Tourism in the Galapagos consitutes a full 20% of Ecuador's GDP. 20%. Why? Some gimmicks ( Read more... )

Checking in, briefly, to avoid studying for my exam just a little bit longer. Fuller analysis of the whole Galapagos shtick when I return to Quito at the end of the week ( Read more... )

Leaving for mangrove forests, then the Galapagos. Back on April 9th. Will possibly have some contact with the real world after March 29th, but possibly not ( Read more... )

Some thoughts on the nature inter-city travel in Ecuador (and, presumably, other poor Andean countries): Ecuador is about the size of Colorado, but the bus from Cuenca to Quito took eleven hours. A federal highway system simply does not exist. In a lot of ways, that's a huge pain in the ass. In other ways, though, it helps keep things local -- ( Read more... )

Yes, detox: two and half a weeks without newspapers, TV, internet access, alcohol, and the smog of the city ( Read more... )

Death ( Read more... )

I begin with the obligatory geographical background, notwithstanding that you might all be skipping it every time ( Read more... )

Photographs would help this description a lot, because these places are pretty difficult to imagine. Unfortunately, my camera is currently recovering from an unscheduled bath, as my coat pocket and I sort of fell in the creek. However, Dave took some really great ones that can be found here: Read more... )

Spent the weekend with nine of the Other White Kids in Otavalo, a smallish town in the north which comes to life every weekend for a massive artisan market ( Read more... )

Yesterday, a black Cuban man teaching Chinese language and philosophy at an Ecuadorian university asked me if I voted for Obama. In English. I think it's okay that this marks the single most cosmopolitan moment of my life to date.