This is my diary of our trip to Ecuador in September, 2010. The trip was on our 26th wedding anniversary although we called it our 25th anniversary celebration. What a beautiful time… a beautiful place…
Getting Ready
8.12.10
we’re gathering all our things for our trip… hiking shoes, flash lights, back packs
seems that as we collect more items the anticipation grows even more… we are getting really excited about heading out! i’ve been practicing spanish… we’ll see how well i’ve learned anything in a few weeks
9.7.10
i am so ready to go… two more days and we’re outta here
9.9.10
so here’s the deal if you want to have an uneventful trip with the maxes… it won’t happen
this morning i went downstairs to feed the cat
we keep her behind the closed door in the laundry room at night and as i walked up to the door i saw water creeping out from underneath
we’ve had a regular and predictable issue with the drain on the floor backing up
it’s predictable cuz anytime we are going on a trip it backs up!
we got Ian out of bed… he was in a deep sleep and i’m afraid i caused him to think we were being robbed or something… sorry about that, buddy… so we showed him what had happened and he relaxed realizing that this was just a typical event for us
then i called my brother and arranged for one of his plumber friends to come over and run a snake through the line
i know it will all be OK
this is just a warning to anyone who thinks they might like to go on a trip with us… give it some careful thought and if you decide to join us i can promise you that we will have a ton of laughs looking back at all that happened and all we did
this all happened before we even got out the door… i can’t wait to tell you what happens the rest of this trip!!!
Waiting In Miami
9.10.10
good night of sleep… headed over to the airport… got a decent brunchfest… no lines at the security check point so that went really fast… leisurely walk to where we’ll board our plane
waiting for three hours and no free internet access… sucks
maybe i’ll go have a beer… or two
sam adams bar in MIA one corona $6.49… is that a normal or average price? guess i’m el cheapo gringo…
Delayed Departure
apparently the grounds crew for our flight was not quite on the ball today… for reasons unknown to me they did not get the baggage from the previous flight off the plane before loading baggage for our flight
well, they caught their oversight before we took off, but we had to wait for them to get the job done and the flight attendant said it would take them about 30 minutes to fix it up
after almost 40 minutes he got back on the horn to tell us we were now waiting for a late arriving passenger… we took off about an hour late
no worries cuz the clouds and water are under and going past us now!
we were a little concerned that we would arrive too late to check into the hostel where we have reservations… hostel revolution… but it’s looking good still
Safe Arrival In Quito ~ Our First Few Days
~ 9.13.10
it was dark when our plane landed and when we touched down the pilot put on the brakes big time causing some items to come rattling off the shelf in the galley
once the plane slowed down the passengers all applauded… it seemed to me that everyone was saying that they were happy to still be alive
i was naturally curious about that and asked the stewardess what that was about and she said that the latin americans do that all the time
i suppose that i don’t blame them for that cuz I’m happy too and i clapped right along with them
we had no problem getting our taxi to our hostel… hostel revolution… and i even tried a little of my lame spanish on my captive audience cab driver
we’re in our hostel room safe and sound and i have already been shooting images of the view from the rooftop patio… i’m in sensory overload!
I See Things
two days of walking up and down… mostly up… sloping streets and endless stairs
Quito, Ecuador is 9000 feet above sea level and does not have any flat lands… it is built on several canyons and valleys over dozens of square miles
if you really want to see Quito… bring your walking shoes and get ready to wear them out
you’re gonna get tired too… especially at the higher altitudes with all the steep streets and steps… a lot of steps… whew
i didn’t get a sun burn, but i did get a bit over heated and now i have a colossal headache
no worries tho… nothing that some ibuprofen and a nap can’t fix
can you believe that i almost didn’t take my camera with me? that would have been a huge mistake
yesterday we walked through a large part… or perhaps only most of… the old town
i kept my camera stowed when we were shoulder to shoulder with a lot of people
we were able to get some nice rooftop positions and i shot a ton from there
just across the street from us were two older guys playing accordions and that was really cool
today we walked further up the hill from our hostel to a park that has wonderful vistas of Quito
then in a clearing there is a soccer field, a basketball court and a volley ball court where there were games being played, families and friends visiting, under a blue sky with only a few fluffy clouds and a warm sun
it has been a beautiful day
time for the nap now
tomorrow we hop on a puddle jumper from Quito to Manta and then down to Puerto Lopez
now back to the galleries! Quito Gallery
