Last week found us lounging on lovely Pacific beach in Manta...well sorta. We were both still down with awful and long lasting head and chest congestion. Lowering elevation did not help, nor did antibiotics, nor rest..juices..chicken soup etc. The good. The guest house is very nice, with a comfortable layout, good furniture and fixtures and a splendid view of a long , quiet sandy beach. Views of breaking humpbacks, fishing fleets, kite sailors and families enjoying the water were a daily treat. Breakfast at the palapa restaurant was very good with excellent crepes, eggs, fruit, juice and coffee. We slept or read most of the time. We walked the beach a bit but our colds would act up every time we did. The young Managers fro The Netherlands and Canada were lovely people, taking time from ... read more

Hey, This blog is quite long and took a few days with travel and illness intervening. Sorry it took so long to publish and we do hope you enjoy it. There are almost 80 photos attached so don't give up too soon. Well, we went to El Oriente this week after having promised ourselves we were not going to Malaria/Dengue fever country. We have made these kind of promises before (In Thailand we did not take hiking boots and found ourselves hiking the Burma Border in sneakers after a similar ...no we are not going on a trek in the jungle). Ya think some day we might learn. At least we were equipped for this one and...for what it's worth, we did not catch either Malaria or Dengue....whew!!! Our trip started with getting up at 0530 ... read more

Today we finally got up and out early enough ( our normal one hour of coffee watching the hummingbirds and listening t NPR had to be cut short...choices, choices) to get up the Volcan Pichincha, once very active but now at least a bit dormant even though it is monitored. We walked about 1/2 way to the bottom of the Teleferico (3-4k) and took a taxi the rest of the way(recommended by all travel experts because of a plethora of malo hombres near on the way to the ticket booth). The place was full of locals and touristas. We stood in line for a ticket for about an hour and got in for the Abuelo (old folks) price, then waited another 30 minutes for a car to go up. The trip up is about 25 minutes ... read more

This market is one of the best we have ever been to anywhere, but we usually say that every time we find a market we like. Tired of paying the high price of food, especially for local veggies and meats, in the Ecuadoran National chain...Super Maxi, we decided to head for the old and venerable Mercado Central. Open for a very long time...some say 100 years and almost every day of the year, this market proved to be wonderful. It is an indoor market, owned by the city. It is located near the old town square in an area of warehouses and commercial buildings. Vendors rent stalls to sell fresh flowers, fruits, veggies, healing herbs, spices, meat, fish and, most important to our stomachs, small stall sized restaurants serving traditional foods at unbelievably low prices. As ... read more

Yesterday started with what was a minor head cold the day before but seemed better and ended with a really nasty evening of coughing etc etc.. In between however was a wonderful tour of Jardin Botanico in the La Carolina district of Quito. Instead of risking a walk and worsening of Mikes cold, we took a taxi north and west of our apartment...very smart idea as the day was a bit cool with very threatening clouds in the sky....it never did rain however.The Jardin has a wonderful collection of trees and flowers native to Ecuador, including carnivores and spectacular orchids (many of which are protected species) and interesting cacti. We walked for almost 3 hours with a continuous sense of wonder at the colors, shapes and sizes of these incredible plants. For instance, this Bolivian Fuscia, ... read more