Thanksgiving: A Time for Ecuador

Sometimes when you take a big trip  you don't look forward to posting the blog cause you have too  much to say, so then you say nothing at all. That phrase reminds me to listen to the Alison Krauss song, "When you say nothing at all." Scott and I decided that traveling to a foreign land would be fun for Thanksgiving so we selected Ecuador! Scott wanted a big adventure and I didn't want to spend 2 days in a plane so it worked out well. A 7 hour flight and bam we were in a whole separate continent.

Ecuador is about the size of Colorado but one of the most environmentally diverse lands. There are volcanoes, jungles, oceans, giant waterfalls, mountains, and everything in between. It is a land that produces most of the bananas we consume and the roses we so treasure. The people were kind and I was able to use my pathetic Spanish which consisted of me smiling a lot and trying to use my hands to talk.

Scott and I traveling about the country on a tour bus with 40 other people. Not my favorite way to travel but it was a great way to see a lot, learn a lot and explore areas we would never have discovered. We met nice people on the trip and had incredible food. Scott and I even tried guinea pig which is a favorite food there. I did not like it at all, too many tiny bones. Sorry if you just vomited a little.

We loved Banos a lot, yes that means bathroom in Spanish. The city is known for many natural spas. We also loved seeing the volcanoes. We didn't get too close but just close enough to realize the natural powers of this earth. We stood at the center of the world and consumed many empanads!

Our favorite place was this Amazonian resort that we had to take a 20 minute canoe ride to even enter the resort. We did some jungle hikes in which we wore tall rubber boots due to the mud. We saw the trees that move a little bit each year. We also tasted ants that taste like lemons and we crossed suspended bridges. Did some zip-lining but cruising down the Napo river was amazing! People use that water to clean and cook with and we saw many people bathing in it. People along the river still live in huts and farm the land.

I enjoyed the trip but was very grateful to come home. I love to travel but I always feel guilty that I have the opportunity to see places where people still struggle just to survive. I guess tourism is good and brings jobs to those lands but I always feel this American guilt.