Violence in Ecuador

Yesterday some awful news came out of Ecuador. Two Americans were attacked; the man was stabbed twenty-four times and the woman was raped. Fortunately neither were killed and both are back in the States, but the guy´s wounds are still life-threatening. Here is the story.

Esmeraldas is considerably north of the little town of were Drew and I are staying, so we don´t feel particularly worried about the attack. However, we purposely avoided the area around Esmeraldas because of the crime in the northern parts of Ecuador.

Sadly, there is always the threat of some crime. A few weeks before we arrived in Canoa, a surfer was shot four times outside a local bar. Luckily, he didn´t die, but there was little the police could do when they arrived. The gunman changed his shirt and walked back into the bar to finish his drink. There are only three policemen in this little town, and they were significantly out numbered by the gunman and his friends. The police simply concluded that they aren´t paid enough to be shot at. We suspect that the gunman was arrested the next day, but no one seems to know for sure.

The full story of what happened in Esmeraldas is still unknown and I will probably be in Peru before it starts to emerge. However, it is a tragic reminder that traveling requires common sense and luck. Hopefully, the common sense kicks in when the luck runs out.