuffin con queso y huevo and I find out that Ronald in Ecuador does not serve desayuno. F-you Ronald, you have ruined my day and my belief in corporate America to exploit all meals (except for Chikfila).

Typing is a hardship here as the keyboard is slightly different in each place and certain things require multiple keys, so pardon all of the typos.

All in all, this ranks up there as one of my favorite trips. The stuff that I have seen and the places I have gone make this a really good one. I will give a few more learnings though...

I realize how we must sound to foreigners when we keep speaking English to them hoping that they will learn the language by the conclusion of our interaction. I can say that, because I have been on the other end quite a bit. I usually will say that I do not speak much spanish but that is usually followed by a phrase delivered at top speeds to which my expression becomes a shrug and a "gracias". I speak largely in nouns. Peintura, ceiba? I credit the Taco Bell dog for one of my few verbs yo quiero.

According to Lonely Planet, all taxis are required to have a meter. That, is simply bullshit, because I have taken them often and have yet to see a single meter.

Chicklets remain a hot seller for the poor apparently. I have seen this the world over, and I am always amazed that it continues everywhere. These guys really need a new business model, sure, your margin is good, a penny chicklet for five cents is four cents profit but after paying staff, getting corner protection, you really have to do some serious volume to make this pay off.

I find it surprising that this country has such strict standards for its jungle and islands but its cities are pretty much shitholes. I have not yet found the wealthy part of this city and after this mornings' adventure, I have seen a lot of it.

I saw a restaurant today with one table. One. Seriously. How do you make money cooking a $1.50 meal for one person at a time? As much as Tommy likes to refer to me as a socialist, I have a renewed appreciation for elements of the capitalist system and big business (still not a republican though).

There are two companies of size in Ecuador, Porto and Movistar. I think Movistar is like a shitty Blockbuster, but it is EVERYWHERE. I saw a billboard in the jungle... I wonder what the daily circ is on that location? Porto is a cell phone service. I actually stopped in to talk to the guy about their handsets. They have some cool ones but no one buys them he said because they are $600. He sells a lot of RAZRs... imagine that. Now, can I write this trip off?

Privacy is not a concern of many here, last night while writing the blog, a guy was having a conversation on the long distance international phones for about an hour that the entire block was privvy to. And although my spanish is very limited, I am prett sure it was a long distance booty call, because I heard, "mi amor" and "mi corazon"... or maybe with the second he just has a heart problem. Anyway, I heard some baby talk too.

It is almost 5p, and I will be meeting friends for drinks at 7p before heading to the airport shortly after. I am still not sure how the flight back is almost two hours longer than the flight here but who cares, i am in business class this time so let the cake-eaters in coach worry about it. Poor bastards.

This is it for travel 2007, and I am sure B will be blogging the delayed honeymoon some time next year and I will be somewhere in Croatia not long after. You are all invited to my 10th Travel Anniversary in 2009 when I am thinking will be going to Africa.

Until next year...

Dave

Monkeying Around

I got back to Quito today (hello altitude, its just me and you again) and I have to say, it has been an amazing week... or should I say amazoning week? No... no I should never say that... lo siento.

Let me give you an idea of how remote I was... first I took a 25 minute flight from Quito to Lago Agrio. The flight basically just gets you over the mountains which by bus would take you about 8 hours. On the way, you can see snowcapped volcanoes poking above the clouds, very spectacular. Once we landed, they three us into a taxi (aka white four seat pickup truck) and a van (there were 10 of us) and we drove three and a half hours into the jungle, about one and half of those were on paved roads thanks to the exploitation of the oil industry, but the rest on rock roads. We pull up at this little bridge and we get out. All 10 of us hop in with our guide into a motorized canoe, and then we go REALLY into the jungle, about three hours in the boat weaving through thick growth. Along the way, our guide is pointing out stuff left and righ. Monkey here, bird there. Just before dark we pull up to the lodge and there are no lights except candles. No hot water either. We are shown to our "rooms" which were separate in theory but the cracks in the walls were see-through and they were open at the top... bathrooms too. Anyway, we have dinner and then head to bed early. Next day, we spend hiking through the jungle, taking a boat ride across the lake to watch the sunset and swim. Next morning, we go through an indigenous village and watch them make yucca bread from the cutting of the plant to the bread itself.

Over the course of the days, I saw 5 species of monkey, a sloth, snakes, birds, caimans and I even caught a piranha. Technicaly, one and a half piranhas but the other squirmed of before I could swing him into the canoe. That, by the way, is a fun experience, swinging a live piranha into a canoe full of people.

I must say, the travel has been easy, perhaps too easy. Today at the Lago Agrio "airport" the scanner kept beeping but the people would hold up a ring or something and he would wave them by. Ah yes, had to be the ring and not the machete tucked into the pants leg.

I also have realized how much I hate little towns that have no character... by no character I mean are dirty, disgusting, ill kept, scary, menacing, smelly and crappy in general. I had to spend last night in Lago Agrio, which wasn´t part of the plan but there were some miscommunications between the agent and the guides. Lagio Agrio is an oil town and fits the description above. My sanduiche was made with wonderbread and two gallons of mustard... And the room had a fan but it only circulated hot air. The window had no bars and was as big as the door so when opened to the "hall" anyone could have walked in. And on top of that, the power went out three times during the night... my only respite, that damned fan, didn´t work most of the night. I slept in a pool of my sweat and probably the dried sweat of countless Ecuadoran visitors to the Hotel Gran Columia.

There is a soccer game on every day all day every where.

After two weeks of local food, I was dying for something familiar. I had McD´s today, I had to, I could not deal with another plate of almuerzo typico. Even at McD´s I still have yet to finish a meal since arriving.

Ecuadorans love soup. It has been served with nearly every meal. I will not eat soup for a long time to come.

It really has been a great trip. I have met some great people, seen amazing things and added to the memories that many will never have. I wish several of you (not all of you) could have come with me.

I will be back in the states soon but may blog tomorrow while waiting on my flight.

Dave


(B, flight is supposed to arrive at 5:50am Sunday I think) I´ll e'mail your gmail account tomorrow to confirm. Thanks, breakfast sounds great!)