Sorry about the break in posts. I was In Cuenca up in the Andes hanging out for a few days watching the World Cup (WHOAH HOLY CRAP GO ECUADOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TWO GAMES: 2-0 and 3-0 THEY ARE KICKING ASS!!!!!) and waiting for the package with my laptop to come in. Now I'm all set. Did some things on this trip that I never thought I'd do, and met up with some truly quality people. Life was good in my site, but after this trip, what with the schweet memories, new indigenous tapestries, and Shuar jungle spears I brought home for a littel Peace Corps interior decorating, life is even better.
This first pic is of a llama or alpaca type of beast in Parque nacional Cajas, outside of Cuenca. We're a couple of miles up in altitude there and the air is thin and gorgeous.

Here is one intrepid member of our hiking group peering out over the vast paramo (sometimes translated as wasteland) of Cajas. This was after maybe 20 minutes of hiking up from the above pictures beast to this valley. Before we finished we would hike for another eight and a half hours or so. That was awesome....


Here I am doing the old headstand trick above the jigundous lake we ate lunch near. I was thinking about it, and since I'm near the Equator this photo might look more true to life if you turn it 90 degrees so it's horizontal.

For our nine hours of sweaty, muddy, foot-drenching effort, we were rewarded with this rather unique sunset.

The next day I took a few happy pills and passed out. During that time I dreamed of taking my camera into a Doctor Seuss book and snapping off a couple of shots of a building there. When I woke up, THIS was on my camera. Wtf. (Just kidding, I do not have a substance abuse problem.) (Unless you count adrenaline as a substance that can be abused.) (Note to self, just tell the truth here: OK I went to Banos which is outside of Cuenca and jumped in a hot pool and then got out and asked for my money back, then snuck up into a bell tower of the local cathedral and drank wine and ate chocolate. Tru dat.)