Quito, Ecuador

July 27, 2000

Quito, Ecuador

We arrived in Quito the afternoon of the 22nd and have spent the last several days planning the next leg of our journey, making travel arrangements and journaling in a plethora of Internet cafés that litter the streets of this international destination. I was surprised to see just how many tourists can cram into a ten-block radius of Quito. We saw people from countries in all corners of the world make that the first world.

I had no idea that Quito was such a hot spot of tourism, having never heard of it on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Of course, there were very few "Rich and Famous" to be found in Quito as we were surrounded by backpackers and the summer break college crew. If you saw gringos on the streets, odds are they were carrying all their travel amenities bundled in a high tech, multi-point suspended nylon bag strapped to their back, or smoking, swearing and staggering back from a Discothèque half crocked in the wee hours of the morning.

We actually chose to avoid the Discotheque crowd altogether, concentrating our efforts on planning and writing. Quito turned out to be a very good place to focus on both, while learning the ropes of backpacking in an emerging second world country. The streets abound with armed security guards at every parking lot and hostel entrance. The tourist congregation points were papered with flyers warning of "strangle muggings" and various other methods of robbery that really give you a sense you are perceived as a walking wallet by more than just the incessantly bothersome shoeshine boys. And yet if you spend too much time concerning yourself with personal security, you miss the opportunity of enjoying this intriguing new land.

Growing up as the eldest of three brothers, I had always shouldered the responsibility of keeping my siblings safe from the dangers of this world. My stepfather had drilled into my head that I was to be the responsible one of the crew and had to keep an ever-vigilant eye on my little chargees. Somehow this idea has carried over into adulthood and I find myself scanning the horizon for marauders to this day, in an effort to keep all in my general vicinity safe from whatever dangers might present themselves.

Well, as any of you who have a personal relationship with Rebecca know, she is a very independent woman who is capable of taking care of herself. It was my challenge in Quito to overcome my desire to protect her from the world of dangers that spring from the dark recesses of my mind. I had to let go of the fears through which my stepfather had engrained the protectionist role in my then pre-pubescent mind. Of course the admonition of her own father, brother and housekeeper to "watch out for her" weighed heavily on the task at hand.

After several days in Quito, we had made arrangements for a jungle tour and were both in need of a respite from the mental and physical assaults of the city. Rebecca and I had heard of a resort in the area that sounded like it would fit the bill. Papallacta was the site of a natural hot springs nestled high in the mountains outside Quito. We made the 67-kilometer trip in the comfort of a taxi for the paltry fare of $20 American after an hour's detour on a wrong-turn road.

As the smog and suburbs of Quito faded into the rearview mirror, a misty cloud-covered mountain landscape climbed up the road in front of the cab. The temperature dropped like rain on the windshield from the low 80s to the 50s in this emerging cloud forest as we approached the resort. You could smell the moisture-filled, fresh mountain air when we stepped from the taxi to survey our new get away.

Papallacta was a much-needed break from the city life we had endured for the last several weeks. We soaked in the hot springs during the wonderfully persistent rain showers that chilled whatever part you might have above the level of the steaming waters. We slept without the incessant droning of buses and blaring horns of the Quito "taxistas” that never let you forget you were surrounded by a people that seem to hold no value in the quiet moments of life.

We basked in Papallacta for only two days as we were slated to depart for Rio Napo and the Yuturi lodge. We vowed to return to the resort as soon as our schedule would relent... ha!

Needless to say our schedule relented the very day after our return from the Yuturi lodge and we spent another two days in Papallacta, enjoying the slower paced life that seemed to be afforded only in the mountains and springs around the resort. We knew we would find places around the world that we would choose to revisit at a later time under different circumstances, Papallacta will be a destination once again... of this I am sure.