¿VIC or QLD?

Living on the equator in the Andes has it's quirks! Loja feels like Melbourne a little, 4 seasons in one day...but descend the mountains and it's as if we are in QLD (minus the coast) - the smells, the temperature, the birds and butterflies. In the space of half an hour it feels like we've done the 10 hour drive up north! So, when we need some holiday feeling it just requires a little drive down the mountains.

On the way back from hot, humid Guayaquil we came home via chilly Las Cajas National Park (over 4000m) then back down to Loja at 2100m!

Trip to Guayaquil

We took a trip to Ecuador's main city on the coast (sort of, the beach is still 2 hours away, but don't worry we made it there too!) from 12-17 April. Mind you, Thurs and Tues were pretty much spent driving, the highway isn't quite like the F3. I was glad we were in a 4WD so that we could mostly negotiate the landslides and gaping pot holes encountered along the way. We got to check out what SIM is doing in Guayaquil and meet some locals (people and reptiles) and sweat our way through days of heat and humidity. Was good to gain a broader understanding of what makes up Ecuador!

Checking out the local cuisine

Last week was a big week as we made our first foray into the world of Loja's local delicacies. The first was Karine checking out 'Caldo de Nervio' (ox penis soup if you really want to know). Probably won't be doing that again soon. Pretty amazing though to watch other people almost inhale a soup which I could hardly touch! For the curious the bright pink drink is 'horchata' a local tea adored by everyone, it's quite nice as long as you get the no sugar version (remarkably difficult to procure, trust me).

The next event was our first 'cuy' (guinea pig) and this was alot better! The teeth are pretty impressive, but the acutal meat was good, and the potatoes underneath excellent. For a much anticipated event we were pleasantly surprised.