Literature described Ecuador as a nice country: adventurous, beautiful nature and very diverse. But it became even better than I expected! The country has real beauty, from jungle to coast and the mountains in between. Our first stop on the journey was in the Jungle near Tena. A long trip by boat (a hollow tree) took us to a little village at the Amazon river, in the Amazon rainforest. On this picture you can see the beautiful vegetation of trees. The Amazon rainforest is Beautiful (with a capital!). There are so many huge trees, butterflies, birds, and weird animals. And don't forget to look to the sky at night, for you might see the Southern Cross!
		It can be hot and rainy in the Amazon jungle. There are always clouds, which makes the landscape very colorful. And even the clouds are different and beautiful in Ecuador. I guess that is because clouds rise much higher than "normal", due to the warm climate at the equator and due to the high Andes mountains. And as the saying goes: "Every cloud has a silver lining"!
	Children in Ecuador use to take care for their little brothers and sisters. In the little village in the jungle where I stayed, this girl was very tender for this baby. She seems proud to have her photo taken.
		From the jungle we went to Baños, Riobamba, Ingapirca and finally Cuenca. On this tour and in my quest of the real "friendly Indians", I found this horse with the Indian woman on top of it. She was not too friendly though. Anyhow, she shows how Indians must have looked like in former days.
	It is a real famous Ecuadorian trade product, although the name is "Panama hat". It has a very complicated history, which I didn't write down in any report (for it was vacation time!) ... so I can't tell. These hats are made of some sort of leaves, woven by women, bleached, pressed and sold at high prices. They are quite nice though.
		Everybody needs a shoeshine once in a while. Here, it appears that in a city "a while" ranges from an hour to a split second. In Ecuador shoeblacks are usually poor children. These two girls are friends and work together on the streets of Cuenca.
	While staying in Cuenca, it might be a good idea to make this daytrip to Las Cajas. It is a national park with 232 permanent lakes (and many more small lakes that dry up during periods of droughts). There is a strange flora and fauna, because the temperature varies from very cold to very hot. You should go on a guided tour, for it is very likely that otherwise you'll lose your way!
		In Las Cajas you'll find beautiful vegetation. Like this flower for instance. I don't know the name of it, so if you do know the name, please email me!
	This flower is the Andes Tulip. It is a little colorful plant that stores sunlight. When it gets cold, or covered with snow, it radiates heat that melts the snow. That's an effective way to continuously receive the sunlight.
		Cuenca is very proud of the New Cathedral. This cathedral is built in front of the Old Cathedral. The New Cathedral was only recently built in the sixties. It is beautiful from both the inside, as well as the outside.
	From Cuenca our journey continued to Puerto Lopez at the coast. From here we made a trip to Isla la Plata (also called "the poor man's Galapagos"). It takes about an hour by boat to get there. And on our way we saw several huge whales very nearby. The island itself is a desert island. Only seabirds come here and use the island as a breeding place. The picture above shows two Blue feet Boobies. Boobies do honor to their names, just by their look and behavior.
		Albatrosses also use the island. These birds are very big (their back reaches to your knees and their wingspan is about 2 meters!). Here a male and a female albatross perform a mating-dance. This can take weeks before they "hit it". Too long for me to wait anyway.
	Faithful ... does it exist nowadays? Yeah, it does for (black foot) Boobies! These birds are strictly monogamous. This picture was also taken on Isla la Plata.
		Another picture with pure action! If you watch close enough, you might see the fish that this bird is going to catch! This picture is taken by Gertie Oomen who was constantly taking snapshots while making a terrific movie simultaneously!
	On our journey to the mainland, we saw several whales. It is quite difficult to take a picture from them. Although they are such big animals, most of them remains under the water. And if they appear above the water, it is only for a split second. Anyway, here is a tail. And -oh yeah- don't forget to Save the Whales !
		On the beach you can find a lot of (little) animals. Here is a close-up of a little crab.
	We left the coast for a stay in Otavalo. This little city is well-known for it's textile art. Many weavers sell their fabrics on the Saturday-market. There is also a very special cattle-market. This market starts at 5:00 AM till 8:00 AM. Near Otavalo there are two volcanoes. We made a walk around the crater-lake of the volcano Cotacachi (4944 meter). This is a beautiful trip that you shouldn't miss!
		Almost forgotten to put a picture of the Saturday-market in Otavalo on this page. This market is very special. You should visit it very, very early in the morning (around 6 o'clock). Farmers from everywhere come to trade cows, goats, bulls etcetera. There is also a very big market where weavers sell their trade. This market is a must!
	During this trip we had a splendid view on the crater-lake and surrounding area.
		On the road from Quito to Otavalo, you'll see this view of Otavalo and the Cotacachi. The lake in front is the Laguna San Pablo. It is just before you arrive in Otavalo. Make a stop here, at the little restaurant / shop and enjoy it!
	Otavalo is situated in a "painted landscape". It is very colorful with splendid views. It is great to see the clouds and their shades, slowly drift over the sloping land. This is a picture of the extinct volcano Imbabura (4609 meter), east of Otavalo.
		From Otavalo we went back to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Now the end of the journey was very near. I wanted to stay here some longer, but duty called. In Quito I made an excursion in which I descended the Cotopaxi by mountain bike. The Cotopaxi (5911 meter) is the highest active volcano in the world. We started our ride at 4800 meters and descended over the lava-ash.
	It's been a really great excursion, with magnificent views. We have even seen 2 Condors! Besides Condors there are many wild horses here. On this picture you can see the remains of a horse, with the Rumiñahui volcano (4712 meter) in the background.
		This is one of those spectacular views that I mentioned above. It's a view from the Cotopaxi at 4800 meters, down on the valley. You might get an idea of the distances, by looking at the car.
	This is the last picture of the journey to Ecuador that I publish here. It's the famous Virgin of Quito. It is not a very beautiful virgin, but it is very characteristic for Quito. Watch your steps (and your camera!), when you plan to visit this statue yourself. Always use a cab to get there! Ecuador has been a really great journey. I am jealous of the people I left behind. I hope to go to the Galapagos Islands one day ... but until then there are still so many places to explore!

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