J'adore Ecuador (hey, I speak more French than Spanish)

So I just got back from my first trip to Ecuador. I've been trying to upload my photos to Facebook, but Firefox keeps crashing on me, so I'll take a break to prevent suicidal tendencies that accompany technological issues and will post a few here. More stories to come, but this will be a good teaser.

First, a few short notes:

• The trip included my mom and dad, sister Carolyn, brother-in-law Erik and nephew Pete. Oh, and me.
• We stayed one night in the coastal town of Guayaquil. We spent four nights (not consecutive) at Hostal Macondo in Cuenca, which is my mom's home away from home when she's there.
• We stayed three nights in the house my parents built with some friends in Paute - on the same property where my parents are building their own house and where other friends have built/are building homes.

And now I present, some photos:

Below is an iguana at the iguana park in Guayaquil. Right in the middle of downtown there's a city park that's one square block. Inside are dozens, if not more, iguanas. No cages, just roaming all over the place. It's cool and disconcerting at the same time!


This is Pete at the waterfront in Guayaquil, in front of a pirate ship and (although you can't see it) a waterfront McDonald's. :-)


The picture below is the courtyard at Hostal Macondo. The window right in the center of the picture, beyond the stone wall, was my room, Room #2. It's a lovely little place that got to feel like home after just a few short days. Pete seemed especially sad to leave when it was finally time to go.


The first night in Cuenca we went out for a walk and to get some ice cream (which you can get EVERYWHERE!) This was the first of MANY times we passed this church. I'm impressed I got this shot given that I have had my camera for a year and have yet to read the instruction manual. Yay for dumb luck.


The next day in Cuenca we walked around some more and ran into a protest. Rather than show you the protestors, I'll share a photo of Pete, Carolyn, Gran and Grumpy taking it all in with a smile.


We spent a few nights at the compound outside of Paute. My parents and their friends are all building houses on this land. There are five houses planned--two are done, two are under construction and one is yet to come. Below are two shots of the main house, where Carolyn, Erik, Pete and I stayed.



Looks nice, right. Check out the view from the porch on the back side of the house. Magnificent!



And here's Pete with the view as a backdrop.


Here's the living room of the main house:


Down the hill a bit is where my parents' house is under construction. It currently looks like this:


My parents' house is going to have a tower for maximum viewing of the scenery. Here, Pete and Gran check out the batless belfry!


Farther along the property is their friend LeAnn's little cottage, where my parents stayed. It's a round house with one amazing room and an outdoor kitchen! It's a tad magical.


LeAnn's porch offers quite a view... in fact, the whole place opens out onto this unobstructed vista...


We took a little trip into the city of Paute and had lunch in this beautiful garden. Pete ate octopus and I was eaten alive by mean Ecuadorian bugs. But I didn't know it until much later when I discovered I had what appeared to be a dread disease on my legs... Lovely!


Back in Cuenca again, we helped the country celebrate its bicentennial!


There were weavers...

And potters...


And then a celebratory cuddle in the hammock for Carolyn and Pete.

And for now, one last shot of Pete at Macondo...

We had a great trip and I will try to provide more detail in a later post. For now, Buenos Noches!