Ecuador!

We're back from a 3 week to Ecuador. I will try to post some of the photos and stories soon. But for now just let me say that it is a beautiful country with friendly people, gorgeous flowers, amazing crafts and not very exciting food.
In answer to the question that all my friends have been asking: yes, I could live there, but didn't really find any good reason to do so.  Guyaquil is not a bad place at all, is on the river (you know I love being on the water), is hot and rather humid, has a lot of statues and monuments everywhere, a few museums and some good seafood, but not a lot more to recommend it.
Cuenca is a beautiful small city and it's not hard to see why a lot of expats are settling there. Walkable flat city with charming, cobblestone streets, vivid flowers everywhere, lovely old architecture, and surrounded by villages filled with creative people designing and producing amazing textiles, leather goods, guitars, silver and gold jewelry for starters gives a hint of what we found. Add into that mix a lot of truly friendly and helpful people pretty much rounds out the picture. Much as we enjoyed the city, however, the altitude is quite a bit too high for my breathing problems, so you won't see us joining all those expats in the latest expat hot zone.

Where Next?

Of the twelve countries in South America, we have only spent time in two – Perú and Argentina (we have both taken bus trips across the border to Chile to renew our visas – 22 hours each way – but didn't see any of the country, so it doesn't count). Much as I would love to return to the amazing Buenos Aires in Argentina, and much as I am appalled that after 2 ½ years, we have seen nothing of Perú outside of Lima (and little of Lima itself), it is also time, I think, to see some more of the continent. I am only in the beginning of my thought process on this, so I'm just thinking outloud here, but I'm looking at Ecuador or Colombia as our most likely trips sometime soon. Chile, of course, also has much to offer and everyone I know who has been there seems to fall in love with it. So it is high on the list of possibilities for the future also. Venezuela might be interesting these days. I've always wanted to see Uruguay, so if we get that far south at some time in the future, that would clearly involve a return to Argentina also. There are so many places on other continents that float around on the edge of my consciousness (Malaysia, Vietnam, numerous places in western and eastern europe, India … ) that I have to really work to stay focused on this idea of seeing South America, but I am determined to do so. So how about a trip real soon to either Ecuador or Colombia, with another South American country before the year is out. And meanwhile, how about planning the next trip(s) outside the continent, with a plan to do another major trip during 2014 if not before. That's a good framework on which to build a plan. Admittedly though, it's a bit too broad to ensure project completion.

The countries of South America: Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Perú