Ecuador Dos

Here's some more photos from my recent class trip to Ecuador. This post focuses on a long bus ride from Quito (pictures here) to the Amazon basin.


Out the window of the bus as we descend from Quito (elevation approx. 2,800m) to the Amazon basin (approx. 500m).


A building nestled into the eastern Andes. Note the power line to the house's right, an indication of the country's eastern colonial expansion in the late 20th century.


Another (less subtle) indication of Ecuador's expansion, linked to the discovery of oil in the Oriente in 1967. This petrol processing station sits within an otherwise untouched section of the eastern Andes.


To get the oil to that plant one needs a pipeline, and here it is, suspended over this small river. Everything needed to make the pipeline happen (the guardrail and suspension structure above, for example) are also made from pipeline.


Getting closer to the rainforest.


Much of the population in the rainforest -- or Oriente region -- is rural. This church is just off the main road that connects some of these small towns.


The sun in Ecuador can be brutal during the day but it also makes for beautiful times around sunset.


The Napo River separates the Sucumbios region (which borders Columbia) from the Napo region, home to the Yusani National Park, one of the most biological diverse areas in the world.

Next time: into the rainforest.