Ecuador Road Trip
Tuesday 26 January – Wednesday 17 February, 2016
Getting the luggage off the boat with this crazy
dock situation was our first task. Next
a taxi ride to the bus terminal in Santa Elena, next town over, finding where
to buy tickets for a bus to Guayaquil then finding the bus to Guayaquil. We are on our way just after 10 AM (very nice
A/C buses). 2 ½ hour bus ride to
Guayaquil, taxi ride to car rental, paperwork filled out, driving away in the
car by 1:15 to come back almost to where we started. Hard to believe no rental cars available
closer to the marina, but that’s life in a foreign country.
Five miles from the marina in the town called
Ballenita is a beautiful Hotel / restaurant / museum called Farallon
Dillon. We arrived there around 4 PM,
showed to our beautiful sea-view room built into the rock cliff the hotel sits
on. Great views of the coast line and
loved hearing the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks and shore without
worrying about the boat. The owner was a
former captain in the navy and collected many eclectic items along his
travels. The place is full of nautical items
new & old that we enjoyed looking at.
Wednesday 1/27 on our way by 9:30 to head north up
the coast on Ruta del Sol now renamed Ruta del Spondyls (thorny oyster).
A little side note; we were using an app called
Maps.Me, great app to use OFF line. It
always takes you via the shortest distance, even if that way is NOT the best
road thus taking you twice as long since you have to drive so slowly. It made for some VERY interesting travel on
some very unbelievable roads. “I can't believe this is a road” was stated many
times. But it served us very well over
our 22 days and 1360 miles.
The coastal road takes you thru / by many coastal
towns and we stopped at two of the more popular ones (Montanita & Puerto
Lopez) to stretch our legs and have lunch.
This route also has several scenic overlooks where you can pull off the
road and enjoy the views. A national
park also, so our 175 mile / 4 ½ hour trip took us 8 ½ hours, including the
police check point stop. Arriving in
Bahia de Caraquez at 6 PM, we did not have a hotel reservation as we were not
sure of our arrival date. Fellow cruisers
Victoria and David on S/V Eva Marie had been in the area for a
few months and had recently joined partnership with a local business expanding
& relocating. So they were getting
ready for their grand re-opening of H sports Bar & Cafe (they do the cafe
part). We found the new location and
visited with them for a while, enjoying a great margarita, then went and
checked into the Buenavista Hotel and then went out for dinner.
Thursday we enjoyed walking along the waterfront
and up to the lookout point of a cross on a hill with great views of the
area. Had lunch at Puerto Amistad, a
restaurant built out over the water as well as the official yacht agent /
“marina” (no docks just moorings). Many
boats traveling to Ecuador come here, up the river, and stay on moorings. We wanted to see it, and met Trip the expat
owner who is also an ex cruiser and a wealth of information on boats and
Ecuador. He runs a great operation servicing
the boats that come there, since we wanted to do land travel we felt better
about leaving our boat in a marina.
Enjoy seeing the town, stop by H Bar & Cafe and visit with Victoria
& David again. Dinner that night at
El Muelle Uno, great local food at low local prices right on the waterfront by
the ferry dock.
Friday 1/29, said goodbye to Victoria & David
after having one of her wonderful cinnamon buns and were on our way by 10
AM. Crossing over the Rio Chone via the
5 year old longest bridge in Ecuador.
The landscape along our coastal trip so far had
been very dry, but we noticed a difference as soon as we crossed the river
where everything started getting much greener.
Traveling up the coast 2 hours crossing back over the equator, before
turning east for another 3 ½ ours that would take us up into the mountains and
into the cloud forest of Mindo. Beautiful scenery along mostly good roads but
the 2 lane road up thru the mountains had some rough spots, luckily the really
bad part did not last too long. Coming
to Mindo was a last minute decision, so once in town by 3:30, we connected to
the internet and found a hotel, and once booked finding the actual hotel was a
little harder. We learned during this
trip that Booking.com map / directions
can be way off !!!! Driving up &
down the “roads” looking for places would make for a good comedy skit. In our cozy little room by 5 at Cabanas
Armonia y Jardin de Orquides, relax a little before walking to town for dinner
at El Quetzal.
Saturday we enjoy breakfast in the hotels garden
surrounded by hummingbirds feeding at the feeders.
Another reason the hotel was hard to find it's a
mini jungle of plants and trees, hard to see the hotel from the road. A sunny day as we start off to go up to the
zip line. Fun time with great views
looking over the town / valley. Next
stop the waterfalls, there are several, after hiking down to the first one then
you hike up to the others. We just
almost made it to the first one when the skies opened up pouring rain. Glad
there was a covered area, no seats but at least we were out of the rain not
getting more wet. Several people came in
after us soaking wet. After about 30
minutes rain slowed a little, I had rain gear so suited up and we made our way
back. The path was muddy coming down and
we wanted to go before it got worse by too many feet walking back over it. Glad we did when we got back to the top,
there was a huge group waiting to go down.
That path would have turned dangerous with landslides. Back to town by 1 for lunch before heading
out to Quito. Driving up out of the
valley over the mountains then down into Quito.
Checked into Hotel Real Audiencia in the old historic section of Quito
by 5 PM. Driving a car in downtown Quito
is NOT recommended, once we finally found the hotels parking garage the car
stayed there until we left. Not that we
needed it, as most of the sites we wanted to see were within walking distance
of our hotel. Hot showers, Steve's
clothes were still damp from being caught in the rain, and relax in the room. Later walked a couple of blocks down to the
pedestrian street known as La Ronda enjoying the Saturday night activities on
the street before finding a place for dinner.
Sunday 1/31, after breakfast we were scheduled
with the hotel to go on a van tour with another couple. At 8:30 we met in the hotel lobby and Fernando
our guide had us in the van & on our way to the cable car Teleferiqo. Located on a hill on the active volcano
Pichincha, just west of downtown takes you from 9,680 feet up to 13,280 for
views of the city. We had a partly
cloudy day so the views were not spectacular but still pretty great. As an added bonus when we came down from the
cable car, at a meeting hall, they were having a dog show that we got to go in
and watch for a little while. Next stop
north of town to the Mitad Del Mundo and Museo De Sito Intinan. The first being where in 1736 the French
Scientists measured & determined the shape of the earth and the location of
the equator. They were off by about 600
feet, where the 2nd tourist attraction is located. Even that one is off a little depending on
the grade of GPS you are looking at and the time of year. Both were fun to visit. Ecuadorian lunch down in town by Parque La
Carolina at Mi Cocina. After lunch we
went to the to the former home now a museum of Ecuador’s most famous artist –
Museo Guayasamin. He was also a
collector of Pre-Columbian art that the home is full of, he is buried in the
garden under the “tree of life” on the grounds.
Next to his home is the Capilla del Hombre / Chapel of man. It was completed after he died in 1996, and
filled with his paintings dedicated to the struggles endured by the indigenous
people of the Americas. This was the
highlight of the day. Back to the hotel
at 5:30, showers & relax before going out to dinner. Sunday the streets driving all day and at
night walking were very quiet compared to Saturday.
Monday 2/1, we have an 8:30 appointment at the
French Embassy to apply for our long stay visa in French Polynesia. Have a taxi scheduled to pick us up at 7:30,
arrive there by 8, early so go wait at the nearby McDonald’s. Back to embassy we meet with Maria and she
reviews our paper work and ask us a few questions, all is in order, we are
fingerprinted, pay the fee and are done by 9.
Taxi back to the hotel, change of clothes as it had warmed up and can be
more casual walking the streets.
We spend the rest of the day walking around “Old
Town” Quito (AKA Quito Colonial or Centro Historico), seeing the beautiful
churches, plazas, & architecture of the buildings. We see why it is on the UNESCO world heritage
site. We luck out and see a ceremony
going on in La Plaza de la Independencia.
We find out it is the changing of the guards at the presidential palace
that takes place every Monday between 10:30 – 11:30 AM. Very cool to see, the current president has
chosen not to live there but comes in daily and he was up on the balcony during
the ceremony. More walking around seeing
the sights, up to the Basilica where we climb up one of the steeples and then
one of the towers giving us great views of the city. Stop at a local place for the set menu meal
of the day & have a good full lunch for $3.25 each. More sightseeing then a break for a beer
& diet coke. I check email and see a message from the French Embassy that
there was a problem with our paperwork and I need to go back. It is 3:30 so I try to call them, no luck
getting thru, send them a message to say we are on our way back. Maria had entered the wrong amount on my receipt
so it had to be redone, scanning my fingerprints with the correct receipt. Back to the hotel around 5 to relax and clean
up before going out to dinner.
Tuesday we signed up for a free walking tour, we
normally try to do these when we first arrive but we had other plans. Even though we knew we would be covering some
of the same ground we did the day before it was still worth it to hear some of
the history behind the buildings from our guide. We had checked out of the
hotel and had our bags in the car ready to go after the tour which started at
10:30.
By 1:30 we were getting in the car for our drive
north to Lago San Pablo.
Our drive north takes us thru some dry barren
lands before turning green & lush, as we make our way over and around the
mountains. Patchwork valleys with volcanoes in the background make for some
beautiful scenery along the way.
Arriving in the town of San Pablo and the town of Araque where our hotel
is supposed to be. Can't find it luckily
the phone works and we are able to call.
Reto the owner answers and says he will come meet us to show us the way. Good thing as it is no where near where
booking.com had it. Up a dirt “road”
with huge rocks and potholes to avoid, we were glad to make it up there with
our little rental car. Not what we were
expecting but great views of the lake and surrounding towns, with the volcano
Imbabura behind us. Suitcases in our
room, we ask about getting something to eat since it is almost 5 PM and we had
not eaten since breakfast. There was supposed
to be a restaurant on site but there is not.
Back down to town via a better road to see if we can find a place to
eat. Not a lot of choices but we find a
little place and both have a piece of chicken & FF Steve a beer for
$5. Our room, is nice enough, bathroom
and shower are part of same building but only outside access. Not a real problem until 3 AM when it is
really cold outside so shoes and clothes are needed to go to the bathroom.
Wednesday 2/3 after breakfast is served at the sitting
area outside our room we venture out to go to Peguche waterfall located in a
forested park next to an indigenous village.
The people of this area still dress and work in their traditional ways
and are known for their artisan wares.
Next stop up to the Condor Park, once again our car traveling over some
punishing roads. Slow day for the park,
only 3 other people there besides us.
Nice grounds with some great views, but only one Condor, a lot of other
hawks and owls and even 2 bald eagles.
Back down to the “town” we had driven past, and read about a lake front
hotel that had a restaurant, so we stopped there on our way back. A little too early for dinner so we had some
hot tea & enjoyed the grounds while waiting for dinner time. I talked to the reception desk to ask if they
had any room rate specials, she told me on Friday the rooms would be ½ price
for kick off to carnival $135 down to $67, I book us a room. A nice dinner before heading back up to our
hotel. Dark 8:30 instead of driving all
the way to the 1 good road, we passed one that looked decent, they all lead UP
which is where we had to go so we took it.
Not the best decision has it soon deteriorated into huge ruts with loose
big rocks all around. At one point we
briefly slid backwards on the loose gravel, but we made it and arrived safely
back in our room.
Thursday we go to Lake Cuicocha, an active crater
lake near another volcano, Cotacachi. A
great hiking path along the ridge of the crater gave us some spectacular views
of the lake, volcanoes and pasture lands around. The beauty surrounding you on that trail was
amazing. 2 PM time for some lunch but
the tour boat was getting ready to go out so we did that first. Taking us around the lake looking up at
cliffs and the 2 small islands in the middle.
A stop to show us the gas bubbles in the lake, unfortunately the guide
only spoke Spanish so his information was lost on us, still enjoyed the
views. Afterward lunch where Steve has
his first guinea pig. On our way back we
stop at the town of Otavalo, known for its market in the main square It is after 5 PM so things are winding down
but glad we get to see it, less people to say no gracias to as we did not need
to buy anything just like looking. Stop
in to the grocery store getting a few drinks and snacks for the room as we did
not want to go back out for dinner later after the late lunch.
Friday after breakfast and settling our bill with
Hosteria Samay Toa, we go check into Cabanas del Lago. It was an overcast day and we wanted a break
from driving on bad roads, so after they let us into our lovely room early we
just hung out enjoying the room and the hotel grounds having lunch & dinner
there.
Saturday 2/6 we check out at 11:30 & are on
our way back to Quito, this time staying at La Coupole Hotel in “New
Town”. A great find at a bargain price
on booking.com, and this time they even had the correct location, we are in our
lovely room by 2. We are making another
stop in Quito to meet up with a longtime friend of Steve's, Andrew, who is in
Ecuador working. Years ago he &
Steve both worked for Exxon, Andy is now a consultant and we had been in touch
knowing our time in Ecuador would overlap.
His work put him up in Esmeraldas so meeting in Quito that weekend was
the plan.
Andy and his friend Bryant were just down the
street finishing up lunch so they came down to our hotel to meet us. Bryant, from Quito but has lived in the US,
showed us around the area. A very lively
section of the city with many restaurants bars and hotels. Stopping at the Republica Del Cacao for
afternoon coffee and hot chocolate, while visiting with Andrew and Bryant
learning about Quito & Ecuador.
Ecuador has 3 different regions specializing in 3 different varieties of
chocolate, thanks to Bryant gifting us with some we got to enjoy them during
the rest of our travels. Back to our
hotel, Andrew to the Hilton a few blocks away and Bryant home to clean up and
change for dinner. Dinner out at Cats,
then down the street for some live music.
After talking so much during dinner we arrived just as the band was
playing their last song, they did come out for an encore so we got to hear 2
songs. Taxi back to the hotel sometime
after 1 AM.
Sunday a holiday weekend the streets were even
more quiet than the week before. Seems
like most people left the city for the long weekend, which we witnessed on our
way back into town the day before - the traffic going north was bumper to
bumper for miles & miles. On a 2
lane road not much you can do, just glad we were going in the opposite
direction. Great breakfast at the hotel
then walked the few blocks to the Hilton to meet Andrew. A little stroll across the street to Parque
El Ejido, where vendors set up selling their wares. Bryant meets up with us and we go to Old
Town, to see a couple of museums we had missed.
Even Bryant is surprised how empty the streets are, but not everyone
left town as we come across a small carnival parade. To Casa Del Alabato Museo, the building
itself is a colonial house with a beautiful courtyard in the center. The rooms are set up with different themes
describing the Pre-Columbian artifacts, which most are in amazing shape. Added bonus is the signs are in English &
Spanish as well as the English audio recording describing the meaning of the
different themes. A great museum. Time for a little coffee / tea break and a
snack as Bryant answers many questions about his country. A stop at the Museo De La Ciudad, an old
colonial building which was once Hospital San Juan de Dios from 1565 to 1974
! They had some interesting displays of
old medical instruments. Back to the
hotel to clean up & change for dinner with an old friend, great to catch up
with Andrew, and a new friend, great having Bryant show us around.
Monday 2/8, since
carnival celebrations were still going on in parts of the country & hotels
were booked, we delayed going to Baños, and stopped at Hacienda La
Cienega. It was close to Cotopaxi
National Park that we wanted to go by.
Our visit to the park was disappointing as cloud cover blocked the 19,347
foot high Cotopaxi volcano that last erupted in August 2015 – yes just a few
months ago. Some of the roads in the
park were still closed due to that eruption.
We did get to walk around a lake, not very pretty but a nice walk and
some good views of the dormant rock face of Volcano Ruminawi. On to the “hotel” a 17th century
hacienda, with a huge courtyard garden & even its own chapel. Our room, actually a suite was quite
luxurious. The following day was even
more overcast & cloudy so no reason to go back to the park, we just walked
around the area of the hotel. A film
crew showed up and set up to do some scenes for a movie. Pretty fun watching but they had to do a lot
of work for a little action, they were there late into the night.
Wednesday 2/10, 8
AM departure another cloudy day, on & off rain as we descend into the valley
and the town of Baños traveling thru the clouds. By 10:30 we are in our room at Hostal Posada
del Arte, great little hotel. Baños is
known for its outdoor activities, hiking, biking, rafting, etc. the temperature
is warm but we still had drizzling rain.
We walk around town & visit the town waterfall just a few blocks
away. Walk some more to find a nice
lunch spot, Casa Hood, before returning to the hotel where I go next door for a
massage while Steve reads by the fireplace in the hotel lobby. Later out for dinner the restaurant we were
looking was closed, so walked around some more finding another, lots of choices
in town.
Thursday the
weather is a little better so we take the car to travel the Ruta de las
Cascadas. Under sunny skies and dry roads
renting a bike to travel this route would have been the choice. Leaving the town passing the dam we come to
the first waterfall, and see there is a cable car and a zip line to cross over
the gorge to the other side. Still
lightly raining so after a few pictures think we will just take the cable car
over, but the rain stops so we go for the zip line. You have 3 options of how you want to cross,
regular = sitting upright, upside down ??, or as we chose superman style. They have a great set up for this putting
your legs in another harness behind you.
Very fun & great view of the waterfall from above. Rain started up again so instead of walking
up a muddy path to zip line back we took the cable car back. Traveling up the road we were shocked at how
many zip lines they had going over the gorge.
A lot of stops along the way to pull over & view the beautiful
scenery. Arriving at Rio Verde and El
Pailon del Diablo (Devil's Cauldron).
Hiking down into the Gorge you come to the entrance where you then hike up
Grieta al Cielo (Crevice to Heaven) a path CUT into the rocks going up behind
the waterfall, it was awesome . With all
the rain the waterfall was in great form an impressive sight !!
Friday more rain,
we were able to get out and walk around town some more but conditions were not
favorable for outdoor activities. I had
another massage, apparently a popular occupation in Baños as there were a lot
of them to choose from all very inexpensive, $20 -$30 for 60 – 90 minutes
! For dinner we went to the Taberna
Armenia restaurant that was closed the night before and had a wonderful
meal.
Saturday 2/13 we
left by 7 AM so the hotel had made a to-go bag breakfast for us. We were taking a longer scenic route to get
to our next destination. We were hoping
the rain and clouds would clear as we drove up out of the valley, and it did
some, but then the clouds hung around as we made our way up and around the
mountains. When we could see it looked
beautiful, but it got a little tense as visibility was really low and cars
still were passing on blind curves.
Suddenly it started to clear, and we could see Chimborazo Volcano off in
the distance. It was an awesome sight
with its snow capped peak. Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador (20,564 Ft.)
and lies within the Chimborazo Fauna Reserve Park. The terrain is very dry and barren making the
volcano stand out even more. At the park
entrance we have our bag breakfast, we are at 13,590 feet, then we drove (you
can walk) up along a switchback road to 15,180 feet where the trails begin,
going up to 18,000 ft, about 1,000 ft higher than Everest base camp. This is high, very high. If we were in an airplane, the oxygen masks
would have dropped at 10,000 ft. We have
a little over half the oxygen we’d have at sea level. We were feeling the effects of the altitude
and by this time some clouds were forming so the top was not as visible, plus
we were on a time limit as we had a train to catch at 2 PM. Wish we could have spent a little more time
there but it was so worth stopping there, another definite do not miss stop in
Ecuador.
We
leave the park and continue to the town of Alausi where we will take a short
train ride known as Nariz del Diablo (Devil's nose) train ride. Back in the early 1900's the track was built
to connect the city port of Guayaquil to the high roads leading to the capitol
city of Quito. The train descends on a
very narrow track cut out of the mountains edge. The turns are so tight that the train
bypasses the turn then stops switch is moved and goes down backwards on the
next track to the next turn where again it passes the turn switch is thrown and
proceeds down the next section of track.
The train stops at a little village where they sell art work and have a
very interesting museum about the people of the area and the building of the
track. The track is still in use for other train travel. Back on board back the way we came to the
town of Alausi. I had tried to contact
one of the hotels in town to make a reservation but never heard back from
them. So we walked down Main Street to
see what was available, several choices none any better than the other from
what we could see. Checked into Hotel
San Pedro, and they had a gated drive to put the car (which later was jammed pack). Got the room just in time as the town started
to fill up with a lot of people coming in to take the train on Sunday (Valentine’s
day). Found a place for dinner then
returned to our room that overlooked the main street for a noisy night of
people and car alarm sounds.
Sunday
2/14 is market day in Alausi, so we walk around town a little seeing the sights
before leaving at 9:30 to head to Cuenca.
Again more beautiful scenery as we drive up and around the mountains,
they need more spots to pull over for lookout points along the roads in
Ecuador. Unlike the locals that feel
safe and comfortable just stopping on the road wherever, we were not so
inclined. Arriving in Cuenca by 1 the
street in front of our hotel is all torn up under construction. Not that we would have been able to park out
front as most of the streets are too narrow.
Most are also only one way, we find a place to park a few blocks away
and walk back to the hotel. We know it
is too early to check in, first time actually had to wait, just want to know
where to bring the car to unload the luggage.
The staff at Hotel Presidente were very helpful, the desk clerk called
for help and soon another employee came and walked with us to bring the car
around to the hidden drive behind the hotel.
Unloaded the luggage to hold at the front desk as the lot behind the
hotel is only a temporary space and the car would be moved. Walked around town finding a place for lunch,
returning to the hotel by 3 to check into our room. Just during the few hours from when we
arrived till after lunch, we could see the traffic thinning out and being
Sunday most of the shops were closed. By
the time we went out to dinner it was very quiet, several of the restaurants we
went to were closed but we found a very nice place called Chalupa and had a
great Valentines dinner. The city looks
beautiful at night with all the lights shining on the churches and old
buildings.
Monday
we got on one of the city tour buses, taking about 2 hours to go around
pointing out some of the city sites. It
stops for about 30 minutes at Mirador de Turi which gives great views of the
city. Afterward we walk to Pumapungo,
one of the sights pointed out on the bus, the remains of the Inca city of
Tumipamba. A small complex but
interesting with beautiful gardens and a bird display showing how they were
part of the Inca lives. Finding a place
for lunch just before they closed at 3, interestingly enough run by expats from
Wisconsin, former Peace Corps volunteers.
Walking back by the central park and the cathedral I see people on top,
so we go in and ask, and yes you can climb up a brick spiral stairway to the
rooftop for views over the city. A
delicious huge Pizza for dinner at Fabianos for dinner.
Tuesday
we have them bring the car around so we can drive an hour to El Cajas National
Park. NO volcano here but miles &
miles of rugged terrain & some 200 lakes.
Loved seeing all the different terrains during our travels and loved
being outdoors in cool / cold weather for a change. We hiked around Laguna Toreadora the path got
very muddy in spots, usually a way around on a llama path that was hard to tell
from the people path. Light rain during
part of the hike and winds increased depending on which side of the lake we
were on, another great day in another great park. All the parks had an entrance gate to check
in with, but all were free to go into.
They all had several fairly well marked trails to choose from short to a
few hours to a couple of days. We had
left over pizza from the night before, so even though warm soup from the
restaurant at the park sounded good we went with our cold pizza. Back to the hotel warm showers before going
out to dinner at Tiesto's that had been closed the 2 nights prior when we tried
to go. This is a restaurant that
specializes in fixed price multi-course meals for two or more, and is one of
the top rated in Cuenca. We went al la
carte, which got a frown, but then splurged on a bottle of wine that won back a
smile. The food and service were
excellent.
Wednesday
we are on our way back to Guayaquil to get a bus back to Santa Elena to get a
taxi back to La Libertad and Puerto Lucia Marina and Ocean Star. Turning the rental car in at the airport was
a little tricky as no signs for Budget & no building. Finally got them on the phone and managed to
communicate that we wanted to turn the car in but could not find them. Turns out you have to park in the airport
parking lot, go inside to their desk where they come back out to the parking
lot to check the car back in. At the bus
terminal after asking we found the right window to buy a ticket, then found the
right gate for our bus to take us home.
Glad for a wonderful opportunity to see a part of the beautiful country
of Ecuador, great to see a few old friends and great to meet some new ones.
