Ecuador - Banos, Quilatoa Loop, Tena, Quito.


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South America » Ecuador
June 24th 2009
Published: April 20th 2010
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Arriving back in Riobamba I had to catch up with Cecilia who had gone ahead while I was playing in the hills, so I wasted no time in getting a bus to Ecuador’s very own tourist trap of Banos (toilet - and a toilet it is!). Ok I didn’t like the town - far too commercial but Banos is very close to something very special, Volcan Tungurahua. In 1999 Tungurahua rumbled back into life and has been erupting ever since. With Cecilia back in tow we hired out quad bikes and rode to a peak of an opposite mountain, then sat and watched the sporadic activity of Tungurahua filling the air with huge blooms of smoke.

Wasting no time in touristville (other than a quick bike ride through Ruta De Casada (Waterfall route)) we travelled back into the highlands and well off the beaten track. The next adventure would be the indigenous mecca of the Quilatoa Loop. It’s a part of the world where buses run once a day (if you’re lucky), where walking is the easiest mode of transport, where somewhere there are daily colourful markets and stunning scenery compliments tradition far away from any McDonalds ‘restaurant’.

Very soon we found ourselves stuck on the loop under the grasp of its famous transport infrastructure - or lack of. This really didn’t dampen the journey, in fact only enhanced it and gave us many more experiences (with many scares from South America’s roads and drivers) than we could have ever imagined!

We started our experience with a standard visit to the Thursday market at Saquisili. Its network of markets, seven or so plazas all linked together by street stalls kept us busy for hours. All markets were very varied, full of colour with interesting foods on offer to try. The next day we got on the wrong bus and ended up going around the loop the wrong way. As fate would have it we would be stuck in a little village called Zumbahua, firstly close to the crater lake of Laguna Quilatoa and secondly we were given front row seats to the village’s yearly carnival - the running of the bull!! We headed to the Crater Lake first. At around the 4000m mark the lake’s delicately coloured waters complement the surrounding crater, which in turn complement the backdrop of snow-capped volcano’s and the canyon below. Returning back to Zumbahua we geared ourselves up for the festival.

Zumbahua’s main square was filled with two stages and lined with beer and food stalls. We ate very cheaply and very well, had a couple of beers and danced the evening away to the defending cumbia band. In between cumbia there was a local beauty contest and hordes of drunken villagers sharing their strange local brew, which they carried tucked under their arms. Hygiene was ignored so as to not cause offence (sweaty shared glasses = close your eyes!!). It was a great evening where the locals seemed to welcome us into their festival. The next day we wandered around Zumbahua’s market after the carnage of the previous night. We worked out that the village had put together a makeshift bull ing and they would be running the bull later on in the afternoon. We managed to organise onward transport (somehow) and hung around to watch the afternoon’s entertainment. There certainly wasn’t any skill involved - basically a bunch of drunken villagers running from a semi-angry bull around a wooden, rickety ring. Interesting sights…..

We continued on to Chungchilan, past the picturesque Laguna Quilatoa, the spectacular canyon and aptly, the clouds parted to uncover the distant volcanoes. The next day we intended to take the daily milk float. It didn’t turn up and we were stuck yet again - the loop was certainly living up to its name! We tried to hitch for a few hours but had no luck. That was until, all of a sudden, the milk float turned up unannounced! The milkman was obviously late as we bounced, banged and launched over the dirt roads until the truck came to a halt. We had a puncture. Less haste, less speed? Yes, this is South America! All we could do was wait until the milkman had changed the tyre - which would have been fine if we had had a spare. This is where South American intuitiveness becomes quite impressive. What do you do with no spare? Take one of the four wheels from the back of the truck and put it on the front! With one less wheel we continued on to Sigchos, only slightly slower than before.

On arrival in Sigchos we were surprised that we could catch a bus back to Latacunga (the gateway city to the loop). The 2-hour journey confirmed what I was already thinking - Ecuador wins on its collection of death roads. The scenic drive would be taken in true South American tradition… in the style of an F1 race. Ecuador pips Bolivia by just simply looking at a mountain, building a road of some sorts straight up and then straight back down, with vertical drops a must! In the same situation Bolivia would at least put in 3 or 4 zigzags in an attempt to line the road with barriers. After a long day of travelling we had managed to leave the highlands and milkfloated/bussed our way down into the lowlands and into the heart of Ecuador’s slice of the Amazon basin.

We had come to Tena mainly for its array of world-class white-water rafting. With a welcomed return to warm weather we booked ourselves on a day’s worth of class IV’s. Unfortunately we found ourselves stuck in the hostel while the rainforest displayed why it’s called a rainforest - torrential!! With the rivers running too high the rafting was abandoned, leaving us twiddling our thumbs. The next day the Amazon looked completely different, we were greeted by blue skies and the cry of ‘we’re going rafting!’ from the river people! Although the rapids weren’t quite as treacherous as some that I’ve run, the scenery was something really quite special. It’s not every day you find yourself trekking through the Amazon jungle, sliding down mud mounds just to get to the river, then spending the rest of the day flying through rapids. And all this while the river edge overhangs with lush rainforest housing vocal monkey behaviour, macaws regularly fly overhead and the odd hand-sized spider views the day’s activities from a rock on the riverbank - just to a name a few of the local goings-on… Yet again the Amazon steps up and provides an unforgettable adventure!

We left the Amazon for the capital and spent some time wandering around Quito’s magnificent old town. We pondered on whether to take a Galapagos trip but decided against the idea due to the ridiculous cost and the fact that we had spent a lot longer in Ecuador than we had first planned. We spent our last day going to the equator. There are actually two sites - the official government site and the unofficial indigenous site 200m away. The official site, although slightly touristy, contains a monument at the exact point where astronomers say the equator is. The indigenous site was located by GPS and so is the correct location.

We visited both sites, jumping between the northern and southern hemispheres (at the official site) and trying the local delicacy - cuy (guinea pig). OK so they don’t have a lot of meat on them but they don’t taste too bad. People tend to eat them for special occasions and after seeing racks of them being BBQ’d across the country, I had to try one. ‘Don’t play with your food!’ was directed at me as I peered into a pen full of cuy! You can even select which one to devour! If you so wish of course. At the indigenous site we watched demonstrations of the strength of the equator, by conducting physical strength and water experiments.

As our time in Ecuador unfortunately comes to an end, I have to say that this is probably the most enjoyable country so far. Stunning scenery, warm friendly people, great coffee, cultural delights from the indigenous communities, the splendour of the Amazon - the list goes on. In fact within twelve hours you can leave sub-tropical beaches for 3500m highland roads, surrounded by snow-capped peaks and then travel back down to the lowlands where you’ll find unforgettable adventure in the steamy Amazon Basin. If you’ve got four weeks to spare, then Ecuador should be your next destination.
Full Banos Photos on FLickr
Full Quilotoa Loop Photos on FLickr
Full Quito Photos on FLickr

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