From the top-- Week 1

And now, for some photos. The first day we wandered around Quito looking at all the gothic and old churches and museums. We did some hiking for better views, and lots and lots of great walking and street-food trying.



At the enormous Virgen del Panecillo that gives an awesome view of the sprawling, densely-packed, beloved city of Quito.






At the Crater Pululahua that has a rich, fertile bottom, luckily not completely covered in clouds, and therefore, visible!





Riding to the hard-to-get-to town of Cruzpamba in southern Ecuador, in the province of Loja. There were about 10 others riding with us, jostling along down the winding mountain road.


We made cakes with Walter's sister Teresa, necessarily mixing by hand the ingredients, including plenty of pig lard.






We then baked them in a traditional wood oven. It was so much work and time just for some bread, but the cakes tasted great!






The next day we hiked around the forest and fields, a veces on an actual trail, often not. Amy was sporting a fashionable visor, crab picker pants and long socks look. Look for it in the fall fashion magazines.




We tanned awhile by the pool, then had a bizarre photo shoot. The funny part is the skin color difference between Amy and me! Sadly, my tan is fading fast.




The next day, the day of horrid transportation problems and bad, hasty decisions, we first visited a petrified forest. As I embrace this large, ringed stone, can I still say I'm a tree hugger?




Hours and hours and handfuls of vehicles later we arrived at an old gold mine for a great tour and some hard work helping Mr. Mannequin push a cart of gold down the rail.




On the way out of town I observed this fine sign:
Now for a few comments. First, as you can see, "ita" is added to nearly every word possible in this country to demonstrate affection.
Secondly, I thank my mother for giving me a name that, when spoken correctly, instantly proves I can speak Spanish. The only problem is that my middle name (which I also love) is a boy's name in Spanish. Ah well, it's good for some laughs.
Lastly, the Spanish language does not use apostrophes, but everyone wants to try and use English -isms, so they abuse the poor little defenseless punctuation mark. So apparently now I am a possession of a pharmacy in Zaruma, Ecuador.

The next day we went to Pindal for some swimming in natural pools at the base of a waterfall. Observe blanquita, yo, and the crazy kid on the rocks above who soon started doing dangerously scary backflips into the pool below. Yikes! (bikes!)




Lastly, we went to some rock formations caused by volcanic eruptions centuries ago and tried to make the best of the pretty lame stop.

From there, we waited for a ride back into town, and basically just waited to leave the isolated town of Cruzpamba for the unknowns of Perú...