Ecuador Round Up
We very much enjoyed our sixty one days in Ecuador. Our journey north from the Peruvian border to Baños de Agua Santa for Christmas was a great start. From Baños we travelled to the Quilotoa Crater and continued around the Quilotoa Loop. Unfortunately, we were well into rainy season and the crater only showed itself once and the loop, reputed to have amazing scenery, was blanketed in mist. And the same held true for Cotpaxi Volcano when we visited the national park, just south of Quito.
On our way to Quito, we were bemused by road blocks manned by people in bizarre costumes. We had to pay (50 cents) to pass and we were told later this was a practice coming up to NYE (see video).
New Years Eve found at us at CodaVista, a campsite owned by a Canadian that prefers the Ecuadorean temperate climate. Perched on top of a hill in Quito, the campsite (normally) offers stunning views, but the weather continued and we managed to see the midnight fireworks through breaks in the cloud. Andy and his girlfriend, ??, arranged a nice evening and we celebrated NYE with them and fellow overlanders. We even burnt an effigy of a politician to clear out bad vibes and start a fresh – a very Ecuadorean NYE tradition.
We visited the downtown and the historic centre before leaving Quito.
Soon after we headed up to Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve and then returned to Quito to drop Big Bertha off at MAN whilst we visited the Galapagos Islands. On our return, we had Big Bertha’s oil changed, visited one of the equator museums and set out for the Amazon Jungle.
After coming back from the jungle, we took the E10 ‘road’ that tracked the Colombian border to the border post at Tulcán, taking two days. Luckily, we met Frank and Gabi that were heading in the same direction and so we travelled in a convoy.
In Tulcán we visited a very interesting cemetery characterised by its works of topiary before crossing into Colombia. Thank you Ecuador!
What lovely memories you will have !
Where next?
Keep them coming.