KATY COMES TO VISIT IN ECUADOR

It was a wonderful surprise when my daughter Katy contacted me to say she was foregoing her usual Christmas skiing trip to visit me in Ecuador.

She flew out mid-December and after a couple of days in Cuenca exploring the city and recovering from the flight, the two of us set off for the jungle on the eastern side of the Andes that dissect Ecuador.


We returned to Cuenca, and explored the area around Cuenca with Ed, including Ingapirca, Cajas National Park and the market villages of Sigsig and Chordeleg.




Before we knew it, it was Christmas eve and we had a great day enjoying the traditional children's parade through the streets of Cuenca. Christmas Day was quite subdued after that, and we had a restful day before packing our bags and heading out the next morning for the northern coast of Ecuador.


We spent a few days in Canoa soaking up the sun and getting battered by the Pacific waves. Ed and Katy rented a couple of boards and hit the waves, although on many occasions the waves hit them!




Then it was time for mother and daughter to take the bus up and over the mountains to Quito for Katy's return flight. We arrived early New Year's Eve at a family run hotel i had stayed in before after running the gauntlet of the crowds already filling the streets.



It is the custom in Ecuador to make an effigy of a despised political figure and burn it at midnight and the family had made one of George W, with a note on in english thanking him for the war and the world economic collapse. Katy and I went off for a quick chinese meal (the only restaurants open in the city as everyone was partying) then back to the hotel for rum and Bush kicking as we waited for midnight. George W was soaked in petrol out on the street in front of the hotel and set on fire as we joined other hotel guests and the family in dancing, jumping over the burning body and drinking more rum.











The next day, Katy and I had a slap up steak lunch in an Argentinian style parilla and then made our way to the airport - katy to London and me to Cuenca. A great visit was had by all!