The One Where the Gringo Visits

Pic 1: In Canoa at Surf Shak
Pic 2: At the top of Volcán Pichincha
Pic 3: At the top of Volcán Pichincha
Pic 4: Quilotoa
Pic 5: Kayaking in the lake

I have come up with my own tagline for Ecuador: The Most Beautiful Country that No One Visits. I am continually in awe of how gorgeous this place is. However, I know that my tagline already somewhat inaccurate, as I have been lucky enough to have two rounds of visitors.

Justin came to visit me in Ecuador. He flew in last Sunday night, and stayed for 8 days. It was a BLAST. We covered a good amount of the country in a short amount of time…. some of it on accident (more on that in a sec). We went to the lazy beach town, Canoa, and were beach bums for two days. Since it was during the week, it was fairly deserted. At one point, we were the only people in the ocean. I think one of my favorite moments of the week was Wednesday night in Canoa, when we went to the Surf Shak (yes, it’s ‘shak’) and played Checkers, Connect 4, Speed, and Poker. Definitely one of my top moments of the semester.

Our trip TO Canoa, took 5.5 hours. Our trip FROM Canoa, back to Quito took 8 or 9 hours; this is where seeing a lot of the country ‘on accident’ occurred. We showed up at the bus stop at 6am, ready for our direct bus back to Quito. No, no, no. That did not happen. We have a little Ecuadorian man come up to us when we arrive at the bus stop and explain that that bus was cancelled (despite having already bought our bus tickets). Really? Are you serious? Yes, he’s serious. (I’ve learned to expect anything in Ecuador, but even this was a new one for me.) Not to worry, the little Ecuadorian man says, there’s a “car” that is coming soon and can take us to Pedernales, which is about 2 hours away. Great, sooo, where the heck is Pedernales and what do we do when we get there? Well, we don’t have a second option, so we wait for this “car” to show up. Right around 6:50am, a Chiva shows up. Let’s just say, this is the farthest thing from a “car”, they are typically more of a party bus type of thing. It’s an open-air truck with about 6 benches that holds 40 people or so. Well, this Chiva pulls up, with music blaring like it is a discotech at 2 in the morning. (Throughout the semester, my friend, Pam, and I have learned to get excited about anything that goes wrong, because it typically turns out pretty funny.) So, it is 6:50am, and we are about to get on this bumpin’ party bus… I am pretty jazzed up about this adventure that is about to come our way, plus I love seeing more of the country, while Justin is looking at me like “Really? So this is how you roll in Ecuador?” To make a very long story short, it was quite the journey involving hot, smelly buses (one overheated and we were momentarily stopped/broken down) where we ended up taking 4 different vehicles on our way back to Quito. All in all, we made it back in plenty of time….. to go on another Chiva.

My program organized for the whole crew to have a Chiva the same night that we got back from Canoa… now this is an appropriate time to ride on a Chiva (at night) and drink some beers with the music jammin’. After Justin’s first experience on a Chiva, he wasn’t super thrilled about the idea, but at the end of the night I think he was yelling VIVA LA CHIVA! Okay, that might be an exaggeration (or that might have been me), but I was glad he was able to experience the Chiva, the way it is meant to be experienced.

At the end of the week, we went to Quilotoa with my anthropology class. There were 12 of us that went, plus my professor. It is a tiny pueblo with a population of 150, and the elevation is 12,841 feet. My trusty guidebook says, “The famous volcanic-crater lake of Laguna Quilotoa is a gasp-inducing sight. A lookout on the precipitous crater rim offers stunning views of the mirror-green lake. When you ask the locals how deep it is, they inevitably say it has no bottom, which seems entirely plausible given its awesomeness.” Then it has to ruin the legend and say, “the geologists say 250m deep (820 feet).” It is easily one of the most beautiful things I have seen in my life.

Then, that night in Quilotoa, we got another treat. The stars… they were unbelievable. I thought after the Galápagos, I wouldn’t see stars like that for a veeeery long time, but I was wrong. They were incredible! Again, there is something about nature that is so grand where I can’t help but be in awe of God.

It’s hard to sum up a jam-packed week, but basically it was fabulous from start to finish.

I really cannot believe how quickly this semester is wrapping up. I will be home NEXT Saturday. That is so crazy to me. These past 4 months have been the most adventurous 4 months of my life. It’s kind of sad, knowing that it is coming to an end, but at the same time I am super pumped to get back HOME and everything that comes with that.

Chao!