Retire to Ecuador? Why not!

We had plans to meet up with a new-to-us couple for lunch at Don Colon's. We did the same last Saturday and I lamented that I forgot to bring either phone or camera. With a gorgeous sunny day greeting us, I made sure to bring my camera this time. As expected, downtown El Centro was busy, as it is every Saturday. But this wasn't just any Saturday, this was the Saturday before Palm Sunday. The flower market was exploding with flowers, bouquets, hand woven baskets and palms woven into crosses and other symbols. Of course there were plenty of vendors for fruits, beans and vegetables as well as those selling freshly pan fried potatoes, coconut, pineapple and more. We had a wonderful lunch with our new friends and I hope we see them again. Of course we did discover they live right across the street from us...LOL! We had a great lunch at Don Colon's and enjoyed our chatting while the flute players across the street entertained us and the youngster at a nei

Yes, I know I still owe you a blog about the Galapagos but I'm still culling through the photos and then have to upload them. So instead of keeping our outings in date order, I thought I'd take you along on our trip yesterday. We set our alarm for 7am so we'd have time for breakfast. We had loaded our backpacks the night before: money, raincoats, water and snacks. The air was cool so we did our usual layering, hoping that we'd be able to shuck at least one during the day. We had invited several friends on the trip, most made it, a couple had to cancel due do plan changes or illness. The bus held 40 passengers and I think we had around 30 people show up. Our good friend Emilio was the tour guide - we were all surprised that he was still going since his wife was due to give birth any moment. We were on the road by 8:45, headed to the town on Oña to visit a local tequila factory, no - farm, no - distiller Angel Salvador Ortega who produces world-class aguardiente de