Ecuador(0) - Taking off

I have been longing to visit South America for quite some years. In the spring of 1997, a friend who quit his job was spending seven months wandering around that southern continent. He emailed me from Quito, "I'm taking Spanish lessons from a young Quichua woman. She is currently studying to become a lawyer. Intelligent and ambitious, she is plain wonderful! I’m living in a small hostel. My room has a view of the Andes…” My heart flew out then, towards that far-away land, its misty mountains, and the indigenous people.

January 2002, Sarah and I started our trip planning. Originally we wanted to do some trekking in Patagonia and Torres del Paine. But the chaotic situation in Argentina stopped us. When Sarah suggested Ecuador, my eyes lit up.

Ecuador sits between Columbia and Peru. It is on the equator, thus the name. According to CIA’s Fact Book, its total territory is 280,000 square km, which is slightly smaller than Nevada. 50% percent of its land is forest and woodland. Total population is 130,000, and 50% of which lives below poverty line, literacy rate is 90%. Average monthly income is $150 per person.

A month before departure, I went to the hospital for immunization shots. After I told the nurse my destination was Ecuador and I would be in the Amazon Jungles for a few days, she gave me three shots, and prescribed three kinds of medicine to take with me. In addition, she made me promise that if I had any kind of illness or discomfort while I was there, even it was as simple as a cold; I must be seen upon my return. In the pharmacy I was interrogated one more time, “Boy! WHERE are you going, that you need ALL THESE??” Only then did I realize what it might mean to go to a third world country. Even China seemed like a piece of cake under comparison.

One week prior departure, when the chill of 911 hasn’t dissipated, Ecuadorian national airline lost a plane in southern Columbia. Immediately my phone rang, my sister was fuming on the other side of the line. “Are you crazy? Why do you have to pick a god-forsaken place like Ecuador? If you must go, don't fly Ecuadorian National Airline, okay?!” “Fine” was all I can say. I didn’t dare to tell her that Ecuadorian National Airline was the only airline that I can take from Quito to the Galapagos.

I did my usual travel reading. Every single guide book claims Ecuador to be a quiet and beautiful country. Its varied geography within such a small country makes it especially attractive among other vast lands in South America. It has Amazon Jungles in the east, volcano plains saddled by the Anden mountains in the middle, and then the Galapagos floating on the Pacific 600 miles away from the mainland. It is also said that Ecuadorian people are extremely polite and friendly.

What stands out above all is the country’s immune system against the drug trade, especially comparing to its drug lord infested neighbors: Columbia and Peru, where drug-related violence has sipped in daily life. In today’s consumer economy, this alone commands respect for this tiny country's courage to resist such high profile trade.

I packed my digital camera, which has accompanied me everywhere I went in the past two years—from Paris to Canadian Rockies, from Yosemite to Baja California. Since the travel guide specified that when we were living with the Quichua family in the jungles, there wouldn’t be any electricity; I packed my little Canon Elph as the backup. I was ready to face this completely strange country on a completely strange continent.

When I took this picture of the dolls, my trip had almost come to its end. But the quiet happiness was evident throughout the entire trip. Everywhere we went, there were greenest mountains I’ve ever saw; every face we encountered was sincere, friendly, and confident. Having been taking long distance bus rides for two weeks, we didn’t hear one single person raised his/her voice. This small country is quiet, content, and relatively self-sufficient.