Today is transition day, from the Ecuador to the Peru portion of the current tour. Nine of the 16 of us on the Ecuador trip are carrying on to Peru and 7 new people will be joining us in Lima. Our flight from Quito to Lima wasn’t scheduled until evening so it was a bit of a wasted day, although I was glad to sit still for a bit to catch up from the busy itinerary over the past week. And from the look of things, the next week doesn’t look any less busy.
Our driver Victor came to pick us up at the hotel today, and it was like meeting an old friend. He got us to the airport in great time using small winding roads instead of the usual route demonstrating once again his amazing driving skills. The flight leaving Quito changed gates and even departure times 4 times within 2 hours, and so we were on our toes making sure to be at the right place at the right time. It will be a late night tonight and an early morning tomorrow as we fly on to Cusco on an “early flight”. We’ll find out when we arrive in Lima what time that will be.
So, thinking back over our Ecuador trip, I loved every bit of it, well except Chris at the Envirowhatever park. I’ve sprinkled some of my favourite pics of Ecuador throughout this posting.
Our journey by bus every day (well we had a couple of 2 day layovers) was a delight. The scenery is spectacular with more interesting and beautiful things to see around every corner. From the highlands to the cloud forests and down in to the jungle, the rains and mists create a green paradise. Plants that we think of as houseplants that are difficult to keep alive in our climate grow with wild abandon in Ecuador.
Maria Sol jokes that some of our walks are “Ecuador flat” which means they can still be very hilly because it seems no where in Ecuador is it flat. Of course, throughout we have been surrounded by the Andes and volcanoes with their rugged peaks which are most often shrouded in clouds. And yes, there were some black humour jokes about eating the youngest and most tender first.
The Ecuadorian people are delightful for the most part, well except for that one woman that almost ran us down last night while smoking a cigarette, talking with the phone under her chin and driving without her headlights. We saw many poor villages where the existence was possible only because of the hospitable climate but the kids played and the adults seemed happy for the most part. Whether it be staff at the hotels, or restaurants they seemed eager to please. Perhaps it’s because tourism is a relative new phenomenon for them and they’r not yet jaded and tired of being on display. We did see a little of that, but the people in the community we visited in the jungle seemed somewhat shy and reserved rather than disinterested as they first appeared. Our tour guide Maria Sol, and Hector, the guide I hired in Quito when I first arrived, each have a passion for their country and were proud and excited to show off their country and its people.
Experiencing the food has been fabulous, thanks in great part to Maria Sol. She went above and beyond the call of duty to introduce us to the typical Ecuadorian foods and find places to try them out. Potatoes and corn are a huge part of the diet, as is rice. Chicken and pork are the prominent proteins although the indigenous people eat larva as well. Flavours are generally gentle, and even the “hot sauce” is not as hot as one would expect. But the food is fresh and full of beautiful herbs grown in gardens wherever food is cooked. There are about a million varieties of fruit, some of which are alien to us, but we dutifully tried some of them. Even the things that are familiar to us such as watermelon, and pineapple tasted so much better. Fruit juice is a staple and market stands offered up whatever was currently available.
Putting 16 people in a small bus and keep them running 12 hours a day, depriving them of sleep, adding altitude and heat and humidity and cold and damp and tropical rain and the consequences could be disastrous, but the theme of this group throughout our 8 days together was “it takes a community ” or “village”. We watched out for each other, helped each other up and down the slippery slopes and uneven pavement, shouted out a warning to watch fingers on the power canoes, pointed out forgotten items, reminded each other to bring the necessary items (do we need our boots for this activity?), helped each other through the transfer process today, etc. When Maria Sol fell last night, she had many concerned “villagers” each with advice and literally a hand up and shoulder to lean on as we made our way to the restaurant. I’m sure every day I heard the phrase, “it takes a community” as someone was helped along the way. I will miss those that have left the group to return home or carry on to other adventures, but look forward to meeting new people.
Would I recommend Ecuador to people looking for an interesting place to visit? In a heart beat. It reminds me of what Costa Rica probably was like 20 years ago. Cheap and cheerful and full of diversity. The altitude that had me worried going into this trip is not a problem but you should have prepared to deal with the symptoms.
I am sad to have left Ecuador behind but look forward with anticipation to our adventures in Peru and then on to Galapagos. As always, thanks for coming along for the adventure.
Lois' Adventures 