Random facts & observations while in Ecuador

• it is NOT illegal for 12 people to ride in the back of a pickup - some even standing.
• it IS illegal for a taxi to get in the way of a bus at the terminal.
• it is normal to walk down the side of the highway and apparently not illegal as even the police do it.
• It is normal to see people walking their cows down the street.
• squeezing SO MANY people on a bus that you couldn't possibly even tip over is normal - you could not be claustrophobic & live here.
• Ecuadorians are both aggressive (like on a bus or in crowds) AND fun & care free.
• There is a KFC on almost every corner.
• They hang their clothes out to dry, yet it rains every day.
• stopping to pee on the side of the road is commonplace (and apparently also not illegal).
• Ecuador is approximately the size of the state of Nevada
• Quito is the highest legal capital with altitude at 2800 meters (9200 feet)
• The central square of Quito is located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of the equator and is known as la mitad del mundo (the middle of the world).
• the word ecuador is Spanish for equator.
• because of it's elevation and proximity to the equator, Quito has a constant cool climate with the average temp being 65 year round.  
• And they only have 2 seasons - the dry season, or summer, is June-Sept and the wet season, or winter, is October - May
• They switched to using the US dollar in 1999.
• The city bus costs $0.25
• An overnight/long distance bus (like a greyhound) costs $8.00
• A bottle of water was $0.35
• A bottle of Pilsner beer was $0.85 at the corner store.           
• our first hostal was $24/night. The second was $30 but you can find some for as little as $7-$10/night.
• gas was $1.48 for regular unleaded          

Another amazing observation to me is that I think Connie and I were the only two tourists that were only spending 9 days in Ecuador.  It really is NOT enough time to see everything, but we met an amazing number of people (all from other countries) that are traveling around Ecuador and/or all of South American for months at a time.  Many of them had quit their jobs.  Guess other countries have a better economy than we do if they are not afraid of not finding another job after they get back.

We met people from all around.  I'm sure I'm missing a few, but this is what I can remember:

Denmark
Finland
Argentina
Columbia
Canada
Mexico
London
America
Islreal
Netherlands/Holland
Germany
Australia

Brazil