Ecuador late April & early May 2019.
Written at the end of the trip mostly, and added to the blog a few months later.
2 nights in Quito before a week long tour of the Galapagos; then 3 nights again in Quito to acclimatize before a week on our own south of Quito by local buses with the goal of seeing villages and doing the 3-day Quilotoa Trek (sleeping and eating in guest houses).
link to Ecuador pic’s
⁃ Quito, the Capital sits at 9200’ - the highest capital touching the Equator. ~2 million people live here; the Old City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
⁃ Craig said he’d place Quito ‘ahead’ of other big cities we have visited in e.g. SE Asia, or Windhoek in Namibia. I think the nicest parts of Cape Town were more modern than La Mariscal, a nice part we walked in after being driven to our high end hotel by the MT Sobek guide.
⁃ 2 years earlier the country was sad to learn their popular president (now in exile) corruptly financed infrastructure improvements. Neither of our MT Sobek guides had approved of the administration even before the scandals, but they had hoped/thought their country was on its way to becoming more modern. Fernando has moved his daughters to Scotland because he feels the schools are not what they should be locally. Economi cally Ecuador is also suffering now because per a NYT article I read while there, the Chinese built a huge dam (not fully functional) against the advice of all experts. Ecuador pays China back in oil - some 90% of all oil they produce goes to China to compensate for this, and other projects.
⁃ Young people today cannot find good jobs, and we were told there are far too many bureaucrats with little to do. There are Venezuelan and Cuban physicians and the local MDs have seen their salaries cut.
⁃ The city is super hilly; the country is volcanic. I thought the diesel fumes were bad and fortunately Craig is not embarrassed when I walk around with my cloth face mask purchased in Chiang Mai. We treat our water and enjoy the luxury of the 2 fancy hotels included as part of the trip to the Galapagos in 2 days. There are inexpensive buses everywhere
⁃ Twice we were told Uber is much safer than taxis; one Ecuadorian driver told us both locals and foreigners have been killed by cab drivers, especially at night - in robberies. Before this, we had taken one cab in Quito with an older driver, no problems.
⁃ Had 2 Airbnb’s in Quito; both were OK and we especially liked Miguel’s loft.
⁃ Rural people have moved to Quito; live next to a huge market. They buy food, stuff there and spend their days trying to sell it in central Quito - they cannot make much money. Despite admiring the huge, golden church interiors, Craig felt one day in Quito would have been enough. I was happy to see all the young people near the University, and we found a very good vegetarian restaurant in this area. Quito definitely was a good place to acclimatize in.
⁃ Ecuador uses the US dollar, but it was difficult to get change for the $10 and $20 bills we got from the ATMs outside of Quito.
THE GALAPAGOS:
The most high end tour we have been on, and likely ever will be. MT Sobek; Fernando Ortiz was a phenomenal guide - knowledgeable and nice. We visited the western part of the archipelago - over 90% of which is a National Park, but people live on a couple of the islands.
⁃ Craig especially loved the snorkeling; we saw sea lions play very close to us; plenty of sea turtles, penguins, colorful crabs, and birds. I was amazed by the contrast of cacti on the volcanic shore next to turquoise water.
⁃ The Park Service sets a schedule so you don’t crowd the animals, or have to be amongst lots of other foreigners. We had 12 people in our group; slept on a big yacht; the food was ‘corporate’ per Craig - we enjoyed the fresh fruit and veggies (safe on the boat), but didn’t get to taste authentic Ecuadorian food. Excursions throughout the day - daily snorkeling, short hikes, trips along the shore in ‘pengas’ - motorized rubber boats, a couple of quick paddles in kayaks. The Park Service has successfully reintroduced iguanas to islands where they were extinct from prior human interference. The large Galapagos Tortoises and the Iguanas (both land and sea such) look very prehistoric to me.
⁃ We are happy we went and hope the Park can withstand the dramatically increased number of foreign visitors arriving on their own. The infrastructure is still inadequate to handle the land based tourism and unfortunately the Park Service can’t assure people follow the rules. Global warming, and illegal fishing are also concerns.
⁃ Per Fernando, all activities take place very early, and late in the day before May, due to the heat. We were able to spread things out over the day, and had gorgeous sunny days, but cool nights.
⁃ We had wet suits which were helpful both for warmth and for buoyancy snorkeling. Would have been fun to have an underwater camera.
OUR TOUR SOUTH OF QUITO, IN THE ANDES
We took a local bus to Latacunga, and another bus to Sigchos. Hostal Dino’s was very basic, but OK.
The next day we walked to Isinlivi, where we stayed at the excellent Hostal Taita Christobal.
From there we walked to Chugchilan, and another excellent guest house: Hostal El Vaquero.
The last day of walking took us to Quilotoa, and the famous Crater there, which also is accessible by bus and car. Seems like the guesthouse there was under new management, in the middle of construction, and due to smells, mold etc., we left after one night. The weather wasn’t the best, so we never completed the walk around the crater, but had done approx a quarter when arriving from Chugchilan.
People older than we are passed us on the steep narrow paths and unpaved roads we hiked on. We never met the time expectation the hosts told us the trip should take.. The mountain sides were very steep, and seemingly cultivated more often than not.
Craig navigated using an app from REI, which showed him when we were off the trail, as opposed to the maps.me app ‘everyone’ recommends. We had cell cover almost everywhere
with a local SIM card and used 1 GB/week. Craig says he wished he had bought a card also for the Galapagos, because the WiFi on board rarely worked.
Had wanted to see the Cotopaxi National Park, and found a nice new guesthouse near there, Hostal Cuscungo. Saul and Angie, the young owners were great, the place clean and the food very good. It was expensive to visit the Park, but we got views of the famous volcano on a guided walk we booked with 2 nice young women at the guesthouse. We walked to the base of another volcano, Ruminahui. There are no hiking trails near the entrance, so you pay for a guide to drive you into the park. We did see people walking out after camping, though.
From here we took another bus to Pasochoa, and our last Airbnb there. En route we visited a Forest Preserve with rain forest, but no Eucalyptus - now spread everywhere in the area, but not native to the country. We were told a farmer clearing wet land planted a bunch a long time ago, to help dry his land.
We saw how poor the country is both when walking through villages, and from the buses. We could only communicate at the guesthouses, because no one speaks English, we don’t speak Spanish or Quechua, and my decades-old basic Italian only allowed me to understand a few words here and there.
On the local buses, vendors sell food, drinks, cell phone accessories, toys etc. They jump on/off seemingly anywhere.
We saw lots of young backpackers, mostly again Europeans, but also met a nice Kiwi nurse. Craig overheard the only group of young Americans we encountered, in Quilotoa, discuss conspiracy theories in earnest - very sad.
Craig enjoyed listening to a talkative German cyclist in Cuscungo - he had biked 23.000km, mostly along highways; currently cycling from Patagonia to Colombia; from there he was to fly to Utah, and start biking hopefully to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska time permitting. When we met him, he was waiting for spare bike parts from Germany, and had hooked up with a French guy, with whom he was to climb Cotopaxi with a guide (technical). The guys met through another guest house, and were both experienced climbers from the Alps.
The fruit was excellent and fresh also at the guest houses, and we decided to break some rules, and fortunately stayed healthy. The guest houses along the Quilotoa Trek only seem to cater to foreigners. We didn’t encounter anything else special food wise - and several young people we met said the food in Peru had been much tastier. But Ecuador produces excellent dark, organic chocolate, which is expensive even by our standards. Apparently Belgian and other high end manufacturers buy their chocolate here. We also brought home tasty local coffee.
I was relieved that all the guest houses were non smoking, and people also followed the non smoking rules on the buses.
We had planned to visit Ecuador as part of the longer trip to South America in the fall of 2019, but thanks to the flexibility one has in retirement, we could take advantage of a last minute special to the Galapagos.
Now I am trying to absorb Spanish vocabulary using an online system. Am afraid we’ll be in trouble without better communication skills.
Written at the end of the trip mostly, and added to the blog a few months later.
2 nights in Quito before a week long tour of the Galapagos; then 3 nights again in Quito to acclimatize before a week on our own south of Quito by local buses with the goal of seeing villages and doing the 3-day Quilotoa Trek (sleeping and eating in guest houses).
link to Ecuador pic’s
⁃ Quito, the Capital sits at 9200’ - the highest capital touching the Equator. ~2 million people live here; the Old City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
⁃ Craig said he’d place Quito ‘ahead’ of other big cities we have visited in e.g. SE Asia, or Windhoek in Namibia. I think the nicest parts of Cape Town were more modern than La Mariscal, a nice part we walked in after being driven to our high end hotel by the MT Sobek guide.
⁃ 2 years earlier the country was sad to learn their popular president (now in exile) corruptly financed infrastructure improvements. Neither of our MT Sobek guides had approved of the administration even before the scandals, but they had hoped/thought their country was on its way to becoming more modern. Fernando has moved his daughters to Scotland because he feels the schools are not what they should be locally. Economi cally Ecuador is also suffering now because per a NYT article I read while there, the Chinese built a huge dam (not fully functional) against the advice of all experts. Ecuador pays China back in oil - some 90% of all oil they produce goes to China to compensate for this, and other projects.
⁃ Young people today cannot find good jobs, and we were told there are far too many bureaucrats with little to do. There are Venezuelan and Cuban physicians and the local MDs have seen their salaries cut.
⁃ The city is super hilly; the country is volcanic. I thought the diesel fumes were bad and fortunately Craig is not embarrassed when I walk around with my cloth face mask purchased in Chiang Mai. We treat our water and enjoy the luxury of the 2 fancy hotels included as part of the trip to the Galapagos in 2 days. There are inexpensive buses everywhere
⁃ Twice we were told Uber is much safer than taxis; one Ecuadorian driver told us both locals and foreigners have been killed by cab drivers, especially at night - in robberies. Before this, we had taken one cab in Quito with an older driver, no problems.
⁃ Had 2 Airbnb’s in Quito; both were OK and we especially liked Miguel’s loft.
⁃ Rural people have moved to Quito; live next to a huge market. They buy food, stuff there and spend their days trying to sell it in central Quito - they cannot make much money. Despite admiring the huge, golden church interiors, Craig felt one day in Quito would have been enough. I was happy to see all the young people near the University, and we found a very good vegetarian restaurant in this area. Quito definitely was a good place to acclimatize in.
⁃ Ecuador uses the US dollar, but it was difficult to get change for the $10 and $20 bills we got from the ATMs outside of Quito.
THE GALAPAGOS:
The most high end tour we have been on, and likely ever will be. MT Sobek; Fernando Ortiz was a phenomenal guide - knowledgeable and nice. We visited the western part of the archipelago - over 90% of which is a National Park, but people live on a couple of the islands.
⁃ Craig especially loved the snorkeling; we saw sea lions play very close to us; plenty of sea turtles, penguins, colorful crabs, and birds. I was amazed by the contrast of cacti on the volcanic shore next to turquoise water.
⁃ The Park Service sets a schedule so you don’t crowd the animals, or have to be amongst lots of other foreigners. We had 12 people in our group; slept on a big yacht; the food was ‘corporate’ per Craig - we enjoyed the fresh fruit and veggies (safe on the boat), but didn’t get to taste authentic Ecuadorian food. Excursions throughout the day - daily snorkeling, short hikes, trips along the shore in ‘pengas’ - motorized rubber boats, a couple of quick paddles in kayaks. The Park Service has successfully reintroduced iguanas to islands where they were extinct from prior human interference. The large Galapagos Tortoises and the Iguanas (both land and sea such) look very prehistoric to me.
⁃ We are happy we went and hope the Park can withstand the dramatically increased number of foreign visitors arriving on their own. The infrastructure is still inadequate to handle the land based tourism and unfortunately the Park Service can’t assure people follow the rules. Global warming, and illegal fishing are also concerns.
⁃ Per Fernando, all activities take place very early, and late in the day before May, due to the heat. We were able to spread things out over the day, and had gorgeous sunny days, but cool nights.
⁃ We had wet suits which were helpful both for warmth and for buoyancy snorkeling. Would have been fun to have an underwater camera.
OUR TOUR SOUTH OF QUITO, IN THE ANDES
We took a local bus to Latacunga, and another bus to Sigchos. Hostal Dino’s was very basic, but OK.
The next day we walked to Isinlivi, where we stayed at the excellent Hostal Taita Christobal.
From there we walked to Chugchilan, and another excellent guest house: Hostal El Vaquero.
The last day of walking took us to Quilotoa, and the famous Crater there, which also is accessible by bus and car. Seems like the guesthouse there was under new management, in the middle of construction, and due to smells, mold etc., we left after one night. The weather wasn’t the best, so we never completed the walk around the crater, but had done approx a quarter when arriving from Chugchilan.
People older than we are passed us on the steep narrow paths and unpaved roads we hiked on. We never met the time expectation the hosts told us the trip should take.. The mountain sides were very steep, and seemingly cultivated more often than not.
Craig navigated using an app from REI, which showed him when we were off the trail, as opposed to the maps.me app ‘everyone’ recommends. We had cell cover almost everywhere
with a local SIM card and used 1 GB/week. Craig says he wished he had bought a card also for the Galapagos, because the WiFi on board rarely worked.
Had wanted to see the Cotopaxi National Park, and found a nice new guesthouse near there, Hostal Cuscungo. Saul and Angie, the young owners were great, the place clean and the food very good. It was expensive to visit the Park, but we got views of the famous volcano on a guided walk we booked with 2 nice young women at the guesthouse. We walked to the base of another volcano, Ruminahui. There are no hiking trails near the entrance, so you pay for a guide to drive you into the park. We did see people walking out after camping, though.
From here we took another bus to Pasochoa, and our last Airbnb there. En route we visited a Forest Preserve with rain forest, but no Eucalyptus - now spread everywhere in the area, but not native to the country. We were told a farmer clearing wet land planted a bunch a long time ago, to help dry his land.
We saw how poor the country is both when walking through villages, and from the buses. We could only communicate at the guesthouses, because no one speaks English, we don’t speak Spanish or Quechua, and my decades-old basic Italian only allowed me to understand a few words here and there.
On the local buses, vendors sell food, drinks, cell phone accessories, toys etc. They jump on/off seemingly anywhere.
We saw lots of young backpackers, mostly again Europeans, but also met a nice Kiwi nurse. Craig overheard the only group of young Americans we encountered, in Quilotoa, discuss conspiracy theories in earnest - very sad.
Craig enjoyed listening to a talkative German cyclist in Cuscungo - he had biked 23.000km, mostly along highways; currently cycling from Patagonia to Colombia; from there he was to fly to Utah, and start biking hopefully to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska time permitting. When we met him, he was waiting for spare bike parts from Germany, and had hooked up with a French guy, with whom he was to climb Cotopaxi with a guide (technical). The guys met through another guest house, and were both experienced climbers from the Alps.
The fruit was excellent and fresh also at the guest houses, and we decided to break some rules, and fortunately stayed healthy. The guest houses along the Quilotoa Trek only seem to cater to foreigners. We didn’t encounter anything else special food wise - and several young people we met said the food in Peru had been much tastier. But Ecuador produces excellent dark, organic chocolate, which is expensive even by our standards. Apparently Belgian and other high end manufacturers buy their chocolate here. We also brought home tasty local coffee.
I was relieved that all the guest houses were non smoking, and people also followed the non smoking rules on the buses.
We had planned to visit Ecuador as part of the longer trip to South America in the fall of 2019, but thanks to the flexibility one has in retirement, we could take advantage of a last minute special to the Galapagos.
Now I am trying to absorb Spanish vocabulary using an online system. Am afraid we’ll be in trouble without better communication skills.
Love the pix! The views of the countryside are amazing as are the animal shots. Who knew there were penguins near the equator?
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