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Published: January 19th 2008
Hello Everyone!!
Well....here we are back in Quito. Hasn´t been a real exciting couple of days but that is ok. We have been trying to organize a trip to the Galapagos and well...it is now official....we are going!! Sooo exciting! We fly there on the 27th for a 5 day boat tour where we will be visiting 3 islands. For those that are interested....we are starting in Isla Santa Cruz (which is common) and then we will be hitting Isla San Cristobal, and Isla Espanola (which is supposed to have the most amazing snorkeling ever). Once the 5 day tour is over, we are staying another 4 to 5 days on our own without a guide. During this time we are going to catch a boat independently to Isla Isabela where we will be spending 2 nights and taking a horseback riding trip up to a volcano. Should be really sweet. We are also going to attempt to hitch a ride on a diving boat to Isla Santa Maria for a day to do some more snorkeling....we have heard this can be done so we are going to try our luck. I am so beyond stoked about this....The Galapagos! Wow, should be incredible!
We are still in the process of trying to arrange spanish lessons. We are hoping to do this over the next few days since time is running out and this is very important to us. Nicole´s spanish is much better than mine since she took spanish during high school...it is really quite helpful since she often can understand what ppl are saying. Me, not so much right now but it is improving a lot already. I expect to speak it pretty decently by the end of this journey...and am looking forward to it!
Everyone here is very sweet. I have not met a bad person yet...everyone is so helpful and friendly. So far it has been a very positive experience. I love a lot of things about the culture down here. Some things seem so smart and therefore so ass backwards in Canada. For example, toilets. On the farm we basically go into a bucket. Each time you are finished, you cover it with a thin layer of saw dust in order to keep the bugs away. Once the bucket is full, we empty it into a compost. Everything is composted here. Using human manure...who would have thought? But how smart!! They compost everything on the farm. Nothing goes to waste. We have created hardly any garbage at all. All veggies and some fruit are straight from the farm....as are eggs. They do not buy anything that is not from local farmers. Thomas is in the midst of creating a CSA (I think that is what it is called) where he is hoping to gather about 15 to 20 clients who will pay $30/month for produce and eggs off his farm. It will encourage ppl to buy locally and they hill have a continuous supply of organic food. He got 2 clients yesterday so it looks like it may happen. It is really neat and I know personally, I would for sure be on it. I think it is a fabulous idea. Anyhow, on to a nother example of ass backwards Canada.....lunch!! Their biggest meal of the day is lunch. Now seriously....why don´t we do that?? Why on earth do we pig out in the evening and then basically go to bed? It makes so much more sense to have a big meal at lunch...in the warmest part of the day (well here anyhow...lol....sorry folks for those of you in snow...hahahaha)...then have a coffee afterwards and then get back to work. I have noticed ppl here are rarely obese....very rare......ah yes, that North American fat food sure is sick after being down here. I know I will be eating bigger lunches and smaller dinners upon my return. And I also know I will be eating healthier....and I am going to try to compost as much as I can. Those South Americans are smarter than us folks. 😉
On a side note, toilets are kind of funny here. The bathrooms tend to be coed...2 stalls with one sink. And you never throw TP in the toilet...the system here isn´t so good so it can´t deal with that sort of waste down the drain. You ahve to throw all TP in the garbage. Sounds gross but really, I haven´t found a stinky bathroom yet surprisingly. Not sure why I mentioned this....just thought yáll might find it interesting.
Thomas´s mare is coming along great outside of an explosion today. haha It was quite spectacular. She has had a saddle on for a couple of days now and has been great about it. However, today Thomas tightened the girth just a bit more than before and wow, EXPLOSION! She leaped back and broke her halter and then crashed down to the ground flipping completely over head over tail with her head completely twisted underneath her. I seriously thought she was going to break her neck. But somehow, she flipped completely over and jumped up and then went off crow hopping and rearing like a wild bronco for a good minute while running towards the pasture. Ah fun times. We just stood there watching until she was done with her antics. We were then able to walk up and catch her right away and go on with the lungeing session. Funny girl. Thomas used long reins today and she was really really good. We expect to have him on her back by next week....we shall see... The good news about the explosion is that she didn´t buck....good news....those of us who are horsey riders will understand. lol A horse that can´t buck is a good thing!
Well, not much else to report. We are meeting Thomas in about 30 mins so I should probably stop babbling and take off. He is meeting us here in Quito and taking us to a square that is supposed to be quite spectacular at night with churches and such. I am looking forward to it! Nicole and I are in ´Gringo Town´ right now in Quito. Yes, it is what it is called...an area full of tourist. It is sort of annoying but it works for us right now since it is full of travel agencies and spanish schools and internet cafes. It is the best place to be to book spanish lessons and a tour to the galapagos. So here we are. However, I bet this gringos haven´t experienced living on an awesome farm in a small village like we have. teehee We went to cash some traveler´s cheques today for the galapagos trip and the bank asked what hotel we were at. When we said a friend´s in Palugo she got the funniest look on her face...probably thinking we were nuts staying in such a tiny town away from ´Gringo Town´. lol We found it rather amusing. We have been living it good and living in the real world here. I love it. It will be tough to leave and that day is slowly approaching. When we fly to the Galapagos on the 27th, I will sadly have to say goodbye to my dear friend Thomas. 😞 We will be flying to Guayaquil (southern Ecuador) from the Galapagos and then catching a bus from there to start our journey to Peru. It is exciting but sad all the same. I know some of you will understand where I am coming from.....
Take care everyone and I hope everyone is doing well. Think happy and green thoughts.....
Ciao,
K
BTW, I should add....we are having issues with the photos right now. We can´t seem to get the computers here to work with our cameras so I have since burned the photos to this point on CD. We now can´t get this computer to recognize the CD so no photos right now....will try again when we are at another internet cafe. My apologies cuz I am sure some of you are dying to see them. Stay tuned.....
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Coleen Thompson
non-member comment
Wow, so different!
It sounds like oyu are really enveloping yourself in the local culture. This is just the way I wold want to travel. Not going to a beach and staying inside a tourist only compound. I find the differences quite amazing and can't wait to follow your "saga". And the Galapagos??? So fabulous!!!