Well, it's barely two more weeks until we leave, and we are getting ready. I have been planning where to stay and what to do, as well as ordering a new memory card and extra batteries for my cameras. I will take both my Canon Powershot G9 and an older Powershot S50, but fortunately, they both use the same battery. I have several already, but they are at least 3 years old, and new ones hold a charge for a lot longer, so it's worth having a couple of new ones in reserve.

Our tentative itinerary has us spending the first couple of days in Quito, then a couple of days in Ambato, a couple of hours south of Quito. Then on south for another seven hours by bus to Cuenca, where we will stay for a week or so, with possibly a side trip to Guayaquil and who knows where else. We will then head south for another 3-4 hours to Loja, where we will stay for 2-3 days, and then fly back to Quito and then north to Otovalo for the last 4-5 days. All of this is subject to change, but becoming less so as we get closer. Based on what I have found on the Internet, it looks like our hotels will cost on average a little less than $50 per night.