We happened on a Festival de Bambinos this afternoon in the Plaza de Armas.

It's street after street of indigenous women sitting on sidewalks with a bag or two of fruits or herbs--some on display--some tucked under their wide skirts. They sit there rain or shine, sometimes so wrapped in plastic sheets all you see is their hat brims.  They live in surrounding pueblos and don't leave for home until after 5 at night, so every afternoon when the rains come they're the most pitiful sight.It's streets so steep and narrow cars...

So we're enjoying the evening on the Mandala's beautiful veranda--soft ocean breezes, pounding waves, flaming sunset--you know the usual, and we're trying to decide what to do next. We'd made a reservation in a bigger city north of here called Manta thinking we'd keep enjoying this heavenly sunshine for a few more days before returning to cold, high Quito and heading home when we about face...again.We're off to Peru. Peru was beyond our b...

We met a fun couple from Canada here at the Mandala and after spending the day sharing travel stories, they decided they'd join us on our boat ride to Isla Salango for a swim and some snorkeling.Our day started with a 25 cent bus ride south to a neighboring fishing village called Salango, a place Bob and I had been with Ligia and Sook our first week here. But this time we found a fisherman eager to take tourists out to the island and what a trip.It's quit...

I was sick today--here's the view from my window.