Ecuador, much more than the Galapagos Islands!

We have just returned back from three fabulous days in Quito, Ecuador. We docked in Guayaquil on Friday the 5th. Our two days crossing was difficult, not because anything went wrong, just because getting one’s work done in two days is impossible and on top of that we had Neptune’s Day (this is a celebration in honor of crossing the equator – more on this in a later entry) and we also had a 4th of July BBQ. It seemed to never slow down enough to catch a breath. Never fear, we slowed things way down in Ecuador and it was a nice change of pace.


A few of us spent the day in Guayaquil on Friday exploring the city and eating wonderful food all day. We strolled along the Malecon 2000, which is a boardwalk type environment (minus the big carnival sights) where one can people watch and enjoy the day. The Malecon used to be the worst area in town and all the tour books said not to go there even during the day. In 2000 the mayor of Guayaquil began a beautification project to revive the area. They did a great job. This stretch of land is filled with vendors selling food and artisan products, cool new trendy restaurants and a modern art museum at one end. Just beyond the museum is an area called Cerro Santa Ana where you can walk to the top of a hill where a lighthouse and church are located. It’s quite a hike with 444 steps to the top but well worth it. On our way back we stopped for a beer at a little whole in the wall (there were many, sometimes just a room in someone’s house selling food or trinkets), which was much needed after climbing that many steps in the heat. We returned to the ship after dinner as many of us were leaving early the next morning for various part of the country.

Nate and I decided we would venture to Quito for a few days to check it out. We had gone back and forth on a trip to the Galapagos Islands while we here but this plan didn’t quite workout. It’s actually a very good thing it didn’t because both of us fell in love with Quito. The city is nestled amongst the Andes Mountains (9348 feet above sea level to be exact) and is surrounded by many active volcanoes. It is a stunning sight. Flying into Quito is actually the most beautiful flight I have ever taken. The houses are built up into the hillside and they are all very colorful. We spent Friday exploring the city, which is broken into to distinct parts, Old Town and New Town. We visited the historical sites, the main museum in town and loved walking around taking in the views. We visited a church that had 7 tons, yes you read that correctly, 7 tons of gold leaf in it. I believe the direct quote out of my mouth was, “It looks like the inside of Liberache’s (sp?) house”. Okay, so I’ve never been to Liberache’s house but this church shined of gold from the floor to the middle of the ceiling. It was amazing.

After our long day of sightseeing we met up with Mario, who was in Quito on a SAS sponsored trip, for dinner. This ended up becoming an adventure. One of our guidebooks talked about a great steak restaurant. We decided this sounded good and since I had determined it was right around the corner from our hotel it seems like a good idea. Well, it wasn’t exactly right around the corner so after some deliberation we hailed a cab and he took us to the restaurant, which by the way looked deserted and was completed empty…not a good sign on a Friday night. They must have had cameras on the front door because as we were debating what to do a woman opened the door and ushered us in. We felt a little strange leaving at that point so we all agreed to try it. Thankfully, we stuck around because it was a delicious meal. The steak was cooked perfectly and seasoned just right. Finally, toward the end of our meal a couple entered the restaurant and sat down a few tables away. For some reason this was very funny to us. Up until that point we were joking about having reserved the entire restaurant. I guess you had to be there. We went back to Mario’s hotel (coincidentally, it was two blocks from ours) and had a drink at a placed called “Mario’s Bar” across the street. We couldn’t pass that up. We said our good-byes and headed back to our hotel.


A little about the place we stayed at in Quito, Café Cultura. Three different sources cited this as a fantastic place to stay (two guidebooks and an article in Traveler magazine) and it was. It’s an old house turned French museum turned hotel. It caters to tourists from the US and Europe and was very charming. We had a room that was really a converted attic. It was very cute and big. We had a lot of room, at least when it came to floor space. Nate had to be careful when he walked around because the sloped ceiling would sneak up on us from time to time. The hotel also had a restaurant that was more like someone’s kitchen and a great library for hanging out. It was definitely a great find.


On Saturday we hired a guide to take us to the Otavalo and Cotacachi. Otavalo is home the country’s largest artisan market and was quite an experience. It’s about a 2 hour drive from what I read in the books, however, it took us about 3 hours to get there. Our guide, Raul, took the long way there to swing by the equator line for a little science lesson and some pictures (the line down the middle of our picture is the Equator line). Raul is a former chemical engineer turned travel guide and was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. Once in Otavalo he let us loose to walk around and do some shopping. We met back up with Raul and he drove us another 20 minutes to a charming town of Cotacachi. Cotacachi is known for its leather work. I wished we had more time in Cotacachi because the town was adorable and I wanted to explore more. It had small streets and very cool looking buildings. Nate will tell you I wanted more time because I was going crazy in the leather stores but don’t listen to him.


Raul returned us to Café Cultura around 6pm after a 10 hour day. It was exhausting and exhilarating all in one. We once again met up with Mario for dinner and called it an early night. We slept in on Sunday, well, we tried to but our quaint little hotel had paper thin walls, creaky stairs and a neighborhood roster and dog who were trying to vie for loudest neighbor awards so sleeping in is all relative. It was raining out and neither of us was motivated for more touring so we took our time getting ready, had a leisurely breakfast and headed to the mall. Don’t worry, the mall is not my scene when traveling, however, Nate has been looking for cigars to take back with him and we had read about a good cigar shop in the shopping mall. In the end we roamed around the mall, had lunch, ventured through an artisan market near our hotel and headed to the airport to catch our return flight back to Guayaquil.

Monday is our last day in Ecuador and we plan to take it easy. We are going to visit the artisan market in Guayaquil, walk through the Modern Museum at the end of the Malecon 2000 and probably venture back to the ship on the early side. The students must be back on board by 9pm and the ship departs at 11pm. We will be at sea for 6 days between Ecuador and Chile and I’m very excited by this. Six days actually gives people time to sit and have conversations with each other. We also have the Sea Olympics on Friday. This means a fun-filled day of activities and SAS bonding. I have asked Nate to guest blog about Neptune’s Day and the Sea Olympics from a fresh eye so there will more about this later.