Day 6 in Ecuador

Saturday in Vilcabamba!

Woke up quite sore, and sloooooowly showered and shampooed and dressed. Meandered slowly down to the restaurant and met Alex, the waiter, for breakfast. Breakfast is included in each night’s stay, but what they offer is quite limited for my diet. Great quantities of bread, butter and jam, fresh-made juice (which is excellent), crepes (very large and nothing in them but the wheat), fresh fruit chopped in a large bowl that you can serve into smaller bowls and sprinkle with something that resembles granola, a liquidy white substance that I think is supoosed to be yoghurt, and eggs any style. Day after day it can be very boring, so most mornings I just have a banana from my bunch that I bought in town and keep in my room. Then later, on most days, I’ve ended up in town anyway and find something more interesting to eat. There a quite a good number of great little restaurants around, especially for this small of a town.

After breakfast I had my massage – it was pretty good and I enjoyed it ($18.00 for 75 minutes). The massage therapist slicked me up with almond oil, even my entire head of hair, so afterward I had to go shower and shampoo AGAIN to get all the oil out.

A little later I went back to the Spa again for another facial. I was hoping for the same woman I had last time, but instead I got the same one I had for the morning massage. The facial left a lot to be desired this time – it was nothing at all like the first one. It turns out the first woman is the mother to the second younger woman I had, so I imagine mom may have taught daughter how to do the facial, and daughter fudges a lot cuz she may not have gone to school for it. They do have, apparently, excellent schools and high standards for massage and facials and body-work here in Ecuador.

Had a little lunch, and caught a taxi to meet with Mike Adams (aka The Health Ranger). His website is http://www.naturalnews.com and he has a daily newsletter on all sorts of health issues that is free. The taxi driver didn’t quite know where his house was, but at least he got me into the gated community. From there we had to ask somebody who was sweeping leaves on the side of the road, but eventually I got there, 15 minutes late into our scheduled 30 minute meeting.

As I approached the house, Mike’s wife Seth came out and introduced herself to me, and then Mike came out. It was pretty interesting meeting them, especially him, after reading so many of his articles and watching his YouTube video. We ended up visiting for over an hour, and they walked me all over their property and showed me all the wonderful plants and trees and bamboo forest they’re growing. They also showed me how a hillside that had eroded in a heavy rain had been stabilized with a bamboo maitrix overlaying the soil. We discussed a number of topics related to health, and finally they called me a cab and I waved good-bye and started walking the road back to the gate. The taxi got through the gate and to me before I could get to the gate, which was good cuz my legs were feeling really weary.

Back at Hosteria Izhcayluma I went down to visit Alex’s pad, and saw the wonderful silver jewelry he makes. He had a gorgeous shell that he hadn’t done anything with yet, so I asked him to make me a necklace with it. Back up to the Hosteria, I caught up on Friday’s log over a couple of king size Pilseners, then dinner followed, and another cervesa, and saying good-byes to many new friends, and exchanging email addresses, and I was finally off to my little luxury cabin. I packed my suitcase and was all ready for an early morning departure.

Vilcabamba has been quite an experience, and I really like the area. Who knows, maybe I’ll return one day. But for the moment, I’m preparing to make the 6- legged transit change trip to Quito – taxi to Vilcabamba, bus to Loja, bus to Cuenca, taxi to airport, jet to Quito, and taxi to Hostel. I’m tired before I begin, just thinking about it!

Say

Day 5 in Ecuador

Friday in Vilcabamba !

Last night I barely got any sleep – maybe three hours. Was mourning the loss of Brandon – my beloved dog of just over 11 years – it’s been 8 months to the day since he passed.

But, made myself get up and prepared for the big horse ride today. The caballero (cowboy) came in his cowboy hat and picked me up with a taxi at 9 a.m. and took me to their tour office downtown. He and his younger brother are in this business together now for just one year. They have 18 horses, and just yesterday they took out 9 people! But today it’s just me alone. They had me put on tall rubber boots and gave me a leather cowboy hat, and we were off. Walked a couple blocks to where the horses were hitched, mounted up, and away we rode.

The horse I rode was a beautiful black boy. And the saddle I sat in sucked. The stirrups were turned inward so the legs, at least the right leg, was forced into a very awkward and somewhat painful position. And it was unable to be hitched up any higher so I couldn't really put any weight in the stirrups unless I stood up in them. But it couldn’t be fixed so I just lived with it.

We trotted (ugh!- very painful in this saddle) and cantered (much better) until we crossed our horses through the same river near the tilted bridge I wrote of earlier, cantered up the hillside and then trotted along the same road I had walked just two days ago up the valley. By this time my butt was already sore and we had only just begun. Finally we arrived at the Podocarpus National Park sign and crossed the rushing rocky river to get to the slippery clay trail on the other side, where we started going up, up, up.

These little horses are nothing short of amazing. Very sure-footed and strong, and simply beautiful souls. Most of the horses here receive pretty good care and are in good condition. These were no exception. And they have endurance beyond belief! The saddle and blankets and myself on top must have totaled in at least 250 pounds, and they carried it all up the extraordinarily steep and slippery clay and loose rock trail. And they just kept puffing and going!

The trail is so well worn that in places it has been eroded into a narrow canyon with high walls of clay and rock conglomerate on the sides, with trees growing on top of that. The trail is also pitched with occasional steep steps the horses had to leap up, and leap down on the way back. Mind you, I was hanging on ALL the time! To the horn on the way up, and the back of the saddle on the way down…Aieeee!

The vistas from the ridge were immense. Giant valleys on each side, with rock-laden rivers way below, and across the valley you could see the many smaller canyons filled with lush trees growing in their water rich soils. And, believe it or not, there is a white-leafed tree here that reminds me distinctly of the white spiritual tree in “Avatar.”

About halfway up the trail we dismounted so I could take pictures. I had wondered from the way my horse walked whether he was in pain or not, so I checked out his saddle rigging and noticed he had a large swelling and rubbed-red-raw area where the cinch was cutting in under his leg. Showed my caballero guide and he set the cinch further back. We mounted up again and continued on.

After riding 3 hours we arrived at a flat grassy area where we dismounted and my guide left the horses to graze, untied, while we went on an hour hike in the Podocarpus National Park. I became a bit alarmed as the “trail” (read "machete-hacked thread-the-needle through the trees monkey path") we descended went almost straight down, and I asked the guide whether we were going to come back up this way. He indicated I shouldn’t worry, as we were coming back up another way. Still, there was so much direct descent, I knew wherever we came back up would be a haul. Finally we reached a level area and, after bush-whacking our way up a gushing creek (thank goodness for the high rubber boots) we came to a clearing and... Whoa! There was a stunning tall waterfall splashing before us! And the white spiritual tree from Pandora in "Avatar"! Wow!

I thought this was where we were going to have lunch, but NO-ooo! Wearily following my guide again, we scaled dark damp dirt embankments higher and higher through the jungle, sometimes with no more than a pre-arranged rope to pull ourselves up with, or a twig or vine that was barely still attached to the soil, until we arrived again at another creek, and then WOW! A very tall waterfall, even grander than the first, was cascading over the cliff high above and crashing into the pool before us! Stunning!

THIS was where we finally had lunch: bread, guacamole, and tuna out of the can. He offered me “orange juice” which, when I learned upon reading the label was an offshoot of Coca-Cola and had more artificial ingredients than real, so I drank only from my water bottle.

It was a peaceful 20 minutes in repose next to the loud splashings and mist of the waterfall, then we were off climbing like Ninja’s up precipices I didn’t think I could muster anymore! I couldn’t help thinking that I hadn’t signed a Waiver before going on this ordeal, and that if anything happened to me out here in the bush how the hell would they ever get me back to medical help. Then I started wondering if Ecuador has laws that protect its tourists from poorly designed and dangerous tours. I doubt it. Your life is in your hands, and in Destiny’s. Finally we got to the top of a ridge and I saw a sign that said it was the border of the Podocarpus National Park. I believe the waterfalls may have been in the park, but most of our trip was actually at the outside edge of the park. Horses are not allowed in the park.

Saw amazing plants and flowers along the steep trail back to the horses, took pictures of many, and gladly accepted the offered hand for help over the hard parts of the trail from my sweet 23 year old guide.

It was wonderful to see the horses again, but then we had to go DOWNHILL on them. I think I prayed almost the entire way for sure-footing and taking it easy – I think I was in communion with my horse just like they were in Avatar. Each rock in the path I saw and said in my mind “avoid that one”, and each slippery clay steep descent I kept saying “easy now, sure-footing, easy now, sure-footing.” I tried not to imagine him slipping and breaking a leg…he was only 7 years old. It would have been an easy trail to have had an accident on, especially on descent, but fortunately, as with most things here in Ecuador, it all went fine, and we crossed the gushing rocky river again and then up to the road, another river crossing, and finally back to the hitching post, and then walked (if you could call it walking – more like staggering and limping combined) back to their office to retrieve my hiking shoes and pay them for getting me back in one piece and still salvageable.

This is where I started talking to the older brother about at least carrying a First Aid Kit on these tours. And having people sign a Waiver. He seemed to think I might be onto something and seemed to appreciate my concern. I also told him he needed to ditch that rotten saddle. If felt as though somebody had taken a baseball bat and whacked the inside of my thighs repeatedly. There was a large metal round hook underneath a thin piece of leather on each side of the saddle where the thighs rest, and the leather covering simply didn't proctect against the constant pressing of the thighs. I don't think he even heard my comments on the saddle. And when I got home and looked in the mirror, I had two rubbed-to-flesh-red raw welts on my bum. Bummer takes on a new meaning…

Caught a quick cab to Hosteria Izhcayluma and changed clothes and dashed back downtown where I had dinner of curried potatoes and vegetables at the vegan restaurant (very yummy and different) on the Town Square, and then meandered over to another place and had the most delicious lemon pie. Went to meet my connection at the appropriate rendevous location for attending the movie, and she wasn’t there. I saw three people walking in the distance away from the rendevous point, and figured I must have just missed her by two minutes. I was disappointed as I had very much wanted to meet the group of people she had told me about, and now I didn’t even know where the event was happening.

Walked backed to the vegan café and saw Martha, of all people, who I had just met the day before, so she called Dennis (the orchid grower) on her cell phone to make sure he was coming to the movie, and lo and behold, all things worked out. I suddenly found a whole group of people who were going to the movie, I learned where it was actually happening and how to get there, and went with this new group in the back of a taxi pick-up, laughing like crazy and all taking pictures of each other. You had to be there, I think. It doesn’t translate as fun as it was. Just one of those wild, serendipitous moments where something that looked like it wasn’t going to work out, works out tenfold better.

The house was gorgeous, the views were glorious, the people were genuinely lovely, and they even had fresh-made popcorn! The whole place had the feeling of being in Santa Barbara hills before it got so dense with homes. Stunning place in every way! And lovely people who had moved to this area from everywhere else.

The choices of movies were “The Blind Side” and “As Good As It Gets”, both of which I’d seen before, so when I was told quietly that there was a small group meeting in another room going to discuss 2012, I decided to join them. We slipped away from the group who were busily watching “The Blind Side”, and sat in a circle and introduced ourselves. There were only 4 of us, but the stories we shared with each other were interesting and informational.

Just before the movie ended, we 4 slipped back in with the movie-watchers so as not to disturb them, and when it was over a whole bunch of us caught a taxi back to town. While driving through town one of the restaurant staff I have become friends with hailed us as we went by, and we had the taxi stop to pick him up. He rode back up with us to the Hosteria.

A small group of us visited in the Hosteria Izcayluma restaurant area (it was closed) and wrapped up the incredible evening with a cervesa! Nothing like a good cold Pilsner after a long crazy day on a lovely warm quiet evening! Now if only my bum would stop hurting from that danged saddle!

Say

Day 2 in Ecuador

Hello again from tropical Ecuador…the adventure continues.

My first night in Quito was at the Chicago Hostel which I recommend wholeheartedly if you’re ever down this way. It’s about half-way between New Town and Old Town, so pretty quick to get to either, and in a nice quiet area not far from a beautiful park.

I was rummy with fatigue, but couldn’t let the day go to waste, so visited with some Danes, Swedes, Brits and later some Canadians – it’s a world wide group of travelers down here. Then I wrote you all the first installment from the rooftop terrace of the Hostel – incredible views from there – and watched a BatMan movie that was playing in the common room with the fellow who picked me up at the airport and the two Brits. Later we caught the bus ($.25) for a ride into New Town where we had the most delicious steak I may have ever eaten at an Argentinian Steak House. Returned to the hostel and finally crashed.

5:30 a.m. my alarm went off and I was still not used to the new time zone. I had lost many hours of sleep in the flights, but managed to get myself up. My previously arranged taxi arrived at 6 a.m. on the button! The owner of Chicago Hostel had told me I had to be at the airport for my flight to Loja a full two hours before its departure. My taxi got me there lickety-split - the roads were free and clear at that hour of the morning - and we arrived at the airport at 6:30 a.m. When I attempted to check in, I learned that the ticket counter wouldn't be checking in my flight for another hour!

So, now with an hour to burn, I wondered around the airport and learned they are building a brand new airport that should open this year (2010). It is being built by three companies – Canadian, Brazilian and one from Houston. Amazing! It will be larger than their current airport, and more out-of-town.

Then I began to watch the folks preparing to take the morning flight to the Galapagos, and even met some of them and learned some info about tours over there, etc. What’s terrific is to see so many families taking their kids to the Galapagos. One group who had organized their own trip had two couples with kids, 5 kids, and one older couple, so they had 3 generations in one family going together. How wonderful! There were many sets of couples who were in their 60’s and 70’s or so, which was also impressive.

Finally it was time to get my ticket – no problemo – and I proceded through security into the waiting area. And, delightedly, there was free wi-fi again! So I checked email and answered a bunch, and then boarded my Tame flight to Loja which had a total of maybe 15 passengers on a plane that could have held over 100 people. It was a quick 50 minute flight above the clouds which seem to blanket most of Ecuador right now, and we were served fresh-tasting orange juice that didn’t taste artificial in the least! It tasted almost fresh-squeezed! I was impressed.

Upon departure at the Loja airport I was met for the second time ever in my life by a person holding a sign with my name on it. My driver and I made a speedy get-away from the crowds and terminal – how delightful. And then the gorgeous 2 hour ride all the way to Vilcabamba through the most verdant, abundant plant-filled wide expansive valleys, stunning ridge lines, steep dropping canyons – awesome. Once again I was reminded of Pandora in the movie Avatar. We passed small towns and crossed rivers, and finally arrived at Vilcabamba. It is a small town, very pleasant looking with a town square surrounded by businesses, restaurants and trees. My driver drove on another 3 kilometers to my destination. Pulling into the driveway of my hosteria was gorgeous - flowering plants and trees and artistically arranged landscape was in every direction. These folks have created an oasis!

The Hosteria Izhcayluma is enchanting. It has individual cabins, or dorms, or shared rooms, a pool and jacuzzi, a Spa, a restaurant, bar, movie room and pool table. I was terrifically glad I booked my private cabin over a month ago! This is Carnival week, and though the holiday is finished tonight it gets pretty crazy in the small towns. The big thrill is throwing buckets of water on people – they just can’t get enough of it. Another thrill is foaming people with big cans of pressurized foam – I don’t know what kind it is, but looks somewhat like shaving cream. Anyway, the town is inundated with people, though they’re mostly leaving now to go back home to their cities. There is a real scarcity of rooms to be had in small towns at the last minute during this national holiday.

I had lunch at the little restaurant at the Hosteria. It’s open air, and has a couple of beautiful hosteria-owned dogs that meander through, looking for pets and maybe a hand-out. The squack of parrots in nearby trees frame the spectacular views of the valley from the lunch table. The place is stunning!

After lunch, I took the taxi ($1.00) into town, and spent 2 hours exploring the Town Square area and its shops and restaurants. I did get hit on the backside once with water, as there were hundreds of kids gathered around a town square (park) that were engaged in water and foam fights, but for the most part I avoided the dangers. Took some pictures and learned about horseback rides into the National Park, then caught the taxi back to the Hosteria for dinner.

During dinner of chicken in red wine sauce, rice, braised potatoes and salad ($5.25) with a HUGE Pilsner beer ($1.25) I ended up meeting more people – a couple from Oregon and then a woman from Germany and another from Canada – and learned alot of travel info from them. Great folks traveling! It's been awhile since I'd traveled like this, and I’d forgotten how fun it is to meet other globe-trotters.

At 9 p.m. the kitchen cooks and waiters erupted in water fights and hysterical laughter and screaming and tearing through the restaurant in chases after each other so I called it a night. If employees had behaved like that in the U.S. they would have been instantly fired, but here it’s different - and it's the end of Carnival. Before retiring I borrowed a plug adaptor to recharge my laptop battery - I had forgotten to bring one, and they’re essential for these countries. My laptop plug requires the ground prong, and of course none of the outlets in my cabin have the third hole. But fortunately my neighbors (new friends from Canada) had one they loaned me for the night.

I hope I’ll be able to sleep. There are the strangest noises going on outside on my deck somewhere…it sounds like some kind of animal is chewing on the deck! And some of the cries and calls and other noises I’m hearing I’ve never heard before – a little unnerving, as there is nothing but a glass wall between me and the deck. I’ve locked the glass door and before that I went out once to investigate, but saw nothing. Meanwhile, the outsides of the glass are covered in very large moths trying to get in because my bed lamp is on…Hmmm. If you don’t hear from me again it’s because whatever is eating the deck somehow got in and found me tastier !! More news tomorrow, hopefully!

Say