Offices for Aztecs! built at Ingapirca near Cuenca in Ecuador. Reassembled by park workers. Aztecs built walls which supported pitched roofs.

Excellent stonecutting!!

Moderate stonecutting.

This wall was rebuilt about 30 years ago by park resturation people. Note the careful work of current government workers or private contractors who can use all the modern tools, equipment and techniques.

This is a wall put together by ancient Aztecs who could neither read or write. Well, they could read, but with no one doing any writing, there was no point.

The Aztecs never figured out the keystone arch principal.

Just over my left shoulder is the most significant Aztec ruins in Ecuador: Ingapirca (pronounced
"Aztec ruins near Cuenca." All the foregoing photos are of this place, but I couldn't get the "click and drag" tool to work.

Before any cooking project is begun, tea with lemon must be prepared. this is the most effective method of getting all the juice out of the lemon. Actually, there are no lemons and limes in South America. Only one fruit and it is called a lemon. The hat is from Guatamala. Apartments and most homes are unheated.
Some fruit has small seeds and must be strained out after using the blender.

If the seeds are left too long in the blbreakender or the speed too fast, they break up and impart a sour taste.

These blisters are the result of too much (high altitude) UV rays on both arms. Yes, cancer is the risk and I am under a skin doctor's care. Now I use sunblock at 30 power and long sleeves whenever I go out.

My skin history is good. Always wore a hat. Burned only afew times in my life. No personal history of this problem. Grew up around 50 latitude (Seattle).

After searching for nine hours, I finially found the "lost tribe."

At first they were bashfule, but later allowed their photos to be taken.

This is a picture of two warriors!

Dance to the "Sun God" who rules the day.

Dance to the "Moon God," who governs the night.

Discovery Channel, eat your heart out!!

"Curandero" meangs Curer in the idioma.

This is the soul cleansing ritual.

The view from my 5th floor room (at $10 a night). Quito is about ten times longer than wide. It was originally settled by pre-Incas and then by the Incas, who burned it down rather than surrender it to the Spanish. Most of what i learned in school about the Incas and the Spanish conquest was wrong. Only now are the many sources being compared and contradictions being examinded. 52% of the population is still 100% indigenous, 8% pure European and the rest meztico (the mix).

Grazing is one of the few commercial acivities in the steep and heavily wooded forests of Mindo. This is sub-tropical because of the altitude.

Berries were right in season. We ate until we were ready to burst!

No bridge to cross the Rio Cinto. We had to remove our boots and wade across with the packs still on our backs. The crossing was much wider and faster than shown here.

I didn't see the animal, but these prints were FRESH! Note that there are no claw prints. (Dogs cannot retract their claws, cats can.) This one was five inches across and all along our trail.

"The map must be wrong!"

"Yes, I'm sure the map is wrong!"

This was the best of the trail. Most of it was muddy with ponds several inches deep. My leather boots became wet, then my socks. I developed five bleeding sores and two other blisters! This was the worst of my entire experience. At last, I hitch-hiked a ride the last four miles before the blisters ruptured. It now has been five days and i still limp!!

One of the mos dangerous things in Latin America is crossing the street. The eleven at the top of this sign tells me that I have exactly 11 seconds to get across the street before the vehicular traffic has permission to run me down!

Latins are fond of statues and public monuments. This one comemorates the first time a Spaniard and native traded an umbrella for sex.

Bridges are narrow. Contrary to their conduct on the highways, folks wait patentiently until they can cross. There are no signals and little room for pedistrians.

Another public display. Castro was one of the faces on the banner.