“Twenty Minutes”; and No Bathrooms on the Bus – Getting from Ecuador to Colombia

May 6, 2022May 7, 2022 ~ Activated Adventurers ~ 1 Comment

Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito, Ecuador is a relatively new facility, having opened in 2013. It replaced the former airport of the same name, which became obsolete when it could not be expanded any further because of the surrounding mountainous terrain. But it was at least conveniently located, near the heart of town. This … Continue reading “Twenty Minutes”; and No Bathrooms on the Bus – Getting from Ecuador to Colombia

Ode to Ecuador’s Circus Trash Cans

April 20, 2022July 6, 2022 ~ Activated Adventurers ~ 1 Comment

In cities of central Ecuador, you may have a surprise in store when it's time to discard some trash: you can do it with real panache. The cans for throwing things away are not olive green or gun-metal gray but decked with images of a circus almost to the point they irk us. Clowns and … Continue reading Ode to Ecuador’s Circus Trash Cans

Straddling the Equator at Mitad del Mundo

Finding our wat at the Equator in Ecuador

April 13, 2022July 6, 2022 ~ Activated Adventurers ~ Leave a comment

Ecuador, of course, is named after the equator, which passes more or less through the middle of it. So there was no way we could visit Quito, the closest major city to the equator, without paying our respects to this imaginary line that splits the globe in half. And that meant visiting Mitad del Mundo … Continue reading Straddling the Equator at Mitad del Mundo

Adios, Ambato; and Hola Again, Quito

April 10, 2022July 6, 2022 ~ Activated Adventurers ~ Leave a comment

During our final week volunteering in Ambato, Ecuador, we found ourselves tangled up in some of the notorious Ecuadorian red tape that some of our students have alluded to. As we've mentioned before somewhere, our preparations for this journey when we were back in the States included the purchase of a Steripen, a nifty little … Continue reading Adios, Ambato; and Hola Again, Quito

Guatemala City to Quito, Ecuador

February 13, 2022February 15, 2022 ~ Activated Adventurers ~ 1 Comment

Let's face it, we've often gotten an image of Latin American countries as dangerous places. Such impressions are rooted in long outdated events like civil wars, or in the Hollywood staple of the drug trade -- which does indeed exist, but rarely has a violent impact on ordinary citizens. In regards to Guatemala, the capital … Continue reading Guatemala City to Quito, Ecuador