Volcanoes Anyone? – Ecuador June 2017
This is my first trip to Ecuador – I’m always more excited when I’m headed to a new destination, than when it’s a return visit to a familiar location. First, a relatively short journey of 2 flights from Las Vegas, connecting in Atlanta, before touching down in Quito just before 11pm local time. We were 20 minutes late, but as we were the only international flight arriving at this time, getting thru customs and immigration were a breeze – less than 10 minutes from deplaning to collecting my bag. And wouldn’t you know it, my pre-arranged transfer was nowhere to be found. I even had the guy at the airport information desk call the shuttle company number – no answer. So, I went with Plan B – grabbed a taxi and finally got underway for the 45-minute drive to downtown.
As usual I have reservations at the Hilton Colon (where else do I stay when I have a choice of hotels?), located a short distance from the historic quarter of the city. It’s the only Hilton-brand hotel in Quito and rated 5-stars….we shall see. Of course, it
has an executive lounge but to my dismay when checking in, I found out the top floors are being renovated, including the lounge floor…..but my dismay was mitigated somewhat when they upgraded me to a large suite with all the benefits I would have had in the lounge, only located in other areas of the building. I was too tired to care by this time (approaching 1am), so I grabbed a hot shower and climbed into bed.
A little bit of history:
Quito – the highest capital city in the world and the one closest to the equator, is hemmed in by mountain peaks whose greenery is concealed by gray afternoon mist. Modern apartment buildings and modest concrete homes creep partway up their slopes and busy commercial thoroughfares lined with shops and choked with traffic turn into subdued neighborhoods on Sundays. Warm and relaxed, traditional Ecuadorian Sierra culture – overflowing market stands, shamanistic healers, fourth-generation hat makers – mix with a vibrant and sophisticated culinary and nightlife scene.
Founded in 980 AD, the ancient city of Quito offers centuries of
The city's crown jewel is its 'Old Town,' a UNESCO World Heritage Site, packed with colonial monuments and architectural treasures. No sterile museum mile, everyday life pulses along its handsomely restored blocks with 17th-century facades, picturesque plazas and magnificent art-filled churches. Travelers, and many locals too, head to the 'gringolandia' of the Mariscal, a compact area of guesthouses, travel agencies, ethnic eateries and teeming bars, not to mention this is also where the Hilton is located.
Quito has a 9,350’ elevation at the beginning of the Andes chain. It is going to take a couple of days to acclimate, and I sure felt it when waking up the next morning. My head was banging like a drum and my insides felt as though they would collapse in seconds. I made it to the bathroom just in time to throw up, but it didn’t help much. I wanted to check out the breakfast buffet, but knew I wouldn’t be able to eat anything – my stomach was definitely NOT ready for that. The place was packed with tour group members grabbing everything in sight, like a plague of locusts. I settled for coffee, drinkable vanilla yogurt and some fresh fruit while I got my bearings. I need a LOT more sleep before I can handle this crowd, that’s for sure. I was more than happy to spend the entire day in my suite, drinking water by the gallon and sleeping on and off thru the daylight hours, waiting for my system to readjust. I did get one thing done however. I sent off a blistering email to the shuttle bus company, demanding full refund
Second day in Quito and I still can’t be more than a few feet from the nearest bathroom – I must have picked up a bug somewhere between Las Vegas and Ecuador, and water is about the only thing I can keep down. Exploration will have to wait yet another day. I did find out from the concierge that the HOHO bus stops right across the street from the hotel. That is the first sightseeing I will be doing, hopefully starting tomorrow.
Finally, I feel almost myself again and I didn’t have to make any mad dashes to the bathroom all night – so far, so good. First thing I need is solid food – it’s been two days since dinner on the Delta flight, and I’m hungry to say the least. The hotel breakfast buffet is far from being the best I’ve had at Hiltons but right now, it works just fine. The day had dawned bright and clear, with high clouds over the volcanic mountain range which surrounds the city. Mercury was
hovering in the low 70’s with a cool breeze, blowing just hard enough to ruffle my hair and refresh my face after two days of hotel room living. Sure felt good to breathe in fresh air for a change.
The HOHO bus was due at 10:30am, but after watching the traffic moving down the street into the nearby plaza, I knew I would be lucky if the bus arrived within a 20-minute time span. The traffic lights here are of such a short duration, very few vehicles make it thru on each green light. Half the drivers have their vehicles in “park” waiting for the lights to change, which only adds to the backlog in the jammed city streets. As I expected, the double-decker bus arrived closer to 11am, but that had given me the chance to people-watch and check out the surrounding buildings, many of each had interesting looking cafes and restaurants at street level. They will get a much closer inspection from yours truly in the coming weeks. There are more than enough for me to have lunch/dinner at a different place every day.
Only a
It was approaching 4pm when I returned to the Hilton, but first stopped off in the La Pinta Executive lounge for coffee and a couple of mini caramel puddings as an afternoon snack. A lovely way to end a lovely sightseeing
day…..now where shall I dine tonight?
Just as it was getting dark, I left the hotel and started walking down the street towards a couple of places I had marked earlier, which had delicious-looking food pictures in the window. Just two blocks away, I came across an outside café by the name of Seca de Rescara. They didn’t have a single guest but what the hell I was up for a culinary adventure, so in I went. Here I met Oscar and his two brothers who own and run the place and at his suggestion, I ordered the “mixto” plate. I paid the tab up front ($8.00) and took a seat next to the flower boxes on the sidewalk so I could watch the world go by while I ate my Ecuadorian dinner. First Oscar brings me a small tub of popcorn (apparently the appetizer of choice in this region of the world), topped with very thin sliced baked plantain chips and a chilled bottle of water. A few minutes later the entrée arrives – a loaded large platter of small shrimp, strips of the local white fish (both baked in a creamy mustard
sauce) and surrounded by a mound of fluffy white rice and slices of the deepest red (more scarlet) tomatoes I have ever seen. Must the altitude that makes them such a brilliant deep color – nothing like the ones we have in the USA. To finish off the platter, two strips of baked plantain covered in cinnamon, and small discs of yams which had also been baked and seasoned. Way more food than I could eat, but it was all delicious – Oscar was obviously determined to make a great impression! Really glad that baking and not frying is the norm here. An hour later I strolled back to the hotel, streets still jammed with vehicles and aglow with city lights – I’ve really had a good day which I needed after the first two!
A second little bit of history:
Ecuador – this is a country that seems to have it all: Andean peaks, Amazon rainforest, indigenous markets, colonial towns, sun-drenched beaches – not to mention a rather famous chain of volcanic islands full of fascinating wildlife. Adding to the appeal is Ecuador's small size
and its ease of travel (good roads and an easy-to-remember currency). But best of all are the Ecuadorians themselves: kind-hearted, generous and proud of the great strides they've made in the last decade, they are in fact the nation's greatest treasure.
After days of Ecuadorian adventures, there are many appealing places where visitors can go to relax amid awe-inspiring scenery. Head to the mountainous highlands to recharge at a historic hacienda, or find Zen like beauty amid a cloud-forest lodge near Mindo. There are peaceful, timeless mountain villages like Vilcabamba and picturesque former gold-mining towns like Zaruma that offer a perfect antidote to the vertiginous rush of modern-day life. And for a coastal getaway, you'll have plenty of options, from tiny end-of-the-road settlements like Ayampe and Olon, to charming towns on the Galapagos, with great beaches and magnificent sunsets right outside the front door.
The famed Galápagos Islands, with their volcanic, otherworldly landscapes, are a magnet for wildlife lovers. Here, you can get up close and personal with massive lumbering tortoises, scurrying marine iguanas (the world’s only seagoing lizard), doe-eyed sea lions, prancing blue-footed boobies and a host
of other unusual species both on land and sea. The Amazon rainforest offers a vastly different wildlife-watching experience. Set out on the rivers and forested trails in search of monkeys, sloths, toucans and river dolphins. Some lodges also have canopy towers offering magnificent views (and a better chance to see birdlife).
Setting off on a trek into the Andes can seem like stepping into a fairy tale: there’s the patchwork of small villages, gurgling brooks and rolling fields, with a condor slowly wheeling overhead. Although the view from the top is sublime, tourists don’t have to scale a mountain to enjoy the Andes. These verdant landscapes make a fine backdrop for mountain-biking, horseback-riding or hiking from village to village, overnighting at local guesthouses along the way. Ecuador’s other landscapes offer equally alluring adventures, from surfing tight breaks off the Pacific coast to white-water-rafting Class V Rivers along the jungle-clad banks of the Oriente.
Firing up my laptop early the next morning, I found an email response from the shuttle company offering deep apologizes and refunding my original payment. All’s well that ends well, I guess. Went to breakfast
to get the day started and had yet another culinary experience. Ecuador does some very interesting things with plantains. So far, I’ve had them chipped, baked, roasted with cinnamon and now today, caramelized. While waiting for my spinach, mushroom and cheese omelet to be prepared, I watched the chef prepare these delicious bites. First the plantain is peeled and cut into 3 pieces, partially split in half forming a “cradle” into which a small wedge of brie cheese is added. Then caramelized in a skillet and placed into a warming dish, ready to eat. Geez are they good - beats hash browns any day of the week.
The weather has been just great since my arrival but today it changed drastically, with a temperature drop and dark grey clouds blotting out the volcanoes and bringing rain to the valley. Sitting in the La Pinta lounge with my latte and biscotti, I watched as large raindrops bounced off the sidewalk just outside my window seat – people huddling under umbrellas and running from doorway to doorway to escape the downpour.
Today I venture outside of the city to explore
one of the largest outdoor markets in Ecuador. My guide arrived at 8am and we off, first collecting other visitors from a second hotel, then heading north on the famed Pan American Highway to spend the day in Otavalo, a village of some 40,000 inhabitants, located approximately 75 miles from Quito. But first a stop in
Cayambe's indigenous people of today are descendants of the pre-Inca Kayambi people. The Kayambi were resistant to Inca expansion and were only definitively conquered by Inca Huayna Capac after a bloody 20-year war. Not long afterwards in the 16th century, the first Spanish conquerors arrived in the region. The Kayambi people adopted
the Quichua language, a dialect of the Quechua language. Quichua survives in some of the hamlets today, while in others it has given way to Spanish. There is a globe monument (representing the Middle of the World) in the spot where the road to Cayambe from Quito crosses the equator.
We continue north and make a quick photo stop at Mira Lago, where I took the most incredible pictures of Imbabura Volcano and San Pablo Lake. I even found a llama in the restaurant gardens, which willingly posed for me! For the final 40 minutes of drive time, a young Quechua woman with baby strapped to her back, joined us on the bus to explain her colorful native clothing, sing a couple of songs in her language and of course, sell some beautiful handwoven scarves – no, I resisted the impulse to purchase, I had more scarves back home than I know what to do with, from different countries. Arriving in Otavalo, the guide gave us a couple of hours to wander on our own and discover this awesome open-air market.
For hundreds of years, Otavalo has hosted
one of the most important markets in the Andes, a weekly fiesta that celebrates the gods of commerce. Vendors hawk a dizzying array of handmade traditional crafts as well as an ever-increasing number of slyly disguised imports. The market tradition stretches back to pre-Incan times, when traders would emerge from the jungle on foot, ready to conduct business. The exquisite weavings and textile-making skills of Otavalenos have been exploited by the Incas, the Spanish and eventually, Ecuadorians. However, life improved for many after the Agrarian Reform of 1964, which abolished the long-standing tradition of serfdom and permitted local land ownership.
These days the market has morphed into a broader cultural crossroads and has become something of a must-see destination for tourists from around the globe. It certainly feels light years away from the tiny town backpackers visited in the early 1990s. But don't let its popularity dissuade anyone from visiting. City locals and indigenous people from the surrounding villages still wear traditional clothing – women in embroidered white blouses, long wool skirts, head scarves, woven belts, canvas sandals and strands of beads; the men in felt hats, blue ponchos and calf-length pants, hair braided
Architecturally, the town isn't especially attractive, and the number of modern stores selling things like flat-screen TVs and sneakers rival those selling more traditional products. However, despite the mercantile focus, the vibe is friendly and relaxed. And there are always the fabulous views of the surrounding mountains. Their peaks, their hidden lakes and their small slope-side villages will keep anyone occupied long after the shopping is done.
The best day of the week to hit the market is today, Saturday, which is the biggest market day for gringos and locals alike. Walking along Avenida Colon to the river and crossing the bridge, l find myself in a scene reminiscent of the pages of National Geographic: the Otavalo animal market. With the sun shining and the mountains casting improbable shadows over the town, the market is already alive with squealing pigs and clucking chickens. I plant my butt on the high grassy bank abutting the market area and watch scenes of unloading, buying, selling and
This market is centered around ‘Poncho Plaza’ but extends for several blocks in each direction. All day long, the whir of cotton candy machines, Andean pipe music, and Quichua, (the native tongue derived from the Incan tongue), drift across the square. A blinding maze of colored textiles spills from the square out across town, and strolling around, I found everything from sweaters to armadillo shell guitars, wall hangings to ceramic fried eggs.
On one stretch of this
fascinating market, mothers and infants share the street with geese, puppies, pigeons and cuyes (guinea pig –a popular local food). Down in front of the Plaza de Toros, the ponchos and babywear are supplanted by potted plants, skinned calf heads and bleating goat herds. The northern edge of the textile market is where salesmen extolling the joy of Tupperware, stand between stalls of snakeskin, herbal remedies, and bars of magical soap used to ward off jealousy. Maybe I should buy a few bars for future use!
A few blocks north, the streets are overtaken by stalks of ripening bananas and pyramids of citrus fruit. The produce market is a covered market bursting with tropical fruit and vegetables. Non-carnivorous folk need to avert their eyes, as some of the meat stalls — splattered with eyes, jaw bones, ears and muzzles — are straight out of Vegetarian Hell. On Plaza Copacabana by the small fun fair and the local train station, there’s a smaller but still interesting food market, featuring mountainous piles of potatoes and multicolored sweets.
Otavalenos have not only become the most prosperous and possibly the most
famous indigenous group in Latin America, but in the past ten years, they have begun globe-trotting in a successful campaign to export Andean culture, not to mention earning big bucks along the way.
In part because of their economic success, they have also managed to hold on to centuries-old traditions without adopting a “quick get dressed, here come the tourists” cultural identity. They are proud people and it shows. History has it that Otavalenos have been talented textile makers and business people since ancient times, prior even to the Inca invasion. Under Incan rule in the 15th century, Otavalo became an important administrative center, as new crops and animals were introduced to the area. A year after the Spanish conquest, Ecuadorian land was parceled-out to the Spanish. In Otavalo, Rodrigo de Salazar set up a large weaving workshop (“obraje”) on his land; by the mid-1500’s it employed hundreds of workers and produced a large share
of the textiles used in colonial South America. The Spanish introduced new tools and fibers to the weaving industry, and by the early 1600’s, the Salazar workshop had become the most important in the country.
The textile boom in Otavalo took off in the early 1960’s, when locals working at Hacienda Zuleta began to use weaving techniques introduced from Scotland. And so was born the material known as Otavaleno cashmere, which with its low price and high quality, soon found important customers in Ecuadorian cities. The weavers diversified their products and soon established themselves throughout the country. Now, with over 80%!o(MISSING)f Otavalenos involved in textile industry, products from Otavalo are found in markets around the world, from neighboring countries such as Venezuela and Colombia to Guatemala and the United States, Europe, and even Asia.
As most travelers are aware, South America is renown for its wind instrument music, mainly flutes and pan pipes. Enroute to lunch, we visited the home of a local artist, Nanda Maniachi, who creates instruments from his native Ecuador, along with Peru and Bolivia. We enjoyed a 15-minute outdoor concert as he played
the charango, samporia, pallas, rondador and quena, all of which he had made himself on the premises. When he picked up the pan pipes, I had visions of Zam Fir floating thru my head. Talk about dating myself!
Lunch was in Cotacachi, which apparently is THE place in the region for leather goods, and here in a local restaurant, was where I got to eat a $10 Filet Mignon lunch! I know, I know – I was extremely leery as well, but when the meal arrived it was a pleasant surprise. Not that I have ever seen such a large filet previously and certainly not one smothered in mushroom gravy, on a platter surrounded by a small salad and a mound of french fries, but hey – its Ecuador and I’m game for just about anything. It was a 2-hour drive back to the Hilton, and as we approached the city, the dark grey clouds gathered once more and the raindrops fell. This is turning into a late afternoon, daily affair it seems. Sunshine most of the day, but rain around 4pm for the next hour or so.
Having seen Quito’s “Old Town” on the HOHO bus trip earlier, I decided to walk this area and explore it from ground level. It is consideredone of the largest and best-preserved historic districts in South America, and the first ever to be declared a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. That’s well known to many of the 200,000 tourists and locals who walk these streets every day. There are 130 massive colonial buildings and 5,000 historic properties here, including baroque and gothic churches, narrow cobblestone streets and colonial-era buildings that seem frozen in the 17th and 18th centuries.
A series of earthquakes back in March 1987 damaged many of these historic buildings and money has flowed in for repairs through many different organizations, with the biggest being the Catholic Church. The 23 convents and religious structures that exist in the area are preserved through general arrangements between the Archdiocese of Quito and the city’s government. Meanwhile, the historic district has been losing residents. From 1990 to 2010 the population dropped from 58,300 to 40,587, and it continues to decline. Part of the problem is economics. Refurbishing these antique houses makes them much more expensive, and
But much of the renovation is evident, with new paint on the faces of buildings, wrought iron balconies decked out with flower beds filled with brilliantly-colored flowers, all of which stand out in stark contrast to those untouched since the quake. It still “feels” as though I’m walking in the footsteps of Spanish conquistadores – I imagine this area would have looked much the same as is does today, except for the electrical and telephone wires strung across the streets!
After a couple of hours wandering from cobblestone street to tiled plaza, not only was I becoming footsore, but in desperate need of coffee – a latte even – and a biscotti wouldn’t go begging either. The climate gods decided it was time to obtain both back at the Hilton, as the clouds rolled in again (I could set my watch by this weather pattern), the heavens parted and the deluge began. I waited for the worse to pass and then jumped on
the local bus which I remembered stopped at the side entrance to the hotel. Great transportation in this city – you can ride from one end to the other for just 25 cents.
My last full day of planned exploring….my tour guide arrives at the Hilton just before at 8am and this time, with 12 additional fellow passengers in a much bigger (and more comfortable) bus. It was rush hour in Quito – jammed streets – it took almost an hour before we finally reached the outskirts and headed south once more on the Pan American Highway.
Only a short 2-hour trip from Quito, Cotopaxi National Park is one of the most impressive national parks in Ecuador, and it contains the famed Cotopaxi Volcano. An ecological reserve surrounds the volcano, located on the border between the provinces of Pichincha and Cotopaxi. The national park is particularly interesting because the volcano suddenly surges out of relatively flat terrain, no doubt offering spectacular views of the volcano from all directions. However today with such heavy and low-hanging clouds, it was difficult to even see it! I did take about 6
Rising up from lowland forests, we enter into the alpine region of the park. Its moon-like appearance and cold winds make for an austere experience. All I
Leaving the national park around lunchtime, we headed south once more to our final sightseeing spot, but first we got to enjoy one of the most spectacular mountain highway drives
I have ever done anywhere. For more than two hours, we wound our way up and over some immense peaks with switchbacks in the road which would challenge the skills of a Nascar driver. We would drive thru dense cloud banks blotting out the entire landscape, then into rain squalls, followed by spots of brilliant sunshine before once more disappearing into thick white mists. This is climate change on steroids! Craziest weather you ever saw. The road is just 2 lanes but that didn’t deter most bus drivers – they simply overtook our bus whenever they felt like it - even on blind curves – with sheer drops of hundreds of feet to the valley floor. My teeth and butt cheeks were in constant competition for which could clench the tightest, while I sat with closed eyes and waited for the inevitable, which thankfully never came. The road was that serpentine, that one of the passengers became ill with motion sickness (not to mention probably a touch of altitude sickness), and we stopped for almost 30 minutes to give him an opportunity to recover out in the fresh air.
We drove higher up the
mountain slopes, then a little higher and finally higher still until we crested the peak at over 13,000’ – I was almost convinced I would be asking St. Peter for his autograph and taking selfies at the Pearly Gates before this day was done! Altitude sickness was the least of my concerns – the thought of seeing angels singing outside my bus window was first and foremost in my mind. This is probably the closest I will ever make it to visiting heaven.
I think everyone on the bus was happy when we arrived in the small town of Quilotoa which is also the location of the Quilotoa Volcano and its famous turquoise-colored crater lagoon. The incredible color is a result of minerals leeched from the surrounding volcanic soil, and based on the amount of sunlight and atmospheric conditions, it can change from a deep blue to a light orange – today it was an awesome turquoise, hard to believe – it just looks fake but isn’t. A new restaurant sits on the lip of the crater and it was here that we enjoyed an Ecuadorian lunch of chicken with mushroom sauce, while a
Dusk had fallen by the time we were joining the evening rush hour traffic, as we arrived back in Quito just after 6pm. I was more than happy to see the Hilton and make my way to the La Pinta Lounge for a cocktail and snacks – what a fabulous day I just had! Can’t wait to download the photographs and relive this incredible adventure. Only 3 more days before I board my flights to return home to the USA and these I will spend walking the parks, the plazas and the back alleys of this fascinating capital in the middle of the world.
A final interesting fact about this fascinating country: Although the equator runs through hundreds of places, this country takes particular pride in its unique geographical location. In fact, the official name of Ecuador literally translates to "Republic of the Equator". Quito lies less than 15 miles south of this imaginary line.
The Equator was discovered
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