Have you tried Ecuadorian chocolate?

In 2019 BC (Before Corona) Tom and I traveled to the beautiful South American country of Ecuador. The Quito airport sits at 10,000 feet above sea level which, coming from Chatsworth's 800 feet, caused some headaches while we became accustomed to the altitude. 

While touring this church in Quito we came across this guy selling coca leaves - see the next picture. 

Coca is a cash crop in p arts of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. For years, it has played an important role in Andean cultures where folks chew it for its mild simulant properties as well as it's ability to suppress hunger, thirst, pain, and fatigue. Of course we bought some to chew for only $3 in hopes of relieving our altitude headaches. Incidentally, the experience is less like chewing gum and more like chewing the leaves you've raked in the back yard. 

Tom loved the coca leaves and is still talking about it! 

Ecuadorian cacao (not to be confused with the aforementioned coca) produces some tasty chocolate. We are big fans of dark chocolate so a fair amount of time was spent purchasing and sampling across the different brands. Their coffee is delicious as well. From the coca and cacao to their coffee, we were busy!

Baños is located several hours south of Quito and is known for its thermal springs. This picture and the next 2 are taken from our lodge room perched high in a canyon with its beautiful waterfall (we hiked to it) that you can see if you click on the picture.

The next picture is taken from the top of the waterfall.

This short sassy Salasaca lady was hand spinning wool into yarn along the highway. Authentic as she was, she quickly made clear her desire to come home with us so that we could find her a husband! She didn't know where we were from but that didn't matter. Salasaca women are known for their colorful tops, woven belts called chumbi, and long wool skirts.

Cuy, or roasted guinea pig, is a famous dish in the highlands. We thought we'd see more in our travels and opted to wait to sample it. Unfortunately, it was the only one we saw. 

We stopped by a couple of tourist attractions marking the equator passing through Ecuador. The first one features a 30m-high trapezoidal monument marking the invisible of zero latitude passing around the center of the earth. The problem was that Charles Marie de La Codamine's 1736 measurements were a little off (ok, so they didn't have GPS back in the day). But we went there anyhow and spent our tourist dollars. Then we walked several meters to the northeast to find the more subdued attraction marking the "spot" calculated with GPS.  Details, details!! 

Weeeee!