Ecuador III

The final part of our trip was spent in a small mountain town called Vilcabamba. Back in 1973, National Geographic published an article about many locals who lived well past 100. Since then a handful of hippies have set up hotels/hostels/resorts there. We stayed at Madre Tierra Hotel and Spa, and thanks to our connections, we were treated like royalty. Mike Don and Becca worked at the hotel back in February as consultants/travel writers and helped with rewriting menus, brochures, and even a bilingual literary magazine featuring work from local artists. We hiked during the day and were treated to meals that were always top-notch (and accompanied by fresh bread, fresh tea, and fresh hummus... I mentioned the hippies, right?)

Here's the traveling party on one of our last nights at Madre Tierra. Yes, those are flowers in my hair.