It’s been three years since I’ve stepped foot outside the territory of these United States. A combination of work, music and general life distractions has kept my feet firmly planted here, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about traveling abroad once again. In fact, earlier this year I had been starting to think about a trip to Greece and Turkey. And then, after a short but sweet visit by my old friend Beana over the summer, I decided that I needed to visit her while she was still living in Hong Kong. I’m still hoping to make both of those trips in the near future, but, as it turns out, a new adventure has presented itself…
Come mid-December, I will be on a plane bound for Quito, Ecuador, to meet my girlfriend and two other friends who will be finishing up a delegation into Ecuador’s Oriente region and a few of the indigenous tribes therein. From there, we’ll head to the Galapagos for a boat tour of the islands Darwin visited over 150 years ago, in the process fomenting his ideas about evolution through natural selection. It looks like we might be doing this tour:
Our itinerary is still up in the air, but suffice to say there will be birds, cloud forests, long, winding bus rides, and a lot of fumbling around en Espanol. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Latin America, and I’m really looking forward to going back. Ecuador seems like an incredible country, brimming with beauty and life. Of course, Ecuadorians have had plenty of struggles against the forces of globalization over the past few decades, so it will be interesting to see that side, too. All told, I’m really excited and very ready for some time off from work with some good friends experiencing another culture and ecology. You know what this means — be prepared for the travel blogging that will ensue!
Filed under: Ecuador, Latin America, The Globe
