Vom Bad der Inkas fahren wir noch über die Höhen der ecuadorianischen Anden mit einer herrlichen Aussicht. Die Sonne färbt die Berge golden. In der kleinen Stadt Oña machen wir eine kurze Pause, um Leon für eine Hühnersuppe zu begeistern und um Obst zu kaufen.

Scheinbar bereitet man sich hier auf ein Fest vor. Es ist auch Samstag Abend. Ein guter Tag zum Feiern. Wenn man kein Baby hat.

Day 6 Without a Breakdown

As we drive over the mountains we can’t help but hold our breath. It’s so quiet and peaceful and we have a wide view. Since it’s Saturday evening nobody drives through the area. Everyone is at home or in a place to celebrate. We have nature to ourselves.

We stop at a small mountain lake to look into the distance and take photos. We like Ecuador.

In the evening we find a place near the river Leon. Yes, the river is also called Leon and our Leon is so happy about it that, much to Sara’s annoyance, he doesn’t even want to go to sleep. There is also an Ecuadorian family celebrating a birthday. I am spontaneously invited to a beer, receive great tips for the trip and take selfies with the people.

But then I have to go back to the family chaos and help Sara to put the little lion to sleep, while the family packs their things when the sun sets and leaves us alone with the nature of the Andes.

At night, cars occasionally come to the square, which seems to be well known to the residents, but nobody bothers us. Sara’s night is still tough. Like many nights before, Leon won’t let her rest and wakes her up every hour just to have a little drink. And that despite the fact that he drinks well during the day in the warm temperatures. But Sara walks on her gums and without sleep everything is no fun. The photos of our trip are beautiful and we enjoy seeing our little boy discovering this new world with us.

But it’s very, very exhausting and one of the biggest motivations for us to keep going is the knowledge that having the child at home would also be exhausting, but there is less to discover. I really like the van life, but combining it with a baby is tough. Even at home I had the feeling that my head was like a computer on which you started all the programs at the same time and the whole machine only worked very sluggishly.

Maybe alcohol will help. Tomorrow we drive to a tequila distillery located on the mountain.