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)
We did a lot of walking today. Went from one end of the malecon to the other and even tried go further. However the army stopped us at the point where their wharf juts out into the bay. The instructions from the guards were to turn around now and go back up the beach the way we came.
We watched an old fisherman toss his net into the ocean to catch fish. On one throw he got two small fish about 8 inches long, several small crabs and a lot of seaweed.
Later we went back to Big Ralph's for an evening of curried beef and Ossobuco.
My travel companions had the fish and chips. You will not get a better meal. Just saying. Or maybe I do need to say it again. These and other meals on the menu at Big Ralph's will be some of the best tasting foods you eat on this trip.
Deep fried shrimp appetizer in the fish batter.
I had the beef osso buco on mashed potatoes with braised vegetables on the side. Cooked beets on top with deep fried shaved potatoes on top of that.
Today was a travel day. We thought we were to fly at 10:15 from Quito to Guayaquil but the flight was delayed over three hours. We checked out of the Quito Suites Hotel and headed to the airport to wait it out. Dinner was at the Guacomole Grill in the Quito outgoing lounge. The food was good but not cheap, and in line with airport prices. Definitely a better service and quality offering than the burger chain before the check in at this airport which we had tried five years ago.
While waiting in the airport we thought we were to finally board. Nope, we were being paged because everyone had to read and sign a piece of paper that would give a future rebate because our flight had been delayed in leaving. It was going to offer $60 which was more than the flight cost in the first place. Kind of useless to us as we would have to book the next flight through a specific office and not online. So I ended up with a fancy piece of paper with my name on it.
Our private driver was patiently waiting for us upon arrival and we had the most awesome ride from the airport to Salinas. We heard many interesting stories and were shown many sites that were described to us. We stopped at a roadside kiosk to purchase a couple of coconuts. The vendor hacked off the tops and we had ice cold coconut milk for a refreshment. Coco helado is what they call it.
The driver even took us on alternate routes to show us special locations. To finish it off he delivered us right to the door of Big Ralph's where we were to stay. I'm not promising at all that you would get the same tour and service but we had booked the driving services from Angela de Souza before we even left home.
By the way the desert areas of July and August are very green and lush. Many of the creeks and rivers are raging water flows due to the uncharacteristic large amount of rain this year. In some places on the trip the rain was actually a downpour and twice water was flowing over the highway.
We booked in at Big Ralph's, then walked a bit on the Salinas malecon til after dark waiting for Ralph's restaurant to open. The homemade curry sauces were brewing but will not be ready til tomorrow. So we each opted for the signature fish and chips along with several lemonades and other thirst quenching liquids. Then we sat around and chatted with Ralph and other guests before deciding to turn in for the evening.
Big Ralph in his favourite location - his kitchen.
Went into Quito to pick up two suitcases which had been left in storage for a month. Before the pickup we walked around in the Foche area. Of course we had to visit the market place selling the tourist knick knacks.
Then we had fish, chicken and ceviche at a place called the Yasuni Cafe Bar. OK I did not have any ceviche. But I had the chicken steak or whatever it came as. This would not be the first place that served flat tasteless breast meat as a chicken meal. I was always hoping for a chunk of thigh or leg to give some flavor. But everyone thinks breast is the best. Nope, at least not on a chicken.
Then took a three dollar taxi to the historical section to pick up the suitcases. Also ran over to the Central Mercado to try out the GoPro in taking pictures of cow stomachs, tongues, fish and other regular food items the mall had. None of the pics worked as I had not figured out the GoPro yet! It started raining extremely hard just as we got there so the mall was a good location for protection.
Took a non-legit taxi back to Tababela. It rained or poured most of the way. Rush hour traffic and constant broken down vehicles made for an erratic trip.
Quito Airport Suites (TripAdvisor photo)
Quito Airport Suites (TripAdvisor photo)
Back in Tababela at the Quito Airport Suites the sun was shining and it had not rained. We walked the few blocks to the store and bought bottled water and snacks for the evening.
