Third visit to Ecuador. This time with a text blog as well as videos. The video site had been removed due to lack of interest. All pages have at least one photo. If you don't see them you may have an ad blocker on or need a cache purge. (Firefox Win)
Yesterday I gave away my umbrella to John at the end of the tour. Never really needed it this year and didn't want to carry it around anymore. He called me some slang that meant I was a cheap bugger, because I was giving him something I had bought it in a Chinese import store and not a quality store.
Should have kept it I guess and saved hime the insult for someone else. Bad news too. It is 8 am and beginning a downpour. Natural street cleaning.
For those of you with a sense of humour I just had to put this picture in. It's an Ecuadorean wheel chair. The rest of you can scroll down.
After the rain quit we packed, paid our bill and went out for a last walk around Quito. We stopped and had a coffee and chocolate cake at one of the Republica del Cacao locations in the old city.
It's a decent cup of coffee with an amazing slab of desert made with some amazing flavours of chocolate. The one we were at is literally hidden on a boring street but has a wonderful sitting area surrounded by shelves of various chocolates.
Then we walked for a bit more, shot some video in the Independance Square of some musicians, and stopped for a light lunch of chicken at Caravana.
OK time to wear off the calories by walking some more. This time we ended at another coffee shop called San Mateo's Cafe. This time we sat outside and had another coffee to top up our caffeine levels.
Back to the Hotel San Francisco one more time to grab our suitcases and hop into our taxi.
The next stop will be Quito Airport Suites in Tababela.
4.6 km walking today
We then grabbed a cab to the gondola or teleferico on the side of the mountain. It was a partially cloudy day but we figured we had better take it. Tomorrow might be worse and it might even be raining.
After a quick bathroom break at the base we rode the cable car to the top. The ride is somewhere around 20 minutes. Being a Monday in the middle of the off season the lineups were non existent and the cars not filled to capacity. BTW bathroom use at the top is 50 cents and the bottom is free.
We immediately began hiking up the trail to get the valley views over Quito. When the compass app showed we were at 4000 meters altitude we stopped for some photos and video. Then pushing on we hiked over a couple of small hills and arrived at a place selling horse rides. I opted for an hour ride up into mountains for $10. Well worth the time. You get to ride some small, bored and often uncooperative horses up and up into the clouds. You can see a couple of volcanoes, a few condors and some other birds. Lots of vegetation even at this altitude as the rich topsoil is thick and black.
I'm not a horseman so riding up and down over the rough terrain with a GoPro in one hand and my HD video camera in the other was like trying to ride saddle bronc at the rodeo. Most of the time it was both hands and arms in the air with the reins tied around the horn. I might be sore tomorrow.
Eventually we finished with the sightseeing and headed down. At one point I asked the guide what the altitude was and he said 4050 meters. Although that is what the sign says right when you get off the gondola. Oh and he walked the whole way as our group of three used up all his horses so he had to walk.
We took the free shuttle down the mountain avoiding the taxis. Then at the base we avoided the taxis again and took a group taxi for only $1 to the Foch district to get something to eat. They let us off when we spied a place called Toro Carni. The name and the photos did well to attract our attention.
We took a look at the menu and each ordered the first item. It was a meat eater's sample platter. We each got a large steak, three pieces of chicken breast, large blood sausage, large ballpark frank, and a large pork chop. Also a lettuce salad with sliced tomatoes and carrots. Choice of drinks and fries. We had watched while the chef cooked our meat on his large coal fired BBQ grill. Then the meat arrived on small individual coals heated grills brought to the table.
This is by far the best tasting meal this whole month in Ecuador. The price was well under $20 each. It is a great place if you are a meat eater. Veggie people stay away. Two people could easily enjoy this one meal and by the raised eyebrows of the server when we ordered I suspect it is more often ordered that way. But hey, I'm a carnivore.
After a stop in the marsical market to buy an Ecuador flag we took a taxi back to the Hotel San Francisco de Quito in the historical area. Realizing we had not had enough coffee for the day we went up the street to Galletti Coffee Roasters for a cup of black coffee and a delicious cheesecake.
The city wifi reaches the coffee house so I sat and typed today's blog.
With this kind of dessert in the coffee houses I will not lose any weight even though I am walking much more here than at home.
In other news. They moved me again this morning. Something about the drain in my room leaking to a room below. I'm in a suite again. Comes with a jacuzzi tub. I did not bother using the tub as I do prefer a shower- especially in a stranger's tub.
But the room was nice except for the wifi which only worked in the bathroom. This large suite was just too far away to pick up the signal.
Today we took a day trip up the coast with Viktor Tchernikov. He is a Russian educated in the Ukraine and has now moved to Ecuador to live permanently. Viktor basically works full time with his tours.
He had a nice new car that worked well for our travels. AC and he could even connect his phone wifi so we could use the connection for email if we needed. All part of the package. If you are thinking of contacting Viktor you should first become a member of the Facebook group called Salinas Stuff. You will find him advertising his trips there.
We first went to a place called Punta Faro in Ballenita because that was a location I had seen in 2012 when they were constructing the complexes. I wanted to see it now and also wanted to see the ocean view with the lighthouse in front.
Front wall and ceramic logo for the complex
Back view facing the ocean
This photo is from an ad a couple of years back.
Here is a link to a video I made in 2012 when I viewed the construction of the first three units of this complex. I was impressed then and that's why I wanted to go back. I tried to find it last time I was there too but got lost on a wrong turn only a few blocks away, even though we did find the more common beach in the photo below.
We also went to a more commonly known location a few hundred meters down
the coast where there is easier beach access and you can see Salinas
and Libertad. From here you cannot even see the lighthouse just up the coast. Even more reason I would still like to get a place in that condo as it is very private and unknown.
From a beach near Ballenita you can see Salinas
Then we directed Viktor to Colonche which is the location of the oldest existing wooden church in Ecuador. Construction began in 1700 and it survives today. More renos have taken place since I was here in 2013 but it is still an operational church. Here is a link to see a video I made on my first visit to the Santa Catalina de Colonche.
We did not see the caretaker so we were unable to climb the bell tower this time. If you go there be sure to watch the video first so you know a bit about the church.
From there we drove up the Routa del Sponylus past shrimp farms, shrimp laboratories, cabanas and small towns. We stopped to buy fresh baking in a town where they claim to be the undisputed bread republic of Ecuador.
We visited the ancient archeological town of Valdivia (3500-1800 BC) where all the archives seem to centre around the goddess of love. All the stuff you buy are copies although there are plenty of authentic bits around you could purchase if you ask. Good luck with that as you could end up being arrested on the way out of the country.
Further up the road we found the Valdivia Marine Park. Here you can see a couple of sea turtles swimming around in their pool looking at you through the windows. Several land turtles have their enclosure. We saw several species of fish and other marine animals and there are even two or three blue footed boobies wondering why we were there. This may or may not be the same organization that we visited a few years ago. But previously there were many rescued animals and we saw none of that this time. Here is my video from a few years ago. It will open in a new window so you can come back here.
I walked out back towards the ecological area nearer the ocean. While there I found three freshly hatched turtles that would not have lived had not I given them a head start and lifted them to the ocean. There were several other dead turtles around who had not made a successful trek to the water. The mother had laid eggs too far from the ocean. She had even gone over a large sand dune away from the ocean and the little guys had no chance in today's high heat to make it. Some is better than none.
Further north we came to Montanita. This is the hippie surfing town of Ecuador. Our plan was to come back there for dinner so we kept driving northward to Olon.
Only a few kilometres up the road we stopped at the iconic church on the cliff. This is a bit of a multi religion tourist stop that appears to be ready to crumble with the cliff it is build on. The architecture has features that give it the look of a large boat. There were repairs ongoing to the interior but enough was open to large wood carvings in the working church and awesome views of the Olon beach below.
We soon arrived at Olon. The long beach was the best so far in Ecuador. Surfers, swimmers and sun worshipers enjoyed the expansive reaches of the sand. We walked a while and then decided we were too hungry to wait any longer for lunch. The plan was to come back after lunch.
Back to Montanita to a place called Tiki Limbo Restaurante. Victor took us to this place as they speak Spanish and English and have food that he considered safe to eat.
Victor went to visit with friends while we ate dinner, but came back later and we had the waiter take a photo of us.
We ordered pasta and burgers and fries. The lemonade, beer and chocolate coffee milkshake provided the refreshments. I guess we were not as hungry as we thought. None of us ate all we ordered. They were good burgers although a bit too salty which is the norm here. The chocolate coffee was the best.
After the meal we spent time walking the beach, walking through the street vendor shops and people watching. By the time we had finished we decided we would not return to Olon but instead head back towards Salinas.
We came back through Libertad and drove up the Libertad malecon. People were everywhere as it was the weekend and about 5:30. The kiddie section of the beach was full of swimmers and the food kiosks had lineups waiting to purchase. Quite different compared to when we walked through in the middle of the day a few days ago. It had looked deserted.
We got home just after six. Just in time to take a few photographs of the sunset from our seventh floor apartment on the Salinas malecon.
