Blogs from North, Ecuador, South America - page 11

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South America » Ecuador » North November 22nd 2015

Quitosta Mindoon Perjantaina aamulla alkoi matka Quitosta Mindoon. Kuljetus järjestyi helposti suoraan majapaikkani kanssa ja he olivat aamulla hakemassa minua. Quitossa majoitukseni oli uuden lentokentän lähellä, eli kaupungin itäpuolella. Mindoon menevä tie on kaupungista luoteeseen, eli jouduimme käytännössä ajamaan Quiton pohjoisosan läpi. Mikä valtava muutos on tapahtunut viidessä vuodessa! Uusi lentokenttä on aiheuttanut sen, että myös teitä on jouduttu rakentamaan uusiksi. Kentälle johtavat tiet oli rakennettu korkeiden mäkien - eli meikäläisittäin kai vuorien - sivuihin ja kallioleikkaukset oli peitetty vielä betonilla. Ehkä siksi, että kivi- ja mutavyöryjen mahdollisuus pienenisi. Quito sijaitsee 2805m korkeudessa ja sen on sanottu olevan ikuisen kevään kaupunki, ehkä siksi, että keskilämpötila on ympäri vuoden n.19C. Kaupunki on levittäytynyt todella laajall... read more
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El Quetzal kaakaotehdas
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South America » Ecuador » North » Mindo November 21st 2015

Paluu Etelä-Amerikkaan Jokunen vuosi on jo ehtinyt vierähtää siitä kun viimeksi on tällä mantereella oltu. Edellinen Etelä-Amerikasta kertova blogimme päättyi Ecuadoriin ja Quitoon johon myös sen kertainen yhteinen matkamme päättyi. Jo silloin oli ajatuksena, että tuo kerta tuskin oli viimeinen Etelä-Amerikassa ja etenkään Ecuadorissa koska yksi pitkäaikainen haave jäi sillä kertaa toteutumatta. Nimittäin Galapagos. Nyt vihdoin on koittanut paluun aika ja pääsemme toteuttamaan tämän unelman. Galapagos Galapagos. Ihan oikeasti - Galapagos.Jo tuo nimikin kuulostaa minusta jotenkin epätodelliselta. En tiedä miksi, mutta tuntuu siltä, että olen 'aina' tiennyt mikä on Galapagos. Aina on tietenkin suhteellinen käsite, mutta jotenkin nyt ainakin sen ajan, kun ympäröivästä maailmasta on käsittänyt jotain muutkain kuin ihan kotikonnut ja oman pienen asuinympäristön... read more
Ja tänne päädyttiin - Mindo Sisakuna Lodge
Näillä mennään ...
Finnair vie perille - tällä kertaa Miamiin

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito » Historical Center November 7th 2015

So we are now out on our epic 3 month adventure, having spent a full 24 hours travelling from Birmingham, arriving in Quito at 1AM UK time. Thanks again to my sister for getting up in the dead of night to give us a lift to the bus station. Our driver down to Heathrow looked like he was on something, and welcomed all passengers onto the bus by telling them to sit back relax and enjoy their journey in the most monotone Brummie accent possible! The flights were hassle free, the one to Madrid was bumper than crossing the Atlantic Ocean to get to Ecuador! Had an interesting taxi ride into town as our driver was determined not to let any others drivers pull in front of him, but strangely enough I still felt fairly safe ... read more

South America » Ecuador » North November 2nd 2015

We rode out after a good breakfast and headed toward the Ecuador border. Very close to the border (southern Colombia) we stopped at a spectacular cathedral - Basilica Las Lajas, abridging a river in the middle of a gorge. It was amazing from an architectural point of view built in gothic revival style between 1916 and 1949. Why they built it there? Refer to wiki http://www.myconsecration.org/about-the-miraculous-image-of-our-lady-of-las-lajas/. We continued to the border and exited Colombia with no trouble whatsoever and very quickly; if only the rest could be like this ?. Next we attended to immigration in Ecuador where our persons and bikes also entered quickly. The riding entering Ecuador was impressive, we seem to be getting quite spoilt with the scenery! I loved the colourful fruit and craft stalls on the roadside along with the many ... read more
Art installation in Quito
Mitad del Mundo
Mitad del Mundo monument before anyone arrived!

South America » Ecuador » North » Quito October 1st 2015

Von Galapagos sind wir über Guayquil nach Quito geflogen. Wir hatten bereits von Deutschland aus, eine Unterkunft über airbnb, in Quito gebucht. Wir wurden sehr herzlich von Sebastian empfangen und bekamen auch gleich eine Hausführung. Sebastian erzählte uns, was wir in den nächsten Tagen in Quito unternehmen könnten. Am nächsten Tag liefen wir erst mal zum nächsten Einkaufszentrum um etwas zu frühstücken, dann bummelten wir eine Stunde durch die Geschäfte. Zu schade, dass ich nichts kaufen konnte. Im Anschluss machten wir, auf Empfehlung von Sebastian, eine Hop-on-hop-off-tour durch Quito. Erst fuhren wir, mit dem Bus, durch die neuere Innenstadt und dann ging es in die Altstadt von Quito. Zwischendurch stiegen wir immer wieder aus und schauten uns schöne Plätze und Märkte an. Die Altstadt besteht aus tollen Bauten und ist sehr gut restauriert. Die Menschen wirkten ... read more
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South America » Ecuador » North » Quito September 22nd 2015

So I made a very quick stop in Quito from Mindo but I feel I saw enough. How I got there: Caught the 11am bus from Mindo $3.10 & got into La Ofelia terminal 2hrs later. From there I caught the Metrobus to Conjeso Provincial 25c (catch the one heading to Marin & watch for the station signs on either side to see which station you are at). From there I walked to the Hostal. Where I stayed: Chicago hostel $11.20/night bed in 4-bed mixed dormitory. Room is small but clean with a separate bathroom - water gets warm but not hot although I was the 3rd person in a row to shower which may not have helped. There is a common area with pool/darts & a roof terrace which gave a good view at night. ... read more
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South America » Ecuador » North » Mindo September 21st 2015

From Otavalo I travelled to Mindo cloud forest (west of Quito) to stay for 3 nights, get some birdwatching in and maybe an adrenaline fix or 2 as well in one of the most laidback towns on Earth. How to get there: Caught a Quito bound bus from Otavalo $2.50 (2hrs). Taxi from Carcelen terminal to La Ofelia terminal $3.50. 1pm Quito to Mindo bus $3.10 2hrs. Buses direct to mindo only go from La ofelia terminal which is about a 10 minute taxi ride from Carcelen (Terminal Norte). The bus departs from directly outside the ticket office & luggage is stowed underneath. You can also catch a number of buses leaving from carcelen which will drop you at the mindo road junction but that is a few km out of town. Where I stayed: Mindo ... read more
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South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo September 16th 2015

So I had 2 full days to use around Otavalo as I'd booked 3 nights at the hostel so here's what I did: Day one: So this was a day of mixed emotions... A slight change of plan as Lydia got invited to go with friends up to Ibarra today & decided on that rather than lake Cuicocha. I thought it might not be the best idea to walk the lake on my own for 4hrs so decided to head to Parque Condor a centre for rescued birds instead. I got a taxi up for $5 and entry into the park was $4.75. I walked around admiring the birds and I even got to see a Andean Condor in flight! This was definitely a highlight as they are extremely impressive birds which my camera does not ... read more
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South America » Ecuador » North » Otavalo September 15th 2015

I have arrived in Ecuador no problem transferring in Houston although I did get a bit worried when it was taking what seemed like ages to get through customs! Whilst queuing for security in Houston I got talking to a guy called Renan(sp?) unfortunately he was flying to DC not Quito but he did give me a note from Honduras which is worth about 25cents apparently! So I finally landed in Quito at 11pm (5am British time). I got a bit concerned that I should only be bringing 1 phone into the country & I had 2 but apparently it's fine especially as the one doesn't actually work in Ecuador. Then I had a slight panic that my luggage hadn't arrived because it wasn't going around the carousel but it turned out airport staff had taken ... read more
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South America » Ecuador » North » Quito August 29th 2015

Geo: -0.223151, -78.5127Reading in the gardenWalk to townMarketBusy streetsLa CompaniaLunchChildren begging at the fablesHotelTaxi to airportWarWorlds worst flight... read more




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