Blog

Quito

We arrived in Quito fortuitously on the day of its annual Carnival. It wasn’t Rio but maybe had more charm…
…with the youth parading in streets filled with sprayed snow…
…and oldies like us dancing to their hearts’ content.
Our first stop was the line of the equator: Ecuador is Spanish for Equator.
We took part in all the regular scientific experiments between the two hemispheres and we were certainly pleased to weigh one kilo less!
The Jivaro tribe’s old custom of head shrinking was thankfully not part of our science experiments.
Visiting the home of Ecuador’s most famous painter Oswaldo Guayasamin was a highlight of our stay in Quito
‘
His anti-war paintings were very moving
as was his studio.
Even more moving was seeing the home and paintings of Trude Sojska, a concentration camp survivor who emigrated to Ecuador after the liberation to join her brother (who managed to get out of Germany in 1938; sadly her parents, daughter and the rest of her family perished). She continued painting mostly as a form of therapy for coping with her experience of the Holocaust.
Trude Sojka was way ahead of her time, creating art from recycled materials. This moving piece, made from a garbage lid, is a phoenix rising from the ashes, reflecting the life of the artist who lived the rest of her life happily until she died aged 98.
It was a real honour to meet the artist’s Ecuadorian born daughter Anita, who guided us proudly through the museum.
Before coming to Ecuador, Trude Sojka visited her old home in Germany, which had been repossessed. She found this old painting of hers laying in a corner. It’s the only pre-war painting she took with her.
We had never before done a city walking tour. It was quite amazing.
Seeing the medicinal herbalist stall in the Central Market and the treatment of patients behind the stall was fascinating.
And this old courtyard, paved with animal bones to signify the owner’s wealth, was also interesting.
Quito’s jewel in the crown is its Golden Church, La Compañia.
Its pre-Columbian museum, filled with wonders from the Valdivian and Jama civilisations, was also a must-see.

Mindo

We loved Quito, but it was great to escape from the city to visit Mindo in the Cloud Forest, just two hours away.
Mindo is famous for its chocolate, made from Arriba, the best cocoa in the world. As chocoholics, we could have stayed forever!
We used a guide to help us find lots of birds like…
…bronze winged parrots…
…and yellow throated toucans.
The forest was lined by these arborescent ferns…
…which grow to amazing heights.
We also discovered these intricate structures: ginger flowers
and lots of showy flowers like this Etlingera eliator
and this flower we were unable to identify. Please help if you know!
Plants have a way of preserving themselves when needed like with this spiky stem…
…and enticing when they need pollinating like more of these Etlingera Eliators aka Pink Torch Lilies.
Butterflies love their nectar.
And there were lots of butterflies! Lots of morphos like this bright blue one…
…and a beautiful purple one.
This methona or glass wing butterfly was probably our favourite.
At the Alambi reserve, we had lots of fun getting up close to hummingbirds.
They seemed to have fun with us too.
Fawn-breasted Brilliant hummingbirds.
We also went for a walk alongside and a swim in waterfalls.
On our way back from the cascades, a downpour drenched us so much that we need not have showered under the waterfalls.

Valley of the Volcanoes

One of the most famous sights is the Cotopaxi volcano….
Climbing to the refuge, a stage higher than the peak of Mont Blanc was really tough for us especially with such thin air.
Our faces look blue from the lack of oxygen. But we made it!
When we reached safe ground again, we were greeted by a host of wild animals such as the Andean fox, which is closely related to wolves despite its name and appearance .
And venado deers
and a curiquingue bird, a sacred bird of the Incas…
and a herd of wild horses, descendants from the ones conquistadores brought with them.
We also visited lots of indigenous markets in the Valley. Some markets specialised in food, animals and crafts. This market sold just potatoes! 400 different species of them.
Ecuador is famous for its rose plantations. Most of Ecuador’s roses are sold to Russia, so they are currently struggling. Roses not exported will last for a whole month unlike the few days they last when arriving in Europe.
after a hydrating soak, roses are packed, 24 at a time.
Another famous sight is the Quilotoa lagoon. It takes 6 hours to walk around it.

Ambato

Ambato is a small city with a great market and atmosphere…
…but we spent most of our time in parks watching locals…
…and admiring impressive topiary…
…in Parque des los Enamorados…
…with great spaces for families with young children.
Our bus ride from Ambato to Cuenca had spectacular views for the entire 8 hours of our journey
although so many bends on the mountainside roads made us quite nauseous.

Cuenca

Cuenca is a remarkably beautiful city very different to other towns we saw in Ecuador: spotlessly clean with international restaurants and cinemas, but still retaining its history and culture. This river Tomebamba runs right through the centre of the city and we regularly walked alongside it to reach the market and museums.
Every morning, we exercised in the park right next to our apartment with a “gym” and classes for retired folk: thousands of American retirees live here as it provides such a pleasant yet affordable lifestyle when compared to the cost of living in the US.
The same park had an extraordinary number of speed walkers: Ecuador has won three Olympic Golds including one for the men’s 20km walk…it’s a bit ironic as we found Ecuadorians to have a very slow “pace” of life.
The historic centre circles around its blue domed cathedral…
…parks and beautiful colonial buildings.
The city’s walls are frequently decorated with beautiful murals…
…and some with important messages about human rights: abortion remains largely illegal in Ecuador and 2021 saw almost 200 incidents of femicide.
Just 30 minutes drive from Cuenca is El Cajas, a National Park filled with magnificent nature including 250 beautiful lakes.
We had a memorable picnic next to these llamas after walking round two of the lakes.
We were mesmerized by the park’s multi-coloured flowers like these Gentians,
endemic Andean tulips,
Castilleja aka Indian paint brush,
Plantago rigida aka Water Pillows from the plantain family and often found in the high-altitude páramo biome of South America,
Disterigma,
Dwarf Gentians,
a type of Viola called Star Creeper,
Puya, typical of the Paramo landscape and one which reminded us of the Fibonacci sequence,
and this medicinal plant, the chuquiragu.
Our son James says we look like Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in Romancing The Stone. So pleased we gave him those rose tinted glasses.
There were no buses to the National Park on the day we went because of potential landslides. We understood why on our way back by taxi when we were blocked by a tree which had fallen just a few minutes before we arrived at the scene. As we were on the only road into Cuenca, there was little we could do but wait.

Guayaquil

We came to Guayaquil just for our flight to Panama as we had been warned by fellow travellers abouts its dangers and pollution. How right they were. Even the star attraction, the Malecon 2000, a 2.5km boardwalk along the sea, had nothing on London’s South Bank.
Worse still, everything here is sponsored by Nestle, who we have boycotted for the last 20 years because of its dreadful ethics.
Our less than ideal trip to Guayaquil was complete when our laptop was stolen in the bus from Cuenca to Guayaquil. If anyone receives any spurious messages from us, please let us know! And in Guayaquil airport, Sylvie’s coat was stolen. Ugggh.

Hats and Dresses

The costumes and in particular the felt hats of the indigenous communities never stopped us staring in admiration.
One dollar please for taking a photo!
We were so spellbound that we could not stop snapping
and the hats and costumes were different for each indigenous group.
The felt hats disappeared once we reached Cuenca and were replaced by “toquilla” straw hats, popularly known as Panama Hats. They have this misnomer despite their Ecuadorian origin because of the thousands of workers wearing toquillas when constructing the Panama Canal. We visited this wonderful factory, run by a women’s co-operative, in the village of Sigsig.
Women were hand weaving Panama hats, not just in factories, but on the streets…
…and in their homes.
Of course, we became seduced by the magic of the moment and invested in some!

Food

There really wasn’t much we could eat throughout Ecuador!
Ecuador is a meat eater’s paradise, but it also adds cheese to everything: ice cream, bread, even hot chocolate. Yuk!
We really had to search for restaurants with veggie options. In Latacunga, we found Kipi, which served a family recipe aji (hot sauce) made of chillies and agave flowers….it was subtle and sensational.
When there were no veggie options, we resorted to Encebollados, a kind of tuna soup served in every market hall. Typically, a wholesome lunch of soup, fish and bottomless juice cost just $2!
We mostly, however, relied on the delicious fruit and veg in the markets. Avocados were consistently amazing and some of the produce were completely new to us, like tree tomatoes, pithayas, taxos and granadilla.
A special drink from the Cuenca region, called Yaguana, is made from lots of fruit and medicinal plants. The pink colour comes from Ataco, a type of amaranth. It’s delicious!

Panama City

After Ecuador, we took advantage of a long stopover in Panama City to fulfil our long held wish to see the canal, which even exceeded our expectations.
While in the city, we gasped in awe at its architecture…
…in particular this Frank Gehry designed museum which itself is super interesting, explaining the historical impact on animals and humans of Panama acting as a bridge between North and South America.

Next

We are heading tomorrow to New York, and a week later to UK and France, to see family and catch up with old friends.

Previous post From Galapagos with Love Next post Weddings

17 comments. Leave new

RALPH HASSOUN
March 26, 2022 8:25 am

Un seul mot: WONDERFUL!!
Ramenez du chocolat et de surtout de magnifiques souvenirs.
Bises à vous deux.

Reply
admin
March 27, 2022 3:16 am

It will be very difficult but we will try our best to save you some chocolate. Love, Jeff and Sylvie

Reply
Marta
March 26, 2022 5:10 pm

Hola nice and so very young people!! Whenever we dare to live these amazing and memorable experiences , then we become different persons ( I dont mean worse or better) I say different… Because of this, I say to you “chapeau”… and looking forward to seeing you again, somewhere … in the meantime, Carpe Diem. Love to you both!!

Reply
admin
March 27, 2022 3:29 am

Dearest Marta
We may all immediately think chapeau but maybe we should remember the boa constrictor who swallowed an elephant? We hope to continue following in the Little Prince’s ways and look for meaning. And of course seeing you again very soon will mean a great deal. Much love, Jeff and Sylvie xx

Reply
Marta
March 29, 2022 7:42 pm

Im sure you will follow in The little Prince s way, after all, “we must all learn to put up with caterpillars so as to enjoy butterflies”…
Love and keep walking…

Reply
Reeva Godson
March 26, 2022 5:11 pm

What an intriguing and fascinating leg of your trip keep snapping and loving those rose coloured specs!🤣 safe travels.

Reply
admin
March 27, 2022 3:31 am

Thanks Reeva, we are now in your second home…what a wonderful town! We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks. Love, Jeff and Sylvie xx

Reply
Audrey Brent
March 26, 2022 6:45 pm

Fascinating, as ever. I’ve never thought of visiting Central America, but this has certainly whetted my apetite. What wonderful photos and a realy goos read.
(PS As before, your blog didn’t appear in my inbox. I had to do a search to get it. Very starnge!)

Reply
admin
March 27, 2022 3:35 am

Hmmm…maybe it’s because your email is listed as bret? We’ll look into it for sure when we see you in a few weeks. Looking forward. Much love xx

Reply
Fiona Hulbert
March 27, 2022 6:42 pm

As fascinating as ever. Thanks so much for sharing your adventures with us all. How amazing to see those women weaving the Panama Hats with so many strands to keep tamed and tidy. You both looked very stylish wearing them. The natural patterns of petals and leaves are Nature’s way of doing Intricate with precision and colour.

Reply
admin
March 27, 2022 9:34 pm

Hi Fiona, thank you for reading. Ecuador is truly the land of flowers. We had to make a very fierce selection but there were flowers just about everywhere, one more colourful than the other. We could not capture them but the landscapes were stunning. Most of the ladies in hats only spoke quichua: sometimes they were ok with gringos, sometimes not but they always look fascinating…they generally lead a very tough life, growing food on the slope of volcanoes at high altitude. They are incredibly strong. We saw some women carrying a 25kg bag of potatoes on their arms while also carrying their child on their back over long distances…It is an incredible country and hope you can go there one day.

Reply
Gilles Hassoun
March 28, 2022 2:21 pm

More adventures – meeting more interesting genuine people-
We admire you – Keep discovering – keep having fun with life
Love to both of you/Gilles

Reply
admin
March 28, 2022 5:07 pm

Merci Gilles, mais tu sais, pendant mon enfance et adolescence, Eva parlait souvent de tes voyages et de ceux de Ralph de sorte qu’entre toi, Ralph et les parents de Jeff qui eux aussi aimaient voyager, nous avons eu plein d ‘ inspiration à voyager et à découvrir le monde…alors à notre tour de dire merci.

Reply
CHAZE
April 3, 2022 3:22 pm

Bonjour à tous les 2. Que de beaux moments depuis le début de votre périple. Merci de les partager avec nous. Celui-ci me rappelle de séjour que j’ai fait en Equateur, il y a maintenant plus de … 20 ans :(, mes balades dans le marchés colorés et toutes ces fleurs et papillons qui m’avaient émerveillée. Merci beaucoup. Bises. Lény

Reply
admin
April 22, 2022 6:54 am

Bonjour Lény,
Merci pour ce beau commentaire…c’est vrai que nous nous sentons plutôt privilégiés et chanceux là. Comme la roue finit toujours par tourner, nous en profitons ici et maintenant autant que nous le pouvons. En fait, ta manière de voyager nous avait toujours époustouflé. Tu nous a en quelque sorte un peu ouvert la voie grâce à tes cartes postales envoyées des quatre coins du globe avec des paysages des visages, des costumes, des objets insolites, magnifiques et inconnus. Pour nous qui à l’époque ne sortions guère de chez nous, c’ était d ‘un exotisme inouï et fabuleux. Nous t’admirions de faire façe à des climats et des modes de vie si différents dans des endroits si reculés par rapport à Londres ou Paris…Nous te trouvions intrépide et …nous nous trouvions pas assez aguerris, trop douillets pour en faire autant. Nous étions loin de nous douter qu’un jour, nous irions suivre tes pas.
Je suis bien contente que nous ayons L’Ecuador en commun. Aimerais tu et aurais-tu le temps d’un moment passé ensemble la prochaine fois que nous serons à Paris? Grosses bises.

Reply
Nicole
April 19, 2022 3:08 am

Again….what amazing experiences you have…except not so good about the PC and coat.
I have to say NZ really looks boring in comparison. BUT you still need to come and see us!
Love Nicole

Reply
admin
April 22, 2022 6:21 am

After seeing all your own amazing photos, we are really looking forward to coming out to see NZ for ourselves and mostly to spend time with you. Much love xx

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *