[DATW TEAM] Holiday dispatches from Ecuador!

Dear friends of Drive Around the World,

New Year's Eve 2003 finds us in the port city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, where
we have just unloaded our Land Rovers from the Panama ship, and prepared
them for the south-bound drive across Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and
Argentina. Tonight is a holiday, of course, and Ecuadorians across the
city are preparing to light off fireworks and burn colorful effigies in
honor of the year gone by -- and the New Year to come. It should be
plenty noisy, and we'll be writing about this occasion soon in our
expedition journals. (A preview hint: The Drive Around the World team has
built an "effigy" of Parkinson's Disease, which we will symbolically burn
at midnight!)

While you're waiting for a New Year's report, we invite you to get "up to
speed" with our latest journal dispatches from Panama City, Quito, and
Guayaquil. Included are tales (and photos) from our very successful
Christmas dinner in the Taxo Hostel of Quito, Ecuador.

Here they are:

"New Year's anticipation (and stomach sickness) in Ecuador"
http://www.bootsnall.org/datw/archives/000345.shtml
Adam Burgess (who is unfortunately suffering from a stomach bug) reports
on his adventures on the beaches on Montanita and in the streets of
Guayaquil in the days leading up to Ecuador's New Year's celebration.

"Unloading Land Rovers (and an unexpected Parkinson's connection) in
Guayaquil"
http://www.bootsnall.org/datw/archives/000344.shtml
Drive Around the World translator extraordinaire Neil Dana gives a
detailed description of the bureaucratic process at the ship-docks of
Ecuador -- and has an unexpected encounter with an Ecuadorian Parkinson's
patient in Guayaquil.

"Perception vs. Reality in Ecuador"
http://www.bootsnall.org/datw/archives/000343.shtml
Reflecting on a day-trip to the equator and an Ecuadorian ballet, Justin
Mounts shows how what you expect is not always what you get when you
travel.

"Post-Christmas DVD haze in Quito"
http://www.bootsnall.org/datw/archives/000342.shtml
Colin McAuliffe chose to recover from his Christmas holiday with a very
special hobby -- watching movies (six of them, to be exact).

"Christmas Day in the El Taxo Hostel, Ecuador"
http://www.bootsnall.org/datw/archives/000340.shtml
The Drive Around the World had a very special Christmas celebration --
complete with turkey and the fixings -- at a homey hostel in Quito,
Ecuador. Nancy Olson reports from the depths of the communal kitchen and
the "Secret Santa" stockings.

"A Drive Around the World Christmas photo album"
http://www.bootsnall.org/datw/archives/000341.shtml
This is a special photo feature from our DATW Christmas celebration.
Click each description to get a large "pop-up" photo.

"Last-minute Christmas Eve shopping in Quito"
http://www.bootsnall.org/datw/archives/000339.shtml
Todd Borgie reports on the lengths our team members went in order to make
our Christmas feast special.

"Quito, Ecuador: Altitude and airplane arrivals (and a few words about
fireworks)"
http://www.bootsnall.org/datw/archives/000338.shtml
Adam Burgess shares tales (some of them explosive) from our Panama to
Ecuador transit.

A humid Christmas season in Panama
http://www.bootsnall.org/datw/archives/000336.shtml
>From Panama, Chanda Baggarly describes the scene as locals prepare for the
Christmas holiday.

For the latest news from the Drive Around the World team on any given day,
surf to our main journal page at:

http://news.drivearoundtheworld.com/

...We are trying to keep it updated at quickly as possible!

From the southern hemisphere, we send you our love and best wishes for
2004...

Best, on behalf of the whole DATW team,

Rolf Potts