A few pictures from our travels in Ecuador

Mike in Tulcan Ecuador

Tulcan Cemetary - known for its elaborate topiaries...think Edward Scissorhands

Laguna Yaruacocha, Ibarra Ecuador

Camped along side the lake that is just outside of the city. We asked at the toll booth on the way in if it was safe to camp overnight and were told yes, no problem. We were awakened at 2am by the police who were checking on us. Makes your heart pound when someone is knocking on the door in the middle of the night. Made Chettie bark like crazy, our alarm system. After explaining in sleepy spanish that we were told it was okay they left us alone.

Trish walking on the equator. We skipped the very touristy Mitad del Mundo and stopped instead at this smaller roadside acknowledgment of the crossing of the equator.

We didn't know it then, but because of our delay waiting for car parts we would cross the equator several times.

Latitude 0 0'0'' - cool

VW Love outside of Jamanco Hot Springs, Papallacta

Mike on the shores of Laguna Papallacta. This was our first time at the laguna and yes, it was very wet. Again, we didn't know it at the time but we would return here several times.

Trish at Laguna Papallacta. High in the paramo, this area is often shrouded in clouds. For many, this is the only view of the area they see. Our many return trips allowed us to see the area in many different conditions.

Mike in the sunshine at Laguna Papallacta

The Burly Beast on the shores of Laguna Papallacta

A funny sign on the way to Jamanco Hot Springs. "Siga" means follow and it's what is said when you enter a business or when getting directions. This sign was written backwards on the rock and was on the right side of the road.

Volcan Cotacachi from trail around Laguna Cuicocha

Volcan Imbabura from the trail around Laguna Cuicocha. These two volcanos flank the town of Otavalo and again are often cloaked in clouds. We saw many faces of these volcanos as we explored the area in and around Otavalo.

Laguna Cuicocha with the Burly Beast. We camped here one night and were the only ones here. A few days later, on a Saturday, we returned for another night to find thousands of indigenous people celebrating the festival of Inti Raymi. We stayed and observed the festival for a long while but did not camp here that night. We did not take pictures of the festival as it seemed very inappropriate.

Trish at Lagunas de Mojanda, about 10km outside of Otavalo. Again, we camped here and were the only ones on the lake.

Mike with Fuya Fuya near Lagunas de Mojanda

The Chetster at Lagunas de Mojanda. I'm happy to report that she is doing great. We took the opportunity to visit a vet while in Pifo and she got a clean bill of health. She is a great traveller and provides great companionship for us. Never one to complain, she is tickled when we find a place she can run free. Swimming is also high on her list of favorite activities. Laguna de Mojanda was very cold, but it didn't stop her from an afternoon of log retrieving.

Mike at the waterfall on the property we camped at in Mindo.

Mindo waterfall

Rafting on crafts made of inner tubes lashed together is very popular in Mindo

Loading up the innertubes. Of course, this sight reminded us of Salida.

There is a lot going on here. I took the picture because of the Burly Beast's reflection on the television set. Just at the moment I snapped the picture, Brazil scored a goal during a World Cup match. You can see the Brazilian players in yellow jerseys on the TV celebrating the goal and can see the joy on the face of the guy watching the match.

We travelled south along the Avenue of the Volcanos after leaving Lucho one last time. It was beautiful but very cold and wet because of the season and the altitude. Laguna Quilotoa (above) is known for its turquoise color....we only saw it in gray and it was incredibly cold and rainy while we were there. And after this we headed to Banos at a lower altitude to dry out and warm up.

Our camp site in Banos in the company of a big Mann vehicle owned by a very nice French couple, Sebastian and Sebrina (Seb & Sab). They were having some vehicle troubles and we took comfort in knowing others have dealt with mechanical issues. When we left, Seb had taken a bus into Ambato (the closest big city) to try and get the parts he needed. We only hope he wasn't told, 'Aqui no hay'.

Mike and Seb working on their respective vehicles. Sabrina and I took the time to share information on places we have stayed, as they are headed north and we are going south. Our location also allowed us to explore the town on foot and to hike directly into the surrounding hills. BTW, the hot springs at Banos are not nearly as nice as those in Papallacta even though this is what the town is known for.

Mike sharing a moment (and a carrot) with the horses on the property we camped at in Banos.

Late one rainy afternoon we asked at the Bomberos (fire station) where we could camp in their town. "Right here", they said and we camped at the station. Great guys, they loved the Burly Beast and and even shared their bathrooms and hot showers with us.

Hot and dry atop Tinajilla Pass. As we headed into southern Ecuador the landscape turned to desert and the weather began to warm up. We had spent a lot of time high in the Andes and the first few days of clear skies found us basking like lizards in the sunshine

Mike enjoying the warm dry weather in southern Ecuador

Though we see plenty of livestock, this was unusual as this pig passed through our camp site unaccompanied one afternoon, apparantly on his way home for dinner

...And with that we left Ecuador and headed into Peru