Trip to South America - Ecuador

This was to be my first trip to South America. I went with Patty. She’s from Peru.

March 1^st

We left for Quito, Ecuador on Sunday. We had a 1.5-hour layover at Panama City airport. From my experience with having barely enough time to change planes in Charles de Gaulle airport with 1.5 hours, I worried about not making the connection. But I didn’t need to worry. We simply walked from one gate to another to wait to be boarded. No screening. No security. No passport check. At the departure gate, we observed a medical team, all wearing masks, waiting to check temperatures of incoming passengers. A kiosk selling pretzels nearby advertised masks for one dollar a piece. Patty bought three. I followed suit and got one, even though I had read that only the N95 masks would be effective. We put on our masks while at the gate and for part of the flight. I found it restrictive and hard to follow the rule of not touching it. I didn’t wear any mask again for the entire trip, even though Gate1 had them available for us.

All our flights were on time and went smoothly. All customs officers wore masks. The crew who picked up people on wheelchairs all wore masks. We were met by Pablo from Gate1. While waiting for Patty and Pablo to come back, I observed a couple picking up a friend. The lady had a bottle of sanitizer in her hands and she sprayed her friend’s hands before hugging him.

The ride from the airport to our hotel was about 45 minutes. The roads were rough and narrow and twisting, and yet that was an improvement over the past when the trip would take twice as long on a different route. The airport was at 7,000 feet and we were going up to town at 9,300 ft. We could see the town up high. We were told Quito is the second highest capital in the world. It has 4M people and 95% are Catholic. It was foggy with mountains in the background and that reminded me of the ride from Tokyo to Nikko when we visited Japan. Before we got to our hotel, it got dark and the sky turned a pretty orange color. When we entered town, we passed by an area called La Floresta where food stands operate from 6pm to 1am every day. It looks like a cool place to be, but we did not go back to La Floresta. Pablo suggested two Ecuadorian restaurants in town, close to the hotel in the Mariscal district, and we ate at both since we stayed in Quito for two nights.

We had dinner at Mama Clorinda. I had a taste of Andean corn, chocho beans, and tripes from what Patty ordered. Patty and I shared a dessert of fig in syrup with cheese. I didn’t know what to order and just had spaghetti with shrimp, but I did have my first cup of coca tea. We took Uber both ways.

March 2^nd

We didn’t meet our tour guide Marcelo until this morning after breakfast. It was chilly in the morning (40’s) and warmed up (60’s) later in the day. We took a tour of Quito by bus. The streets could be uneven and bumpy at times. We first went to Itchimbia Park where we could see a view of the city below, then we went to the National Basilica where Patty bought a SD card for her camera and two scarfs from a street vendor, and then we walked around the Main Plaza and the San Francisco Plaza and visited the Golden Church (Inglesia de la Compania de Jesus) which is a famous ornate Baroque church. It is gorgeous inside, similar to a Baroque church we saw in Europe. It is influenced by other styles like the Moorish (geometrical patterns) and Churrigueresque (ornate carvings on the columns). The outside face of the church is supposed to replicate what the interiors look like. The decorative colors are blue, red, and gold. 

After the city tour, we went to the Middle of the World, a city in two hemispheres. On the way there, we stopped at an ice cream place where we observed how helado de paila was made. A copper pot is put inside a plastic container that has crushed ice and rock salt. It is then spun around until it is cold enough to be able to freeze liquid. A mixture of fruit juice is then poured into the pot, while it is still being spun, at the same time that a large wooden spoon is used to stir the liquid in the opposite direction. We each got to try two flavors of ice cream. I wanted blackberry and soursop, the traditional red and white, but soursop wasn’t available. I had blackberry and passion fruit instead. It was delicious.

At the Middle of The World, we went up the monument built to commemorate the first geodesic mission of the French Academy of Sciences, took pictures standing across the painted line that represents the equator, walked around, and had lunch at one of the restaurants on the upper level. The weather was beautiful. We sat outside for lunch. We both ordered potato soup. I saw guinea pigs on the roast for the first time.

Back on the bus, Marcelo shared with us caca de perro, which is roasted corn coated with brown sugar. The bus dropped us off at an art gallery where I took pictures of flowers in its garden. The group walked back to the hotel to rest before attending the orientation meeting in the evening. The welcome drink was blackberry and rum. Afterwards, Patty and I walked to Achiote for dinner. It is hard to walk around Quito without being invited to buy things from street vendors or to patronize a certain restaurant. We had to say no and kept going. Achiote is a charming little restaurant that has a tree grow through its roof. The odd thing is that the restaurant keeps its door locked. We were seated near the guitar player and singer who provided music throughout our stay. I ordered a beef soup and a plate of fried cassava with cheese. I loved the herbs in the soup. We had to wait for quite a while for our meals and were compensated with complimentary small dishes. When Patty’s sea bass arrived, it was undercooked. We were given a glass of red wine and a dessert of potato pudding for our inconvenience. The food was so good that we didn’t mind the inconvenience. Since it was dark, we called an Uber to take us back to the hotel. 

March 3^rd

We left for Punta Ahuano at six in the morning. The bus ride was about 6 hours long. Marcelo explained that due to landslide, we had to take a longer route than usual and that added an hour to the ride. We went South on La Panamericana before turning East. We were to go up to 11,000ft before dropping back down to almost sea level at Punta Ahuano. Marcelo shared with us fried fava beans as a snack. We stopped at a waterfall in the town Baños and another viewpoint on the Pastaza River to take pictures.

The lodge we stayed at, La Casa del Suizo, is on the Napo River which is a tributary to the Amazon River. To get to it, we had to take two motorized canoes for our group.

I was stunned with the beauty of the lodge. We had the river view from the room with the king bed and a porch. We were warned by Marcelo that we might find little creatures in our room, and if so, we should kindly let the front desk know so that they can return the creatures to the wild. Except for finding mosquitoes on the bathroom mirror, we didn’t encounter other creatures.

After a buffet lunch, I relaxed on the hammock on the porch of our room, looking out the river, until time for a canoe ride to Isla Anaconda where we took a walk to a native house to learn about the Quechua way of life. Because of frequent flooding, their houses are on stilts. They keep a fire going on in their house all the time so the children can always roast their own food. They put a termite nest in the pit to ward off the mosquitoes. They keep branches sticking below the thatched roof to keep bats away. The matriarch of the family demonstrated how she’d make chicha by grinding the yucca root (and later sweet potato would be added before fermentation). The drink is made to various strengths. The lady passed around small bowls of both a mild and a stronger version of chicha for us to have a taste. Before we left, I bought a necklace from her. Patty told me that the beads used in my necklace are only found in the Amazon forest and they are used for good luck.

Pablo cut open a cacao fruit and each of us had a taste of the flesh around its seeds. He demonstrated how to use the blow dart aiming at a wooden monkey and let us try our luck.

When we got back to the lodge, we got to try fish cooked in yaki-panga leaves (which Marcelo said are more resistant than banana leaves) and other traditional food such as palm, yucca, grilled suri grubs (palm larvae), and watch Marcelo eat a live suri.

I walked around taking pictures of flowers in the beautiful gardens of the lodge before dinner and saw a beautiful sunset on the Napo River.

Mar 4^th

This morning we went to the Misicocha, a private nature reserve, where we took a guided walk in the rain forest. We put on provided boots because parts of the loop trail were muddy. It was stifling hot and humid, but I had long sleeved shirt and long pants, pre-treated with Permethrin, on the whole 1.5-hour trek. We were introduced to fauna and flora of the jungle, including the giant ants, and the tiny ones that live in symbiosis with a plant. Pablo shook the tiny ants out of their nest taken from the underside of a plant leaf for us to try eating them. They are supposed to have a lemon flavor. My hands were undoubtedly dirty, so I didn’t try. The giant leaves reminded me of the Kalalau Trail hike in Kauai. We learned the difference between an ant hive and a termite hive. Pablo showed how the natives use the river rocks to create dyes. I didn’t hear or retain all information, but it was a marvel for me to be walking under a South America forest branches. I’d always wanted to do so.

We had to cross a gorge on a suspension bridge. We waited until the person in front of us was half way through before we started. At another part of the jungle, we sat in a basket (tarabita) to zip down to the other side. That was fun.

At the end of the walk, we all opted to go on a rafting trip on the balsa rafts. Our group takes two rafts. I took off the bottom parts of the zipped pants and my soaked long-sleeved shirt and enjoyed the float downstream. Pablo steered the boat with a wooden paddle. I was surprised that the weather was very pleasant on the river. I thought I’d jump in, but the water actually felt cold. So instead I lay down and closed my eyes and savored the moment. When we got back to the lodge, we saw people jumping into the water from up high.

There were optional tours in the afternoon, after lunch. Most people in our group signed up to go on the Canopy Adventure Park. Others went on the cacao and animal rescue farms. I was the only one who signed up for the butterfly garden walk and wood carving demonstration. I walked with Pablo to the Ahuano village where he lives. He pointed out monkeys, bird nests, and village schools on the way. It started to rain lightly. I put my camera in the backpack and enjoyed the cool mist.

Pablo said there were twelve species of butterfly in the farm, each requiring a different plant for food, so the farm also has twelve different plants to serve the butterflies. Pablo explained the life cycle of one type of butterfly and said butterflies get their wings damaged little by little and eventually their wings are broken down. When they no longer can fly, that would be their end. That is so sad.

After the butterfly farm, we visited a local wood carver who showed me how he made a small block of wood into a bird with a hatcher and a little knife in about fifteen minutes. That was impressive. The final products would require drying the wood and painting it. His wife takes care of the painting.

I had some time to take more pictures of flowers before a nap and dinner.

Mar 5^th

We left Ahuano early in the morning, at six, saying goodbye to Pablo who came to help us get into the canoes. It had rained during the night so the river was high. It was definitely different from being on the river the day before.

The Gate1 bus awaited us at the canoe drop-off point. Many of us tried to go to sleep on the bus. At some point we had a delay because of mud slides on the road. Marcelo explained that was normal. This was actually an alternate route from the usual route which was closed to due landslide. In lieu of a thermal bath in Papallacta as on the travel document, we went to see Pailon del Diablo on the Pastaza River. The bus dropped us off at Rio Verde and we took a hike to the entrance of the waterfall.

I was the first one from our group to reach the entrance. As I was about to walk to the falls, I turned around and clarified what I should be careful of. I thought it was slippery, but the attendant said it was the sprays. He could have emphasized it a little more. But it was a good thing I decided to put on my poncho. By the time I had my poncho on, Marcelo showed up and offered to watch my backpack, which was another good thing.

The falls was a marvelous sight. I remembered that Marcelo said we could get very close to the falls. It was a powerful one. The mist caused my camera to stop working for a while. I tried to keep it under the poncho as best as I could. I tried the steps to go down but half way down, unexpectedly, a powerful spray dumped what seemed like a huge bucket of water over me. Stunned and scared, I turned around and went back up. Up above, there was a small tunnel to crawl through and I did that and got to have a closer look of the falls from high up and where powerful sprays spared me.

When I thought I had enough, I started walking away. But then I was thinking that I had a poncho on and this would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to go all the steps down. So I turned around and did just that. I got dumped with water twice more. Even when I moved as far away from the falls as I could and had my back on it.

I went back to the entrance and took the path to an overlook of the falls. A fellow tourist took a picture of me with the falls in the background. Far away, it didn’t feel as menacing.

I got back to the bus, soaked. It was time to hang shirt, socks, poncho on the back seats of the bus and enjoy the ride to Quito airport, when we said goodbye to Marcelo, our bus driver, and Ecuador.