Happy Birthday Ecuador! (cool pics!)

Land of beautiful mountains:



scenery:



beaches:



wildlife:





and people:

:kick:


:party:

I'm wondering what the current state of Ecuador is these days, with the recent change in government etc. etc.

I'm planning for a trip there in December.

The current state of the country is difficult to assess. Ecuador has a long history of political instability, although there has not been a military dictatorship for decades. There is also economic hardship for most, although significant wealth for a small elite. Nevertheless, the people are resilient. There is a great deal of antipathy for Bush, but this rarely spills over to Americans in general.

The leaders tend to be corrupt, and the people force them out through innovative, mostly peaceful means. For example, Lucio Gutierrez was hounded by a bunch of people standing outside the presidential palace banging pots throughout the night, night after night! The government will sometimes respond with tear gas, so it is not a good idea to be around the demonstrations.

Like anywhere else, you have to know which neighborhoods to avoid. Because of the widespread poverty, crime is common, especially if you are dressed as a wealthy foreigner.

Tourism is a big industry, and there are a lot of different things to see and do. If you want to know more, PM me and I'll be happy to go into it more.

Unfortunately, he went back to Ecuador months after graduating and completely lost contact with our gang.

I would love to go someday. Starting with Rio and Iguacu falls.