“Every adventure is worthwhile.” –Amelia Earhart

            Good day friends and fellow adventurers! Skyler here. This blog post will detail my travels and experiences in Ecuador. This was my first time in South America, and what a trip it was! It started a bit hectic; my family booked us to go over my Thanksgiving Break merely weeks before the fact. After the trip was booked, my anticipation for more travel flourished despite the bleak monotony of Gunnison (the cold and sad college town Ty and I live in).

Our flight to Quito got in after midnight, and customs and immigration took several hours. We were only granted a couple hours of jet-lagged sleep before our journey started. After I woke up in Quito’s Hilton, I took a brief walk in the park by the hotel to get a feel for the air of the city.  Quito reminded me of Kathmandu in a way; the colors of the buildings, the large foothills just outside the borders of the city – it was nice.  After the walk I met our group at the bus. We took off towards the Basílica del Voto Nacional, the largest neo-Gothic basilica in the Americas. The ancient church towered over us, accompanied by gargoyles that glared at us from the lofty towers.  From our stop at this basilica, we could see Herrán Matorras’ Virgin of Quito, a giant aluminum replica of the original Virgin of Quito that overlooked the city.  Our next stop was the main square of Quito, nestled between a cathedral, the castle of the arch-bishop, the people’s building, and the building of the King.  Next we headed to the Jesuit Church, which we were dazzled by on the inside, greeted by almost every surface plated in 24 karat gold. Unfortunately, I only got enjoy the splendor of the lustrous interior as pictures were not allowed.  It was interesting to juxtapose the obvious imposed grandeur and showmanship of the Jesuit Church to the magical monastery of Tengboche which I found equally (if not more) beautiful in its simplicity. We got back on the bus, now headed for the equator monument. I took time to solve a Rubik’s Cube in the northern and southern hemisphere at the same time, and walked around to take pictures.

Next stop: the Otavalo area.  We stopped for sorbet before exiting Quito, and once closer to Otavalo, we stopped at an overlook of the San Pablo Lake. High above the lake, the Imbabura Volcano stood high at 15,190 feet.  Our quarters for the night, “Cabanas del Lago,” lay at the base of the Volcano. After some time at the hotel, the group gathered for a welcome drink called “Candelaso” which was a cinnamon drink with moonshine. We had a demonstration of the traditional clothing of the native people of the area, and I volunteered to model an Huma Devil costume: comprised of a colorful mask, a blanket over my torso, and furry chaps. I think it’d be safe to say the candelaso helped me volunteer for this demonstration. Dinner was served and the night was called shortly after.

After a quick breakfast, we loaded onto the bus under overcast skies. Our next destination would be the Peguche Cascada, the first waterfall we’d visit. After parking I ran ahead of the group, making excellent pace to the falls to avoid people crowding the shots. I was wise in doing so as I only had the chance to take a few pictures before the group crowded the vista. The waterfall was thought to be purifying by the natives, and people would go to be cleansed.  Our next stop was the Otavalo market – a market square packed tight with vendors selling mainly fabric goods, but also jewelry, art, and sculptures.  I walked around the market, then walked around Otavalo as the group shopped.  My family and I grabbed coffee before getting on the bus again, and now heading for Cotacachi, a town famous for its leather goods. Instead of shopping after lunch, like before, I wandered around the town alone, eventually finding the main square and church.  In time, we were on the bus again, now headed for our final destination of the day: the Hotel/Spa Termas de Papallacta. The journey entailed going over a 13,500 foot pass, and it was humorous to see members of the group taken back by that elevation – a height the Overcast Adventurers often pass on their way up Coloradan Mountains!
I marveled at the Andes outside the window.  They were certainly very different than the Himalayas I saw this summer, and the Rocky Mountains where I live. It was weird to be at such a high altitude and not see snow on the points high above us. At the hotel, we were given maps, and I noticed the international hiking symbol on the northernmost part of the map. While everyone relaxed and utilized the amazing hot springs, I convinced my family to go check out the hike (with a bit of coercing). The hike consisted of a loop, passing by a “Cruz Gloriosa” (glorious cross), and a small river crossing and overlook, and a couple of alpacas! We headed back, enjoyed dinner and drinks, and tried out the hot springs before calling it a night.
I arose early the following morning to go on the small hike again in efforts of sunrise photos, but was only greeted by continually overcast weather. No matter, I enjoyed the hike again, had breakfast, and soon enough the group was on the bus again. We headed down from our hotel, cuddled in the Andes somewhere around 9,000 feet. Our next stop was the Amazon Basin, but to get there, we’d have to drive through the Cloud Forest, forested areas overwhelmed with clouds and fog from the humidity of the Amazon and ocean. We crossed by several landslide areas, an occurrence not too uncommon in the Andes. Santiago, our excellent tour guide, recounted facets of the legend of El Dorado, and Pizarro and Orellana’s discovery of the Amazon. I could not imagine going through these terrains without actual roads and with minimal supplies. Eventually we arrived at the Napo River.  We piled into canoes, and made our way down to our hotel “Casa del Suizo.”   At the hotel, we briefly had the chance to settle in before getting back in the canoes, and going downstream for a few minutes to meet some of the locals.  We headed to “Anaconda Island,” and island that housed about 45 native families (the natives being called the “Kichwa People”).  We walked a short distance to a Kichwa house, where the traditional perpetration of chicha, an alcoholic maize derived beverage. We were then given the opportunity to try out the blow-gun they used for hunting, before turning back towards the comfort of the hotel. After being left to our own devices, I walked around the small community right outside the hotel, took a dip in the pool, had dinner, and partook in a welcome drink called “Agua de Vida.” It was time to call it a night.

This would be my first, and probably my only Thanksgiving spent in the Amazon Jungle. After breakfast, we strapped on our gaiters, piled in the canoes, and rendezvoused at a trailhead for a small hike through the Amazon.  The (incredibly easy) hike entailed local guides showing us flora and its uses, bridge crossings, and even a small pseudo-zipline section, all of this leading up to a small overlook at the top of a hill.  This 2.5 hours hike could have easily been done by the Overcast Adventurers in twenty minutes, though several members of the group struggled with the hills. The highlight of this section of the adventure was spotting a bird while I was behind the group taking pictures, which I later identified as being a White-tailed Trogon.  We took traditionally made Balsa wood rafts back to the hotel and had the chance to swim in the Napo river. We engaged in lunch before heading for the Amazon Animal Rescue Center. This was a cool part of the trip but also a bit sad. Many of the animals we saw were impossible to be rehabilitated and put back in the wild, so they had the dark fate of being in the enclosures for the rest of their lives.  This included several of the parrots, monkeys, and even the ocelots we saw. Despite this melancholy note, it is pretty fantastic what the organization that runs it is doing, and it does save and rehab lots of animals.   During dinner, I conversed with some of those from the group from Canada who highly recommended that the Overcast Adventurers take a trip to Banff National Park at some point. Future plans indeed!
After dinner, about five of us and our tour guide hit the town on a quest to find the karaoke bar. I thought I had seen it when I had been wandering around the town in freetime earlier, but the directions we were given took us elsewhere.  Turns out, there were two karaoke bars in this incredibly small community. The first one was closed, but the second was open. We spent the night obnoxiously singing loud karaoke, drinking the Ecuadorian beer “Pilsner,” and having a good time. I ironically picked Green Day’s “American Idiot” as one of the tracks I sang. Singing drunken karaoke in a local bar in the middle of the Amazon: a bucket-list checkmark for sure. We stumbled back to the hotel (which we were locked out of – quite the pickle at the time), and called it a night.
I had a leisurely morning of packing before leaving the Amazon. After finishing, I went for a cup of coffee at the dining area. The dining area had a lookout “tower” at the top, which was recommended to me for pictures. I went up and was delighted to see a very large snow capped peak in the distance.  I took pictures and returned to my coffee. I approached Santiago a bit later to ask the name of the peak, and upon seeing my LCD screen, he exclaimed “Oh my God! This was this morning?!” Thinking it was Chimborazo, he yielded his binoculars out of his pack, and ran off, looking for Chimborazo. When it was not findable, I pointed out that I had seen this mountain from another angle, and he then went on to identify it as the stratovolcano “Antisana” (18,714 feet). He said he’d never seen the mountain in the conditions we were in, and was incredibly excited. After breakfast, we canoed back to the bus, and on our way were able to see the summit of Chimborazo (Ecuador’s tallest) in the distance, but only a sliver of it.  We took off for our next stop: Pailon del Diablo (the Devil’s Cauldron), a magnificent waterfall located in the Tungurahua province. Off the bus, I immediately took off down the path towards the falls. The trail consisted of ~.5 miles and ~300 vertical feet. I was greeted by the noise of the cascades as I arrived at the platform with the first vantage point of the falls. There were two options from here: up or down.  I chose to go up. The way up entailed crawling in a fairly confined space (which was tough with my backpack) and lead to another platform. I continued on, executing a small climbing maneuver to reach the next platform, and was soaked from the proximity of the cascades walking to the next one. The last platform was practically behind the falls, and I spent no more than a couple seconds at the highest point before heading down, and taking a gander at the bottom-most view. Members of the group began to arrive, so I made the short walk to the bridge included in what we paid for.  After everyone made it back up after an hour or so, we were on our way to Baños de Agua Santa. We stopped at a cable car ride briefly on our way, cabling over the Bridal Falls along the ride. 

            As we reached the town, Santiago explained the background of a legend of the town: the miracle of the appearance of the Virgin Mary by the waterfall above the town.  I spent my time in this city gift-shopping for those close to me back home ( I spent most of the vacation looking for a particular Ecuadorian booze which I didn’t find until a few hours before I left). We headed from town to “Hacienda Manteles,” our quarters for the evening. On our way up, some clouds cleared, and we got a phenomenal view of the namesake of the province: the active Tungurahua volcano, which had a small bit of snow on its high summit (16,480 feet), and a bit of smoke emanating from its almost perfect cone shape.   At the beautiful Hacienda Manteles, we were greeted by puppies, which everyone fell in love with instantly. In my travel journal, I described Hacienda Manteles with a checklist:

“Infinite Coffee ✓

Puppies ✓

Smoking Volcano ✓

Raspberry Wine ✓

=Perfection!”

            The following morning was a bit rushed, as it was departure day. We enjoyed the breakfast and endless views. Our first stop before Quito was the market of Pelileo. We were escorted around the market, and I wandered away from the group, taking candid pictures of many of those around the market stalls.I was a bit taken aback by literal pig faces and heads in the meat section.  From Pelileo, we stopped briefly to check out a rose farm. Lots of roses are grown and farmed in Ecuador due to its consistent climate and consistent daylight. The rose farm was interesting. It was curious to see how calloused and mechanized the production of our icon of love is, and how many different colors and kinds of roses they produced.  The rose farm (EQR) consisted of about 140 acres and ~600 employees.  We departed, bound for another hacienda for lunch. This hacienda was sublime, and we enjoyed live music during dessert. It had started to rain by the time we left, but funny enough, the rain had cleared clouds from around the giant Cotopaxi, a towering stratovolcano, rising to 19,347 feet. I asked if we could pull over so I could take pictures, and Santiago obliged. Taking several pictures, I managed to run out of memory of my first memory card.  We headed to Quito and had a couple of hours to relax before our flights out. I managed to find the booze I had been searched for the entire trip in a small market near the hotel (which I got a little juped for – but I suppose being ripped off in a Ecuadorian street market is some kind of rite of passage within itself.) We were shuttled off to the airport, and at midnight, bode Ecuador with a sad but ready, “Adios!”

Until next time, stay adventurous my friends.

~Skyler