Ecuador

Hola!  Ecuador esta exquisite.

A few of our favorite Ecuadorian things:

• 6-foot long Andean flutes played by 5 foot tall people; 
• Watching a nun and friar enjoy a candlelit dinner at a fancy restaurant; 
• Amazon Rainforest (everything grows on everything else; every plant seems to serve a purpose; ants serve as a primary staple, lemon flavoring, or even stitches); 

Kichwa war paint, princess crowns, and giant leaf hats; 

Blowgun dart practice.  An unimpressed audience.

• Thermal baths, hammocks, and reading for fun;
• Monkeys sleeping on dogs; 
• Small towns known for oddly shaped ice cream or taffy made in doorways;
• Mate de coca (great placebo to deal with altitude sickness...we are probably just out of shape, but we'll blame the altitude...); 
• Holly salsa dancing with a grown man much shorter than her; 
• Surprise upgrade in the jungle to honeymoon cabin; 
• Empanada tasting and people watching in plazas; 
• Watching Motorcycle Diaries in South America;
• Llamas;
• Straddling the equator; 
• Dr. Suess style trees; 
• Quinoa, Andean soup (lots of potato and avocado), and canelazo (passion fruit + spiced liquor);  
• Cotopaxi;
• Amazon double rainbow

Less Delightful:

• Long bus rides through the Andes;
• Hiking uphill at 13k feet high in the Andes;
• The fact that the gateway city into the Amazon is called "Shell;" 
• Unrestrained monkeys playing on Ben's shoulders; 
• Hearing more German than Spanish in the touristy areas; 
• Ordering 5 different mystery appetizers - all of which turn out to be fried corn logs; 
• Tarantulas in the wild;
• Consecutive banana/yucca chip dinners; 
• The return of Patches McTuggles; 
• Llamas, piglets, and melty ice cream for sale by the same vendor at Otavalo market

The forecast for manana morning is a flight to chilly Chile for some Spanish lessons from Moonlight Moink.