ecuador: random collection of pics

by far my favorite part of traveling is seeing the different cultures and being with the people. i love watching them interact and hearing them talk. especially given that i don't understand exactly what they're saying, so it intrigues me even more. below are some photos of the people we saw, as well as some cool landscape shots.

this cute girl was at the incan ruins and i believe reed paid her to take her photo.







there was a nasty rain storm as we drove down the mountain


and of course, what highway would be complete without part of the road breaking away? yikes!

ecuador: guayaquil

quayaquil is where we started, and ended, our trip. as well as where we flew in and out of (by the way, away the panama city airport at all costs). guaya, as i like to call it, is the largest city in ecuador and is a port city. i over all liked the city, but probably not as much as cuenca. the highlight definitely included staying with grayden's parents in the mission home. it was beyond welcomed to have a clean, safe place to be. that and they have a "MegaMaxi" near their house, which is like a SuperTarget of sorts. Nothing makes you feel like home like going to a store that resembles Target...

this is grayden's cute mom. she made a birthday cake for all of us that had recently had birthdays. extremely nice and tasty.


reed's best "i'm sad that it's our last day" face. the best part is that you can totally tell he was holding back a grin.


the living/dining room in the mission home


we took a pirate ship around guaya the last night we were there. this is us waiting.


grayden and jess. reading a book on pirating, perhaps?


this game, along with skip-bo, took up all of our time. it was a solitaire game of sorts. odie won once. and i cheated once and won. so i guess i didn't really ever legitimately win.


cute.

ecuador: iguanas

everyone needs to visit a good iguana park now and again, and luckily, guayaquil has a great one. the iguanas there have somehow all congregated to this one square and they're everyone. i had to be careful where i walked as to not step on them. it's crazy. and you look up and they're all in the trees.

eveyone in the group sat down and fed them. besides me. i designated myself photographer and was more than happy to be on the sidelines...

here's how it works. you sit down, pull out food (preferably bananas) and up they come.


this was as close as i cared to get to one :)


ah, the animal lover


this guy gave odie a pretty nasty scratch


see how they blend in?

ecuador: ingapirca

we also visited ingapirca, which is ecuador's only major inca site with a building intact, the so-called temple of the sun. apparently it was erected in an eliptical form, coinciding with the movement of the sun. the site was mostly used for ceremonies and worship.




another one of the top five favs from the trip


ah, the one piece of clothing that odie took away from ecuador. compared to some pieces he was trying on earlier, this one is quite stylish. and it's amazingly warm. perfect for the ecuador sun.


random blind man playing the random instrument.


el presidente ridd (grayden's dad) along with a llama




the site from a distance. it was really neat to walk around


the main section

ecuador: cuenca part II

some more shots from cuenca:

reed giving his acceptance speech. this was the balcony attached to the room we stayed in.


this shot is so funny to me. these are the boys outside a cathedral with their candles they purchased for the intent of burning them to help grayden. you see, grayden has a fitness test coming up and they burned them in his honor :)


me and the view from our hotel

ecuador: cuenca

our second stop on the trip was the town of cuenca. cuenca is one of the top three largest cities in ecuador and is very colonial. i loved their cobblestone streets and the history, plus since it's a large city there's a great vibe.

here's the main church.


the gang at a lookout point




this still makes me laugh. odie was debating buying this under the idea that he could wear it in the winter. i can only imagine him sporting this down pennsylvania avenue.


view of cuenca below


jess had her sandal break, but no worries, odie found some dental floss and sewed them back together.


these boys are really too close...


watching the ecuador vs. colombia game


interesting poster






this is one of my top five photos from the trip. this man was too cute and i just HAD to buy something from him. so i purchased a red hammock :)


the boys in the market. i LOVE latin markets and haggling for prices.




i had probably around two gallons worth of ice cream during the trip. that and probably a pounds worth of "papas fritas" aka french fries.

ecuador: vilcabamba part II

thanks jess, for this cool shot


this is the life...


everyone celebrating a round of sprites for reed's new job. he received the call while we were in vilcabamba and we were so happy for him! please note how my hair looks sans a blowdryer.


reed's victory dance :)