Mainland Ecuador - a truly fantastic 2 week trip
Written: Mar 19 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: 1. Gorgeous country: Andean highlands, the Amazon, beaches, Galapagos
2. Inexpensive
Cons: You need at least 3 weeks to see everything in Ecuador!
The Bottom Line: Ecuador is a fascinating, easy-to-travel-in country with an overabundance of natural scenery and opportunities for outdoor adventure.
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| jlee3794's Full Review: Ecuador |
This trip report covers my recent two-week trip in Ecuador. My intention is to give some focused insights and recommendations for people who are new to traveling in Ecuador. So that you can gauge whether this report will be helpful to you, it covers the following: Quito, bus travel in general, horseback riding trip in the Pululahua Crater, day trip to Cotopaxi, jungle trip to Cuyabeno Reserve, Otavalo, Cotacachi, and Banos. My trip was done in a budget-moderate way, so most of my sleeping and eating recommendations will be along those lines. Hope this helps…
My wife and I flew into Quito from New York (LACSA @ $263/pp), where we then took a taxi (fair price is $4-5 US; yes, you can bargain) to our hostel in the Mariscal Sucre area of the New Town. This area is lovingly referred to as "gringoland," given the high concentration of tourists. Ordinarily, I would be a bit hesitant about staying in such a touristy area, but there is a good reason the area attracts so many tourists: there are a ton of hotels, restaurants, and other tourist services in the district. I definitely recommend staying in this area. We stayed at Posada del Maple, a charming hostel. It is on Juan Rodriguez, which is one of the more quiet streets. The facility itself is clean and very well run by friendly staff. They will store your valuables and bags free of charge, which was quite helpful when we left half our stuff there before heading out to the jungle. There are some sitting areas that are quite cozy; the rooms appear old inside but are comfortable and clean. The breakfast (included) is ok but gets old after a day or two. Over the course of our trip, we stayed in two different rooms, both with private bathrooms, for about $24.50 per night (with the South American Explorers or SAE discount – find them on the web). If you feel comfortable leaving things loose, there is really no reason to book a hotel room in advance in this area. You can easily walk from one hotel to another and just pick a place after seeing it.
Over the course of the days we spent in Quito, there were a few restaurants that stood out. We ate lunch at Chez Alain (located at Baquedano y JL Mera), which had a cheap set meal (French) and was very good. The atmosphere is also quite nice there. We went to Chandani Tandoori (JL Mera y Luis Cordero) twice, which is quite unusual for us, but it had cheap (entrees $2.95), excellent Indian food. This restaurant is actually better than most of the Indian restaurants I’ve been to in the US, because the food was so much less greasy. Even the nan was lighter than usual, while still being very flavorful. There isn’t much atmosphere at Chandani Tandoori, but it’s still much nicer than a cafeteria, for example. Just be careful: when they say spicy, they mean SPICY—not like American Indian restaurants, where you have to convince them that the gringo at the table can handle it. The Magic Bean (Foch y JL Mera) is a hostel that also serves breakfast in its café. This place is US-run, which shows in its portion sizes: you can easily share one breakfast among two or three people. No joke. The food is really good and would be really cheap if you share. Fried Bananas (JL Mera y Roca) has an eclectic menu of seafood, pasta, and salads with a great atmosphere and tasty food. Excellent place for a romantic dinner.
On our second day, we took a horseback-riding day trip to the Pululahua Crater with the company Green Horse Ranch (www.horseranch.de). The Ranch is run by a German woman named Astrid, who is fluent in German, Spanish, and English. She picked us up at our hotel and drove all the way to where the horses are kept, deep within the crater (about a two-hour drive). The scenery and horseback riding were incredible; Astrid even had us trotting and cantering (we are total beginners). My only complaints are: (1) It would have been nice if the horses had been prepared prior to our arrival, as it took almost one hour after arriving at the horse corral until we began riding. This is important because, as the day wears on, the mist rolls in and all the beautiful scenery becomes less visible; (2) Astrid runs a good operation and the horses appear to be well-cared for, but she does not do very much "guiding," like explaining about the flora and fauna we were seeing. Despite the complaints, the challenging terrain (these horses go up and down some pretty steep, rocky stuff) and fantastic scenery made the trip well worth the $50 each (with SAE discount).
On day three, we took a day trip to Cotopaxi with Safari Tours. The day began at 7am and ended around 4:30-5pm. There is a lot of driving involved in this trip, but seeing Cotopaxi made it worth it. Of the five tourists in our group, two of us were able to complete the climb from the parking lot at 4500m to the refuge at 4800m. Honestly though, even if you have a problem with the altitude, I don't think I saw much at 4800m that you couldn't also see at 4500m; I just saw it a little closer up. The one strange part of this trip was our last stop at some lodge (Volcano Lodge?) within the national park. This place clearly was hurting for tourists, and our guide had us tour the grounds with the proprietor and sit for awhile in the "sitting room." Can you say “awkward?” The place is dead quiet, and we’re just waiting for the guide to tell us when it is time to leave. I don't know if every guide takes their tours there, or if this was just something our guide was doing for his friends who run the place, but I thought it was a questionable choice, at best. If you can get to the base of Cotopaxi some other way, I suppose you could save your $40, but our guide really was quite good and explained a lot of things about Ecuadorean history, politics, etc.
On day four, we headed off for the jungle. We had booked the trip in advance via email with Neotropic Turis (info@neotropicturis.com), which runs Cuyabeno Lodge. We corresponded several times prior to arrival in Ecuador, and I must say that their operation is very professional. My emails were always answered within 24-48 hours. They delivered our trip receipt and plane tickets (they take care of all the travel arrangements to and from the jungle) to our hotel, so that all we had to do was get ourselves to the airport on the day of departure. At the Quito airport, a man identifying himself as our guide figured out who we were; it turned out that he lives in Quito and was making the trip along with us to the jungle. So here’s what it takes to get to Cuyabeno: a 30-minute plane ride to Lago Agrio (you can take the bus if you want, but it takes around 10 hours—ugh), then a 2.25 hour ride in a pickup taxi along a VERY dusty road (we were covered in dust/soot by the end) to “The Bridge,” where you then get in a motorized canoe and take the 2-3 hour ride to Cuyabeno. The higher the level of the river, the shorter the canoe ride. Bottom line: the trip was incredible. Paul Merino, our guide, is an extremely gifted naturalist. His depth of knowledge is extraordinary and you can tell that he gets excited about seeing and describing things. He works as a freelance guide for several different jungle lodges, and he will be starting his own tourist lodge in a different province, more in the western part of Ecuador. I cannot stress this enough—the lodge you choose doesn’t matter nearly as much as the guide. On this particular trip, the only tourists at the lodge were my wife and me (kudos to Neotropic Turis for running the trip with just the two of us), so we spent a lot of time with Paul. I suggest that, whichever jungle lodge you choose, you ask to go with their most popular/best guide. Anyway, on to the description of Cuyabeno Lodge. It is located on an island in the middle of a lagoon off the main river. When things are drier (like they were when we were there), the lagoon is mostly dry. This means that you can’t really swim, but the upside of dry weather is that it makes for better wildlife viewing. The facility itself consists of a main, open-air lodge where you eat your meals, and it has some hammocks set up as well. The cabanas (also open-air, with walls that are about stomach high) each have two beds with mosquito-netting hanging over them. One of the great things about Cuyabeno is that the rivers and lagoon are black water, not white water. Therefore, this is not a good breeding ground for mosquitoes. My wife is usually eaten alive by bugs, but we barely needed the insect repellent there. We did not take malaria prophylaxis either, given the very low incidence of malaria in that particular area. Our cabana had a private bathroom, though the cabanas without private bathrooms are cheaper by about $20 pp for the 4 day/3 night trip. There is no electricity, but candles are provided and you’ll have your flashlight of course. We did have a digital camera battery that needed recharging, though, so on one of our day excursions down the river, we recharged it at a different lodge that does have electricity—no problem. The food was pretty decent for jungle cooking, though I wouldn’t say it was great. We didn’t drink any, but they did have beer available, but no other alcohol. And no ice cubes, of course. As far as the itinerary, if you research all the available jungle trips, you’ll see that different lodges often specialize in certain things, like visits to the indigenous communities, birding, etc. At Cuyabeno, there was no community visit, which was fine with us. Paul was very knowledgable about birds, and we saw many different species, including blue-green macaws, reasonably close. (I must say, however, that having a set of binoculars for EACH person greatly enhances the trip). Mostly, we took walks and canoe rides, learning about plants, trees, animals, insects, etc. We went piranha fishing and caught 3 different species, given the shallow water level. We saw tons of adult and baby caimans, four different species of monkeys, the list goes on and on. With the SAE discount, we paid about $250 pp for the trip, plus a small park-entrance fee, and the $120 round-trip flight from Quito-Lago Agrio. I think the jungle experience is a must-see.
After the jungle, we returned to Quito for a night, and then left the next day for Otavalo. When going to the Terminal Terrestre to catch a bus, see if the cab driver is willing to drop you off at the ticket area so that you don’t need to navigate your way through the whole station; he may try to charge you an extra 50 cents for this. Alternatively, you could stand on any number of main bus thoroughfares and wait for a bus that way. The way it works is, there is a driver and an assistant. The assistant is always leaning out the door as it drives down the street, yelling the destination of the bus in rapid-fire. For example, on the Otavalo bus, he’s yelling, “Otavalo! Otavalo! Otavalo! Ibarra! Ibarra! Ibarra!” If you’re going to catch the bus from the street instead of the bus station, your Spanish needs to be somewhat good, or you need to listen VERY closely, because the yelling sounds more like, “Ovlo! Ovlo! Ovlo! Ibar! Ibar! Ibar!” Anyway, at the bus station, just buy your ticket at the window of the appropriate company and then pay the 20 cent fee at the turnstile that leads to the area where the buses are waiting. We traveled with our packs as luggage, which are too big to be taken onto the bus. We stored them under the bus and made sure that our seats were directly above the storage bay so that we could make sure nobody swiped them when the storage bay was opened and closed. The bus we took did not stop at the Otavalo bus station; it just dropped us off on the Panamerican Highway, so ask the assistant in advance where the closest dropoff point is to your hotel. Not a big deal, though, as Otavalo is small and easily walkable to any point.
The Saturday market in Otavalo is a must-see. Yes, it is a big “tourist thing,” but the sheer size of it is impressive. And if you want to shop, the bargains are plentiful. We bought many things, including a beautiful queen-size bedspread for $40. I don’t even have to tell you what that would go for in the States. We also went to Cotacachi for the famous leather shops. Yes, there are 150 or so shops on one street, all selling jackets, bags, wallets, etc. However, there are VERY few stores with good quality items. I was shopping very seriously for a leather jacket, satchel, and wallet. I found that most of the leather jackets were cut irregularly with poor-quality leather, and the wallets weren’t much to get excited about. I did find one store that had excellent quality; I bought a leather satchel there (bargained down a little from $55 to $42.50) and found a jacket that ALMOST worked for me. The name is La Curtiembre, and the address is 10 de Agosto No. 11-61. I am not sure if there was a sign outside the store or not, but hopefully the address will help. Oh, another word of advice. A taxi from Otavalo to Cotacachi would run $15-20; the bus is easily catchable from the bus station and costs about a quarter. It drops you off right at 10 de Agosto, which is where all the leather stores are.
In Otavalo, we were originally supposed to stay at Valle del Amanacer, but when we arrived they didn’t have our reservation, and they didn’t have one room available for two consecutive nights. We checked out the property anyway, and it was extremely charming and cozy—rooms and common areas alike. I would definitely recommend staying here, except for the snafu with our reservation. Anyway, we went next door to Rincon del Viajero and got a room there for the same price, $9pp including breakfast. It is not as charming as Valle, but it’s clean, the staff is very friendly, and the beds were the most comfortable we experienced all trip. In fact, one night we got to talking with Dennis, the American who owns it along with his Ecuadorean wife. The next day, we ran into him just as we were getting ready to catch a bus back to Quito. He was driving down to Quito and offered us a ride, which we took. We had a really interesting conversation on the way down, and arrived in Quito in time to catch an even earlier bus to Banos, our final destination for that day. The only place we tried in Otavalo that stood out for food was Chifa Long Xiang (Quito y Roca), a Chinese place with HUGE portions and cheap.
Regarding the bus trip to Banos: the guide books say it takes about 3 hours, but it is closer to 4. There is no bathroom, so try to dehydrate yourself somewhat before getting on. We rode a couple of different bus lines—there was no discernable difference.
As far as visiting Banos, I highly recommend it. We actually wound up spending four nights there because there was a lot to do and we also loved our hotel there—our favorite one of the trip. We stayed at Posada del Arte, formerly known as Hostal Cultural (Pasaje Velasco Ibarra y Montalvo). It is on a quiet street, and the owners have done a fantastic job with this place—it is dripping with charm and character. It has painted walls with lots of art, a beautiful sitting/dining area, friendly staff, and great rooms. Our room had a working fireplace (which we used) and a balcony with a hammock, with a great view of the waterfall on the edge of town. The room was simply but tastefully decorated—very cozy. The lighting was pretty dim, but that’s pretty par for the course in Ecuador. The room cost $22 w/o breakfast—add another $4 pp for breakfast. We also checked out Hotel Sangay and Hotel Palace, two of the more expensive places in Banos. The cheapest rooms at Sangay were small, Spartan, and depressing with no view. The Palace had very large, nice rooms and great views of the waterfall. Its thermal pools are indoors, though, and they didn’t look very inviting, especially compared to pictures we saw of outdoor pools in Papallacta, a place we didn’t go. The Palace has a very nice property, though.
In Banos, there were several restaurants that stood out. Mariane (Martinez y 16 de Diciembre) has a cozy atmosphere and excellent French food. The trout and steak were both excellent. Le Petit Auberge restaurant (16 de Diciembre y Montalvo) also has excellent French food with a fantastic dessert menu, though this place is more expensive than Mariane for meat. Fish, however, is mid-range in price, about $4. Also a great atmosphere. We had a good cheap breakfast at Café Hood (Maldonado y Ambato) and a very good lunch at Casa Hood (Martinez btw Halflants and Alfaro). There’s also a nice book exchange at Casa Hood as well. There are at least three or four restaurants in Banos called “something Hood,” possibly because they are trying to trade in on the name of Café Hood which is in all the guidebooks.
As for things to do: one day, we walked to the zoo and a nearby waterfall called Ines Maria (nice but nothing spectacular). The zoo was fun: the monkeys are quite active and like to show off, and there are lots of birds you can see close up, which are too difficult to see close up in the jungle. Watch out for the free-roaming tapirs, which look like giant rodents. At first, we assumed that one had escaped from its habitat, until we later saw the sign that says they roam as they please.
We went to the Banos de la Virgen, which are hot pools right next to the waterfall. If you go to Papallacta, there is no reason to go to these pools, as the pools there are much prettier. Otherwise, this is kind of fun. The facility itself appears somewhat utilitarian, but the hot water is relaxing and the waterfall makes a nice backdrop for the scene.
The highlight of Banos was taking a motor scooter out along the road that goes toward Puyo, visiting the waterfalls along the way, and stopping in Rio Verde to see the most fantastic waterfall, Pailon del Diablo. It is reasonably safe to do this, and the scenery is unbelievably rewarding—rolling green hills and multiple waterfalls dropping hundreds of feet. Currently (and who knows for how long), construction is being done on a couple of sections of the road, near/in the tunnels. These sections of road close to all traffic from each direction for about one hour at a time. If you are riding a bike or scooter, you don't need to wait; you can just take the gravel/dirt road that bypasses the tunnels. However, this bypass road is in pretty lousy shape for parts of the ride-- gigantic potholes and such. You also need to compete with cars and trucks for space on some short stretches of the bypass road. I wouldn’t want to bike this (there’s quite a bit of uphill), but with the scooter it wasn’t too bad. The day we did this, it was pouring on the way to Rio Verde. When we got there, we stopped at one of the roadside cafes, and they built a fire for us to dry out by. By the time we and our friends finished lunch, the weather was beautiful, and we made the short hike to the suspension bridge, which is the best place to view Pailon del Diablo. Just gorgeous—a very powerful waterfall. If you decide to do this trip, you can rent a scooter anywhere in Banos for about $30 for 5 hours; you will need to leave your passport as a deposit. The rental includes gas and helmets for you and your passenger.
Back in Quito for our last night before heading back to the States, we stayed at Loro Verde (also on Juan Rodriguez) just to try something different; it was perfectly fine, and cheap ($18) which was nice. It doesn’t have a lot of charm, and the hot water was only lukewarm, but it was clean with friendly staff. Well, that about wraps it up. Hope this has been helpful…
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
jlee3794
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
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