Ecuador - summary catch up

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I haven´t written anything since I left Colombia so I have quite a bit of catching up to do. I´m going to summarise the last couple of months to fill in the blanks and then carry on as normal. Unfortunately the internet connection in La Paz is appallingly slow so I can't upload photos. All my photos from Ecuador are on Facebook so check them out on there.

After leaving Colombia I went straight down to Quito, Ecuador. I couchsurfed for around five days with a couple - a German guy called Ingo and his Ecuadorian wife Jenny. They had recently moved from Barcelona and formed a small farm with Llamas, Goats, Sheep, Chickens, Geese, Turkeys, and a few dogs and cats. Quite a menagerie! I had fun helping out with the feeding, milked the Goats. and witnessed the birth of a baby goat.

From there I went a couple of hours North in to the highlands, spent one night in Otavalo and then couchsurfed with Marcelo in Cotacachi. Otavalo and Cotacachi are indigenous towns famous for artisan products. A successful example of indigenous commerce and the positive side of tourism, the communities here live a comfortable life whilst retaining traditional skills. Although, some of the products sold are now made in factories, but there has been moves to prevent this.

In Otavalo I hiked to one of the hills overlooking the area, onwards to a Condor sanctuary, and to a waterfall. I discovered that the Condor, despite being the national symbol of Ecuador, is seriously endangered. They told me that there are only around 40 pairs left. The local people kill them due to the mistaken belief that they kill their animals - Condors only eat carrion. The sanctuary is seeking to educate the local people, protects the habitats of the remaining birds, and provides a home for injured strays.

In Cotacachi I hiked around Laguna Cuicocha - a beautiful high altitude volcanic crater lake with an island in the middle. I hiked out to some indigenous villages around the area, witnessing the characteristic traditional dress - the black "pork pie" hats, platted hair, and articulate lace dresses. I also bought an absurdly cheap custom made leather jacket, based on a designer one I found on the internet.

I then spent five days supposedly "volunteering" at a cloud forest reserve 3 or 4 hours out of Otavalo at the Zoobreviven Foundation. The foundation finds investors, usually rich Ecuadorians from Quito, to purchase former farmland which is reforested to provide a habitat for the Spectacled Bear, Jaguar, and other endangered animals. Ecuador is a small country for the size of the population and loss of habitat is a serious threat for the many rare and endemic animals that live in this area of extraordinary biodiversity.

The project is a great concept; although my participation turned out to be voluntourism rather than serious volunteering. It wasn't very well organised and I did only a couple of hours of tree planting in the whole week. However, the place was beautiful and wild and we did some cool stuff including trekking through the cloud forest tracking the Spectacled Bear, bareback horse riding to a "Puro" factory (high octane bootleg cane sugar alcohol), and visited the hot springs.

I then returned to Quito and spent a weekend partying and salsa dancing with some couchsurfers and also took a few classes in American Linea style salsa - the prevalent style of Ecuador (despite being in Latin America). I learnt about 12 new turns in a couple of lessons but much prefer Cuban and Colombian salsa.

I then took a night bus to do a quick tour up the coast. I arrived in Puerto Lopez early morning and the same day took a trip to Isla de la Plata in the National Park. It's billed as the "poor man's galapagos" although that's an unfair as it's difficult to compare to the Galapagos for abundance of wildlife. There are interesting birdlife on the island - red legged and blue legged Boobies, Frigate birds, and Albatross. Sometimes there are also Sealions. It was interesting and worth seeing but not worth a special trip to the coast just to see it.

The following morning I walked along "los Frailes" a beautiful and empty beach forming part of the National Park before catching a bus to Manta. Manta is a large unattractive fishing port but with beaches where many Ecuadorians go for holidays and partying. I didn't think much of it but Alejandra, a couchsurfer I met up with there, saved it for me. I went out Friday evening with her and a friend and she invited me to spend the weekend with her and her family.

That Sunday was the national census where everyone is forced to stay in their homes for the whole day in order to avoid corruption and dodgy antics. I would have been at a total loose end, required to stay in my hotel room and unable to go out for food.

The day before she picked me up and we went to, bizarrely, her friend's birthday celebrations. But it was actually some type of fundamentalist Christian rally and I listened to lots of speeches about Jesus in Spanish. An interesting experience but I wasn't convinced, Alejandra even less so. She went along with some other friends out of support for her friend on her birthday.

It was a ley seco (dry law) day where it was prohibited to sell alcohol so that the locals weren't too hungover to complete the census. However, being South America it was still easy to buy alcohol so we had a party around one of her friend's closed restaurant. The following day, the day of the census, we had a bbq with her family and relaxed in the sun.

Also whilst staying Manta I took a trip to Montechristi, the town where the original "Panama Hat" is made. It is apparently the cheapest place to buy the finest quality straw hat - at around $100. I'm told that due to the canal many South American products were sold via Panama. The Panamanians marketed the product, supplied from Ecuador, as their own - the Panama Hat. I visited the home and shop of the family that make the best quality ones and purchased one.

From Manta I went further up the coast to Canoa. This small and attractive fishing village now has a sizeable expat population looking for an easier relaxed life and has a vibrant surfing scene. I was fortunate to arrive in time for the annual independence day celebrations. Over two days I, and some other travellers, went to all night parties on the village playing fields and danced to live Cumbia and Merengue bands. Everyone was drinking a potent fruit punch made from Puro with hot fruit juices. Each person buys a bottle for a dollar and passes out shots to others in the vicinity.

I arrived back in Quito just in time for their independence day celebrations - a five day festival encompassing the whole city. The whole city was full of people partying with live music in la Mariscal (the going out district), the old city centre, and a free music festival on the outskirts. I, and many from the hostel, went out to different clubs and events each night, climaxing with the free music festival for the final day featuring the Wailers.

Ready for some relaxation I took a bus down to Cuenca, the second largest and also very attractive colonial city. I arrived early morning and after breakfast went to a nearby national park - Parque Las Cajas. The park is an extremely beautiful high altitude area of mountains, lakes, and unusual trees called "Paper Trees". I did a 3-4 hour walk across the park and then returned to Cuenca and explored the city. I also visited the art gallery, which was quite good.

The following morning I took another bus to Vilcabamba, probably my favourite place in Ecuador. The town itself is a relaxed, attractive and friendly place which attracts expat hippies in droves. But the main attraction was the great hiking and a very good hostel called Izcayluma just outside of town. The German owners had organised the place perfectly and had even mapped out a number of hikes in the surrounding mountains. I did the two most spectacular hikes - ridge walks with stunning views of the surrounding valleys and mountains.

After a few days relaxing I took another night bus to Piura in the North of Peru.....

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