We spent November and December in Ecuador. Once you get accustomed to a few idiosyncrasies of the country you begin to settle in:
· Milk comes in boxes and bags
· Yogurt is liquid
· Banks have uniformed guards with automatic weapons standing outside
· Bus “stops” are only a suggestion…buses slow down and you have to jump on and off
· Sidewalks are always full of holes
· 24 hour hot water is a selling feature at hotels and inns
· Most restaurants serve instant coffee with hot milk
Living on the equator certainly had its perks. The sun rises at 6am and sets at 6pm everyday…never changes. The weather varied as we moved through the country. November was spent traveling through many cities along the Andes Mountains ranging from 5,000 to 9,600 ft elevation. The higher you are the cooler the temps. We discovered the perfect temps for us exist at around 5,000 feet (mid 70’s to low 80’s). By the way, Ecuador uses the US dollar, so no conversion issues. Using ATMs is the best way to get cash. We also walked…a lot…every day.
November 2, 2011 was our first full day in Ecuador. This is also the beginning of a 5 day holiday period for Ecuadorians that includes “the day of the dead”. The US knows it as “all souls day”. We were very privileged to be able to attend the local celebration of this very religious event. The natives bring flowers (and we mean tons of flowers) to their family crypts. There is a mood of reserved celebration. Street vendors are selling food. Picture this, 40,000 native Ecuadorians…and Mike and Nancy!
Otovalo is known for its Saturday market. We went to it and it goes for almost the entire downtown area. Fruit & vegetable markets, fish markets, meat markets, many, many craft markets, and the animal market. Mike got up at 6:30am to watch the pigs, cows, chickens etc. being brought to be sold. He said it was quite the experience. Nancy opted to stay in bed and let him tell her all about it over breakfast.
We walked by several vendors who were cooking a small animal on a spit. We couldn’t decide if it was rabbit, rat or some other creature but opted to take a pass. Later we found out it was “cuy”…that would be guinea pig. We are very glad we didn’t have any.
Most of the citizens of Otovalo wear traditional indigenous costumes every day. One of the older women who worked at the Inn said she’s never worn pants in her life. We were struck by the small stature of the natives. Adult men came up to Nancy’s shoulders. At 5’3” she was taller than many adults.
We made our way to Cotacachi. This town is only a 25 cent bus ride (about 25 minutes) away from Otovalo. The scenery is quite lovely with the mountains in the background. It sits between 2 volcanos. The area is known for its leather goods. There are many shops along the main street selling beautiful leather jackets, shoes, boots and purses. It took every ounce of strength Nancy had not to buy some things. The bargains are amazing. Since this was the beginning of our trip and we would have to carry whatever we bought for the next 4 months, we left without buying a thing. Mike claims this is a first!
On to Quito…..Quito is the capital city of Ecuador. There are about 2.6 million people living here (that’s about twice the population of the entire State of Maine). As you’d expect, it’s a big city that has its dirty and not very safe sections. We were warned to be very careful of pickpockets, and having your bag sliced open with razors to get the contents, and having someone spray you with mustard while someone else offers to help clean you off and takes your things. Thankfully none of that happened to us. For the first couple of days Nancy walked around in fear, but eventually relaxed. The most important thing is to be aware of who is around you, and not to walk anywhere after dark.
Spent many evenings in “Gringolandia”, a section of Quito that is full of restaurants, bars and cafes frequented by “gringos”. Mike likes that a 20 ounce Pilsener beer is only $1.50. The juice is fabulous. They make it right in front of you in a blender with nothing but the natural fruit and ice.
Spent 3 days at the International Living Conference and stayed at the Suissotel. We could write an entire book about everything we learned at the conference. Suffice it to say we walked away with a wealth of knowledge about how to move here, gain residency status, buy property, decide on the part of the country that fits your needs etc.
Did a little sightseeing and toured the Ecuadorian White House (we haven’t even been inside our own White House yet). Simon Bolivar is the George Washington of South America. He led them to independence from Spanish colonialism. Every city and town has at least one statue and a street named to honor him.
Next stop was Cuenca. Cuenca is best known for its “old walled city.” It resembles Quebec Canada with its architecture and many restaurants, shops and cafes. We spent 10 days here attending Spanish language classes. Donde estan los baños? (where are the bathrooms). We thought we might spend a month in this city, but it turned that out Mike was severely affected by the altitude and we had to leave to get lower.
On to Vilcabamba, aka “the valley of longevity” which sits at 5,000 feet elevation and is situated at the foot of the Andes Mountains. The scenery is breathtaking! Lush green foliage, flowers and clean fresh air. We stayed at the Madre Tierra Inn owned by Americans. This is a beautiful place to visit but too small to live (less than 5,000 people live here) for our liking. Vilcabama is where the Inca royalty went on vacation (or so we were told). We were here during Thanksgiving.
When we started our trip through Ecuador we never intended to go to the coast as we made the assumption (incorrectly) that it would be very hot and humid. Apparently there are areas of the coast that have “microclimates” where it is sunny and dry. Such was the case of Salinas. We ended up renting an apartment on the Malecon (boardwalk) on the top floor that looked directly out over the ocean. We woke up every morning to waves crashing and the beautiful view of the sea. This area looks a lot like Hollywood Beach Florida.
We spent the month of December in Salinas in the apartment and began to get a feel of what life would be like if we lived here. We went to the local Mercado (market) to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Nancy even had her own “fruit lady”. This was a lovely woman who had her own fruit stand and was very tolerant of Nancy’s poor Spanish. She explained how to peel and use the various tropical fruits. A bag full of fruit (papaya, mango, pineapple, oranges) cost about $3.
We discovered a local “gringo” sports bar and were able to watch the football games as well as meet other North Americans who were either living there or “snow birding”. We gained lots of valuable information about the area and the culture. It turns out that Salinas is the vacation home for many rich Ecuadorians from the city of Guayaquil. The place is hopping from just after Christmas until the beginning of April, and then it dies down to a slow crawl. We decided it was a great place to visit, but we didn’t want to live here.
We did experience New Year’s Eve in Salinas, and we have to say we have never seen anything like this before in our lives. It was estimated that 350,000 people attended the event. Around 2:00pm they closed the Malecon to traffic and it became a pedestrian mall. At about 7:00pm when it first got dark the fireworks started on the beach and the bands started playing. Street vendors were selling everything from glow in the dark bracelets to professional grade fireworks. Beer and snack food was plentiful. Firework displays were incredible! We were on the roof garden of our apartment building and they were exploding right over our heads. It was like watching the finale for 2 ½ hours!!
A wonderful custom of the area is “año Viejo”. Direct translation means “old year”. Ecuadorians make or buy large paper maché effigies to represent the old year. Some of them are filled with firecrackers. At midnight the people set them on fire and burn them to represent putting all the bad things from the year behind you. It’s quite a sight to see on the beach with all these bonfires going!
One of the local ex-pats (Kim from Colorado) told us earlier in the day that the event would be best described as the “shock and awe” that occurred at the beginning of the first Iraq war. And that from sundown until 4:00am it would be noise, lights and explosions. We have to admit his analogy was right on.
We said goodbye to our newly made friends at the sports bar. We rested some on New Year’s Day and packed to get ready to take the bus to Guayaquil and then fly to Colombia on January 3rd.
To sum up our 2 months in Ecuador, we discovered that the local Ecuadorians we met were warm, friendly and industrious. They tended to be more serious than the Caribbean Latinos (such as the Dominicans). The fresh fruits and vegetables were wonderful. This healthy eating along with all the walking caused Mike to lose 2 notches in his belt!
The vision that Mike will always carry with him is how beautiful the Andes Mountains are. There are no words to describe the breath taking vistas. In particular, the 5 hour car ride from Cuenca to Vilcabama through the Andes was phenomenal.
Travel so far:
· Drive from Freeport Maine to Cape Cod
· Bus from Cape Cod to Boston
· Fly from Boston to Miami
· Fly from Miami to Quito
· Private car from Quito to Otavalo/Cotacachi
· Private car from Otavalo/Cotacachi back to Quito
· Fly from Quito to Cuenca
· Private car from Cuenca to Vilcabama
· Private car from Vilcabama to Loja
· Fly from Loja to Guayaquil
· Private car from Guayaquil to Salinas
· Bus from Salinas to back to Guayaquil
· Fly from Guayaquil to Bogata Colombia
No luggage lost….so far
Next posting will be about Colombia.
Hasta luego – Mike & Nancy
