Ecuador 2013

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First time in South America. In Ecuador, we decided to visit the grand geographicals regions, (except the Galapagos, which is a trip of its own!!).

We visited the highlands, the amazon region and the Coast. Half of the trip by bus and other half by rented car.

Favorites:

1-amazon region. But I must say that contrarely to my all time favorites, Costa Rica, you need to go very deep in the amazon, and invest more in a remote lodge, to be able to get same wildlife viewing as Costa Rica. For that trip, no time to go too far, so we were in Misahualli region. The lodge we were, Suchipakari, is pretty pleasant, and prices are affordable.

2- Coast near Puerto Lopez: succession of cliffs and forests, (national park). Actual Puerto Lopez town, is dirty and ugly, except for a small part near the beach, (Malecon). But where we slept, Hosteria Mandala, is an incredible place: very beautiful with lots of gardens, arts pieces, and for a decent price. Even with Google Maps, this is the only real green place in Puerto Lopez!!!



Deception:

1- Andes: because of persistent clouds, I saw no peak above 4500m with the snow on top, even passing on road close to Cotopaxi, Chimborazo and Tungurahua. But at least, we were there!

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