Impressions of ECUADOR

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'  The highlight of our travel here, has been the Ecuadorian people 
... sincere, proud, kind, generous, caring, friendly, helpful.  '

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Our main reason for travelling to Ecuador, had been to sail the Galapagos Islands ... it's always been a 'bucket list' trip for us. Fortunately, we were also able to include an additional 4.5 weeks into our schedule to 'get just a small taste' of Ecuador's mainland culture in a few select, geographic and demographic regions. 

We stayed in Quito, the countries historic and cultural capital; moved to the cloud forest at Maquipucuna for some hiking and birding, then onto Banos and Cuenca, both smaller cities that are building on their ecotourism potential with available access to the adjacent Amazon jungle and also ... the Pacific Coast beach towns of Olon and Puerto Lopez; a small village and a medium sized city, both with well established commercial fishing fleets that are now beginning to offer sport fishing charters.

This post features some of the wonderful folks we met on this adventure.

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' Journeymakers  are those people who elevate your travel experience with the passion and enthusiasm for the place they call home and for the interest and kindness they give you, the traveller. '
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Staying At ... Casa Hotel Las Plazas, QUITO 

Mario and Lucia

All staff were exceptional; unfortunately we didn't learn everyones name or get to take their photos.

Mario is a professional musician who once played pan flute in a group that travelled internationally. He made a copy of some of his groups music for us ... Muchas gracias Mario! He retired home to Ecuador after has first child was born. 

Lucia 'owned' the kitchen; our breakfasts were always well-prepared, too bountiful and beautifully presented, often with explanations of the different foods we were eating. She would bring us hielo (ice) for our wine. She would caution us about where we might be heading on our daily walks ... ' wear your packs on the front ' and 'don't stay out too late'. 

Luis, who manned the front desk, learned of our interest in ethnic music and made us a sample copy of Ecuador's 'pasillo' music ... a wonderful addition to our music library.  

We had an early departure on our last day and awoke to sounds of Lucia and Mario in the kitchen (an hour early), ensuring we had another wonderful Ecuadorian breakfast before leaving  ... they sent us on our way with mucho hugs. 

Hiking and Birding In ... Maquipucuna Cloud Forest, QUITO

We only spent 4 hiking days with Holger as our naturalist guide, but we sure absorbed a lot. 

Holger, an expat German, met an Ecuadorian lady , settled down and raised a family in a nearby village. Now he does supportive flora and fauna research and field work for a variety of scientists working in both Maquipucuna and the neighbouring St. Lucia Reserve. 

From an earlier post ... 'his wealth of knowledge of plants and animals (including their scientific names) and his enthusiasm for the nature that surrounded him was contagious. He gave freely of his time and we both enjoyed every single moment spent with him.'  

A month after our visit with Holger - he is still sending us FB posts, tagging us in photos and trail cams and making jokes ... all at our expense of course! Someone whom we would love to spend more time with ... just so we can repay ('aka. get even') some of his humour.


Road Tripping With ... Servi Taxi BANOS

Fredy

It's not possible for us to say enough good things about this wonderful young man, professional driver and proud Ecuadorian who taught himself English and wanted us to teach him new words ... he taught us that most everything in Ecuador is 'SPEKTAKULAR'!!!


Fredy drove us more than 900 kms from Quito to Banos to Cuenca to Olon. Constantly smiling, seldom quiet, always concerned with our safety and well-being, he dispensed cultural and historical knowledge along the route, took photos, carried our baggage (I think he thought we were old) , made sure we settled in at all locations, always on time ... and a very safe and skilled driver. 

Nearing the end of our road trip together, Fredy unexpectedly stopped at an Internet cafe to make a copy of some of his favourite 'pasillo' music for us - no charge he said - you are my friends. Yes we are Fredy!!!

 Staying At ... La Villa Del Penon, BANOS

Edgar and Mamma

Chocolates on our bed every day, queen bed, large, clean room, breakfast included, a friendly hotel cat and dog. 

Edgar made sure we knew where we were going, marked the best restaurants on a  well-detailed map of Banos, ensured taxis arrived on time and brought us back, delivered ice buckets to the room for our wine, ordered pizza for us and stayed up until the last guest returned for the day. 

The hotel is in the out-skirts (but not too far out, 20 minute walk, $1.50 by taxi) and away from the noise of centre-town. Internet service was better in the breakfast room, so Edgar cleared a table for us, made sure we had ice, glasses, whatever we needed.  The last morning we were there, we had two beautiful bars of Ecuadorian chocolate with a bow on, and a personal note thanking us for staying with him.

Staying At ... Rincon d' OLON

Chris, the very personable owner is originally from Holland. When we arrived, our room was quite dusty and dirty (due to some construction in the hall outside). When we notified him, he immediately offered us the use of two other rooms if we needed to move.  He said he would bring us a bottle of wine for our inconvenience; and he did!  These are not luxurious accommodations but the location is good. Chris provided lots of useful tips about where to shop. Streets are often unnamed in Ecuador (even locals don't often know their names); Chris ensured we understood the tourist map and wouldn't get lost. He was heading into the city one day for major shopping; he spoke with several guests, including us and asked if we needed him to purchase anything.

Staying At ... Tuzco Lodge, PUERTO LOPEZ

 

Julio (on the right above) and his wife are the original owners. They built the lodge in 1996. We interacted mostly with Gabby (right on right-hand photo) who had a good understanding of English.  We were greeted with hugs from all staff and they quickly learned that we only wanted fruit & cereal for breakfast (not fruit, cereal, bread, eggs etc - LOL). After a couple of days of heavy rain, we couldn't wade in the mud to cross the street for breakfast, Betty (2nd from right) braved the mud and brought us fruit & juice. On our last day (again heavy rain overnight) - she again, made sure we had some nourishment before we left. 

Julio loaded us and another tourist, Chris into his truck one day and gave us a driving tour of Puerto Lopez and the nearby area.



Eating At ...  Il Capuccino, PUERTO LOPEZ

Owner Roberto, originally from Italy, played professional hockey in Europe and tried out for some Junior A teams in Canada.

We only found Roberto's restaurant near the end of our trip; wish we had found it earlier. Nice, quiet location, small, intimate tables, good menu selection, thin crust pizzas are very good, his spaghetti bolognese (small portion) was amazing.

Roberto promises vino blanco frio ... or it's free! Tell him, we told you!

Our last meal in Puerto Lopez and Roberto sent a homemade coffee ice cream to the table ... gratis! It was fabulous!

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More Observations and Impressions 

• Ecuadorians are some of the kindest and friendliest people we have encountered in our travels! We never once felt unsafe, particularly in the smaller communities; however, we didn't wander around late at night in the larger cities like Quito. We didn't encounter street begging or high pressure sales anywhere. Everyone we met was super friendly and very helpful. Walking down a street people go out of their way to smile and say 'buenos dias or buenos tardes.' 
• Ecuador's economy is growing slowly. Main export commodities are petroleum, bananas, cut flowers and shrimp. The country is building on it's ecotourism industry. Foreign investment is primarily focused on the oil industry. Construction (of all kinds) is slow, equipment and supplies are simply not available.
• Use small denomination currency. Even a $20 bill will be hard to exchange; stick with $10 and lower. Unfortunately, bank machines dole out $20's. We went to restaurants where the bill was $10, gave them a $20 and they had to go to neighbouring stores to try and find change. 
• English is not that common; a decent understanding of Spanish is important. Get a translator app for your phone.
• Ecuadorian cuisine varies with altitude and agricultural conditions. Beef, chicken, and seafood are popular in the coastal regions and are typically served with carbohydrate-rich foods, such as rice accompanied with lentils, pasta, or plantain. Maybe a little too much rice; not many salad selections. Fresh fruits are exceptional as are the daily juices prepared from an endless selection of organic fruits. 
• The blue plate special will always be available, very reasonably priced ($2- $4) and served at your table within minutes. Many restaurant menus contain a number of other dishes that are 'just not readily available' ... cooks/chefs will prepare them but only if  ... (1) ingredients can be easily purchased nearby, (2) if a customer is willing to wait an unknown period of time or (3) in the case of some entrees, meals need to be pre-ordered as much as a day in advance.
• Popcorn is often a complimentary appetizer or an entree accompaniment. Never seen this done before; popcorn instead of a bowl of peanuts, a medium sized bowl of popcorn in place of breads, popcorn to add as a topping to ceviches or soups, popcorn in a cup made of plantain as an entree side dish.
• The highways have a lot of very extreme grades and continuous curves. Road conditions vary; there are many newly surfaced sections particularly on the Pan-American highway. Andean mountain roads were all quite good over the sections we travelled, secondary roads in the smaller communities are often in substandard condition and in need of repair or are mud / gravel surfaced.
• Mudslides are common in the mountainous areas; at times expect long delays.
• It's extremely humid (muy humedo) here ; daily temperatures are often in the mid to high 30's C. Even locals move slow in the afternoon, siestas are common.
• Rainfalls are brief and often torrential.
• Earthquakes are common, tsunamis not so much.
• We've come to REALLY hate roosters! 

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We're LOAFin Around  

... but without LOAF this time (he's in his winter spa). 

Follow along, if you like.

Our latest route is included on TRAVELMAP 2019.   

For all posts from this latest adventure click Trip 146 

Wikipedia and others have provided backlinks.

All photography is by LOAFin Around, unless otherwise noted. 

And finally, here's a link to our complete 2019 ECUADOR photo gallery. 

Wry and Crusty ... 

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