Ecuador: The Perfect Bowl of Porridge

Yeah yeah yeah. We know what you´re all thinking. This is some blog. Two posts in five months....

What can we say? We´re traveling, we´ve got better things to do;) So, without further ado, the pictures. Hooray!

One view of the vast expanse that is Cotopaxi National Park.



This one requires a little imagination. Right behind us, hiding in that massive cloud of fog, lies the perfectly conical and enormous snow-capped volcano mountain Cotopaxi. This was going to be THE money shot, but for the three days we were there the fog never lifted and this was the best view we got. Lame nature, very lame.





The insanely beautiful Quilotoa region of Ecuador. We hiked in and out of these gorgeous patch-work valleys for three days, overnighting in little andean mountain towns. For us, this was definitely a major highlight.




Our map of the trails. Take it from us, never trust someone who hands you something like this and tells you,
¨No no no, you can´t get lost.¨




After three days of hiking some really, really steep mountain trails, we reached this.



Definitely worth it.

This little camioneta is everywhere in Ecuador. It´s the perfect cross between a car and a truck, wrapped in that classy 70´s style. We want one!

Monkey Business: One Week as Volunteers

After completing our hikes in Quilotoa, which were amazing and exhausting, we decided it was time to try our luck at volunteering again. This time, instead of ¨working¨ at an ¨organic farm¨ we headed for a refuge for animals who have been victims of mistreatment and illegal trafficking.


The first thing that comes to mind is how incredibly unique this experience was. How many times in your life to you have the opportunity to cuddle with monkeys, go fishing with a baby otter and stroke a coati´s belly? Futhermore to know that you´re helping animals that need you, is like nothing else. Ever since we left the reserve we often talk about these critters like they´re our good friends. And we think they are. It was hands-down the most fullfilling part of the trip. Pardon our enthousiasm, but we´ve included a ton of photos, because they say more than we ever could. Enjoy!

The meet and greet.
This is Mauricio The Coati and Dorita the Wooly Monkey.



Sisa the Monkey says, ¨Oy! Wat u duz der?¨




Yeah. We jammed. Monkey thought I was doing it all wrong tho:/

 

The handshake. Monkey style.
This was literally the minute we showed up. And we were worried the monkeys might not like us...
 The best is to look at this photo and the following as a sequence.

Milton doesn´t like to be told what to do.

Feeding time!
What you don´t want is to be the poor sucker carrying the plate of fruit outside from the kitchen (ie. Alayna.) Look at their faces! They´re in extasy! You don´t want that on you, trust us.  

The Setting. We were in some thick jungle.

Curious Milton

Giddy´up!

This is Adam the baby river otter.
He looks vicious but actually he squeaks like a rubber ducky and comes when you call his name. So. Frikkin. Precious!

Pretty much, after you´ve cleaned all the monkey shit, this is how you spend your day.

Both of my girlfriends. But shhh, don´t tell either of them ;)

No caption necessary.

Dorita. Alayna´s baby.
She would eat like, ten bananas a day. Just like Alayna! Zing!

I know it looks like he´s trying to escape, it´s cause he is. Clever monkey.

Nico and Martina.
She would hang on the kitchen window and rub her belly and make noises while I would make lunch. We got close.

Paulita.
Baby monkey eating a butterfly. Cute or tragic? 

Alayna´s National Geographic photo of Dorita.

The coaties, along with the other critters at the monkey reserve, had convinced themselves that they too were monkeys.



Yeah that´s mud under my eyes. We were hunting. Jungle style!



Nocturnal Monkey

Last day cuddle session. Awwww. We love you Monkeys!



Mercado in Cuenca, Ecuador.




Very cool graffiti in Cuenca. The city was alright. Gran cosa no era. But the food in this city was easily the best we´d had in Ecuador. It seems like all we did was eat.




Yeah! We rode horses again and it was AWESOME! This time we even galloped!

Vilcabamba was our last stop in Ecuador. This was a sad thing for us because at almost five months into the trip, we look back on Ecuador as the part of the trip where we enjoyed ourselves the most. We weren´t rushing, nor were we dragging ass. We weren´t new to traveling, and we weren´t tired of it either. We volunteered, and then  kicked back on the beach. It wasn´t too cold, but it wasn´t too hot. Ecuador is the perfect bowl of porridge and we would go back in a heartbeat.   

On to Perú, Land of the Incas.



View at ancient ruins of Kuelap, the ¨Machu Picchu¨ of the North.
One of the things that sets Perú apart is the abundance of pre-Colombian and even pre-Incan ruins. Some of them, were truly spectacular. Others, not much more than massive piles of sand. Both interesting and historically important. This one in particular was the best example of pre-Inca construction (we´re talking up to 1,500 years ago!) It is older than any Inca structure and uses more brickwork (by weight) than the Great Pyramids. 




Their main entrance at Kuelap was massive and bottlenecked to a narrow passage way thru which only one person could pass at a time.  




Old-School. That´s an afro and a mini-victrola.




Enormous coastal ruins and Chan Chan in Central Perú. Definitely a huge archeological site, but at times not much more than an elaborate sand castle washed away by the passing of time.




Trio of Ceviche at Lima´s super famous Astrid and Gaston. Such a great night. Sooo good! (Maria and Jim: Thank you so much!)




Monastario de Santa Catalina in Arequipa.
 This old monastary was home, as it turns out, to some of the most hedonistic nuns the Catholic world ever knew. Who knew? But check out this Spanish-styled villa the built inside the city of Arequipa where they lived with their servants and gold!




Night shot in Arequipa.
This city was clean. And pretty. Kind of the opposite of most Peruvian cities. We were a little tired of ruins at this point so we just soaked up the first rays of sun Perú was offering.




Another night shot of Arequipa´s super pretty arcaded main plaza. Arequipa, even though it was completely pleasant, mostly served as our jumping off point the nearby Cañon de Colca.




The thing about Andean mountain towns is that they are brutally cold. Accordingly, indigenous women (like this one) set up rolling stands in the central markets where they make hot infusions using a variety of flowers and herbs (like these ones) in super delicious and super healthy age-old combinations. To all you hippies out there, seriously, this could be the next Kombucha!



One of the things the Canyon is known for, aside from being more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, is its extensive Incan terracing.



We spent one day riding mountain bikes from one small village to another.  




This is before we really even started the hike to the bottom of the canyon, back when we were still optimistic about the day. Turned out to be a death march and a half! First you descend thousands of meters in the hot mid-morning sun. Then you reach the oasis at the bottom. Yup, you read that right, we said oasis. Picture palm trees, a series of several flowing glacier-blue pools, and cold beers. It was pretty much a Corona commercial, but for real. 




Now the hard part. Turns out it, it´s not as much fun to start your hike with the descent, a cold beer and a dip in a pool, only to dry yourself off and begin the real hike up the almost vertical walls of the canyon.  




Ancient Incan technique of dehydrating potatoes renders potatoes disgusting.




Floating Islands on Lake Titicaca.
These communities live on artificial islands made of the floating Totora reed. A long time ago, in order to escape warring peoples, they decided to live on little reed boats on the lake. Boats eventually evolved into islands that they continue to live on today. It´s unlike anything else.




Ruins at Saksywaman. A perfect example of the perecision with which the Incans would carve and fit together their unfathomably large stones. (Remember, they had no metal tools. How´d they do that?)




In the Sacred Valley of the Incas, outside Cuzco, houses are still built using adobe bricks. They look so natural in their setting you start to wonder if they didn´t just sprout out from the ground.




We don´t even know what to say about this one. We just like her sales pitch.

We´re glad to finally have this post up and running. Does a post even run? Anyway, we´re delirious from sitting at a computer for so damn long. Cusco is cold and Machu Picchu awaits.

Hasta next time, six months from now;)

y CIAO!!!