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Quito
What a country! A New Zealand of the Americas, Ecuador is packed with everything you could want: moutains, beaches, volcanoes, lakes, cities, farmland. It is absolutely breath taking, although that might have something to do with the altitude. Even though it sits on the equator (yep that´s where they got the name Ecuador from), its mostly high and chilly. Thermals, beanies and gloves have been the norm. Which is such a relief coming out of steamy hot Central America. This has definately been the country for me!!
First stop in Ecuador was Quito - the capital but only second largest city. You wouldn´t know it to look at it, the houses go for miles and miles along the wide valley. Its pretty scenic too, old colonial buildings, painted concrete houses and of course mountains as far as the eye can see. I spent a few days wandering around and didn´t get mugged or pick pocketted. Apparently two out of three is the usual statistic, so I beat the odds. (Gloating like this is going to come back to haunt me I am sure.) The city is divided into two, old town and new town. I spent about one
hour in new town and left - it looked like a new and fancy Darling Harbour, all glass and restaurants and tourists but even more touristico. Not my scene. The old town on the other hand was beautiful. Hilly and cobblestoned, it made walking at altitude (maybe 2500m?) noticable... But I needed to acclimatise as fast as possible. It was a busy Sunday as it was voting day and everyone was out on the streets. City people both modern and traditional were everywhere and I started to fet a taste of Ecuadorian traditional costume style. Its all hats and skirts and blankets and woollen stocking and sensible shoes. Love it.
Cotopaxi
From Quito I headed out to the Avenue of the Volcanoes, about one to two hours southish, but if felt like another world and was so very very beautiful. The pictures hopefully do it justice. I stayed in an amazing hostal built in the traditional manner (grass roof and adobe walls) but it was super gourmet! No electricity but lots of ambience with open fires and candles everywhere. And although a bit pricey it was worth it for the experience and the views as I spent the
next few days waiting to see if Cotopaxi would appear out of the clouds. Everyone in the hostal was on constant Cotopaxi watch. Eventually it did and the results were stunning.
I didn´t end up summitting Cotopaxi as I had hoped, the altitude was getting the better of me and I was sufferring some extreme dizziness. Which I don´t think mixes well with ice climbing. However, I hiked around the area, up two dormant volcanoes which were both at a height of around 4700m and 4900m. So I was pretty proud for my first attempts. Although I will say that at times I was not sure if I was every going to make it back down. The climbs were both crazy and the first one involved lots of scaling waterfalls and rockfaces and tussocky grass that wanted to break my ankles simultaneously. I had to wear wellies for about 3 hours climbing up a creek and its three cascadas... And after struggling up them, I arrived to find one of the hostal dogs (a sausage dog no less) waiting for me at the top. Nothing like a super sausage dog to make you feel incompetant, unfit and generally worthless.
But he was good company during the many breaks I had that day feeling like I was never going to make it. The second hike was definately easier, although involved scaling a cliff with high winds and then sliding on my butt the whole way down through a muddy gap between some cliffs. Nice. I will mention that there was an evil stinging nettle somewhere on that hike. Which is just what I needed during my three hours of hands and knees climbing at high altitude. Oh and were these hikes safe? Ummmm sure - according to the Ecuadorians. They believe only in the quickest and most direct route, no matter what mother nature has put in front of them. I got to understand this pretty well as my hikes continued over the weeks...
Banos
Leaving Cotopaxi (sigh) I headed to Banos, about three hours south - famous for its hot springs and volcanic activity. Unlike many, I managed to get a view of the volcano erupting at night. I had to squint a little, but it looked exactly like volcanoes erupting on tv. I guess being far away was the safest option though... I did some hiking
around Banos which after the amazing hiking in Cotopaxi was disappointing. So I spent the rest of the day hanging out at the local branch of the RSPCA equivalent playing with all the puppies and kittens. It was really interesting to find out how animal welfare rates in Ecuador (not high in case you were wondering), but mostly I was just there to give them a little love and attention. That night, I also heard rumour of a monkey refuge in a town two hours away called Puyo. Hopping on a bus with my fingers crossed I found it, and was not disappointed in the slightest.
Fundacion Los Monos Selva Y Vida was possibly the best place ever - a refuge for 39 monkeys rescued from pet shops, poachers and recovering from injuries. I spent an amazing two hours with monkeys climbing all over me - looking for hugs and attention and generally being cheeky as monkeys are. The babies were adorable and wanted nothing more than a lap to sit in. The older ones just wanted to play, so I was constantly being bombarded by monkeys falling with style out of the trees to swing off my hair
or my arms, or sit on my head. There were some negro and blanco capucchin monkeys, some ones called furry monkeys (?), some spider monkeys and two other types that eluded me. I´m not sure about rehabilitation and whether they are released back to the wild (ah my spanish is not that advanced), but the monkeys are free to leave if they want. The refuge is in the middle of jungle - and they are not fenced on caged in. It looks like they have a good life there!!!
Cuenca
An eight hour bus ride later and I arrived in Cuenca, the third biggest city in Ecuador but the most beautiful by far. Cuenca seems to have money and this is reflected in the amazing architecture, the style of the city and the well dressed Ecuadorians wandering by. It was hear I started practicing my candid camera technique on the traditional locals. So many local people charge for photos (and they´re onto a good thing) I have no idea why I didn´t think of this idea earlier in the trip. The traditional costumes have varied so much over the countries I´ve visited but I am particularly enamoured with
the Ecuadorian women... Long pleated woollen skirts, hand embroided shirts and belts, 1900s mens hats, think stockings and of course a blanket. Practical for farming perhaps not but it doesn´t stop them.
I spent the day wandering through town and spotted I think the best church I´ve seen so far (also known as the new catedral - very inventive). But my attention was on finding some hiking to do in nearby Parque Nacional Cajas, an hours drive away towards west. An early morning start to the bus station turned out to be tricker than expected. Not being a typical route for Ecuadorians, the bus stop was missing the all important vendors screaming Cajas Cajas Cajas. Luckily a paperman realised the predicament and helped me out. Commercial vendors throughout these areas ride the buses selling their products, so who better to seek advice off!
Parque National Cajas
Parque Nacional Cajas is stunning in a windblown high altitude grasslands kind of way. It is renowned for its hundreds of lakes scattered liberally throughout the park and they are amazingly beautiful. And cold as I found out attempting to cross a stream and sadly misjudging my footing. Hiking with
a totally wet foot for another six hours was not as bad as it sounds though! I did two hikes, a nice flat gentle one (why aren´t they all like that) and a seriously up the cliff challenging one. What made hiking here even more awesome is that seeing as hardly anyone seems to go there saw only one person) there is no trail as such. Instead there are spots of colour painted onto trees and rocks which you have to search for. I did the pink trail and the green trail and thank god I had two other people with me otherwise I would have gotton seriously lost. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack at times and we had to fan out and sometimes scan the area for fifteen minutes before one of us would find it. Thankfully though I rememberd the Ecuadorian way (uphill and downhill, no switchbacks and no concern for obstacles) and we increased our success rate considerably. It was like hiking cross an easter egg hunt that lasted all day. Very awesome and so very amazing.
Vilcabamba
Continuing my journey south and edging ever closer to Peru brought me
to Vilcabamba, a town famed for the longeivity of its occupants. Set amongst the Andes, although considerably lower altitude than elsewhere in Ecuador, it was stunning. How many times have I used that word to describe this country?? The hostel I stayed in was out of town and on top of a hill, so produced excellent views and sunsets. Not to mention they had a day spa YAY priced for backpackers. Full body massage $18 - LOVED IT!!! Oh and don´t get me started on their gourmet restaurant. No chicken rice and beans for me thank you very much.
After a lazy relaxing day I went for a hike ont he Mandango trail, which after a steep (huffing and puffing) climb flattened out along a ridgeline for another few hours. Again Ecuadorian safety was called into question a few moments but I think being so petrified of falling prevents anything of the sort happening. What I don´t understand is who had the genius idea to create these hikes in the first place. I envisage some men in town drinking at the local pub and looking up at the hills cracking out a plan for a hike to out do
all others! But then to carry their machete and bucket of paint up there to create a trail.
Whoever they are, I´m glad they persisted. Ecuador is just so gorgeous that getting out amongst it is what it is all about! Pushing the boundaries and exploring the world. Its what travel is all about.
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Zoe
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City of Gold
So Missy - I think you're holding out on us here. We all know why you went to South America. It was to fing the City of Gold - right? And fly on that big Condor?! So whats the deal? I'm not fooled at all by these hilarious accounts of monkeys and awesome re-tellings of cathedrals.