Reflections on Ecuador

We've been home for nine nights now. I count in terms of nights, as the comfort of my own bed is what I missed most while in Ecuador. With the Internet, especially when we Skyped with the family during the first part of the trip, pre-computer crash, Phillip and I still felt connected to the people we love even though we were on a different continent.

Ecuador met or exceeded our expectations. The people were friendly, as you can tell by the posts that spoke of people we met. And I didn't include stories like the one of the taxi driver in Quito who spent the entire 30 minute trip talking to me in simple Spanish about our families, including his two granddaughters, or of Bene, the accountant from Quito, who was on the tour of the Ingapirca ruins with her mother. Bene's mother spoke no English, but she and Phillip got along fabulously (to use Leslie's word). Or Juan Carlos, the Ecuadorian in Puerto Lopez who collected American commemorative state quarters and studied them to learn USA facts. Juan Carlos knew to say "Howdy" to Texans, and Phillip taught him "Howdy, pardner!" for the Fort Worth greeting.

And the native beauty of the land... the mountains, the waterfalls, the cloud forests, the unspoiled beaches, the flowers, the colorful birds, the vicuna. Spectacular. My pictures don't do it justice.

The food, a common post topic for me, was always delicious, except for bolo (I won't try that again, it's just a ball of yucca dough). Fresh fish on the coast, delicious cerviche, corn kernels in the highlands that are three times bigger than our corn kernels, creamy ice creams and yugosi confections, fruit and more fruit, and yes, cuy.

I knew we would be riding the bus alot, but by the end of the trip, I was dreading yet another bus ride. I attribute that to my planning. I should have limited each long distance bus ride to no more than a 3 hour trip, then the local buses we took around and from Quito during that last week might not have seemed like such a chore.

Phillip and I loved our experiences: the ziplines, his paragliding, the visit to Isla de la Plata to see the blue-footed boobies, so many activities we would not or could not have done here.

Do we recommend Ecuador as a travel destination? Yes. Will we return? Yes. Will we avoid the big cities next time? Yes. They are like big cities here, not so attractive and the only places where we had twinges of paranoia about safety (repeated first-hand stories of slashed backpacks and big city camera thefts will do that). A lot of Spanish colonial architecture, especially in Cuenca, but having seen the cathedrals, we have no desire to return to the cities to see them again. And Guayacil just reminded me of Houston, a large sprawling urban area without the charm of Cuenca or the history of Quito.

Phillip and I are grateful for the opportunity we had to enjoy Ecuador and all that it had to offer. We look forward to a return trip. First, however, we will be on to our next travel destination, Thailand. That will be a totally different trip, as Phillip's brother did all the planning and arranging; we speak no Thai and will be dependent on Phillip's brother and sister-in-law as translators; and unlike Ecuador, I'll be figuring exchange rates for currency (so how many bhat = $1?) We are looking forward to Thailand, a country with unsurpassed natural beauty; friendly people; and fruit, fruit, fruit.

Return home tomorrow

Soon, this adventure will be history. We fly from Quito to Miami to DFW tomorrow. Ralph will pick us up, and I'm hoping the weather is better than the icy conditions when we left! Today was spent with a little more shopping, getting my hair done again, and soon, final packing. No pictures, as we didn't do or see anything picture-worthy.

Hopefully, any further posts will be from the comfort of my study, not from the Holiday Inn in Miami! Phillip wants to know who is researching zip line construction? Adios, amigos!

Presidential Palace Changing of the Guard

Today, after I made the blog posting for yesterday's adventure, we walked two blocks to the Plaza Grande for the weekly Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Presidential Palace. Clarification before I go any further... Ecuador is a democracy, not a monarchy. They call their version of the White House a palace. Also, I'm sure the guards change shifts more than once a week. That's just how often they make a ceremony out of it. When we arrived, two guards in their fancy uniforms stood on the second floor balcony of the palace entrance, "guarding" the big doors. Buckingham Palace has no competition from these guys. This was a public entrance, so they were just for show, and they talked to each other, moved around, and only stood up straight for pictures. The guy on the right has his head tilted.

Then, shortly before 11 am, the real guards started showing up and taking positions along the balcony and in the tower part of the palace.

The band came out, thru the doors, across the balcony, and onto the plaza in front of the palace.

They even had mounted guards, near the fountain of the plaza.

The band played while the guards took all their positions, then it played the Ecuadorian national anthem, and the Ecuadorian flag was raised above the palace.

The 30+ (not counting the ones on horses) uniformed guards did their crossing ceremony where they passed each other walking in different direction on the main balcony.

Another tune from the band, and then they all marched out of sight (into the palace or, for the mounted guards, around the palace). We were impressed and glad to be there to see it. Before the ceremony began, a group of school chilren was escorted into the palace. They ended up a level above the guards, on an open balcony, to watch the event. We noticed that once the ceremony started, they were joined by a man in a suit and power tie. Maybe El Presidente? I'll check the internet when we get home for a current picture of Rafael Corerra and compare it to this one:

In addition to the pagentry of the ceremony, I was impressed by the following:

This was like our icy pops, but instead of water-based, it was yogurt-based. We didn't taste the yogurt, just the creaminess of this pineapple-coconut confection. Heaven in a 15 cent plastic sleeve.

After the palace ceremony, we walked about a mile to the Mariscal Sucre district, where we found the artisan market. More shopping, then a walk back. From our balcony, we watched the local shopkeepers, street vendors, and kids play their Carnaval games with foam and water. The ones with the spray foam cans only sprayed other people who looked like they were playing, not mothers with babies or old people. It was fun to watch them chase and foam or soak each other.

It was clearly a game, and in good fun, just like our foaming two days ago at Mitad del Mundo. Only one more day left for adventure in Ecuador!

Indigenous market in Otavalo

Yesterday, we traveled to Otavalo, a town to the north of Quito, to shop in the market. Fortunately, the line at the bus station was not nearly as long as it had been when we tried on Saturday. A bus from near the hostal, to another bus to get to the final bus...then 3 hours on that bus, and we were in Otavalo. We learned that the longer distance buses are not supposed to have people standing in the aisles... Our bus filled with seated passengers, with tickets purchased at the counter, in the terminal, but outsdie the terminal, the driver stopped and about 10 or 12 more people got on, paying in cash to the driver's helper. However, about half an hour into our bus ride, the bus was slowed by traffic, then stopped by the police who issued the driver a ticket. Everyone standing had to get off the bus. So... the driver took a chance and those people getting on outside the terminal took a chance. Yesterday, however, just wasn't their day.

In Otavalo, the market plaza was about 6 blocks from the bus terminal. It was a city block filled with vendor tents, offering handmade goods from the region: jewelry, leather goods, blankets, clothes, artwork, musical instruments, you name it...

The vendors were interested in having your business, but not irritating pushy for the most part. This young lady got some of our business:

When we asked about a larger size for an item, she said "un momento," and disappeared. She came back in less than a minute with her arms full. We asked for something else she didn't have, and she ran off again. This time, her big sister (who had the other booth where she was getting the stuff we were asking for) followed her back to see what was going on. It was clear to us from their interaction that little sister was happy to be making a good sale (that big sister hadn't made).

We spent a few hours in Otavalo, then back on the bus to Quito. Enroute, according to my guidebook, we passed Ecuador's largest lake. Not many lakes in Ecuador, as the water is mainly in rivers that flow year round.

Back in Quito, we walked around a little more, here's two night pictures:

Even after the walking, my back was still aching from the bus seats (lumbar support? nonexistent), so instead of posting last night, I took two ibuprofen and went to sleep. All is good this morning, and we are going to stay in Quito and see what we can get into here...

Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World)

Today we started with plans to go to Otavalo to shop at the indigenous markets there; however, half of Quito had the same idea. We rode the city bus to one bus station and changed buses to go to the bus station farther north, from which the buses to Otavalo leave. About 500 people were massed around the ticket office, and the officials were barely moving them thru to the buses. Since we didn't want to spend half of our day at the bus station, we got on another bus and rode it back to the first bus station, where we could take another bus to Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World). Mitad del Mundo was on our list anyway, so that's where we spent the day... after 4 bus rides!

This monument marks where the equator passes thru Quito (yes, I know the equator circles the globe and passes thru many countries, but this is EQUAdor, named so because of the equator). Also, this location was scoped out using 19th century technology. They got it close, missing it by only 240 meters (262 yards), as defined by more modern technology. The Mitad del Mundo complex has the monument, exhibits, museaums, restaraunts, and shops. Today, probably because this is the first day of Carnaval, they had native dancers and a parade. Here are some of the dancers, this one a Ballet Folklorico group:

When the parade started from the center pavillon shown above, it was lead by these devil drummers. I don't know what else to call them as they were each dressed in a devil costume and played a drum as they marched:

 Other groups in the parade, in their colorful costumes included:

As I noted, today is the first day of Carnaval, when people go crazy with celebration before the beginning of Lent. The most popular seller here was the can of foam, that the kids (and the parade participants) sprayed on people... as you can see, Phillip was close to the spraying:

While at Mitad del Mundo, we took a tour to a local volcano crater, Pululahua. Behind us are the clouds rolling in, as they do every afternoon.

The volcano has not erupted in over 2400 years, so people live in the crater, farming the rich volcanic soil. The way out that most people use is this path up the side of the crater:

I did NOT walk down (as I would not want to walk back up, I've had enough moutain climbing, thank you.) Unfortunately for the people who live there, this may not be an extinct volcano after all. Our guide told us that in 1999, scientists discovered a raise in ground temperature, indicative of seismic activity. It's a minor change, so the government isn't making them move, and apparently, they don't want to.

After this tour, we watched some singers from Buenos Aires back at the pavillon. Unfortunately, I can't post a picture of them as they had a difficult time keeping their tight skirts down as they danced. Their apparel issue didn't seem to bother Phillip, however. Tomorrow, we are going to try again to go to Otavalvo, starting out earlier.

Birds, birds, and birds

We just returned from El Monte, a lodge in Mindo, about 2-1/2 hours northwest of Quito. We took the bus there yesterday and spent the night. Cabin made of bamboo, wood, and thatch roof.

To get to El Monte, we had to cross Rio Mindo (Mindo River) in a hand-pulled seat, similar to a zip-line, only level.

 

Our main activity for the past few days was bird watching. We had a guide named Julia who had the best eyes! She could spot them in a tree a mile away. Well, almost. And, she had a Swarovski spotting spot and Swarovski binoculars. Very high quality, but this is how she mades a living. She took us around El Monte and Mindo for 8 hours for $25 yesterday. This morning, she met us at 5 am to take us to see the Cock of the Rock birds on the top of a mountain. Here are some of the bird pictures we took. Some are taken thru her spotting scope:

The Cocks of the Rock, at least 6 of them, were waking up and making all kinds of racket on the mountain this morning. (Yes, I had to climb ANOTHER mountain, this time in the dark and rain...)

Julia also took us to see hummingbirds.

Although the emphasis at El Monte was on the birds, we got pictures of other things, like bromeliads growing wild in alot of the trees:

Flowers that were multi-colored in a cluster:

And finally, this guy. He was wandering around near our cabin. He is larger than a squirrel, not as fluffy as his hair was more like rat hair. Julie said he is a wild cousin to a guinea pig...... Hmmmmm, wonder if this is what we ate in Baños?

Looking for Karl Malden

About the title, youngsters will have to Google Karl Malden, mature readers will know when I show the pictures. We walked alot today, in the Mariscal Sucre area, with level ground and beautiful parks. I am ever amazed at the care of the Ecuadorian parks in the cities. We were in this one a little before lunch time, so it hadn't filled up yet. Notice the bike trail on the left of the walkway.

After the level Mariscal area, we went back to Centro Historico, the old part with all the churches where we are staying. Some churches have traditional gargoyles, but as we approached this church,

we noticed that instead of gargoyles around the edges, it had native animals, some scary-looking, some not:

This last picture is of the llama decorations. This church was halfway up the top of a hill, a real hill. We decided to go to the top of the hill, and found that all of Centro Historico seems to be uphill. No matter where you are going, even if you think you want to go downhill, you end up going uphill. I take pictures at the top of the hill so I can stop and rest!

Here's where I was looking for Karl Malden or Michael Douglas, the young Michael Douglas. The other activity we did today was to take a taxi to the TeleferiQo and ride the cable car to the 4100 meter observation area. The taxi ride was an adventure itself. The front seatbelt was broken, so I held it over like it was hooked so the taxi driver wouldn't get in trouble with the police (they have a seatbelt law). The exhaust had a leak, so it was LOUD; it needed a turne-up bad as it wasn't burning all the fuel (Phillip smelled gasoline from the back seat), the engine died every time he came to a complete stop at a red light. The last thing with the taxi was that the transmission went out as he turned into the TeleferiQo driveway, it would only go into third gear and he couldn't make it any further up the hill. So, we paid him, got out, and commenced to walk up the side of the mountain.... again. This time, on the sidewalk, not a goat path.

The TeleferiQo took us to 4100 meters, but we were actually OK with the altitude, as we've had time to acclimate. From the top, we had a spectacular view of Quito.

This is what we rode up in, not too scary for me after the ziplines.

The cables from the white building on the right take to cars to the top of the mountain you see in the distance. Although we enjoyed the views, there wasn't anything else to do at the top. No oxygen bar anymore, no shops, only one selling overpriced sodas. Ah well... Tomorrow we go to the cloud forest for two days. We may not have internet there.