Quito, Ecuador

It's not often that I report it's nice to be in a giant city for a few days, but this was an exception. Infrastructure outside of the large cities is minimal so we were thankful to be able to have hot water, access to supermarkets, a dentist and pizza.

Quito is a beautiful colonial city set in a valley in the Andes at about 8,500 feet surrounded by beautiful green mountains. It took our lungs a day or two to get acclimated from sea level. The road from Puerto Quito was a mess from the recent storms and we watched out the window in awe as we circumvented a stretch of road completely washed away from mudslides. I am still not sure how these giant buses make it up alternate muddy roads, but they do.

We spent most of our time in the Centro Historico, a beautiful area of town with old colonial buildings and squares from the 1500s when the Spanish settled. People watching was one of my favorite activities while relaxing in the squares - indigenous ladies with a child or two expertly wrapped on their back with an old sheet selling homemade plantains, or the modern day mestizo on his cell phone walking briskly to a meeting. It was Carnaval, but to my surprise people flock to the small towns (Banos, Tena) and the coast (Esmereldas) to celebrate instead. So maybe that's why I liked the city - it wasn't crowded at all. Although when we arrived on Saturday, we had our packs on our backs walking to our hotel and heard a child yell 'Gringo! Gringo!' I turned around and saw a few kids racing towards us and after I dodged them, they doused Andy with foam, a Carnaval tradition. It was interesting to see the town full of people and commerce on Wednesday. Thousands of people had a inked cross in the middle of their foreheads, a symbol I can only guess is related to Lent.

Quito is extremely dangerous after dark so each night by 6:30pm we were safely inside our guesthouse doors ($8.50 US per person per night by the way). It had internet access (80 cents per hour) and a kitchen, so we shopped and cooked our own meals again and we continue to have happy stomachs.

The last time we visited a dentist was about six months ago in Bangkok, so we decided to get our teeth cleaned here. The place was professional, the price was right at $15 a pop and our dentist loved to talk and spoke only Spanish (like everyone), so we enjoyed an hour long Spanish lesson as well. The most memorable word I learned was 'escoupe' meaning spit. I did plenty of that.

There really isn't that much more to report of our time in Quito. We ate, we slept, we caught up on errands, traded our books and walked all over the city. Yesterday we took a five hour bus ride to the province el Oriente in a city called Tena, the gateway to the Amazon. This weekend we are off on our first tour, a jungle adventure into the Amazon Rainforest to hike and white water raft.

We heard the devastating news today that Dean Dosdall has passed away. Dean was an incredible person who Andy and I have both had the pleasure of working with over the last five years. So Dean, today we celebrate you, your open heart and your kind soul. We cherish the memories and laughter we have shared over the years and we will miss you very, very much.