All is gravy baby in this here land they call Ecuador

So as of now, the crew is kickin it in Quito yet again before heading down to Peru-a-go-go where all should go equally swell. This past week Adam and Heather entrusted their sanity, safety and well being in the hands of us, spanglish speaking loonies, in hopes that we wouldn´t seriously hurt, or offend anyone. All i can say is bless their souls...bless their souls.
Our week of fun in the sun began with a surprisingly smooth bus ride down the coast. All went well, and the group was taken aback my Amanda´s travel brilliance, and I have decided to name my first born after her as a token of my gratitude. Hope she won’t mind.
Anywho, Puerto Lopez was oh so lovely except for all the trash that these here Ecuadorians find to complement the breath taking beaches so well. It makes strolling down the play a bit treacherous when you are constantly avoiding lord knows what in the form of day old plastic wrapped little gifts of surprise. Well I guess in a place as tranquillo as the big P.L. you need something to keep you on your toes.
Also, Adam has decided to write a short novel on the ramped mating habits of street dogs that really just can´t seem to get enough. I personally find it a bit perturbing but that is neither here nor there. It was classic, every morning we would be enjoying heaven on a plate (also known as desayuno) and without fail, the wild mongrels would perform a rather strategic shag-dance fest-thing that would consist of much barking, yipping, and ever awkward fighting mid thrust between the males. Talk about mildly unpleasant!
Beside the dogs, however, there was much wildlife to been seen. On Monday, we ventured out to Isla de la Plata where we saw three types of Boobies and yes, needless to say, there were far to many attempts to stifle our oh so mature laughter. It’s quite pathetic really how one simple word can set off a group of young adults. One would think that we are all professionals here but no, Boobies are just far too absurd to keep a straight face when discussing the importance of saving their habitat and all that good stuff. The island itself was large, dry, and rather hot but beggars’ can´t be choosers when it comes to Boobie spotting. Our afternoon was spent swimming around the island and basking in the glory that is the Pacific Ocean. The color of this water was enough to take your breath away, which as you could expect made the whole snorkel\swimming thing rather difficult.
Day two was spent at Agua Blanca, which ironically had very little water, and if you ask me, it was more brown then white but there’s no need to get caught up on the particulars now is there. We learned that they buried the dead in pots about the size of a small water cooler. I asked the guide if the whole stuffing a body in a pot thing was difficult and he explained that the people of this region, back in the day were rather small and no, it wasn´t difficult. I don´t think he saw the humor in my question, but that isn´t surprising at all. Also at Agua Blanca there were some lovely sulfur hot springs that smell all the better in mid-day heat.
Day three was one to go down in the books for the simple reason that dearest Paul celebrated his 20th year of life in style. We went to Los Friales, possibly the best beach in the whole world, but I´m not going to get ahead of myself. There were absolutely no other people on the expansive playa and the sun, water and world were all in celebration of Paul´s big day. The crew was able to pull together a picnic that pretty much was the bomb. We feasted on marmalade, and manis (peanut butter, which by the way is surprisingly difficult to come by) samis, local oranges, and cookies galore. What a life we lead!
Yesterday, we spent a long 12 hours on a bus from the P.L. back to Quito. Can someone say fun cuz I sure can! Anyway, life is lifin...er, you know what I speak of, and we all look forward to Peru with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning, or some other really excited creature.
Well then, hope all is peachy in the grand states up north and give a shout out to all the fam and friends that are deprived of our tender love.
ciao
-Karen