Vachel and I, who were dating at the time, went to Ecuador in February 2006. This may seem an odd place for a romantic vacation for a boyfriend / girlfriend, so I’ll tell you it wasn’t very romantic, but we had a reason for going. His aunt, Pat, worked for Foreign Services and her term in Ecuador was almost up—he wanted to go. I’d never been so thought, “What the hell, we’ll give it a whirl.”
His aunt and uncle lived in Quito, the capital, and we stayed at their place. Vachel was farming full-time at that point, and needed regular access to Internet and fax for something related to price matrixes (Maybe price matrixes? It was 2006! You’re lucky I remember the trip at all!). The only reason this is relevant is because before we left we talked about needing access to the Internet and fax, and his aunt and uncle told us about an Internet Café we could go to each morning. I imagined my mornings spent waking up whenever we want, strolling down beautiful Quito to sit at a local coffee shop with public access computers, eating Ecuadorian pastries (in my mind they were similar to croissants) and Café con Leche. We would stroll through all the quaint little shops, have amazing dinners getting to know his family and dining on fresh local foods and have a nice, relaxing vacation in an exotic foreign country.
Clear throat. Cough, Cough.
After this trip I laid out very clear expectations around what I consider a “Vacation” and what we call an “Adventure.”
Vacation:
- My life is not actually in any real danger from people or immediate surroundings
- I don’t spend the entire time miserably sick
- I lay on a beach and wait-staff bring me drinks
- Shopping
- Relaxing
- I DON’T ALMOST DIE
Adventure:
- Anything other than above
I know what you’re saying here: “Katie, I’m SO intrigued right now. What was your Ecuadorian Adventure really like?” It wasn’t all bad; the people and culture are interesting, the country is beautiful…but it definitely falls more under my “Adventure” category than a “Vacation.”
Ok…so…let’s get this party started:
Let’s begin with the plane ride down there.
On our first connecting flight, the people sitting in front of us were making out the whole time. THE WHOLE TIME. This flight was before I discovered the beauty of Ginger pills to control motion sickness, and I don’t like how Dramamine makes me feel (tired and cranky…Vachel doesn’t like me on it either) so I limited the amount of time I spent reading and instead people watched. You can only watch random people make out for so long before you start to get slightly uncomfortable and pretty much do anything to avoid looking at them. I thought they must have been newlyweds, although in their mid-40’s, and they had both been divorced and re-married and were going away on their Honeymoon.
They (finally) stopped making out and started talking. Turns out they were both married…just not to each other. They both told their spouses that they were going away on a work trip and jumped on a plane to meet up for a week of wild and crazy…um…conferences… At that point I started poking Vachel in the leg so he could listen, however there was no need as he was poking me in the leg for the same thing. We spent the rest of the time shamelessly listening to them. Except when they started making out again, then I went back to staring at everyone but them. Vachel went to sleep.
The second flight to Ecuador was interesting before we even got on the flight. They didn’t allow any overweight luggage—you couldn’t even pay more for it, you had to throw items away. I wasn’t aware of this, but due to the altitude and elevation of the airport in Quito they had very strict weight and fuel restrictions. That didn’t make me nervous at all.
Apparently that didn’t make others nervous as well (sarcasm font) because one of the local Ecuadorians smuggled a flask onto the plane and became DRUNK. About ¾ of the way to Ecuador, he made his presence known by running up and down the aisle trying to hug people. The flight attendants and his very-embarrassed wife were the most hugged.
When it came time to land the plane, all I remember is flying up. We had to drop altitude flying into Ecuador then go up to land in Quito. It was dark, and I couldn’t see anything. I was sitting in a metal flying death-trap. Unlike one of my fellow passengers, I wasn’t drunk. I was terrified. According to Wikipedia this airport is no longer used, and in 2013 Quito began using a new airport, so I have no idea if you would have that same experience today.
But yea, we landed! Safely!
Vachel’s aunt Pat and uncle Steve were waiting for us at the terminal, and had beautiful roses for me. I found out Ecuador is known for their gorgeous, large-bloomed roses and these are a major export of the country. You learn something new every day. In this case I learned that on Feb. 25, 2006.
Here are some other interesting things I learned within my first few days in Ecuador:
- There is not a big red line that goes across the Earth symbolizing the equator. I know you would think that’s intuitive, and I didn’t expect a big red line, but I expected SOMETHING to indicate the equator. We found a monument.
We're on either side of the equator 
Vachel inside a phone booth - Up until the 1960’s the indigenous people of Ecuador were held in slavery, and something like 12 families owned all of the land. In the 2 or 3 generations since the indigenous people were freed from slavery and allowed access to better food and hygiene, the overall population had grown somewhere around 6 inches in height. I was still one of the tallest people around though (I’m 5’ 5”) and Vachel quite literally couldn’t fit in some locations.
- Altitude sickness is a thing. I had it. I had headaches, inability to sleep, didn’t feel like eating much, etc. Wait until I get to the part about Mt. Cayambe though, that was altitude sickness at its worst. http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/altitude-sickness-topic-overview
Pat and Steve took us to some pretty cool places while we were visiting, but the first day we were on our own and I was looking forward to the ambiance I described above…the little café with pastries and coffee, tiny boutique shops, etc.
The “Internet Café” was nothing like I imagined. It was a large room filled with card tables and chairs, and early 1980’s Apple 2e-style computers. There was no coffee or pastries, which was probably the worst part. And apparently it was one of the few places people could actually access the Internet, and the guy sitting next to us the first day was alternating between a dating website for men showcasing mostly nude men, and male porn. Vachel didn’t notice because he was working. How could I not notice what was on the computer screen about 6 inches away from me? The guy sitting next to me, so close our arms were almost touching, looked like he could be a serial killer. Or at least looks like how they’re portrayed in movies, so that must be real. I tried to do a Vulcan mind-meld with Vachel because I was completely freaked out, but he wasn’t picking up on my telepathic abilities. Luckily we didn’t stay there long. It may have had more to do with neither of us having coffee at that point than anything else.
Even though it was the rainy season, the weather was beautiful our entire trip. The fresh avocados that were served with every meal were amazing—anything I’ve had since then is just a disappointment. Oh yes, my friends, the Ecuadorian Adventure continues.
Next up, our trip to Otavalo where we went to a local market, got to meet and have dinner with an indigenous family, Rosario and Louis. Rosario is a medicine woman, it was a fascinating experience. We also stayed overnight at a Plantation and made our way across the Road to Nono to visit Mindo and stay another night in a Cloud Forest.
