Viva Guayaquil!

Our first three day weekend to celebrate the Independence of Guayaquil, Ecuador. On Thursday evening there was an incredible fireworks display and concert in the park. We watched the fireworks safely from a distance, but friends tell us that it is not unusual for Ecuadorian crowds to be within feet of large fireworks. It fits with our observations of men welding with no safety googles, small children riding "shotgun" on motorcycles with no helmets, or deep holes in the center of the sidewalk with no warning tape...Ecuadorians prefer to live on the edge or rather prefer not to take life so seriously. As one of our new friends put it "It makes you feel alive." That is of course unless "it" kills you.

For the three day weekend, we headed to the town of Zamora, about a 2 hour bus ride from Loja. The scenery was beautiful...lush green hillsides and many waterfalls. The travelling was pretty smooth despite ongoing road construction and a few massive mud slides over the road. The only other obstacle was a big fat pig running down the middle of the road. This owner failed to have his pig on a leash, like the one we witnessed in town.


Zamora is a very small town tucked into the mountains, and hotter and stickier than Loja given its lower elevation. As we were standing in front of a restaurant looking perplexed around lunch time, two friendly Ecuadorian girls decided to step in to provide some assistance. Given we understand minimal Spanish at this point, they were better able to communicate with us using hand gestures and the basic Spanish of a 2-year old. They pointed us in the direction of some good restaurant options and local attractions. Later, we were stunned to spot a white guy wearing a bright orange D&M Coffee hat...yes, from Ellensburg no doubt! Unbelievable! He was in Ecuador on a mission project.

A highlight for the weekend included a swimming pool and water slide at the hosteria--an Ecuadorian style resort, I suppose. Watching Ben cruise down the waterslide over-and-over again and cast a large grin as he splashed into the water causing torpedo size waves...made me laugh until I cried. Another highlight was definitely bird watching. We hiked in Podocarpus National Park, a known gem of southern Ecuador for bird watching. Bird watchers might be jealous of the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock we witnessed. This bird puts safety orange to shame. Can't say that the domesticated Macaws and Parrots at the hosteria waking us up at 4am were a highlight, however. Nor the shared drain of the excitement when Uruguay kicked the winning penalty kick against Ecuador in the soccer game. No World Cup for Ecuador this year. Big disappointment.

A family birthday party for the 7 year old of the house was Sunday night. Like most 7 year olds, he requested a pizza party. There is actually some good pizza in Loja. Surprising the birthday boy with a slam dunk of his face into the side of the birthday cake...maybe a tradition we should adopt.