The first time Drew and I arrived in Quito , we were mobbed at the airport with cameras and reporters. It was a hero´s welcome. You get used to it after a while.
Yesterday, we unexpectedly returned to Quito. As we crested over the Andes and down into the valley where Quito sits, the city greeted us with rainbows and snow-capped mountains. The locals tell me this is a rare sight. Quito loves us. Unfortunately, the pictures didn´t come out very well so I can´t pass them on.
On Monday, Drew and I had to make a hasty departure from the beach. We had about 30 minutes to find all of our stuff, throw it in a bag, and get out the door. I shot the sheriff, but I didn´t shoot the deputy. Drew did. (That joke would probably work better in the Caribbean.) Actually, a Canadian we met offered us a lift back to Quito. I know that is can be a bit dangerous to accept rides through the jungle with people you don´t know real well, but in this topsy-turvy world if you can´t trust a Canuck then who can you trust? Besides, it beats taking an eight hour bus ride with a bunch of screaming kids at the end of a holiday weekend.
On the way back to Quito we drove through a large town and was met with an impromptu toll road. A guy with no legs was sitting in the middle of the road with a rope tied around his waist and the other end looped around a post on the far side of the road. Each time a car approached he raised the rope and demanded his fee. Apparently Canadians don´t pay tolls. Instead of stopping, we accelerated. Wisely, our Ecuadorian friend lowered the rope.
Drew and I will only be in Quito for a day to resupply, do some laundry, and relax. The city is a cooler and it is nice to enjoy a bit of fall weather after a month of 80 degrees. There are lots more police on the streets right now, so the government seems to be taking this crime wave seriously. Tomorrow, we hop a bus to Baños to check out the hot springs and volcano there.
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