janine and doug

Our final few days were spent in Banos, on the skirts of the Tungurahua volcano which slept peacefully the whole time we were there. It was erupting just a few months ago and we did hope to see some smoking but there was no action. Banos is a great little town on the road toward the amazon, with 2 central squares, lots to do, very pretty and everything within walking distance. There are some great hikes up to beautiful miradors overlooking the town and valley, numerous thermal baths and waterfalls are everywhere. They have lots of stalls selling the sugar cane toffee, they make it in Banos, you can also get a fresh pressed glass of sugar cane juice and lots of vendors with BBQ pollo on a skewer. We did a 5 hour horseback trip ... read more

Just a quick flight on a small commuter jet and we go from chilly mountain air to hot and humid beach town. This is the "winter" in Ecuador and that normally means hot and sunny days at the beach with rain every afternoon but we've had no rain at all. We landed at the airport in Manta with too much luggage for the little car so I had to have a bag on my lap for the 2hr drive to Puerto Lopez (no air-con) but it was fun nonetheless and we had a laugh every time the car bottomed out on the huge speedbumps. We took a winding coastal road instead of the highway and I guess the idea was that there would be no other traffic. The only other vehicles we came across were the ... read more

In Otavalo for three days. It's just north of Quito. We spent (literally spent $$) a full day at the famous Otavalo markets. There are 3 separate markets, one is for buying and selling animals (including giant amazon larvae), one for food & household goods, and the other is an artisan market. Mostly it all blurs together into what seems like miles of streets crammed with people buying and selling everything you can imagine. It was impossible to see the town until the next day when the streets cleared out. We stayed at Posada del Quinde which is perfectly located so we could walk to everything. I thought we had missed the animal market because we were lazy getting out of bed in the morning but our hostess at the hotel encouraged us to go and ... read more

Back at Mike and Victoria's for the weekend then the trip would be over. They have a great street with all the kids playing together and most of the neighbours get together for a party every couple of months. One neighbour who raises pigs, provided the meat and the cooking skills to make chicharones (spelling?) for the pot luck. He brought a bucketful of pig parts and cooked them in a cauldron of oil until they're crunchy like bacon. They eat it with deep fried plantain and cooked yucca and salad. You can drizzle a mandarin over the meat and wrap it in a soft tortilla. It wasn't my favorite food of the trip, chicharones probably are an acquired taste. The kids had a ''Macarena'' contest. It was definately the most challenging evening for spanish practice; ... read more

Playa Conchal - WOW. We drove north to Brasilito following the GPS and it took us to this rutted dirt road which 'dropped off' onto the beach. I immediately said no, no, no, back up the car. No place to turn around so I got out to help Doug reverse without going off road or running over the dog laying on the road side. Then we found the town square and parked. This guy in a lowered, tricked-out prelude pulled up beside us and started asking if we wanted to go on a tour. This is the kind of guy you avoid in canada but here, no. We had a great conversation, he showed us his restaurant which was closed for the day but open the other 6 days a week. Then he took us to ... read more