Day 1

Arrived last night about 9:00. Delta had 4 flights yesterday and all made it. United and Jet Blue were not so lucky. Because of volcanic ash they canceled all their flights. Many Americans are stuck today in Costa Rica because more flights are canceled. I guess they closed the airport last Thursday. Oh well there could be worse places to be stuck. We will rent a car today and head out to the less volcanic active area. I'll keep you posted.

Costa Rica 2017 Ecuador no more

I will be off to Costa Rica tomorrow. I tried to create a new blog with Costa Rica in the title,  but had no success.  So you can read about my trip this year using the same site........different country.  I will try and change the Title of the blog to something more generic.

Reflections

Well the trip is coming to an end. We fly to Bogata today then home on the 11th. I'll most likely do only one post from Bogata. The rest of the posts will probably be just interesting facts or things that I found interiguing.

Here is one.
In both Ecuador and Columbia, they do not want you to flush your toilet paper. Instead you need to put it in the waiste basket that is lined with a plastic bag. Then the plastic bag is taken to a land fill where it never decomposes........seems counter productive to me.

Interesting fact.

The day we went to Cotocachi, we stopped at a place that swears they make the REAL Panama hats. They gave the history of the hat.

When the Panama Canal was being built, many thousands of Ecuadorians went to help build the canal. The president of Ecuador felt badly for his country men sweating in the hot sun, so he sent thousands of the white hats made in Ecuador. When Teddy Roosevelt went to visit the canal and see how the work was going, he got very hot in the Panama sun. Someone gave him a white hat to shade him. The US press reported " look at Teddy's new Panama hat" and the name stayed. 

Off course after hearing this tale and how the salesman touted the quality and authenticity of his hats.....I had to by one. Don't know how I'll get it home , or if I'll ever wear it at home. But the REAL Panama hats come from Ecuador...............this information cost me $25.

Rosario island 2

We stopped at the national park where they had a large aquarium and dozens of outside corals of different species of fish. Some people on the trip took the time to snorkel.

 
We then went on to the beach. There we spent a couple of hours sunning and swimming. The waves were big, the water was warm and the color of the water was a beautiful Caribbean blue.  .

 Along the route there were several small islands with just one or two house on them. They will be in trouble when the sea rises

The ride back to Cartagena was a nail biting one. The sea swells had gotten twice as big and it is never a good sign when the captain gets out a screwdriver and pliers to work on the motor. Everyone got soaked on the way back but we made it. If you ever go, make sure you sit in the back of the boat.

Rosario island

Today we took the boat ride to Rosario Island. The boat was small, the seas were rough and we were packed in pretty tightly. The trip out was about an hour and a half.

Cartagena

We took the 9:00 flight out if Quito to Bogota and then a one hour flight to Cartagena. Arrived around three to the old town part of the city. This place is gorgeous. No graffiti, no store grates, beautifully colored buildings with charm around every corner. I could explore these tiny street alleys and small boutiques for weeks. We took a city bus tour and got to see the more modern area as well. At night there are  groups for performers that travel from plaza to plaza through out the night entertaining. We are here until Monday. It should be fun to spend Mardi Gras weekend here.
Tomorrow will take a boat out to one of the islands for a day at the beach. The weather is quite warm but the ocean breeze helps to cool things down........."hey Boston, enjoy your storm.

    

Latest paintings

Today we took a tour of the presidential palace and walked the city. We leave tomorrow for Colombia. I don't know if there will be much time for painting......Will see. Here are the last ones I did. And now I say goodbye to Ecuador.

Guayaquil

Waiting for the bus

Cuenca city