Hasta Luego Ecuador: A Recap
I know this is going to seem like a cop out, but I leave Ecuador tomorrow to head into Peru, and I am way behind on my blogging (don’t feel bad, I’m way behind on my travel journal as well). I could do what other, more forward thinking bloggers do, and save some ideas for later, when I hit a lull. But I’ve never been one to do what the others do, marching to the beat of my own drummer and whatnot. So with that in mind, I’m going to attempt to give a highlights reel for you guys.
From the blog so far, it would seem like my time at Sacha Yacu is all that I have done. Though it was a very important part of my time thus far, it wasn’t everything.
Baños
I went to Baños every weekend while volunteering in the jungle. It was mostly for hot showers, internet, laundry, and melted cheese, but it had some other perks as well. I went for a bike ride that ended with me losing the rest of the group, seeing some beautiful views, filling my water bottle from a waterfall, and somehow making my way back to the city. I went canyoning, an conquered some fears, managing with pride to repel, zip line and slide down several waterfalls in a very attractive wetsuit and rubber harness. I went up a mountain and watched a volcano explode with lava in the light of a full moon while sipping hot chocolate. I swung on a swing at the edge of the world (which every so often gets shut down apparently). I learnt to salsa in a packed club after drinking shots of the Ecuadorian flag on fire. I hiked up stairs to what I thought must be Shelob’s lair, but turned out was a props giving statue of the virgin of Baños. I also made some friends and played Rainbow Jumbling Towers (aka Ecuadorian Jenga) over breakfast with an Aussie, a German, and a Uruguyan.
Tena
Tena was definitely not my favourite. We saw some animals looking sad in cages in the Amazon Park, and tried to find Islas del Amor, but instead found a rope swing into a river. And the sand flies and Mosquitos found me. Majorly.
Misahualli
This is a small town best known for the monkeys that roam freely in the city, stealing your shiny objects. I actually really enjoyed this little tone, even if we were only there for a day. We (I say we because I spent a week travelling with two hilarious Uruguayans) managed to get ourselves to a place with a waterfall you could hike to. We ventured into a mysterious cave, and ventured out pretty quickly when we found the bat inhabitants if the cave. Don’t get me wrong, I like Batman, I just don’t want to be him. Upon arriving at the waterfall, I immediately noticed four gentlemen having a waterfall photoshoot in their underwear. Calm yourselves ladies (and men), I can assure you that these photos were not sexy, and probably could have done with not existing. When you travel with the Uruguayans, you could hike backdown the path, or you could try to make your way down the waterfall and subsequent river/mini waterfalls. I may move slowly and fall often, but I sure am one determined sonofagun. Our Misahualli adventure ended with a very very speedy taxi ride back to Tena, and then a very uneventful wait in Tena.
Quito
Quito began with the hospitality of Gustavo’s family taking in a straggling Canadian for the night, so I wouldn’t have to find a hostel in the middle of the night. The next day included finding my hostel, and somehow managing to get myself to the Mitad Del Mundo (middle of the Earth), and then managing to find the real equator that they more recently calculated with GPS. The most exciting part was finding my way back and meeting all the ridiculous souls in the hostel. You know it’s gonna be a good night when the Scottish guy breaks out his kilt.
The next day was an adventure to get to Quilatoa, which ended up being unsuccessful for me because I had to catch another bus. However, the day wasn’t completely lost, as I managed to get to Latacunga for the Mama Negra festival, and saw a sheep trying to balance by itself on top of a moving bus. Good old Ecuador, never ceases to surprise me.
Getting to the bus station in Quito was a whole other adventure which included a bus that could rival a subway in Japan during rush hour, and my vice-like death grip on my knapsack. Despite a slight hiccup in which bus to get on, I made it to the terminal, having only sacrificed the feeling in my hands, and the compass on my bag (which is probably still rolling around the floor of a bus in Quito). Travelling is all about rolling with the punches and adapting, though that’s easier said than done when the bus you were meant to take is full, the next bus isn’t until the morning, you’re tired, and you don’t understand the language around you. It’s always nice when people are nice. I don’t know what I would have done without the ticket salesman who left his position to help me find an alternative route, speaking only in slow baby Spanish, and acting things out so that I would be able to get to my destination. Several games of charades later, and I was on the bus heading to Montanita.
Montanita
After managing to successfully change buses in Manta, I was in Montanita and the sun came out to greet me. I got to the hostel, said hi to the friends I was meeting up with, and went straight to the beach. I fully coated myself in sunscreen, yet still managed to burn spectacularly (thank you extremely pale skin!). I spent the next week or so in Montanita hanging out on the beach, in the hostel or in the cafe. I did a lot of exploring and going to see all sorts of animals that had washed up on the beach. We missed the whale (they had buried it in the sand by the time I got to it), but we saw an eel, some pufferfish, and a sea turtle. I watched the sunset over the beach, and then managed to also see it rise as well. Other than that, and a day trip to Puerto Lopez, Montanita was more of a beach bum hippie town, great for relaxing and meeting some good people.
Puerto Lopez
This dusty coastal town had one major draw, la Isla de la Plata (also referred to as poor man’s Galapagos, or the closest I’m getting to the Galapagos on this trip). We signed up for our tour, and off we went on a boat to the island. We hiked around and saw so many Blue-Footed Boobies. I couldn’t have been more excited. We also saw a terrifying number of vultures just hanging around. I learnt all sorts of things about our blue-footed friends, and took many pictures. Then back to the boat for some sea turtle watching (very cool stuff) and then to the snorkel spot, where we donned the attractive masks and went to town. My natural buoyancy meant that snorkelling for me was nothing more than lying there comfortably watching all the really cool fish.The only trouble is that now I really want to dive.
Cuenca
My last stop in Ecuador has been Cuenca. This city is extraordinarily different from everywhere else in Ecuador. It has a much more European feel to it,and reminds me very much of Madrid. There is also a national park nearby that we decided to go hike through. It took us some time to figure out how to get there, so we only had time for a short hike around the lagoon, but that was definitely enough. I also wandered around the city, and we visited some ruins, and tried to outsmart the sprinkler system (needless to say the sprinklers won this round). There were some birds, some pretty flowers, and a river. What I’ve discovered is that this town completely shuts down on a Sunday, which apparently means that I do to.
I think Don Cherry would be proud of my recapping skills. That was Ecuador in a nutshell. There is definitely more to see and do here, but I think it’s time I moved forward and head to Peru. If you don’t move forward, you get stuck in the past. Or at least that’s my excuse for not learning past tense in Spanish yet.
