Final days in Ecuador

Arrived back in Quito overnight, after our wonderful 5 days in Galapagos. Headed off to Otavalo the following day to visit the famous Saturday indigenous market. We hired a driver to take us there.....we find that the transportation systems in Ecuador are not quite as developed as those in Peru. Our driver, Patricio was great. He only spoke a little English and as our Spanish was limited......we all taught each other new vocabulary...a lot of fun and learning. He said it was great as he actually learnt some French words as well. Claire has a tendancy to revert to French when she can´t remember a Spanish word.

When we arrived at our hotel in Otavalo, La Casa Sol (sister hotel to the one we are staying at several times in Quito); we were blown away....what a beautiful hostal in a country setting. We were actually about a 5 minute drive out of the town of Otavalo. A rabbit warren of various rooms and great indigineous art work. We were 2 of only 5 people staying at the hostal. It´s only a year old.

On to the market, where we spent a couple of hours. Only picked up a few (necessary!!!) things....sorry no souvernirs folks!! Back to our hotel by taxi.....our hotel was set on a hill and the taxi driver said he would charge us $3 but would only take us to the bottom of the hill and would charge $4 to take us to the top!! Decided we could use the exercise and chose the cheaper option. Then walked to the local Peguche waterfall.












The next day, our driver picked us up and we spent the day exploring the local towns. We were very fortunate that he took us to visit Don Carlos de la Torres a famous weaver. Don Carlos is now 76 years of age, but he and his wife took the time to show us their ancient weaving traditions. They were absolutely delightful.....and both shorter than Claire!!! Robin bought a scarf that is thick and warm for our winter days.












Then off for a hike to a local lagoon up in the mountains for about 1 hour. Then to a another village which is known for its leather work. Went to a local restaurant for lunch with our guide....there are always great lunches when the guides take you to their local haunts. the driver said he would meet us down by the town square so that we would have a chance to do some shopping. Said we really weren´t interested, but the walk would do us good. Unbelievably, a new pair of dress leather boots are now in Claire´s suitcase!! He had a good laugh!


Back to our hotel in Quito overnight and then off with another driver to Baños, a small mountain village about 4 hours by car from Quito. Our driver, Hugo speaks quite good English, but has a habit of pointing out volcanoe peaks and local spots of interest and takes his hands off the steering wheel; then does a quick jerk back to his side of the lane...a little nerve racking. Robin actually told him one time, to take it a bit slower going down the winding curving road. The drivers here in both Peru and Ecuador pass no matter what the signs say or no matter that there are double yellow lines on the highway. As once local told us, the signs and lines are only a suggestion!!! Also stopped at an amimal market in Ambato where various indigineous tribes people were selling their cattle, horses, donkeys, etc. They all wore their local native garments. A real treat to see this activity...we were the only caucasian people there.












Went for a great 2 hour hike this morning on the local volcano and have each booked a massage for this afternoon. Some rain here, but not too heavy. Back to Quito tomorrow for our last night in Ecuador; then a late afternoon flight back to Lima. Overnight in Lima on Thursday night, then a late night flight out on Friday to Houston and back in Calgary on Saturday around noon.



Pictures
1) La Casa Sol, Otavalo
2) Claire at the Otavalo market
3) Robin at Peguche waterfall
4) Don Carlos de la Torres - weaver
5) Animal market in Ambato
6) View of Baños from our hike above the town


Our final thoughts on our trip.....

Sensory overload. The wonderful people we have met along the way, both locals and other fellow travellers. Our guides have been absolutely fantastic.... Justino, Gilbert, Jim, Morris, Patricio, Hugo, etc. The wonderful staff in the various hostels. The sites we have seen, the experiences we have had, the food we have tasted, the plants, the wildlife, having to push a moto taxi up a hill, people running for change.

These 2 countries are incredibly beautiful, but with tremendous poverty. In spite of this, the people are happy and work very hard for a better way of life for their children. Unfortunately, in Ecuador, the government is still putting a lot of money into the military, instead of investing in its infrastructure and its people.

Ecuador has a lot to offer the independant traveller. Unfortunately this is not well known in the developed world. People only think of the Galapagos when they think of Ecuador. The country could do a better job of promoting itself. We would certainly recommend Ecuador to anyone.

Knowing a little bit of Spanish is essential as there are parts of these countries that still speak no English.

Finally, we should mention that prior to starting our trip we purchased ¨carbon credits¨to offset the airline carbon costs. We would urge others to do the same when they travel to help the Mama Pacha (Mother Earth). The cost itself is not a lot. Should you want more information on the web site we used, contact us later.

Galapagos Islands

Last Sunday, we left Quito and flew to the Galapagos Islands. All of the islands are volcanoes. We landed on Baltra Island and met by our guide, Morris. We were then taken to our boat the Eden, which had 8 cabins. The boat was fully booked, so there were 16 passengers on board. Our cabin was roomy with 2 single beds and a shower "hot water" and toilet. The meals on board were great and we were given snacks after every snorkelling expedition or visit to one of the islands. Several nice seating and lounging areas on the deck and a nice lounge indoors.

The first afternoon we arrived, we sailed to Santa Cruz Island and taken to shore via zodiacs. On this island we visited a small lagoon and saw some marine iguanuas, which are black and can swim. They swim to the rocks when the tide is out to eat lichen off the rocks. Also saw several types of birds...yellow warblers, warbler finches and frigate birds. We then went snorkelling for about one half hour and saw some beautiful colourful fish.

Next morning we landed on North Seymour Island and saw numerous frigate birds mating. The male has a large red throat pouch which it inflates to attract the females and the male also builds the nest. If the female is impressed, she will land next to the male. The male then flaps its wings, shakes his head and utters a high pitched cry, think that means....alright, I got her!!

Then onto the Blue Footed Booby section of the island....I swear these are the names of these birds which have blue feet. These birds are very entertaining. Once again we were fortunate that it was mating season. The male firstly does a little 2 step booby dance to attract the females. When the female nears, the bird does "sky pointing" with it's wings. If the female is attracted, the male then picks up either a rock or stone as a gift to the female...think this is the engagement ring.....Lisa.....think yours is nicer!!!

In the afternoon, we sailed to Sante Fe Island where we went snorkelling in 2 seperate areas. Saw a couple of green sea turtles and then we were also joined by several sea lions...awesome! Then walked around the island and came across a colony of land iguanuas...these are yellow and brown in colour. It is just incredible to walk around the various animals and birds...they are not afraid of humans as they have no natural predators. You can be just a foot or so away from sea lions, iguanuas, and the various birds.....just spectacular to be this close.

In the evening we sailed to Espanola Island and we were fortunate to be accompanied for about half an hour by about 10 to 12 pilot whales....even the crew was excited as they don't see them often. The sail was about 5 hours and Claire was seasick for about 2 of these hours ....a very rough voyage and a very rough night for Claire. Had taken some gravol but not soon enough!!!

On Espanola Island we saw some Nazca Boobies, not quite as entertaining as the Blue boobies. We then came across a colony of Albatross. These birds are huge... they need a large runway to take off, or they take off from the cliffs. They also have some interesting mating rituals. They normally mate for life. Once they land ashore, they commence their mating ritual. The birds face each other and first they do motions of " bill circling", then "sky pointing" with their wings, then the "drunken swagger", floowed by "bill clapping" "mooing" and finally"gaping". We were priviliged to see this complex, repetitive mating ritual....quite amusing. Spent the afternoon on the beach suntanning with the sea lions and also saw more sea turtles. We went snorkelling again and Robin was fortunate to see a tiger ray and a shark. Needless to say, when Claire found out there were sharks in the water.....she left!! even though we were told they are quite harmless....couldn't help thinking of Jaws!!!

Sailed overnight to Floreana Island and visited the island during the day. It is quite dry on the islands as is their dry season so no leaves on the trees. Quite a stark landscape. Saw some flamingos who were starting to nest. The sand on this beach had a green hue to it due to the large amount of volcanic mineral called olivine. Final visit on this island was to Post Office Bay. In the late 1700's a sailor put a barrel on the bay, so that he could leave letters for other sailors to pick up and take back to England. Today, this post office barrel is still used. As a traveller, you can leave a postcard for someone else from your country to take it back and mail it. Alternatively, you can take a postcard that is destined for Canada and mail it to the recipient when you get home. Robin and I picked up 3 postcards that we will mail when we get back home. We also picked one up that was addressed to Billy Fernandes in Guyana....Robin believes this is somenone he went to school with, so needless to say, we took this one and will mail it once we get home with a note.

Then sailed to Santa Cruz in the late afternoon, our last destination. It is one of the few islands occupied and has 30,000 residents. A nice harbour with many boats moored. We went ashore in the evening. Next morning we visited the Charles Darwin Research Centre and saw baby giant tortoises and many adult giant tortoises, some of which are over 90 years old and weigh over 200 kilograms. Also visited one tortoise called Lonesome George....the last of his species. They have tried to get him to breed, however with no success. They suspect he is either sterile or simply does not know how to do it!!!

Back to Quito in the afternoon. Tomorrow we will spend the day in Quito and then we are off to Otovalo for the Saturday market, staying overnight to visit some of the local villages as well.

Pictures

Boats

Seal Lions

Crab

Frigate Bird

Land Iguanas

Blue Footed Boobies

Blow Hole

Robin and Claire at Post Office

Claire with giant tortoises

End of beach days & on to Quito, Ecuador

Well, a month has already passed and it`s hard to believe everything we have experienced and seen. Looking forward to more.

As mentioned in the previous entry, we really enjoyed the beach town of Mancora. Got lots of sun, enjoyed the beach and pool and had great seafood. Every morning we went for walks along the beach for any where from 1 to 2 hours. The unbelievable part of this was that we hardly saw any people....most mornings maybe a few dozen tourists and some local vendors. We are told that this area is busier around Christmas, January and February, when the surfers arrive.

It was great to simply enjoy the sunshine and get lots of reading done.

On Friday, June 1st, we headed off for Quito, Ecuador. We woke up at 2:30 a.m. (and yes we are on holidays!!!) and we were picked up by our driver and taken to the airport in Piura, which was a 2 1/2 hour car ride away. Arrived in Lima in around 10 a.m. and we then caught a 2 hour flight to Quito. Quito is the capital of Ecuador and has about 3 1/2 million people. We are staying a wonderful small bed and breakfast in the Mariscal area ( lots of restaurants and small hotels). Our friends Nory and Julio from Invermere had stayed at this hotel and recommended it, the Casa Sol....thanks. The staff here are so friendly. Spent the afternoon strolling the area and relaxed at the B & B.

We then arranged for a tour of the City for today and some other travel arrangements for when we get back from Galapagos. Today, we were picked up by our driver/guide and stopped to visit many places in Quito. First we stopped at a market where locals shop for the vegetables, meat, seafood, etc. Reminded us of many markets we have seen in our last 4 years of travelling. For those of you back home doing your shopping in `sanitized`grocery stores, you would probably find these places a little hard to take!!!

Went to the central square and visited the cathedral. The cathedral is more like a basilica you would see in Europe, but not very ornate inside. We then went to another church, which was built in the baroque style and this is the most elaborate church interior we have ever come across. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures at this church, but I did buy a postcard of the interior. We have never seen so much goldleaf and artwork....just spectacular.

Visited a museum and then we went to the Center of the World, just outside of Quito. This is an amazing place....actually standing on the equator then stepping to the north of the equator and then the south of the equator. We visited a tourist museum here and saw how the indigineous people of the area lived.

The most interesting thing about being on the equator though, was a few of the experiments that we undertook. By standing right on the equator, you literally have no balance....hard to walk in a straight line!! On the north side of the equator the water flows one way and flows the other way on the south side....really interesting to see.

Tomorrow morning, we are being picked up for our flight and 5 day trip to the Galapagos Islands. We are truly looking forward to this next chapter....but Claire has packed her gravol...just in case; as we are staying on the boat for the next 5 days.

Pictures

1) Hotel pool from our balcony window in Mancora

2) Beach in Mancora

3) Sunset on the beach in Mancora

4 & 5) The City of Quito

6) Robin at the equator, trying to walk in a straight line.

7) Claire and Robin at the Middle of the World.

Have also added a few more pictures on Flicker - click link on sidebar