It was a Friday in December, 2000 I went to Guayaquil via truck, flew back to Quito the next morning.

We had to transport some items to Guayaquil, which required; Ecuadorian driver and two riders. I jumped at the chance to go road trip!

By road, Guayaquil is about 400 kilometers from Quito, taking 8 hours to drive. The first quarter of the trip was spent descending over three kilometers in elevation to sea level. Then through endless haciendas of bananas, coffee, mangoes, cacao, rice, sugar cane and etc.

Some parts of the road were like West Virginia mountain gravel roads and some like US interstate.

Not far below Quito we were in a cloud-shrouded rain forest, something out of Romancing the Stone. Basically a canyon rim road of steep drop-offs, hair pin curves and few guardrails. The other rider in the truck was pointing out all the plants; "look coffee, bananas, cacao!" The sides of the canyon were completely covered with green thick jungle growth. Now and then, I would spot a waterfall dropping water hundreds of feet to the canyon floor adding to a roaring river.

When we finally got to the flat lands the rain forest gave way to orderly plantations. I think they call them haciendas. Most of them are owned by Dole, saw one sign that said, " Dole Hacienda next 68 km". Something like that only in Spanish.

Most of the villages were on stilts by a river, long dugout canoes lined the river. School children in clean uniforms were getting off buses, I saw one child had a little Santa made from red construction paper and white cotton. While the houses looked basic bamboo, they all had TV aerials, hammocks slung under them and Christmas decorations.

Now and then the plantations would end and a bit of rain forest could be seen. Naturally this is where the charcoal kilns were as people cleared the land and made use of the chopped down trees. Remember when you are barbecuing, you are using a rain forest product!

Every few miles you come upon a log blocking the side of the road, behind the log was spread beans or grain drying in the sun, I reckon they cannot afford a grain dryer or even a concrete slab.

The bigger haciendas had their own schools, clinics, cantinas and shops. In the evening there were workers selling their own produce by the road. They had their own bamboo and canvas kiosks complete with hammock.

That night in Guayaquil, we went out with a security consultant. He is a retired cop who carries a gun and knows the city well. We ate at a restaurant called "El Ñato". Meaning "flat nose", I remember one similar in Madrid. I ordered a steak that completely covered the plate, I mean it hung over all the edges of the plate, a huge massive steak.

What I did not eat, I gave to some beggar child in front of the restaurant. The meal was $6.00.

Then we toured the city and had a few drinks.

Crime in the city is way high, people are murdered nearly everyday, somehow my cop friend knew what places to avoid. In the newspaper the next day I read about three murders in a nearby bar.

The plane ride back to Quito took 45 minutes and cost $46.

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