Tropical Sailing Adventures

8/25/12

We returned from a busy 2 month trip to San Diego and have been experiencing Ecuador with fresh eyes. We seem to be getting used to the different social customs and interesting visuals that we see daily. Upon arrival the customs officers kindly alerted me that my passport expires within 3 months and that they don't allow anyone to enter the country unless there is a 6 month expiry date. (opps - that was on my San Diego list of 'to do's') Fortunately we didn't have to pay anyone off AND he was kind enough to allow me to enter for enough time to get it sorted. We promptly hit the Canadian embassy who have assisted me.

Ecuador seems to be a paperwork nightmare and the stories that it depends on the day and who you talk to with regard to regulations are correct. The detail is too complex to go into here but know that at every turn we are filling out paperwork and paying government officials. It is a socialized government at its finest. We are currently in the proccess of getting a tourist visa extension for 6 months. This extension required 3 visits (so far) to the Centro De Administration where we have had to provide proof of income with notarized bank statements, marriage certificates, passport photos, passport copies, the applications and flight reservation out of country (they don't acknowledge the yacht in the personal filing - another story!) Then we had to take a number to get into a 2 hour line to get into another 2 hour line. We would have used our vessel agent to get our tourist extension but he almost royally screwed up our 1 year vessel extension so we opted to bring a translator from the Canadian embassy and go it alone. Get the picture? Fortunately they are extending our visa - now we can travel South America!

Last weekend we took a getaway trip back to Cuenca. I got some great pictures on this trip. Cuenca is fast becoming one of our favorite colonial mountain spots in Ecuador, if not anywhere. Most residents are at the beach this time of year so the mountains were a lovely getaway. The weather is perfect in Ecuador this time of year. Well... it is a little overcast at the beach but the tempurature is great. Perfect 75 degrees everyday and a little cooler at night.

Valdivia, Ecuador (est. 2500bc) - On the coast, about an hour North of our marina, is a small rugged war zone looking beach town (typical) where the oldest pottery remains in the Americas have been found. The Valdivian culture even has ties to a single Japanese culture (Japanese Island) where scientists have found some type of matching DNA existing only in these two cultures of today. (I cant believe we are 1 hour from this place! Pretty exciting!) Some of the pottery suggest significant Asian influence. Small locally operated museums display figurines, ancient jewelry and pots. We were able to purchase several interesting pieces from one of the museums. A serious Jackpot in the middle of a one horse dirt road town. We have been back to barter a couple times!

An interesting thought: When in San Diego we renovated about 3000 sqft of the artist dressing rooms. I didn't want to spend much on the budget so I really tried to look at the chaos in there (it was really beat up) and repurpose furniture to see it in a different light. It gave me an idea - I told myself on the return to Ecuador I would do the same. See the good or interesting parts of the place even though it isnt exactly in your face. Just change the way I was looking at it. As Westerners we are really used to the polished, perfect surfaces in everything we see and do. Ecuador's lack of esthetics makes you look deeper into the uncovered surface of this country. It isnt your typically Mexico tourist chaos here.. it is real and serious poverty living beside some wealth and prosperity. If you look, maybe even change how you are looking, I have found beauty in surprising places. It helps a great deal when I am behind the camera as i tend to microscope small features of a panoramic - pause, take a good look at what I am seeing... like the day we spent in Cuenca last weekend ~ some of these shots and moments are really beautiful. Enjoy the photos.

Its off to Peru in a couple weeks - once we have our 6 month Visas in hand we will book the flights and proceed.