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Published: October 4th 2009
ECUADOR
Quito - Day 1Friday 4th / Saturday 5th September 2009 - Left Manchester at 5pm to get the 7.15pm flight to Amsterdam. Bit of a nightmare journey after that. The flight from Amsterdam flew over London to Bonaire (which I think is just north of Venezuela, approx 10 hours. We then let off passengers and gained a few having not been let off the plane. We then flew to Guayaquil (S. West of Ecuador) to drop off more people and collect some more, to then fly back on ourselves to Quito. In total about 14 hours and not getting off the plane once. In total 4 take offs and landings and 18 hours door to door, nice !
Anyway that's the long haul flight out of the way till the end of February.
Before I start with the blog in Ecuador, a few bits of information for those not that knowledgeable about Ecuador ( time to get the lonely planet guide book out, cheers Alex)
Ecuador is roughly the same size as New Zealand or the State of Nevada.
Capital - Quito.
Famous for the Galapagos Islands.
Population 12 million.
Language - Spanish & Quichua.
Currency - $
2nd smallest country in S. America.
Quito
Old town Ecuador is a dream for nature lovers or those who like hiking / mountaineering / climbing and is alive with indigenous heritage, lots of traditional costumes & highland markets, with a constant rhythm of sound and movement.
Quito is spread across a spectacular Andean valley & flanked by volcanic peaks. The old town is a maze of colonial splendour and the new town is full of travellers, hotels, cafes, bars and internet places & travel agencies.
I was greeted at the airport in Quito by a little Ecuadorian holding up a sign with my name on, nice touch, I had forgot that I'd booked an airport transfer with the hostel I was staying with. We had a nonsense conversation in broken Spanish/English and I arrived at the hostel at about 8.30am. One of the first things that hit me was the climate, scorching hot in the sun and freezing in the shade. About 26 degrees in the day and jumpers in the evening and duvets at night.
The guest house I was to stay in for the week was called L'Auberge Inn, a strange little place in between the old & new town. $11 a night, clean, friendly and wireless
Quito
Old town internet.
Quito has a bad reputation for safety and security, kind of comes with the territory if the average income is about $200 a month. Common sense required, if in doubt get a taxi !
It didn't take long to meet the usual smatterings of French, German, American, Dutch and the odd English chap.
The day I arrived Ecuador were playing away in Colombia in a world cup qualifier, so the city was heaving with yellow football shirts, reminded me of Newcastle on a match day (in the old days when Newcastle were half decent). I watched the game in a pub with a couple of Americans and a load of locals, who scream at every throw in, foul or chance for either side. Colombia won 2 nil. (oops !)
Ecuador have a decent team qualifying and getting to the last 16 before losing to England in the last world cup, playing at altitude could help ? I had a pizza and an early night after the long day.
Sunday 6th September - After a good nights sleep, woke up very sore with sunburn from an hours walking round town the day before, being so high up altitude wise takes
Quito
Old town some getting used to. Breathless very quickly if you walk up hill, hot in the day & English style cold in the evenings.
Sunday is a perfect day day to wander up to the old town, so I went up there for the morning with a lad from Southampton (Alex). Lots of fantastic architecture with a Spanish influence. The locals all seem to head there too for a bit of shopping and to go to church. It had a real buzz about the place. By lunch time we were knackered so we headed back for a lazy afternoon before heading into the new town for some food. We went for typical Ecuadorian grub, I had lamb with rice and salad while Alex went for Pork which came with potato, popcorn, nuts, advacado and another veg which neither of us had a clue what it was. Most dishes seem to be carb heavy & you do have to be careful as guinea pig amongst other delights are eaten in Ecuador.
Monday 7th September - Up nice and early to have breakfast before meeting my Spanish tutor Milton at 9am. I decided that I needed to top up my very basic knowledge
Quito - old town
Changing of the guard of Spanish, 25 hours one to one in 4 days for $100. The first day was tough, lots of grammar and thinking, not good. The class finished at about 4, so time for a siesta before heading into the Mariscal in the New town for a few beers and some food. The Mariscal is in the heart of the new town and is mainly inhabited by gringos / travellers. Not a big night by any stretch of the imagination, I went out with Alex (Southampton) and Barbara (Holland) & we got a taxi home about 11ish. You are strongly advised to get taxi's after dark as the crime although not violent is very common, mostly pick pocketing or robbery. Buses especially are tricky, you hear loads of stories of people having their small rucksacks slit and cameras, money etc being taken.
Tuesday 8th September - Similar to the day before except my teacher took me out in the afternoon for a tour of cuidad (city) whilst teaching.
Wed 9th - Spanish class, went to watch Ecuador Vs Bolivia, 3-1 with Milton & Dutch guy, Went to the Ballet with Jess & Rob from Brum. Thankfully it only lasted for an
Spanish class
Hard at work with Milton (teacher) hour and wasn't actually that bad.
Thu - 10th Spanish class, including A tour with Milton in the rough part of town, where apparently I wouldn't be safe there alone. It had a great view of Quito. On the way back we stopped for a sarnie of Cheese & Figs, which strangely worked.. In the evening I went for a drink in the Mariscal with James (London) Alex & Stella (French).
Friday 11th - Up at 7am to get the flight to Lago Agria wit Alex. We were met there by a minibus full of people that had got the overnight bus from Quito. It's nice to skip a long bus journey from time to time ! We then drove for approx 2 ½ hours to El Puente,before stopping for lunch and then getting on a canoe down the Cuyabeno river to our camp site / lodge. We had some food before heading off for a night walk in the jungle. The group consisted of a couple from Spain, Israel, Tom from Finland, Iva from the Czech Republic, Alex and myself. There were 2 other Czech guys with us who had hired their own guide to go bird watching, each
Ecuador beats Bolivia
Milton happy with Alex and Danny to their own I guess. The night walk involved wearing wellies, a waterproof jacket and walking in the wet and dark through the jungle looking at spider, plant and bugs. I was happy to get back to the lodge, get a brew and an early night.
Saturday 12th - Breakfast then a trek into the primary forest to learn about the medicinal, biological forna and flora. Lunch, bit of free time then a trip down the river looking for monkeys, sloth's and snakes etc. The group was a really nice bunch and up for a laugh. The guide was a strange fella, very knowledgeable and an odd habit of smirking all the time, especially at the women.
The evening involved dinner and a few beers
Sunday 13th - Another trek into the forest, looking for wildlife and a bit of lunch. The afternoon was spent fishing for Piranhas, which was great fun. I managed to get one as did most of the group. They are actually quite hard to catch as they happily eat the bait you have on the end of the rod, but have learnt not to go near the hook. We spent early evening watching the sunset,
having a swim and then looking for Caymans. I would love to tell you the difference between Caymans, Crocodiles and Alligators but I'm afraid I wasn't listening at the time of explanation. All I know is there big and one was inches from me as our boat driver teased it with a big chunk of meat. Then back to camp for a hot or more like luck warm shower if you can call it that, dinner, beers and bed.
Monday 14th - A paddle down the Laguna del Cayman looking at the wildlife in a traditional dug out canoe. In the afternoon we walked to the Tarapuy Siona community. The guide explained the culture and traditions of the native people. We then met the shaman, who is a kind of spiritual doctor / witch doctor. He gave us a short explanation of the traditions and teachings and then a ceremony for $2 each Moti, Alex and myself decided to buy the local drink of Iowaska. The drink is used to help the shaman find out what's wrong with patients. (more of that later). We then learnt how to make traditional bread from the Yucca plant, well some of the group
did, Alex, Moti, Tom and myself had a game of footy against the locals. The ground was rock hard as was the ball. We had to play bare foot as it was either that or wellies. Amusingly the locals were all wearing trainers. They have some interesting rules, such as no corners, bouncing throw ins and if they don't like a goal then they'll claim it went wide. Anyway, we eventually stuffed them 6-4 (although I though we scored 7 or 8). I managed to notch 4 and a busted toe (shock) Lets just say that the Ecuadorian s make up for a lack of ability with enthusiasm.. We then had a swim and headed back to camp. Moti, Alex and I waited patiently till about 9pm to sample the home brew (having had no lunch or dinner as instructed).I had heard mixed reviews about Iowaski, you only live once though I guess & I'm not sure when I'll next see a shaman or go to the Amazon. So, we downed the drink, sat and waited uncomfortably. It tasted a bit like what I expect dish water to taste of. A common reaction is to first throw up, before supposedly
Quito - old town
Ecuadorian x factor experiencing hallucinations for a few hours. Anyway, 30 mins in Moti was the first man down, took me another 15 mins or so to to the same and Alex was not long after. All I can say was that was projectile vomiting like I've never seen before, I'm sure it went up my nose and out of my ears. We then decided to walk back to our room from Motis. I did feel a bit woozy and apparently was walking in zig zags, the sky looked a bit blurry and that was it. A bit disappointing if truth be told. Oh well, stick to lager and Sambucca !
Tuesday 15th - A day spent paddling basically, Juan our guide thought it would be nice to get taken miles up stream and the idea is that we look for stuff whilst paddling back. We did see an anaconda, which was impressive, apart from that it was a 4 hour paddle in the scorching sun, which we obviously didn't put enough cream on for. Another trip out in the afternoon looking for more wildlife, dinner and lots of after sun.
Wednesday 16th - Basically a day spent travelling back from the jungle
Quito
Security outside the casino to Quito, canoe, minibus, bus and taxi. Arrived about 11 at night having left at 9 in the morning.
The jungle trip was really enjoyable. A combination of the people in the group, the uniqueness of the trip and wildlife on show. Money well spent
Thursday 17th & Friday 18th - Couple of lazy days, catching up on emails, eating, drinking and managing to get a computer virus. Anyone who knows how technical I am will know that was not good news. Eventually got it fixed nearly 10 days later for $40 oh and had all the settings turned into Spanish from the guy who allegedly fixed it.
Saturday 19th - Up early to do a day trip to Cotopaxi. The tour involved visiting a market then going to a national park, hiking up to the glaciers at 5000m and mountain biking down to a lake. A really enjoyable day,made even better when I had a break from the market to find out that United had beaten City in the 96th minute with a goal from Michael Owen, superb !
A nice dinner, jacuzzi and an early night.
Sunday 20th - Another day trip, this time to the Quilotoa loop.
Quito
Out for a few beers A cultural tour beginning with a visit to a local indigenous market and then driving to Laguna Quilotoa, an amazing emerald lagoon inside a volcano crater at a height of 3,800m. A strange day if truth be told, too long on a minibus and we had donkeys or horses bringing us up the crater. This took about an hour, felt cruel to the animals and nearly killed me as my horse decided it wanted to lead and I started in the middle of the pack of 25. The path didn't really fit 2 horses side by side and the path was steep. Anyway, we got to the top in the end, and in first place...A long afternoon of sitting in the minibus back to Quito and an early night preparing for the Galapagos Islands the next morning.
Monday 21st - Flight from Quito to San Cristobel (La Loberia). We got to the boat that was to be our new home for 5 days at about lunchtime. Met the guide (Enrique) and the group - 6 English middle aged women, 2 Israelis, 3 Austrians, A German guy (David) and a Swiss guy (Rene, as in Allo Allo !) and a Japanese
Quito
Shoe shining girl who didn't say much, but smiled a lot...
We spent the afternoon on the island, going for a swim in the sea and meeting the many sea lions scattered everywhere. It takes some getting used to just how happy, varied, playful and approachable the animals are.
The crew consisted of our guide, who was 19 from the Galapagos and wants to be a vulcanologist, like you do. Segundo the chef, Brian the sailor / dingy driver, the captain, an engineer and the barman Bolivar.. A really nice bunch except the captain, saying that he does spend all night driving the boat. We went back to the boat for dinner, a get to know each other session then back on land for a few drinks with some girls we had met in the afternoon. A lot of the islands have people from America mostly California studying there and there are lots of volunteers from all around the world.. Although the night life is restricted to one or two bars, which can only be a good thing.
Tuesday 22nd - Up early for Breakfast , before getting the Panga (dingy) to Isla Espanola ( we had sailed there overnight, I should
Flight to Lago Agrio
Cota Paxi & another mountain... know as my cabin I shared with Rene was on the engine downstairs, great !)
We went on a walk from Punta Suarez on a rocky trail, seeing marine Iguanas, Albatross, Boobies (blue footed) and a blow hole (that's a technical term for a load of water going up in the air )
In the afternoon we went to Gardner Bay to go snorkelling seeing sea lions, stingrays and lobster.
We had dinner then drank some of the local drink Cana, not bad with some fresh lime and cola.
Wednesday 23nd - Having sailed again overnight we woke up in Floreana. After brekkie we went for a walk on the mainland, starting at a post box. Basically you fill in a postcard with a message and your address then somebody else delivers it to you several months later. Strange idea, lets see if it works, I picked up a postcard from somebody in Argentina. We then went for a walk and then swim in a lava tunnel, very dark, sharp rocks and freezing water. We managed to persuade Enrique to let us play some football against some of the local guys from the other boat. We won 2 nil, I
Finished off a lovely 3 man move started by our German guy David, linking with with Rene from Switzerland, leaving me a far post back heel, smash ! Great fun playing footy on the beach with the locals, wherever you are, they're always up for letting you play.. In the afternoon we went snorkelling by Champion island, see lions playing with you in the water. We then went on a short walk looking at flamingos and a lot of Sting rays. We sailed in the afternoon and early evening whilst having dinner then a bit of salsa dancing for some, not me, not yet anyway, classes first.
Thursday 24th - We woke up next to the island of Isabella. In the morning we went to a tortoise sanctuary in the morning then a walk on lava rocks, saw some white tip sharks and went snorkelling in the afternoon with the usual mix of rays, fish and turtles. Not much happening in the evening, saying that what can you do on a boat at night ?
Friday, Saturday, Sunday 25th , 26th & 27th - Overnight sailing to Santa Cruz ready for an early start to visit the Charles Darwin centre,
Jungle
Piranha fishing more tortoises and lonely George, who is the last of his kind and is 150 years old or something like that. We then said goodbye to the group and Rene and I looked for a hostel to stay for the next few days. The plan was to visit another island or do a dive for the day. However, the cost, the reports from people that had done the day trip & dives & sheer laziness meant that we spent 2 days drinking, going to the beach, watching football and relaxing in the Galapagos, not a bad alternative. Also managed to get my computer fixed after getting a virus in Quito, quite annoying carrying a broken laptop. That's why the blog is a bit late. The only problem now is that the guy who fixed the computer installed windows in Spanish, so everything on the computer is Spanish now !!
27th - Taxi, boat, flight and taxi to get back to Quito, an afternoon sorting everything out to go to Colombia. I was supposed to go to south Ecuador now but having heard so many great reports about Colombia, north it is !
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Ruth Satinoff
non-member comment
How do you do it
Hi read your blogg got me very exhausted when you come home I think you will be bored.