April 6 – Later in the day we arrived back in Quito, via Guayaquil. We were exhausted so we treated ourselves to room service and were asleep by 9:00 pm.

April 7 – We awoke early for a trip into the Andes Mountains in an old 4x4 Land Cruiser stacked high with kayaks with our guide Miguel and driver Caesar. Our destination was Lake Cucuta, a large lake in an active volcanic crater. In the middle are two large islands created by past eruptions (the last 2000 years ago). As a reminder of its current activity, you paddle over an area where air bubbles seep up from under the lake to the surface. It’s crystal clear with a greenish color. There are no fish. It is 300 feet at its deepest. There are 200-foot cliffs surrounding the lack, which appear to run straight to the bottom of the lake.
Our adventure started with the guides launching the kayaks over the cliffs and we follow switch-back paths down that look like that they haven’t been walked on in years. We launch the kayaks from behind six-foot high reeds that ring the lake. We will visit a lake in Bolivia where islands have been manufactured by Indians out of similar reeds.
Tony and Alana shared a two-man inflatable kayak nicknamed the “barge.” Ruth had a sleek single kayak. You can guess who paddled most of the time in the barge.
We paddled for about 2 ½-hours under beautiful warm rains with just a whisper of wind. A picnic lunch awaited us. It included fresh avocados and chirrimoya (a green palm side fruit containing hard oval brown seeds and soft light colored pulp, the sweet edible part). Both were picked up at a roadside stand on the way up.
During the drive we joked that we might run into our friends from California we met on the ship, slated to overnight nearby. Who should arrive during lunch?
On way back to Quito we made a detour to Otavalo, an Indian market in the Andes. Good thing we only budgeted 30 minutes at the market. During the short time we bought to Alpaca sweater jackets, a native flute and a wood blanket. Change or cambio is always difficult to get in South America for large bills as the vendors are struggling entrepreneurs. Tony was only carrying a $100 bill. “No problemo,” said the tiny woman, who had hand-knitted the sweaters. With that she disappeared looking for one of her amigos to help make change. Tony had a furrowed brow, thinking after 10 minutes had past that he would never see his change again. Finally, out of the corner of his eye, the women could be seen sprinting back waiving at Tony. It’s an enduring memory for Tony.
Back in Quito, we dined on authentic Ecuadorian cuisine – Alana talked us into sushi at the hotel.

April 8 – This was a lazy day. After many pre-dawn wake-ups, we slept in and worked on the first posting of the blog. We headed out for lunch in one of the popular squares at Mama Colinda’s, recommended to us by a friend from the ship. We sampled the soup called fanesca, which is an Easter week soup made of squash and 12 legumes. It is very hearty, almost a meal. It wasn’t Alana’s favorite. We left on a late flight for Lima that night. I should note that the influence of Calgarians is found in small does almost everywhere. In the Lima airport, we found ourselves standing behind a Calgarian who has been active in oil and gas in Ecuador. We knew many people in common.

April 9 – Lima is much different than Quito. For one it is extremely dry, a desert bordered by the Pacific Ocean. It also has more than 8-million people in 43 regions, each having their own mayor and council. Quito seemed large with 2-million. The other thing that strikes you is how cosmopolitan Lima is. It has been influenced by many European countries and the United States. Many of the US chains have a presence here. It was explained to Tony this is due to Peru having good relations historically with many countries, whereas other South American countries have swung back and forth from socialism to capitalism. We stayed in the district of Mira Flores, near the Pacific. It is a fashionable area with good shopping and restaurants and is considered more secure than other parts of Lima. We spent this afternoon on a tour of downtown Lima, which is filled with gorgeous colonial architecture and dotted with cathedrals. It was our first exposure to pre-Inca construction as well, where adobe blocks and mortar were used to help survive a history of earthquakes. Perhaps the highlight was a visit to church catacombs, complete with authentic human skulls and bones. Our guide used the occasion to brief us on earthquakes as we hunched in tiny underground caves.
The church and surroundings were extremely crowded due to Easter celebrations. It was literally wall-to-wall people as we headed into the church. Just inside the gates, Tony heard the clip to his Blackberry holster snap. He’d been using it to keep his camera. The camera was gone, in the hands of one of the masterful pick-pockets that survive stealing from locals and foreigners. A woman saw the crime occur but it was too late to do anything. Later, a magnificent sunset at Love Park almost made us all forgot of the theft.