You know that Monty Python bit where the only thing on the menu is "Spam, Spam, Spam..."? Substitute "meat" for "spam" and that is what it was like to eat in Ecuador. Let me be clear: I am not complaining but the country is definitely not a place for vegetarians.

We were not shy when it came to food and tried as much of the local cuisine as possible. We ate some grilled chontacuros (worms) with yucca, enjoyed some cui (guinea pig) from a roadside stand, stopped for the famous helado de salcedo (ice cream), tasted roughly seven different types of locro (potato and cheese soup), drank a few fiora sodas, had the opportunity to sample guagua de pan and colada morada during the Day of the Dead, and ate the amazingly delicious hornado (slow cooked pig).

Fortunately, we were able to only gain (what felt like) a combined 30 pounds on the trip as we hiked some monstrous volcanoes, biked to the amazon, toured some amazing cities (including a stay at the exquisite Casa Gangotena in Quito), shopped at the Otavalo market, and even slept in a haunted hacienda.

And just in case we were going through Galapagos withdrawal, we got our fill of animals in mainland Ecuador including tons of dogs and even a sighting of Antonio Banderas' famous horses, Shakira, Beckham, and Hitler.