Quito, Ecuador
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
– Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin was referring to long-term evolutionary change when he wrote these words, but short-term adaptability can save lives too.
We had a trip planned to Ecuador in February and we were hoping you would come along with us, but events have occurred that don’t permit us to follow through.
On Tuesday, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa imposed a State of Emergency throughout the country. The suspension of civil liberties arose after a prison break and hostage-taking incident, which expanded to widespread violence throughout the country. This man is at the centre of the upheaval.
If drug dealers issued trading cards, Ecuadorian mobster El Fito’s Criminal File Card would be the #1 collector item in Ecuador.
I don’t speak much Spanish, but “Homicidio”, and “Trafico de drogas” aren’t hard to translate.
We were really looking forward to visiting Quito, Ecuador, and the Galápagos Islands, but these headlines from Ecuador news this week don’t mesh with our travel objectives:
“war in the streets”, “armed internal conflict” “martial law (for 60 days minimum)”, “nighttime curfew”, “stores and businesses closed”, “jailbreak”, “hostage-taking”, “assault”, “car bombing”, “kidnapping”, and “murder”.
We will lose some deposits, but adapting to change might improve our chances of …
… survival.
But all is not lost. I was in the process of gathering material for several Ecuador-related pieces and have decided to post them without actually visiting the country. I have tidied up a few of the stories and published the ones that survived.
Bear and her travel agent buddy are on the Google looking for an alternate adventure, as we speak.
Stay Tuned!
Terry J
Sorry to hear that you are not going to Ecuador – safety first, they say. Six years ago, Jim and I were fortunate to spend time in a few South American countries, Ecuador and Peru being two. We enjoyed Quito and a rain forest excursion a couple hours out – we saw amazing flora and fauna including exotic birds, insects and even a poisonous snake (so our guide told us). The Ecuadorian people were in transition from a solid government that valued education and the well-being of its citizens to one that didn’t. Their state of affairs has worsened, and I’m not sure adopting the USA currency is the answer. Maybe it will temper inflation. I hope you can find another interesting place to visit.
Russ Paton
Yes, a bit of a disappointment, but there are a lot of unexplored places yet.
Adopting the US$ has been a very bad thing for Ecuador, money laundering and all the drug-related side-effects have crept in and will be very hard to eradicate. It is hard to keep up with this changing world.
Thanks for staying in touch….
Lesley Patterson
Come to Peru! My vicuña is faster than your alpaca!
So sorry to hear about your trip
Lesley
Russ Paton
Challenge accepted! We will check it out.