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Published: August 4th 2006
Howdy!
A lot has happened since our last update. After being a little under the weather in Quito, we decided to take a plane to Esmeraldes on the coast. According to our book, ¨It is a shame that a place whose name means emerald should be so dirty and dangerous¨, so we went south to Sua. A nice little beach town, which is just what we needed for some r&r. We spent about a week there beach strolling and sipping Piña Coladas and gawking at the occasional iguana and ducking bats.
On one of our walks to a nearby town we saw two men dragging a third out of the water and dropping him on the sand. At first it seemed like nothing until we realized he was not moving at all. We briskly approach as another person declares without properly checking that the man has no pulse and commences with chest compressions. Sayard and I make them stop and I check to see if he is breathing. He is, but very shallowly and insufficiantly. Do I give him mouth to mouth? A quick glance at his numerous and rather unsavory tatoos helps me remember an alternative. The
Brain Coral
Brain Coral on the coast, near Sua.sternum rub! A very uncomfortable knuckle rub of the sternum that is used to assess responsiveness and help get people going. I give the guy a brutal sternum rub and he gives a small gasp. Phew! Again and Again! Then I turn him on his side so he can puke up the sea water he swallowed. Though still not aware nor responsive he is breathing fine so I say we need to get him to shade and to a doctor. We carry him about 200ft and then someone recognizes him and comes running over. At this point he slowly comes to and is able to get up and be escorted to safety.
After that we decided on going to Guayaquil in the South of Ecuador. We were told that it is about a 3 hr bus ride and prepared accordingly. Unfortunatly, it turned out to be about an 11hr bus trip and we were more adventurous with the cuisine than recommended before the ride. I´ll just say that a few motorists got an unpleasant surprise when passing the bus.
That was when we had had enough of Ecuadorian cuisine, and health standards. I could not count the amount
Hermit Crab
Whenever we found an awesome shell it seemed like one of these guys had already claimed it. of times I have seen a mangy dog or sneezing child walk into a kitchen. It would be much easier to account for the very few places where meat appeared to be refridgerated. It´s hard to imagine, but in supermarkets people pick through piles of meat on display like we might go through apples. Then they touch whatever else afterwards without washing their hands in any of the rare bathrooms that may actually provide soap. Yup, being a health inspector has not improved my third world experience. For the rest of our time in Ecuador we sought out familiar fast food joints that had some notion of food safety, if not quality.
Back in Guayaquil, we visited a crazy park were there are countless iguanas strolling about and eating cauliflower. We also hiked in some tropical dry forest and explored mangroves.
We are currently in Cuzco, Peru. A place that I visited with Erik a little more than five years ago. It is a comfortable place 3400m high in the Andes with welcoming cold air. Here we are preparing for our trek to Machu Picchu and getting a lot of gift shopping done. Though we are still a
Blue Footed Boobies
Everywhere on the coast. Though these are the females. Which do not have blue feet. little winded by the altitude.
Peruvian cuisine (and health standards) is also much better than in Ecuador and I look forward to eating Alpaca (one of my favorites) tonight. Sayard is going to try the Cuy (guinae pig), which in my opinion is tasty, though you can never get a good bite out of the little buggers.
Welp, that´s it for now. We´ll post another update after Machu Picchu.
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