A Little Bit Of This, A Little Bit Of That

Greetings! We trust everyone has mastered the art of making Sancocho Ecuatoriano since the last posting, and that it will be served to us for taste testing during the Welcome Home tour in 2008!

Below you´ll find a collection of photos from places and situations we´ve been in over the past couple weeks. We´re currently in Quito for the weekend to party and visit with old friends. Next week we´ll be heading down the Avenue of Volcanoes for some trekking through various indigenous villages and parks. Enjoy!

Here we are, above, as we get into the groove of managing a hotel. Kevin and Tamara escaped La Luna for about a week and left us to take care of their valued guests. We worked quite well with their amazing employees and had a wonderful time hosting a variety of backpackers and expatriates. It looks like we were both playing DJ on this particular night.

Leaving La Luna

After our three week stint enjoying the wonders of La Luna, we were pleased to get on the road and visit one of the most pleasant thermal spring areas in the world: Papallacta. We spoiled ourselves with a gorgeous cabana with private pools, massages, champagne, an Andean mud wrap and decadent cuisine. It was a glorious few days and the view from our cabana of the volcano Antisana is below.
Heading Into the Jungle

After our romantic stay at Papallacta, Kevin and Tamara made the journey from La Luna to pick us up and head down to their mate´s hotel in the direction of the jungle. The cloud forest between Papallacta and the Amazon jungle is a beautiful area of lush, virgin forest and cool flowing rivers.

We stayed at a wonderful hotel called The Magic Roundabout. It´s run by a great English bloke called Ali and his wife Meg. They run a very peaceful and gorgeous hotel, as Ali spoils his guests with hikes to waterfalls and mountaintops, while Meg manages the organic garden and livestock.

Ali chilling out by the river after a swim and some tubing.
Meg truly in her element. It should be said that Meg grows the most delicious array of organic lettuces, leeks and fruit we´ve ever tasted!

The photo below is of the river and bridge where we spent the afternoon swimming, tubing and feasting on tasty food arranged by Ali and Meg. They were wonderful hosts and we would highly recommend a stay on their land if anyone ever has the chance. You can check out their website at www.magicroundabout.info.

Back In Quito

Our current accomodation back in Quito is at our friend Sandra´s new deluxe flat in the El Bosque neighborhood. She´s having a dinner party tonight while Rachel and I will be the special guest chefs. We just returned from the market with piles of veggies, a couple kilos of fresh sea bass and plenty of rhubarb for Sandra to make her cobbler. It should be a good night.

Cheers everyone!