Last Days in Ecuador

We spent our last days in Ecuador in the gringo valley of Vilcabamba, where the land is lush and the white people know it.  We got some insight about this from a 92 year old man sitting in the main park who claims that the people  from the U.S. have overtaken Vilcabamba, bought the land, and locked out the local people.  After seeing the mansions built on the rolling hillsides, I´m pretty positive this is true, whether the accused realize it or not.  We didn´t stick around too long, but long enough to hike a bit, do some horseback riding, and appreciate the insane natural beauty of the place.  I can see why people flock there.  During the last days, K.T. and I also picked up a random traveller named Harry, who when we couldn´t understand his name through his thick English accent, said´"you know, like Harry Potter".  So naturally, I immediately said he could travel with us.  Talk about a language barrier within the same language.  I possibly understood more of what the people here say than deciphering Harry´s accent and vocabulary.

After Vilcabamba, my visa finally expired.  It´s hard to believe that I spent three months in Ecuador, and even harder to believe that I had to leave.  I don´t know that in a three month period of time I have ever learned quite as much as I did beginning this last Ocotober.  I progressed from feeling lonelier than I´ve ever felt to feeling like I could do absolutely anything.  I thought that I could adapt before, but I am sure of it now.  More than anything, I´ve learned more about human relationships. Communication is not always done best through use of a common language.  I think that I´ve communicted more efficiently with some people in my semi-broken Spanish than I have with many people in English.  Perhaps it´s the simplicity of it.  I´m not entirely sure.  I have met people that I will forever keep in contact with, while simultaneously discovering just how fleeting human relationships can be.  Not to sound too much like Captain Cliché, but it all wraps up into one main thing.  This trip really has been the best experience of my life.  So thanks Ecuador- I´ll catch ya later.

In case you were wondering, you aren´t allowed to bring dogs or bikes into the bus station... or goats.

This is what happens when trying to take a picture in the dark, without a flash, at 3 in the morning.

Hiking a ridge above Vilcabamba.