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Published: January 1st 2008
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We landed in Quito, the capital of Ecuador and could immediately feel the altitude difference (9200 ft). Unlike in Peru & Kenya, this time we were well prepared with Diamox. Quito is nestled in the Andean mountains sorrounded by volcanoes. Central Quito or Old Town is a beautiful spanish colonial town full of cathedrals, theatres and plazas. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas wandering the old town and visiting the colorful, ornate churches. La Compania de Jesus Church is considered the most beautiful church in the country and has seven tons of gold used to decorate the place.
From Quito, we headed south on the Pan American highway or the Avenue of Volcanoes to see Volcan Cotopaxi. It is a picture-perfect cone shaped, snow-capped active volcano, but we could barely see it from afar, due to cloudy & snow conditions near the top. We hiked for couple of hours in snow to reach the Refuge station at 16,000 ft, from where profressional climbers attempt reaching the summit. We were lucky to see a lone Andean fox greet us near the station. The high altitude was having an impact on us, so we quickly chugged some hot chocolate, appreciated the beauty
from up there and almost ran down the mountain to get more oxygen and spent the night in a beautiful 300 year old Hacienda , La Cienega. We befriended the manager and she gave us the Presidential Suite for the night. It is the most luxurious, large room We've ever slept in and was used by several ecuadorian presidents before !
We made our made further down the Pan American Highway to see a picturesque Crater lake called Lago Quilotoa. The road to the lake was dotted with indigenous andean villages with people herding llamas, sheep and cattle and farming at high altitudes, creating a beatiful tapestry of colors on the mountains. We stopped by the weekly local market at Saquisili, where Quichua people from nearby villages meet for some good ol' barter and bargaining of all types of goods, including animals. A pig costs 60$ and a cow costs upto 200$, if you are interested, although everything is negotiable.
Next, we took a break from the mountains and headed to Galapagos Islands. This was not on our original plan, but an excellent sales person in Quito sold us a "fire-sale, last minute deal" to Galapagos on a
Master of the Island
Iguanas Galore in Galapagos; Our boat in the background luxury boat and we spent the next few days following Darwin's footsteps by visiting six islands.
Since the Islands' birds and animals have had little or no contact with humans for millions of years and haven't been harmed by humans, they are not afraid of the tourists and one can be few feet to few inches away from variety of native birds and mammals. The Galapagos visit was a surreal experience, as we watched iguanas, sea lions, tortoises, blue footed boobies, finches, albatrosses, frigate birds, flamingoes, cormarants etc. from couple of feet away. The highlight was snorkelling with playful sea lions and penguins all around you and seeing 300-400 pound sea turtles mating couple of feet away in water.
From Galapagos, we made our way back to mainland ecuador and headed to Central Andean highland towns of Riobamba and Banos. We spent couple of days relaxing in natural thermal baths and biking down Volcan Chimbarazo, the highest peak in Ecuador at 20,556 ft. We met with Galo of ProBici tours, an excellent U.S. educated guide, who drove us upto 16,000 ft in his pickup truck. From there, we offloaded the mountain bike and I biked down the
volcano passing herds of Vicunas and excellent views of the volcano and valleys below.
From Riobamba, we took an exciting train ride down to Alausi. This is the only functioning part of the Trans-Andean Railways and takes you through the scary descent down the mountain called La Nariz del Diablo (Devil's nose) including the occasional derailment. We sat on top of the train along with other tourists to get unobstructured views of the wonderful scenery around us as the train snaked its way through the Andean mountains.
From Aluasi, we ended our trip in Cuenca, where we relaxed the last two days eating our last ecuadorian meals and shopping. We wandered around this spanish colonial town filled with cobblestone streets, white washed red tiled buildings along the banks of Rio Tomebamba. From Cuenca, we made our way to Guayaquil through Banana plantations to take our flight back to the U.S. On this trip, we did not get to visit the Amazonian Jungle in the east - that will have to wait for another trip.
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Marco
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cool blog
Must have been a blast.. I like the presidential suite comment.. now isn't that fit for a King like you ! M