Two days left

So, it turns out Guayaquil is working out nicely for us. What a great place to end the work!

We arrived the night before last in Guayaquil, and had booked a room in a guesthouse in Samborondon, which is a main road into the town, but in the fancy area of town that I described before. The family here rents out rooms in their gigantic house in a gated community. It is fabulous, so clean, and so nice! There are patios, a backyard with hammocks, and a swimming pool! It is bigger than most hotels. Ellen, the mother and the person who runs the guesthouse, is incredibly kind and energetic. She cooks us breakfast and delicious, healthful dinners. It is nice to come home to a house, sit down in the kitchen, and relax. The neighbourhood is so safe that we don't have to worry about the car either!

We have spent the last two full days heading north of the city to collect in small towns. About half an hour north of here, the landscape is covered with rice patties and tons of irrigation canals all draining into marshes - perfect habitat for mosquitoes! I collected over 52 mosquitoes in one trap alone... an amazing catch! We also collected some with an aspirator later in the day, something we have not been able to do as easily before.

Today, we went to a real coffee shop - in a suburban mini mall - think Kanata - and got some good food to eat in the field for once - a nice break from the usual crackers and bananas. I even got a mocha in the coffee shop at the gas station! This might seem normal to you all back home, but this is an astounding bit of northamericana that I have never seen before in Ecuador.

Yesterday, we accidentally took the wrong route back into town and ended up in Guayaquil proper. We followed the map and managed to find our way out again through the tunnels. By night, the main streets of downtown have large, modern buildings, nice restaurants and shops, and everything seemed quite clean and presentable overall! I still have yet to discover why Guayaquil has such a lousy reputation. It is a little hot, and there is a lot of crime - in other parts of town - but so far so good. I could live here. Probably with air conditioning though.

I should also mention that the family here has a little dog who reminds me of Storm. She is not the same breed but she has a bit of the same independent temperament, and the same funny little smile - with her bottom teeth poking out. She lets me pet her a lot too - very cute!

Another interesting little story... this morning Ellen made us a little concoction of noni juice. She used to work on marketing an industrial version of it. It is a fruit that looks like a warty potato and smells like rotten parmesan cheese. The blended version tastes like a fruit mixed with the nasty cheese taste. It is pretty disgusting on its own. However, it is being heavily researched right now for its beneficial medicinal properties. They say it's the new wonder drug, and can even cure cancer. Well, Ellen seems amazingly healthy, so maybe it works! I think I'll hold off drinking more until we can find a way to make it taste and smell more appealing.

Another story... today, while driving, Julio was pulled over by a cop for passing a car on a solid line. Let me put this into context for you. In Ecuador, red lights are merely a suggestion, and cars are known to drive for a long distance in the oncoming lane to pass, with oncoming traffic! So... this is a very minor infraction, and it was surprising that he bothered with us at all. Anyway, the cop told us he couldn't give us a real ticket, because we are foreigners, but something must be done. He kept hinting that there must be another solution to the dilemma. He kindly took the 10$ we passed him in the documents, and bid us a safe trip. It's funny how shameless they are about wanting a bribe.

Anyway, we have another two work days planned, and then we are DONE! We are going to head south of here for the next two days, collecting adults and larvae. Monday, we're hoping to do some touristic stuff in Guayaquil. Santy arrives Tuesday, and we leave early Wednesday morning back to Quito - and Julio back to Peru!

Wish us luck!