OK, OK, so maybe there might be a couple of "better" bloggers in the whole world, but you couldn't prove it by me. 

Nancy and Mary continue to win awards for excellence each year...but, more than that, they actually perform a wonderful service for a huge number of folks.

http://watsontravels.blogspot.com/ is a wonderful travel blog that is used as a bible for many readers, as Nancy and Chuck travel to all corners of the world, and send back award winning photos and commentary.  They just seem to get to the heart of every place they visit.  In fact, they do such a good job, that I'm sure that many of their "armchair" readers feel it's the next best thing to going on the trip for themselves--I know I do!

http://southofzero.wordpress.com/ written by Mary, with comments and suggestions by hubby Steve, has become the premiere blog clearing house for bloggers who are writing about Ecuador, or by people wishing to move here soon, but who wish to describe all of the trials and tribulations of "gettin' ready to git ready"!  I am sure that thousands of folks "tune in" to Mary's blog each morning to get the "executive summary" about Ecuadorean blogdom...

The fun began yesterday when they all arrived, and we showed Nancy and Chuck to their digs in the new, just completed Alta Suite, and Mary her bedroom for the night in one of our guest bedrooms.

The weather was perfect as we met for drinks on the deck to discuss blogging, people,  and places we know, while watching the waves crash onto the beach...take a look...

When the ocean is literally at you "toe-tips", it is impossible not to take a sample of the bathtub warm water...

These two ladies right here are responsible for a whale of lot of good writing, good fun, and good info, and for giving a huge number of people a taste for what's it like to live in and love Ecuador...thanks mucho, Nancy and Mary...

We had a  beautiful clear sky as the sun dropped into the sea, so we all kept our eyeballs pealed looking for that Green Flash...and by golly, 4 out of 5 of us saw a brilliant emerald green dot appear on the top of the sun as it slid into the water... 

We chose to stay home for home cooking Saturday night, and enjoyed one of Roxanne's most popular dishes...ummmmmm good!

It was a real treat to hear all the stories and background from these two wonderful bloggers.  So many of us just toil along thinking that the weird things that happen in blog-world, only happen to us--now I find...everyone gets to participate...

After having a light breakfast, the group plans to head out in their new car to Cuenca, where they are going to have a huge hoop-la of Cuenca bloggers at the California Kitchen.

I have a feeling that the get together of bloggers will be a lot like Gringo night where you can't hear anyone talk, so I have a suggestion for you Cuenca Bloggers...

If you have a few questions that you would like to ask Mary, why don't you just write them down and pass them along,  when you can...that way she can get to you in a sane and orderly environment...a little later...

If a person reads more than the 500 entries that we have here in the blog, he will have no doubt that we love Ecuador...the following news story, printed yesterday, gives an unbiased, outsider's point of view.  (Note:  the author is not a part of the US press corps...)

Please check on highlighted items to learn more...it is worth the five minutes of your time...

Could Ecuador be the most radical and exciting place on Earth?

A decade ago, Ecuador was a banana republic, an economic basket case. Today, it has much to teach the rest of the world

Ecuador must be one of the most exciting places on Earth right now, in terms of working towards a new development paradigm. It shows how much can be achieved with political will, even in uncertain economic times.

Just 10 years ago, Ecuador was more or less a basket case, a quintessential "banana republic" (it happens to be the world's largest exporter of bananas), characterised by political instability, inequality, a poorly-performing economy, and the ever-looming impact of the US on its domestic politics.

In 2000, in response to hyperinflation and balance of payments problems, the government dollarised the economy, replacing the sucre with the US currency as legal tender. This subdued inflation, but it did nothing to address the core economic problems, and further constrained the domestic policy space.

A major turning point came with the election of the economist Rafael Correa as president. After taking over in January 2007, his government ushered in a series of changes, based on a new constitution (the country's 20th, approved in 2008) that was itself mandated by a popular referendum. A hallmark of the changes that have occurred since then is that major policies have first been put through the referendum process. This has given the government the political ability to take on major vested interests and powerful lobbies.

The government is now the most stable in recent times and will soon become the longest serving in Ecuador's tumultuous history. The president's approval ratings are well over 70%. All this is due to the reorientation of the government's approach, made possible by a constitution remarkable for its recognition of human rights and the rights of nature, and its acceptance of plurality and cultural diversity.

Consider just some economic changes brought about in the past four years, beginning with the renegotiation of oil contracts with multinational companies. Ecuador is an oil exporter, but had benefited relatively little from this because of the high shares of oil sales that went to foreign oil companies. A new law in July 2010 dramatically changed the terms, increasing the government's share from 13% to 87% of gross oil revenues.

Seven of the 16 foreign oil companies decided to pull out, and their fields were taken over by state-run companies. But the others stayed on and, as a result, state revenues increased by $870m (£563m) in 2011.

Second, and possibly even more impressively, the government managed a dramatic increase in direct tax receipts. In fact, this has been even more important in revenue terms than oil receipts. Direct taxes (mainly corporation taxes) increased from around 35% of total taxes in 2006 to more than 40% in 2011. This was largely because of better enforcement, since the nexus between big business and the public tax administration was broken.

Third, these increased government revenues were put to good use in infrastructure investment and social spending. Ecuador now has the highest proportion of public investment to GDP (10%) in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, social spending has doubled since 2006. This has enabled real progress towards the constitutional goals of free education at all levels, and access to free healthcare for all citizens. Significant increases in public housing have followed the constitution's affirmation of the right of all citizens to dignified housing with proper amenities.

There are numerous other measures: expanding direct public employment; increasing minimum wages and legally enforcing social security provision for all workers; diversifying the economy to reduce dependence on oil exports, and diversifying trading partners to reduce dependence on the US; enlarging public banking operations to reach more small and medium entrepreneurs; auditing external debt to reduce debt service payments; and abandoning unfair bilateral investment agreements. Other efforts include reform of the justice system.

One exciting recent initiative is the Yasuní-ITT biosphere reserve, perhaps the world's first attempt to avoid greenhouse emissions by leaving oil underground. This not only protects the extraordinary biodiversity of the area but also the habitats of its indigenous peoples. The scheme proposes to use ecotourism to make human activity compatible with nature.

All this may sound too good to be true, and certainly the process of transformation has only just begun. There are bound to be conflicts with those whose profits and power are threatened, as well as other hurdles along the way. But for those who believe that we are not condemned to the gloomy status quo, and that societies can do things differently, what is happening in Ecuador provides inspiration and even guidance. The rest of the world has much to learn from this ongoing radical experiment.

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There is no doubt that Ecuador rates number one as a retirement destination.  Great country, great people, very reasonable living costs, really healthy environment, and a government that helps the people, but doesn't insist on regulating every aspect of their lives...

But...where are the pundits when it comes to rating the "Having Fun" index?  Who knows?

However, Ecuador is a "having fun" kind of place 

For example, I went to Montanita to have some translations made, and was driving to the Montanita Spanish School, when I was blocked by a photo shoot.   I was content to just wait and watch, but the whole crew broke down the light and photo "umbrellas" just to let me pass.  They were just too nice, so I parked and went over to thank them for being so courteous.

They were shooting some kind of travel documentary, and as we talked, they asked if I would like to pose with their model...Of course, they didn't have to ask me twice!!!

Here we ask the question "Are we having fun yet"  and the answer "You bet your ass!!!"

This is another shot with a painted manikin across the street from the Casa Blanca...  

So Yes, going to the store here is a lot more fun than standing in line at Wal-Mart!!!

Rox and I received a two page invitation from the Aquarium Director to attend a symposium on marine wildlife.  The event would take place Saturday, and the highlight of the day would be the speeding on their way of the 10 baby Sea Turtles, that we took to them on New Year's Day...

We were busy as bird-dogs with guests that day, so we were only able to watch the reuniting of our babies to the sea for their long journey to adulthood...

The folks who had been in the classes all arrived with faces and bodies painted.  Take a look...

Rox posed with Alex, Agripina's grandson...

Ten lucky people each had a baby turtle, and placed them down to wait for an approaching wave.  It came right on up with a sweeping motion, and helped all the babies get in fast.  It was a gentle ebb of a wave, and we could watch as the babies were carried about 40 feet, until they met an approaching wave.   We waited for the incoming wave to bring back the turtles, but they were a lot stronger now, and they swam under the wave, just as the surfers do.   They've got a hard row to hoe, but hopefully, they will be better equipped to make it, now that they are stronger.

It didn't take long for all of the participants to join them (about 30 minutes later)...

 All in all, a pretty darn good day...

Rox and I decided that we could bypass the craziness of Montanita on New Year's Eve, so we opted to cook at home, watch the gorgeous sunset, and just be safe and sane...

Well, Mama Natura had other plans for us!

In the late afternoon, I was walking by our pump house, when I heard a loud thump on the grass behind me.  Turns out, that two fighting iguana males had fallen about 20 feet with a thud, 'cause they forgot to hold on...

I turned around, and they were both fine, just catching their breath.  However, as soon as they got their wind back, they jumped on each other and started locking jaws again.

The hose was right there, so I turned it on and hit them with a steady stream of cool water...with absolutely no effect!  They just looked at me...so, I figured that they are exactly the same size, and it's mating season, so this is how I left them...

 It was one of those really super nights to be watching the ocean and the waves, 'cause Mother Nature had some wonderful sunset colors in mind...take a look...

We saw the green flash, as the last arc of the sun goes beneath the waves...    The green part comes from the colors of the spectrum being sliced away.  Remember in the third grade, when your teacher told you that the visible colors of the spectrum are remembered by Mr. ROY G BIV.

As the sun goes down, ROY is eliminated for a second (Red, Orange, Yellow), and you are left with Green!  Hence the "green flash" (the other colors are Blue, Indigo, Violet--but you knew that!).

We had one of our favorite dinners cooking as we watched a neighbor girl taking a run down the beach in front of us.  As she got to the right hand portion of our beach, she suddenly began to jump up and down and wave her arms.  She was trying to get her family's attention, but they ignored her.  We put the glasses on her, and saw a bunch of baby sea turtles heading to the water.

The mama sea turtle comes up at night to lay eggs, and then covers about 100 of them, so that predators can not find them.  In about 8 weeks they hatch, but wait to absorb their yolk (for energy), and for the sand to cool, thus telling them that it is getting dark, and that most predators will be gone.

These little guys come out of the hole and head downhill, or toward the white caps of breaking waves.  Last night, however, our surf had really picked up, and the little fellows were being rolled over and over and kept washing back in.

Only 2 percent of these make it to adulthood.  So...Rox ran back to the house, got a plastic bucket and filled it with sea water, and we collected 10 babies, to give them a fighting chance.

Almost everything out there will eat or kill them--crabs, birds, dogs, car tires, plus, who knows what happens when they get in the water?

It is vitally important that they use their "frenzy" to strengthen their flippers.  Our ten little guys did not stop swimming for 16 hours straight!

 Here are some shots telling the story...

It's a good sign when the babies survive the first night and are still swimming strongly.

This morning we hot-footed it down to the "rescue" branch of the Valdivia Aquarium--about 10 miles south of us.  Here you see our bucket next to two of theirs.  Their turtles are two months old.

It made us feel good that the guys here knew exactly what to do to nurture the babies.  They eat shrimp, by the way, and we have lots of that here!

 Notice how their coloring is more distinct.

This is Rox transferring them to their new home for about the next six months...They take down our information and email us about progress for donated mammals.

Rox is signing the register--I guess we are still considered the "owners".    Before we left, we made a contribution toward food and care for our babies...

She also took a shot of a resident penguin and a couple of pelicans.  They usually reside permanently when they are damaged enough so they can't survive in the wild.

 As I was reading a couple of articles about "hatchlings", I was interested when they said that after the baby turtles go into the ocean, they are gone, without a trace, for 10 years!  They re-surface when they are about as big as a dinner plate.  These are called the "lost years". 

All and All, a very nice ending for the year 2011, and a terrific beginning for 2012--let's all hope it continues!!!