Am I Going To Ecuador?

On Sunday Miss Puerto Rico told me she wants to take me to Ecuador for 2 weeks sometime in early 2009. Two weeks far south of the border with a volatile Latina? Yikes. I've barely recovered from dealing with too much exposure to volatility when I was in Washington last summer.

Still, this Ecuador thing sounds intriguing. I've never been any further south than Mexico. So going all the way to South America and being in a country that straddles the equator would definitely be doing something new and different.

Miss PR has quite the itinerary planned out. Anyone who knows me knows one of my pet peeves is pointless, endless itinerary discussions. So, the fact that an itinerary seems to be well thought out is a plus. She has us landing in Quito and staying in something called Hotel Patio Andaluz in the center of the historic Old City of Quito. This was one of the first places UNESCO designated as a World Cultural Heritage site.

Quito is at about 9,350 feet above sea level. I've only stayed overnight that high once, spending the night in Silverton, Colorado. It was very easy to get winded. My hotel room was on the 4th floor, no elevator. It felt like 20 floors. And one beer in the saloon hit like 6.

Quito is built on the eastern slopes of the Pichincha volcano. The scenery, from what I've seen, reminds me very much of Western Washington.

Miss PR has a rafting trip planned, floating down the Quijos River. It goes through a jungle and ends at Papallacta Hot Springs. I don't know if it is a clothing optional hot springs. I hope so.

Then just to please me there's a bike ride. To get to the biking destination you drive the Pan-American Highway through the "Avenue of the Volcanoes." The avenue leads to the entry to Cotopaxi National Park, which is where the bike ride begins. There are Inca Ruins in the park and great views of Cotopaxi Volcano.

She's got a lot of hikes planned. One that sounds scary ends at a hut on the Cotopaxi Volcano. The hut sits at 15,748 feet above sea level. I'll be gasping for air. But it gets worse. From the hut we hike to the summit. At 19,347 feet. Yikes.

After the volcano overload there are several days planned doing various things in the Amazon Jungle. Apparently there are a lot of monkeys there. And you can fish for piranha and take a dip in something called the Cuyabeno Lagoon. I assume there are no piranha in the lagoon.

So that's the trip as it's been explained to me. Miss PR wants to add a sidetrip to the Galapagos Islands, but that adds a lot to the cost. The Galapagos are part of Ecuador. There are big turtles there.