Ecuador October 2002 through June 2003

For eight months I traveled through Ecuador and Columbia. I spent the first two weeks in the capital, Quito. I desperately needed a crash course in Spanish. I was shocked that English is not spoken here. After arriving in Kuching on the island of Borneo, and finding out that communication was not the big issue I feared; I guess I just figured English would be understood in Ecuador. Not the case.

Small interesting note - on the way down to Ecuador, the flight was canceled and I had to stay the night in Miami. Well, I hooked up with a few other stranded passengers at the hotel and we headed down to South beach. And, let me tell you, Mongo’s is the place to go. Anyway, just a little add-on note.

My first full day in Quito was hectic and frustrating, but also wonderful fun! A local that I had met on the flight, picked me up and took me to a football (soccer) game. Quito vs. Barcelona. So much fun!

Quito is a fairly good sized city. I would have to check my travel books for the exact numbers. I stayed up north, about 15 minutes from Gringo land. Yes, that’s what it is called. This is, of course, the touristy area. Plus, most of the western style hotels are here.

After staying in Quito for a couple of weeks and taking Spanish classes, I headed over to Tena. this is a jungle town east of Quito. the bus ride is approximately 5 to 6 hours. and then another 1 hour bus ride to Jatun Sacha (Quichia for Big Forest).

This biological reserve has many functions. We worked with locals researching ways to conserve the rain forests and its population. I’m sure it could be explained more fully. (the link is above). I just was not excited about some of the things going on. Nothing bad, just in disagreement.

So, after spending a bit of time there, I headed down to Banos, a popular resort town south of Quito, and a few hours by bus from the Upper Amazon basin. A good place to hang my hat.

By this time I was much more comfortable with my Spanish. I met the locals and scouted out the area fairly decently. This enabled me to pick up some spare change as a guide for westerners who wanted to hike around the Andes and go see the Amazon.

Puyo Pongo is about an hour by bus northeast of Banos. it is a mock up of an Amazonian village, completed with indigenous people dressed in local garb, using blow guns and painting their faces. Of course, these are the friends are would see at the bars every night in jeans and tennis shoes.

I much rather preferred Puntunts. This was a Shuar village in primary rain forest about a 4 day hike from Puyo. but, if you time it right and have some cash, you can convince a missionary pilot to fly you in closer to the river and catch a ride in a passing dug out.

The people are great here. They are friendly and happy to have visitors. Just remember to bring gifts. Toys and candy for the kids, the adults seem to like bug spray, batteries and cigarettes. For the women, glass beads are always a big thrill. (E-mail me if you need more suggestions. And this goes for any community you are visiting.)

I visited Cartagenas, Columbia for a mini vacation. It was not a good trip. But, while in Coca, I met up with a Huarani, and his cousin guided me to a village that ended up being in Columbia. And those people turned out to be very friendly.

More details of this trip is probably in the Updates section. this is the one trip where I kept a journal.