Ecuador

Quito, Ecuador, 30/08/11

First time in the Andes, and it feels cool.

We jumped on the shuttle from the hostel to the airport in Panama City that was about 36km east of the city. It was a fairly short flight into Quito and as we were coming into land we were flying beneath the highest of some of the mountain tops. It was a fairly steep entry to the runway, and the landing was very bumpy. All around the airport the houses came right up to the boundary of the runway. We got a taxi to the hostel that was a 40min drive away. Quito is 15km wide and 55km long, nestled into a valley with 3500m plus peaks surrounding it. Quito itself is at 2800m and has the feeling of Kathmandu but a lot wealthier, with that high altitude capital city feeling. It already feels a lot safer than Most of Central America did.

The next day we were going to find an ATM and explore the old part of the city, but ended up on a last minute tour to the equator. The tour included visiting the rim of a volcano where there was a community that lived in the crater. The soil here was very fertile but they could hear the volcano rumbling daily. Next we headed to the true equator museum. Here they had experiments such as balancing an egg on the head of a nail, (Line managed and got a certificate to prove she could, I failed) and watching the water go clockwise, anticlockwise and vertically down the plug hole depending on which side of the equator the bowl was sat. They also had exhibits of different people that lived on the equator from Ecuador from the amazon region to the highlands.

After that we went to the original equator site where the French had worked it out to be a few hundred years ago. They were only 250m off which was quite good without the aid of GPS. They only realised it was in the wrong place when tourists came with GPS and started complaining that it wasn’t actually exactly on the equator line.

There was free tour around the old part of the city the next day which included a tour of the Basilica Cathedral. We didn’t have our passports with us so the next day we came back to the Presidents Palace for a tour of the banqueting hall and meeting rooms. After that it was time to head to the top of the Basilica. It cost 3$ to go up to the top of the Cathedral. We could get to both ends of the church and most of the ladders and barriers to stop you falling off the top were very wobbly, if you were having a clumsy day, it would be very easy to fall off the top, and as it was 90m to the top, it would have been a long fall, but the views of Quito were amazing so it was worth the constant adrenaline rush. It wouldn’t have passed any HSE requirements in Europe.

The Otavalo market was about a two hour drive from Quito, first on the outskirts there was the live animal market, here there were chickens with their legs tied up, crates of guinea pigs (Cuy, kwee in Latin American after the sound they make), sheep, pigs and cows. Some of the younger animals that were to be sold on and grown on were in a lot better condition and treated better than the chickens that were dumped in bags or boxes and looked very miserable, that were meant for the pot.

Next it was a short drive to the craft market. It happens every Saturday and the entire square and a lot of the side streets were filled with stalls. After some hard bargaining and some fake walk always, and some real, 10wks ago. It was an early start, breakfast at 5.30am, and then a transfer to the airport at 6.15am. At the airport our bags were checked for things that weren’t allowed such as seeds and live animals we came away with some good bargains, except that now we have to carry more stuff.

Galapagos 04/09/11

Everywhere you walk there is a good chance of standing on something. Some people did!!

Day 1/2

Our tour to the Galapagos started with a night in a posh hotel, The Hotel Rio Amazonas. The poshest hotel since Mexico City. It was a short flight to Guayaquil where we dropped off some passengers and picked up some more, then we left for the Galapagos and Baltra island, on the flight they opened all of the over headed lockers and sprayed insecticide everywhere, it smelt nice, but I dread to think our toxic the stuff was to breath in. They are certainly doing all they can to reduce the impact of humans on the Galapagos Islands.

We landed on an old WW2 air field built by the Americans to protect the Panama Canal after Hawaii was hit. It’s a very sparse landscape with only a few shrubs and bushes in the vast desert like island. The runway didn’t have any fences around it and the airport building was only a small shed. On walking to the airport building there was a mat that we had to walk over with more disinfectant and once inside the building there were more baggage checks. We all jumped on a bus along with other people from different tours and headed to the jetty. On the jetty were sea lions and orange crabs walking along the cliffs. Lunch was served on the boat and then we sailed to the first island.

Island landings were made with small ribs and most of them were wet landings. On the way to the first island we were joined by frigate birds that kept up with the boat without having to flap their wings at all. On the island we walked along the beach and saw Turtle nesting sites, lizards and orange crabs. Once we had seen all there was to see most of us entered the water for some snorkelling. The visibility wasn’t that great but there were plenty of fish to be seen. On the way back to the shore at least 500 birds flew over us heading back their island for the night, some of them only a meter above the surface of the water. That evening we met the rest of the crew that were dressed in all their best sailing gear, it looked as if it was kept in bags for most of the time and only brought out on special occasions. We had a welcome cocktail and every on introduced themselves and where they were from. From the crew there was a naturalists, captain, cook, engineer and 2 people that drove the ribs. Of the people on the tour there was an Austrian, American, 6 Australians, 3 other English people, a Canadian and 2 Swedish sisters.

After dinner that evening there was a 1m shark swimming almost out of sight of the boats lights. Later there was a 3m shark off the back of the boat, thankfully we weren’t snorkelling then. After that a Pelican landed on the back of the boat and then landed on one of the ribs that had been winched out of the water for the previous sailing. I crawled around the side of the boat to our cabin and knocked on the door. Line came to see what the noise was and got a shock when she saw me on the floor, but an even bigger shock when she saw the Pelican only a meter from her on the front of the rib. It wasn’t afraid of us at all, and we could stand next to it and talk quietly whilst it fished, it was soon joined by a sea lion that was also fishing by the lights of the boat.

Day 3

It was time for another beach landing and here there were sea lions on the beach waiting for us to land. We headed around the shore line passing lava tubes and more sea lions, orange crabs and marine iguanas sunning themselves on the rocks. Further around the coast the waves were crashing into the rocks and in the distance I saw 2 dolphins jumping together out of the sea, but that was all there was to see of them, as they seemed to disappear after that short glimpse of them.

We headed back to the boat and put on snorkelling gear, this time with wet suits as the previous day was just about bearable, but it was a shallow snorkel, this was to be a deep water snorkel. The visibility was amazing and so was the marine life. In the hour that we were in the water we saw 2 white tip reef sharks and 4 rays from a small eagle ray to some at least a meter and a half across.

In the afternoon we headed for another snorkelling spot. On the way to the beach we saw some Galapagos Penguins in the water, but didn’t manage to get close enough to snorkel with as they disappeared. Most of the group headed out around a rock called the pinnacle, one of the most famous views of the Galapagos. The ribs followed wherever the group went which was reassuring for some of the people that hadn’t been before. From the water we could see Blue Footed Boobies diving for fish, only a few meters away. There was plenty of other fish to see, but when I tried to head through one gap in the rocks, I came face to face with a White Tip Reef Shark. Usually they swim away from you, but this one kept coming and circled past me and the others behind a bit too close for comfort. It was a big shock. On the way back to the beach we came across a tiny sea snake on the bottom which took some searching for other people to see it as it buried its head in the sand soon after I found it.

Once back on the boat, it was a quick change and back on the ribs. This time a dry landing and a board walk with 372 steps to the lookout at the top, passing on the way more volcanic features. Once at the top at the viewing platform there were amazing views over the other islands around.

Day 4

The next morning we landed on a small beach which was the sight of a failed salt mining operation. Further along the shore line we came across more sea lions, hundreds of marine iguanas in huge groups and fur seals that were sat in small pools accessed via channels with naturals rock bridges over the entrances. After returning to the beach it was time to head into the sea for some more snorkelling. After a few minutes in the water we came across the first of 2 turtles feeding on the bottom. After a while we were joined by 2 sea lions which had come to play, a mother and pup, with the lumps in neoprene in their back yard. They got very close to you, swimming only 6” underneath you. One of them opened its mouth only inches from my mask and made a lunge towards me. Hopefully it was only playing but the sea lions seem to be getting a little too curious with all us snorkelers so we made a retreat to the safety of the beach.

After lunch it was time to head to another beach where there were lots of sea lions lying about on the beach sleeping. We saw lots of Blue Footed Boobies diving for fish and a few Pelicans crashing in the sea for their fish. They have air bags behind their brains which help to protect them when crashing into the sea, because it certainly can’t be called landing or diving. But sometimes these air bags can cause serious internal damage, and so many die of internal injuries.

Once back to where we hand landed and left the snorkelling gear it was time to head back to the sea again and along the cliffs. Here we saw plenty more fish and a ray. A few sea lions accompanied us for the trip but these seemed to be a lot friendlier. I was swimming along the bottom a few meters down when Line pointed to my right where a sea lion had been following my every move, when I finally looked to where she was pointing I had another huge shock as I saw the sea lion only a few meters away, when I lurched sideways at the shock of it being so close, the sea lion got a shock as well and swam off. We made it back to shore without further incident and headed back to the main ship.
From here it was a few hours’ sail to a bay where we pulled up for dinner. It was a rough crossing but worse was to come after dinner, most people took sea sickness tablets, including me and we headed off to our last port of call of the trip. It was a rough crossing and most people went to bed. The boat arrived in port at 11pm, so most people managed to get a few hours’ sleep after that.
Day 5

Another early start, breakfast at 5.30am and off the boat at 6am, and we were off to see the Charles Darwin Research station. This was to be our only meeting with the Giant Galapagos Tortoises. They were in concrete corals and not in the wild that we had hoped to see. From here it was a 40min bus journey to a port, a very short ferry to the other side and on to another bus to the airport. There seems to be a lot of cattle and dogs for an area that’s trying to keep its self as natural and undamaged by humans as possible.

Day 6

Day 6 was spent back in Quito, I think it a bit cheeky to call it a 6 day trip, when you only actually spend 3 and a half days in the Galapagos, but all the tour companies seem to do this. A week in the Galapagos would have been better.

Cotapaxi 08/09/11

Amazing views, amazing hostel.

We left the hotel and headed back to the Secret Garden to get the shuttle out to their hostel near the Volcano Cotapaxi. The family that set up the Secret Garden in Quito moved out to the countryside to start an eco-hostel. The hostel is set in rolling grassland with views to Cotapaxi across the valley as well as a few other volcanoes and peaks in the distance.

The accommodation was made up of a few dorms, tents on platforms with a shelter over the top and a storage box for your packs, a play house, that you could only just fit 2 people in the upstairs if you were short and the posh rooms that had a double up stairs, wood burner, en suite and kitchenette down stairs. We stayed in the tents.

There was a compost toilet with an amazing view of the volcano out of the roof; the Jacuzzi had a great few out of the roof as well. The main house was an open plan affair with a long dining room table where all the meals were held and a warm open fire to sit around at night.
The afternoon that we got there we were taken up the hills at the back of the hostel to see a waterfall and to start getting used to the altitude, the hostel was at 3500m.

The next day we headed up to the car park just below the climbers refuge on Cotapaxi. On the way up to Cotapaxi we were passed by 200 Ecuadorian soldiers, they were all in their 20’s and were on a training come outing after their 1st year of military college. At the refuge at 4800m one of the young soldiers dropped their riffle and had to do push ups as punishment, with a rucksack on. They were looking very tired as they passed us, but seemed to be in good spirits. Once we had stopped for some very sweet tea and banana cake it was time to make it up to the glacier at 5000m. The army recruits were further up the glacier, some on the glacier; we heard some shouts from higher up and saw one of the packs rolling down the ice with bits falling off all the way down. Lots of press-ups to be done there I guess. After we made it back to the pickup it was time to mount up on our old and battered bikes for the 27km back to the hostel. The breaks weren’t that great and it was very bumpy and steep to get down to the valley floor. No major crashes happened, and eventually we made it back to the hostel.

The next morning 5 other people from the hostel headed out with me and Line for a horse trek through the valley, some of the horses were very lively and were at the front and galloped all of the way back, some of them were very lazy and walked very slowly at the back of the group. We had a very lazy afternoon and got ready to leave the next morning for Banos.

Banos 11/09/11

Nestled in the crook of a river.

We spent the rest of the morning packing for the trip to Banos and didn’t achieve much else. After lunch we got a mini bus down the very bumpy cobbled road to the town of Macharchi. We were dropped off at the side of the motorway and said that a bus would be along soon for Banos. There were lots of buses, but none said Banos. They were also flying past and the signs on the front of the buses were so small that it was almost impossible to see them. Eventually one stopped and said that he could take us there. We headed to a place called Ombato and the next bus was waiting for us at the side of the road for Banos. It was another hour’s drive to the town through some amazing scenery, crops clinging to the side of the steep valleys and always enough room for a football pitch here and there.

We spent the rest of the day looking for a river trip for the next day, but with no luck. The next morning the hostel owners managed to ring some local people and a trip was arrange last minute. It was to be 12km of Grade III/IV, on the Pastasi River. It was a bit of a disorganised company and by the time we got to the river they had forgotten the wing nuts to hold the footrests in place, so spent a lot of time slopping around in the bottom. It was a good river with some amazing views; the only really difficult bits were a few large holes to avoid.
When I got back to the hostel I met up with Line for lunch and then headed for the hot springs in the evening. There were varying temperatures from really hot to really cold and a kid’s warm pool. It was very relaxing, but by 7 o’clock it was crowded with locals arriving after work, and with barley enough room to move it was time to leave.

Tena 13/09/11

Paddling Mecca of Ecuador.

We left early the next morning for the trip to Tena, the kayaking capital of Ecuador. We finally made it to Tena after 4hours instead of the 3 that it should have taken, but did get to see some amazing jungle views. By the time we got to Tena we were back in the heat of the jungle, but the humidity didn’t seem to be too bad. Just beyond the city limits the Amazon started, at night you couldn’t see any lights.
I managed to arrange a trip on a Grade III river, the Jatuyaca River (Jatun meaning Big and Yaca meaning river in the local tongue.) We loaded up with kit and they had managed to find an RPM for me from another company. It was a 40min drive out of town heading further into the jungle down dirt roads. Eventually we pulled up to a small shack on the side of the road. Whilst the rafters were getting there safety talk, the safety kayaker, driver and me unloaded the kit, tied a long rope to the kit, and through the rear bumper of the truck lowered the kit of the side of the road, 60m down the river bank to the bottom. Any trip that starts with lowering your kit 60m to the river is going to be a good trip.
Once the safety talk was complete we scrambled down the bank to the kit and got under way. It was an easy river with plenty of waves to play on and amazing jungle all around with colourful butterflies on the banks. Lunch was huge and the local dog and a great time trying to heat a huge piece of chocolate cake, pasta and Doritos. All along the banks of the river there were gold miners diving to the river bed sucking up the sand and silt. They were making some good money but for very long hours in the cold river. A Columbian company had arrived with large diggers and mercury to extract the gold further upstream, making vast sums of money whilst only paying a few hundred dollars to the land owners for renting the land for a few months, not telling them what they were going to be doing and without licences. The president went on a rafting trip and asked the raft guides what all of the chaos a destruction was around the river and when he found about the illegal mining he sent in the army to close down the operation.

Cuenca 15/09/11

No track on the sleepers = no train trip.

From Tena we headed to Riobamba where we wanted to get the train further south and then on to Cuenca. But on the way to Riobamba there were large sections of the rail that were still being developed and we had heard reports that the trains weren’t running, so on arrival to Riobamba we decided to take the next bus on to Cuenca. Making for a 13hr day on the buses.

Cuenca was a colonial town with cobbled streets everywhere and old buildings and churches. There wasn’t that much to see and the air was very polluted, we walked around the city for a few days visiting a few markets and booking our bus trip over the boarder to Peru.