I was in Otavalo on Monday.  Dr. Zambrano wanted someone to drive the van from Otavalo to Tena, Ecuador.  I had never thought that one thing on my bucket list would be drive over the Andes.  Yes, it was not on my bucket list.  I put it on the list Monday morning.  I was the driver.WE started up the road to Tena on a four lane highway.  The scenery was like Idaho.  Dry and no trees.  However, the higher on the Andes we got the more green it became.  The four lane turned to 2 lanes.  Big trucks were going up and would slow us down in trying to pass.  It also started to rain some.  Finally, we went over the pass and then it really got green and the rain was constant.  We had a couple of close calls but none my fault.  These crazy drivers were truly putting me to the test.  One bus pulled out from the right heading at me so I passed him on the left.  I had 11 passengers and they all yelled at the bus.  Once over the pass I thought we would soon be down in the plain area.  But no, the mountains kept coming at us.  We were in canyons forever.  Beautiful canyons and green.  It reminded me of Guatemala.  We averaged about 40 mph.  I was surprised at how good the roads were.  We were driving over the Andes for at least 2 hours.  No straight roads.A lot of hairpins.Now that the drive is behind me I would recommend to all that they put on their bucket list driving over the Andes.  No snow up there but it was cooler.  Once on the plains it was hot and muggy.  We hope to go back over the Andes on Sunday.Thanks for reading.  Will be back home on Tuesday night.Love you all.

Gordon Carter