Here are a few more pictures from the road trip, see the previous two blog posts for the trip re-cap. If you ever find yourself wondering where to go on your next vacation, do consider Ecuador, it really does have a lot of things to see and do-none too far from the next, and their official currency is the U.S. dollar.
(looking down an alley in Quito)
(alpaca wool blankets for sale in Otovalo)
(entrance to Cotopaxi National Park)
(on the way down from the Cotopaxi refuge)
(the view from our lodge in the park)
(view of Laguna de Quilotoa from the top of the trail)
The next part of the road trip was the long trip down the Andes, through central Ecuador (corn, wheat, banana farms) to the coast. Our next stop was Puerto Lopez, a fishing town on the central/southern coast. Puerto Lopez has since become one of my favorite places in Ecuador, it has amazing seafood, a fun atmosphere, a couple nice hotels/lodges, and is the access point for Isla de la Plata. After we got settled at the hostel, we went walking through town looking for dinner. We were handed a flier for what would be a called a pop-up restaurant, because it wasn't there the next day. It was open-air, tables, chairs, and not much else-except absolutely delicious seafood, which was definitely fresh caught.
The next day we took the boat to Isla de la Plata, an uninhabited island about an hour off the Ecuadorian coast. As it has blue-footed boobies and frigate birds, and a somewhat similar landscape as some of the Galapagos islands, it's often called a poor-man's Galapagos. It was amazing. You hike around the island with a guide, checking out the birds, getting incredibly close to the blue-footed boobies, which really are too cute. Then you hop back in the boat, and pop over to another side of the island and snorkel. There are a lot of gorgeous tropical fish, and the water is delightfully warm. Not too mention all the soaring and diving birds that are constantly coming to and from the island.
A huge highlight awaited us on the way back, as we were there during whale-watching season. We were lucky enough to see a few humpback whales jump and flip, wave their fins, swim alongside the boat, and flap their tails. It was my first whale-watching experience and I was mesmerized. Truly marvelous. My only excuse for not having better video of the whales is that I did not and do not have an SLR camera, the boat was shaky, and there were lots of people competing for space to capture pics/videos of the whales.
After Puerto Lopez, we drove back to Guayaquil, visited some of the downtown sites, the four of them got caught up with emails/posting pics/etc at my house, and then it was off to the airport for them to head to Colombia for more vacation. It was back to work for me. I really enjoyed the road trip, hit up a few places that I had been wanting to see, and enjoyed getting to see lots of the country. Very few of my colleagues ever covered as much ground by car as I did just in that trip, and I think it helped me gain some appreciation for some of the regions around Quito, around Guayaquil, and in between.
(the action is at the end of this 24 second video)
So the real highlight of July was going back to the States to be the best man in my younger brother's wedding. It was an absolute delight, and a real honor. It was also a great chance to spend more time with my sister's husband, who, because they live in England, I hadn't spent time with-aside from their wedding weekend. We toured around Minneapolis for a day or two before the wedding. But this blog isn't really for putting up pictures of my brother's wedding, he can do that elsewhere.
The second highlight of July was during the last week. I took off the week, and went on a road trip with Alex and Keerti, two friends from DC, and Kim (Keerti's friend) and Kat (Kim's friend). Seriously, a few people hadn't met each other before we all piled into a rented Kia Sportage in Guayaquil. Alex and I worked together at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and I knew he and Keerti pretty well, as we hung out a bunch when I was in DC. I had met Kim once or twice when I was out with Alex and Keerti. Alex and Keerti had recently quit their jobs and were headed to grad school, and were spending some of the gap with a trip to Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. Kat was also headed to grad school, and Kim just taking some vacation. They all coordinated trips, and we hit the road.
Alex and Keerti came in a day earlier, so we hit up a soccer game and got some typical Ecuadorian fare, before picking up Kim and Kat at the airport. Meeting up in Guayaquil made the car rental easier and cheaper, and meant they could leave stuff at my house, connect to good wi-fi, get some things done online (not just Facebook-they had grad school registration type stuff). It also meant the trip started off with the eight hour drive through fog, mist, rain, and mountain curves to Quito. Not the most popular part of the trip. Alex and Keerti had come from Peru, so they were a bit less shocked at the driving styles in Ecuador than Kim and Kat. We made it there safely, and had a great time in Quito. I once again learned that we probably should've paid $8 more per person per night and stayed closer to the historic city center, but instead we got some walking in. The historic churches in Quito are gorgeous, and thanks to Magus, a friend from the Embassy, we hit up some great restaurants with spectacular views.
Our next stop was Otovalo, which is often touted as a must see town for its craft and woven goods market. I was less than impressed. The market was extensive, but didn't seem to have much different stuff than what you can find at the handicraft market in Guayaquil. It was much larger, but mostly just because there is a lot of the same thing. The town itself was kind of dirty, run-down, and had little if any charm. But we were just there for a bit, so that was good. We did stop at a nice restaurant on a large lake near Otovalo on our way out of town.
We then zipped along the highway to Cotopaxi National Park, a truly beautiful and awe inspiring part of Ecuador. Cotopaxi is Ecuador's second highest peak, and it's highest volcano at 19,347. We drove into the park, and enjoyed the amazing scenery and views, getting out a few times to climb some small hills, or sit in the rocks and gaze around at the flowers and boulders and interesting landscapes left by lava flows. We drove up towards the trail to the lodge, and it kept getting colder and colder and windier and windier. Keerti, Kim, and Kat decided to stay in the car, while Alex and I headed up the short trail to the lodge. Hiking all the way up to the top is popular, but most be done at night due to the moving glaciers, so there is a lodge at the beginning of the trail that has bare bones bunks, bathrooms, and a small cafeteria. I was not at all prepared for the cold or the terrain, I had on boat shoes. But I layered all the clothes I had, Alex did the same, and we braved the cold, the sharp wind, and frequent freezing rain/snow, and hiked up to the lodge. It wasn't far, but probably took us 45 minutes or more. We looked a bit foolish, as most other people were in full winter hiking gear. But, man, that soup at the top was delicious.
Another unpopular and a bit worrisome event occurred on the next leg of the trip. We were just to drive around to the other side of the national park, to stay at a lodge recommended by a colleague in Quito. I had a map from the lodge's website, and it looked like we just had maybe 30 or 40 kilometers to go after pulling off the main highway. Like an idiot, I figured we could do than in no more than 45 minutes. I was wrong. Way wrong. After passing through two towns, and seeing lots of signs letting us know we were on the right way, it became clear it would be a long 40 kilometers. This was not a paved road, not a gravel road, not even what I'd call a dirt road. This was a very, very poor attempt at a cobblestone road. But rather, was like driving through a dry riverbed, or so I imagine. So, instead of 45 minutes I think it took us close to three hours. About every time we'd give up and be sure we were lost, we'd see a sign for all the Cotopaxi lodges and keep going. Luckily, we ended up at the right place, and as we had a reservation, the two person staff was still up to make us a very late dinner. We enjoyed the tranquility and incredibly clear sky to do some star gazing before we hit the hay in our wood-heated cabins. The outrageously beautiful views in the morning were worth the long drive.
Our next stop on the trip was Laguna de Quilotoa, which is a big crater lake southwest of Quito. We made our way there on the winding roads that were often way too close to the dramatic Andean cliffs for comfort. But, we didn't tumble down the side of the mountain, and we were soon in the tiny town next to the lake. Despite tourism being about the only thing going on in town, and staying at the place recommended by the guidebook, that didn't mean the hotel had figured out how to heat rooms with wooden stoves and keep the smoke out of the hotel. But, it was just one night. The next day we hiked around the top of the crater a bit, then made the hike down to the bottom of the lake, checked out the views, Alex, Keerti, and I hiked back up-quickly, as Alex wanted to beat the estimated time in the book (we did so handily). Kat and Kim took the donkeys up-as they didn't feel like getting tired-it is vacation.
Over the July 4th holiday weekend, Livia and I traveled down to Loja, a city in southern Ecuador. Loja is up in the highlands, but at 6,700 feet, isn’t as high as Quito or Cuenca. It’s a regional hub, with a population of a little less than 200,00 people. We walked about the town, went to nearby Podocarpus National Park (pictures far below) and also took the bus to Vilcabamaba and spent one night there. The trip was quite delightful, although there were a few hiccups.
(famos Loja city gate)
I showed up just in time for the flight, and Livia was waiting for me in a restaurant. I rushed through check-in and security, and then sat at my gate and texted Livia. Just as I did that I heard the last call for my flight, and they had changed the gates. I rushed over and grabbed the tarmac bus to the plane. All this time I’m texting Livia telling her to hurry up. As we get off the bus I tell the flight attendant that my girlfriend is waiting at the gate. They say that this was the last bus, and there’s nothing they can do. Mind you, we still had 10 minutes until departure time. I insisted, and a few other passengers agreed with me. But they said, nope, they weren’t authorized to send another bus. Granted, Livia was waiting for me on the other side of security…so once I urgently texted her, it still took a bit for her to get to the gate. So, once I arrived at Loja, we talked on the phone, and she got a flight for early the next morning. In Vilcabamba, the hotel cancelled our reservation, and there really is only one nice hotel in town, so we ended up at a perfectly acceptable hostel. We found it odd, though, as Livia had confirmed the reservation just two days prior. The lady gave us no explanation, except her ‘employee’s incompetence’ and said she was full. Our final hiccup was when Livia’s rented bike skidded out on a dirt road in Vilcabamba, and she cut her hand and forehead.
(panoramic view in Vilcabamba)
But, other than that, we had a refreshing, if quite muddy, and chilly (in Livia’s opinion) hike through the national park. The town of Loja doesn’t offer much, but is pretty peaceful, and has a few nice colonial era structures. It’s known for it’s music, and we had drinks at a very cool shared space type place. It has a large courtyard bar/restaurant, but then music practice rooms off of that space, and there were people singing and practicing guitar while we were there.
(views in Vilcabamba)
Vilcabamba was in interesting place. I was not especially impressed. The views are gorgeous, no doubt. The climate is quite nice. Because of this, it has attracted both Chilean/Argentinian hippies, and retired Americans/Europeans. The hippies tend to be selling bracelets and necklaces, or working in restaurants/hotels. The old Westerners seem to be walking around in a bit of a daze, usually with a local employee helping them get about. It was an odd environment, the coming together of the retirees, the hippies, and the rural highlanders in one place. The juxtaposition of a yoga studio next to a chicken feed store, was, if nothing else, intriguing. There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with the vibe and the town, just not my cup of tea.
(don’t be a party-pooper)
So, all in all a fun trip, it was Livia’s first time down to the very southern part of Ecuador, so that was cool. We also got free Pope hats (see below), t-shirts, and drawstring bags because we flew on Tame, the national airline, which was the official sponsor of Pope Francis’ visit to Ecuador. It was a huge deal. I intentionally planned the trip to get out of Guayaquil for the weekend, I have very low interest in seeing the Pope, and even lower in dealing with the crowds. From what everyone said when we got back, it was a good idea. They shut off my neighborhood for something like half the day on either Saturday or Sunday. Below the pope hat are pictures from our hike in Parque Nacional Podocarpus, which is in both Loja and Zamora Chinchipe provinces.
