Wow! The last week has been quite an adventure for Joe and I in South America. After aclimitizing in Quito for a couple of days (Quito sits at about 8,000 feet), we took a bumpy bus ride to Chugchilan, a small community high in the Andes west of Quito. After hairpin turns throughout unpaved mountain passes we arrived at the Black Sheep Inn. We stayed there for four days hiking through the canyons, down by an bright blue-green crater lake called Quilatoa, and walking up to the cloud forest where orchids and mountain lions live side by side.

On our trip to the cloud forest we hired a guide from the community who told us lots about the area{s history and many of the folklore stories some of which Joe recognized as similar to those the Native Alaskans tell. It was our first real Spanish accomplishment that we were able to spend a whole day talking with Humberto, our guide.

We left Chugchilan in the back of a milk truck to head to Saquisili, our next destination. The milk truck drove for two hours through small villages where the native people would wait by the road with buckets filled with milk from their animals. A man would collect the buckets of fresh milk and pour it into the containers in the back of this pick up truck and sell it to people in the larger towns who needed to buy it. In addition to picking up milk, the truck picked up people, and at one point, more than 20 people, a chicken and many babies were bouncing along together. One woman breast fed her baby while holding on to the side of the truck with one hand.

In Saquisili we attended one of the biggest local markets – colors and smells and sounds EVERYWHERE. Pigs, llamas, fruits, spices, watches, fabric, and wool were all for sale! It was absolutely beautiful. I was most facinated by the boiled pigs heads and chicken feet in the stalls.

Now we{re in Otavalo visiting with our friends Lindsay and Matt before they head to the Galapagos and we head to Spanish school on the coast! Adios por ahora!