Joyful Journey to Ecuador - DAY ONE

Here is what you've all been waiting for!  I'll be posting a blog about each of my days in Ecuador.  Thanks for all of your personal interest in my journey and amazing insights and support so far!

Day One:  

Leaving New Mexico for the Houston airport, my phone was buzzing, my head was spinning with all of the tasks I still needed to accomplish for my business, I was checking email on my phone up until the last boarding call, and I had an aura of nervous energy flickering all around me.  I had been so busy living my all-important life, it felt ions ago that I had been surrounded in nature and her divine silence.  Was I really ready to go live in a remote village in the Amazon Rainforest with women I didn’t even know? 

Boarding for Ecuador, I stopped just shy of my isle seat, 24C, and overheard two grandmothers in the row bickering with each other.  One woman stopped complaining briefly, to take a breath, and shot a look of bitterness at me.  Suspended in the isle, I wondered how I was going to survive five hours next to these women and new my peaceful journey had been ruined.  Two guys sitting just behind the women broke my stunned silence and one asked if I wanted to sit with them.  My bag was nestled in an overhead compartment and I was sitting between them before he finished his question.  What Divine Perfection! 

The next five hours were filled with stories of their mountaineering adventures, rock climbing excursions, kayaking tournaments, and gut wrenching stories of being caught in avalanches, climbing down mountains with broken legs, and their daily lives protecting the Alaskan wilderness.  They had both recently left their fiancés, and were on their way to Ecuador to climb the volcano, Cotopaxi, kayak to the sea and spend their days surfing.  In their world, pushing the limits of huan body to conquer the natural wonders of Mother Earth, evoked a joy comparable to the enlightenment of Buddha – and could mend any broken heart.  We parted at the Quito International Airport and, given they didn’t know where they were staying and had no way of contacting me, doubted we would ever see each other again. 

You can imagine the amazement on my face when I saw them walking towards me at a local indigenous market the next morning about five blocks from my hotel.  They were staying at a hostel less than a block from my hotel!   They were going to have breakfast and invited me to hike Pinchincha with them, the magnificent mountain that towers over Quito.  After a short taxi ride, we arrived at the Teleferico – a tram that takes tourists from Quito at 9,000 feet up to 11,000 feet.  The severe drought in Ecuador contributed to alarming low levels at a lake that generates the majority of hydropower for the entire country.  As a result, Quito was experiencing planned blackouts with various sections of the city without power for 5 hours at a time.  Unfortunately, the Teleferico was without power and we had to wait over an hour for it to run again.  Even when we finally loaded into our tramcar, it moved so slowly I wondered if a few guys on a bicycle were pedaling away to keep a generator running. 

At the top, we found the trail and began our journey to the top of Pinchincha – 15,500 feet and higher than any mountain in the United States.  The path straddled a ridge line the revealed a patchwork of agricultural fields in golden, green, and brown hues on either side.  The higher we climbed, the more the sounds of Quito and a bustling life fell away to the gentle wind caressing our face like a long-lost friend, the whir of hummingbirds, and the vast silence of the majestic mountain.  The air thinned near the top as did the trail, which became a paper-thin, rocky edge only to be climbed by an expert climber with very little fear of falling to their death.  Needless to say, they went to the top and I was content at 15,000 feet with my feet on solid ground.  The sun began to set behind Pinchincha as we started a fast decent back to the tram to beat the darkness.  As the air grew colder with the setting sun, a sea of clouds washed over the hillsides, filling the valleys and washing down into Quito.  We barely made it to the Teleferico before it went totally dark.  I thanked the Universe for providing me exactly what I needed, when I needed it, and felt blessed to have spent the day unwinding in the beautiful vastness of raw nature.  We spent the evening enjoying traditional Ecuadorian cuisine, fresh mojitos, and nightlife thankful for the opportunity to have seen and experienced the enchantment of Mother Earth.