Our South America backpacking adventure came to an end last Wednesday with an easy flight north to SFO. The final weeks of our travels were exhausting, with marathon bus rides and apartment searching, but we did have a chance to hit the beach in Huanchaco, chill out in Cuenca, and get a taste of our new home in Quito. Santa Cruz, California will be our base for the northern summer. We’ll be filling up on beach time, farm produce, and family and friends until our return to Ecuador on August 2. Track us down on our summer cell at (831)29-507-29.
A typical Thursday in the Summer of George, Santa Cruz, CA
On our way north from Peru, we stopped for surf and ceviche in Huanchaco. The weather and water were both a bit cloudy, but the fish was fresh and the beer was cheap. It was a much needed stop before 24-hours and four buses to get to Cuenca, Ecuador.
Thank you Cara and Serigne for the spa day! Oriana got the best seaside massage ever (not pictured)...Devin opted for a haircut and beard trim. Huanchaco, Peru.
Cuenca, Ecuador is a beautiful colonial city, somehow reminiscent of both Oaxaca, Mexico and Santa Cruz, California. We started our city tour with a stroll by the river, where a flopsy-haired student/artist sold us a magic brownie from his bake sale. It was delicious, and made the tsantsa shrunken head exhibit at the ethnography museum even more fascinating. Then we wandered among Spanish architecture, perused artisan galleries, and dined in an organic vegetarian restaurant. Cuenca even has crosswalks and a few cars actually stopped for us to cross the street. ¡Qué tranquilo!
Thank you, Anna Marie and Tomoki for your contribution to our travels! We ran out of time for Colombia, but Cartagena may be on deck for December break. In the meantime, we enjoyed the beautiful city of Cuenca in style.
Devin watches his cholesterol on his 31st birthday, Cuenca, Ecuador
Oriana watches Devin’s cholesterol by nabbing the first bite of his birthday cake.
Our last stop before Quito was the small mountain town of Salinas, where several cooperativos make and sell artisan cheeses, divine chocolate, woolen goods, essential oils, and even soccer balls. The nearby city of Guaranda had the best street burgers to date, served up by the genial Colombiano, Julian.
We spent a week in Quito, Ecuador at the tail end of our trip in order to search for an apartment and get a head start on orientation before we move there in August. The city was more cosmopolitan and less Latin American than expected—kind of intimidating for a couple of travel bums from Berkeley. But the dining scene is seriously impressive, and the historic center, indigenous markets, and occasional diarrhea should be sufficient reminders of where we are.
The sushi at Noe was so delicious we forgot to document it on film. Quito, Ecuador
With 1.6 million or so inhabitants, Quito feels a lot smaller than other capital cities we've visited, and easy transportation and multiple green spaces make it more manageable. Downtown apartments tend to be HUGE, which actually made our housing search a bit tricky. We just don't need 2000 square feet...somehow this was never an issue when apartment hunting in the San Francisco Bay Area :-)
Could we make rent on this place by running a roller rink in the living room? Devin even has experience from his days as Roller Roo! One of many reject apartments in Quito.
Finally, Devin does the lease-signing dance! We decided on a cozy apartment in the lovely neighborhood of Bellavista. It doesn't quite have the bella vista we enjoyed at our place in Berkeley, but we suppose the Golden Gate is hard to match.
The apartment does, however, have the requisite amenities of fireplace, bathtub, terrace, and a little guest suite for visitors. Check sidestep.com for flights, and we’ll watch you on approach from our kitchen window!
It seemed that we had come full circle as we ran around in a frenzy of to-do lists, moving boxes, and security deposits that felt oddly similar to our lives back in January. Looking back, we are so grateful for this travel opportunity of a lifetime (which we hope to duplicate a few more times in this lifetime…), and we feel fortunate to have had the huevos, freedom, and funds—thanks again, Honeyfunders!—to have embarked on this amazing adventure full of fun as well as life experience. The honeymoon was más increíble than we could have imagined, and as one wise friend recently pointed out, it has been a fantastic investment in the rest of our marriage.
Lastly, we have a few more thank yous to shout out. There were a couple things on the Honeyfund registry that we didn’t get to this round…luckily the adventure continues in August in Ecuador.
To Greta Gibson: thank you for the whitewater rafting! Water levels were too high in Patagonia, too low in Peru, but we have plans in the works for Tena, Ecuador.
To Kerry Yip: thanks for the paragliding! Apparently winds are too rough for first-timers til June, but Oriana has already decided that this will be her next favorite hobby.
To Bob Carlson, who inadvertently helped us purchase the lens that took most of our photos and added pounds to Devin’s pack. Well worth the weight! Thanks for helping us keep this blog readable!
To Ann and Gary, thank you for the stylish summer lodging at the new and improved Reed Street Hostal!
To our neighborly neighbors Cliff and Greg, thanks for tolerating our presence on your porch this summer. Best internet cafe we've been to in months!
When we were young, Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile, February 2010
