Ecuador, Christmas 2009

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stiring, not even a mouse. All the kayakers waited with nervous anticipation, to see what would be become of their Ecuadorian paddling vacation.

There was boofing galore...

Each run was so great they were begging for more...

Ok, so I suck at rhyming, so here's the real story. We had a typical Ecuadorian Christmas (which for us is always atypical and just depends on who is visiting us at the time, and what we happen to see).

First we were visited by the Christmas Beetle. Here's Jeff of Cresent City, CA posing with him for some good luck on the river.

Then we followed some locals around for a little Christmas shopping--this is practically like going to FAO Schwartz in NYC isn't it?

Then Tam, also of CC, CA donned her "pretty in pink" shirt, just to get into the festive spirit (or maybe she did it because it was super hot, just like it always is on Christmas day).

Then we saw some kids getting a lift home from school for Christmas vacation--typical.

Then, Tam boofed the Rio Misahualli

Rudolf frolicked in a waterfall,

Thomas ran a sweet rapid,

Jeff picked his way down "just another massive boulder garden,"

And we saw Santa's little helper.

So, all and all it was a pretty sweet Christmas vacation. Thanks to Rudolf and Thomas of Austria, and Tam and Jeff of the US for sharing it with us.

Stay tuned for a typical Ecuadorian New Year report next week!

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