Normally this kitschy play on words reverses the “love” and “hate”. Here’s the thing: I’m super fucking excited to see Ecuador fade from view out of the plane window, but it is a huge pain in the butt to get ready to actually leave.
I love to see you go, but I hate to watch you leave
On the road again …
well, kids, I suppose the majority of you know how that “falling in love with the doctor dude” went … oh brother.
anyway, now that that has been over for months and months, it’s about time i left cuenca, and ecuador, and started a new segment in my american adventures.
what’s that? where will that take me, you say? what does it all mean, you ask?
silly rabbits. you know that even if i had a plan, it would change =) but just know that it’s on the table and things are afoot.
in the meantime, i visited other parts of ecuador, peru, and mexico and will be updating this blog with some adventure tales in the days and weeks to come.
but first, let’s mini-vacay in the USA!
El Oriente: the citified jungle
Cheryl and Bradley convinced me to go to the jungle. Jesus H Christ. Luckily we flew, because I just don’t have it in me for some long, jenky, Ecuadorian bus rides right now. So, we few into El Coca – apparently that’s a person and not the drug. I guess I was expecting something a little nicer from the town, but really I can’t think of why.
So, we flew into El Coca and stayed at some abandoned resort with a ginormous pool. Then we caught our lancha in the morning to go to the Yarina Eco Lodge, about 30 minutes up the Río Napo. Given that it’s in the middle of nowhere, it’s all-inclusive. Cheryl would later be unimpressed with basically everything, but I think she just wanted something more exotic and less civilized.
We were greeted by a tarantula and Cheryl’s screams. I think Bradley wanted to kill it, but he didn’t. I’ve seen bigger 😉
We also saw snakes and caimanes and got robbed by cheeky little monkeys!
Grey Beach Bummin’
August is winter in Ecuador, so not typical beach weather. Normally that would mean a cleaner beach and better deals. Of course, it is the contrary in Ecuador. The town of Montañita was filthy to the point of being gross and full of the voluntarily homeless (begging for drug money and going to the ATM when they decided to eat). But during the day the beach was okay – cold and drizzly, but okay. I could have missed it.