Ecuador (Part 2)

Day 19: Trying to follow even the most ridiculous movies in Spanish is still pretty good practice. Although, after two hours of Angelina Jolie "bending" bullets in Wanted, I was ready to be in Baños. Apparently one Israeli didn't plan on the other showing up and somehow now I'm stuck with a Belgian chick who talks with a pouty mouth and thinks I care about her ex-boyfriends and tattoos. Did find an amazing 80s/90s retro bar with Super Nintendo (of course the only game they had was soccer), spicy Mango Micheladas, Counting Crows, and Snoop Doggy Dogg.

Day 20: Liz the pouty mouth Belgian needs to go. No love on the afternoon rafting but I was able to rent a mountain bike for a 10 mile ride down to Pailón del Diablo for some amazing scenery and an impressive waterfall. Sadly the rain has killed the Carnaval festivities but it should make for good rafting tomorrow. Baños is definitely growing on me.

Day 21: Great day rafting although I may be the worst GoPro cameraman ever. Had to rush out of town but was able to get a decent meal in, and I don't have to see the Belgian anymore, which is nice. Baños definitely grew on me. Day 22: No big parades or partying in Quito for Carnaval either. Everyone either heads to the beaches or stays in town and sprays soap suds out of hilariously large cans. Did another tour of Quito and decided it would be best to stay someplace we know until the banks and post office open. No big parades or partying in Quito for Carnaval either. Everyone either heads to the beaches or stays in town and sprays soap suds out of hilariously large cans.

Day 23: Woke to a mean stomach bug. Beautiful day and a hopeful trip to the cloud forest of Mindo turned into saltines, watered-down Gatorade, and a Harry Potter marathon. At least it was tropical fruit flavored Gatorade, have to keep my trip authentic. Rule #1 to surviving stomach sickness abroad: "It's not a fart". Thank youKevin Michael.

Day 24: First day Quito is open after Carnaval and we successfully accomplished next to nothing. Mosquito nets and hammocks were too expensive for Jeremy, replacement water bottles were too expensive for me, post-office wouldn't ship my Havana Club glasses, and the exchange rate was so bad for the sole we only changed $50 each. However, Hermania was nice enough to take my pants in free of charge, and my Panama hat shipped for $20, as opposed to the$100 horror stories I've heard. Made sure to send it to Justin Woodworth since I know he likes to get mail. Spent the majority of our four hour wait at the bus station looking at maps and planning a hypothetical road trip to Tierra del Fuego, and the rest trying to decipher a children's book. At this pace I'm not sure if I'll figure out how Puss n Boots turned the ogre into a dragon before I convince myself to buy a truck.

Day 25: Hopefully my last overnight bus. Our sponsored race bus driver "The Marlboro Man" (sadly no picture) shaved an hour off an eight-hour drive by overlooking all recommended speeds and lanes. Every speed bump was an obvious opportunity to improve his 0-60 time. Amazon, still humid. Found another gringo. Plan to stay 24 hours behind his diet and observe closely. "Patient Zero" is apparently bi-polar and has relayed a brothel experience without exactly being interrogated. Reconsidering proximity of observation.

This boat is a twin-tiller death trap. Two hours into the journey and we are down one motor. Thankfully we brought a spare. Only eight more hours to go... Nuevo Rocafuerte has four roads, two "restaurants", one hostel, and zero cars. Not hearing good things about the boat to Iquitos.

Day 26: Patient Zero heard rumors of a cargo ship arriving in Pantoja tomorrow and departing for Iquitos a day later. If this is true, and he's not a serial killer, we should be in good shape for Iquitos and ultimately Lima by the weekend. Otherwise it will be a four day canoe, "boat", bus marathon to Lima. Now we may not be leaving til Wednesday? The fact there is a ship somewhere in the Amazon,and no one knows when or where it will be, still kind of blowing my mind. Crossing the border tomorrow. Maybe being at the proposed point of departure will get us some information.