Adventures of an Old Broad... Abroad: Ecuador

Well, after considerable time and rather extensive contemplation on this trip, my final thought is that Ecuador demands a great deal more exploration than I was able to do on this way too brief trip to an exceptionally diverse and beautiful country.

Beginning where I left off . . . San Cristobal was lovely and I could have/would have liked to spend more time on this small island. I liked the size of the main town and capitol of San Cristobal, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. I believe the population is around 8,000 people for the whole island, most of whom live in the puerto. It was walkable with many restaurants both local and touristy and the two best snorkeling beaches were also within walking distance.

Santa Cruz was very nice and it was there I was able to spend a day on a lovely farm full of fruit trees and walk to a lava cave passing at least twenty tortoises including one that was over 150 years old! I was then taken to Los Gemelos, two gigantic holes in the ground where I'm sure there is a lost world! These are extinct volcanoes where the cone sunk and became a crater and is surrounded by high cliff-like walls with incredible flora (and possibly fauna?) existing on the floor. I'm not sure if it's accessible but it certainly wasn't for me - not enough time! Other than that, Santa Cruz is big, more populated area (around 25,000 people) and more touristy too so, despite the tortoises, the kind people I met and Los Gemelos, I preferred San Cristobal.

Quito is a nice city, built in the mountains and surrounded by mountains and at 9350 feet above sea level. I liked what I saw of it but didn't spend a whole lot of time there so . . . ?

The jungle area around Tena (I was in a lodge in Cotundo near Tena and I really liked it there) was so cool! There were Oropendola - two species. These are the birds that build hanging nests and I spent a great deal of time watching them fly back and forth getting food for their babies and arguing with neighboring birds who wanted to invade their nests. We went on night walks looking for animals and found several, including something that the locals referred to as a possum but had a long tail and a pointy face and looked almost like a lemur from my view on the ground as it was also raiding an Oropendola nest! We saw tarantulas, sleeping cachalaca's (birds), and many weird insects. During the day we hiked to a beautiful waterfall where I slipped in the mud and ended up with some VERY muddy pants! The waterfall is a site for conducting ayahuasca ceremonies conducted by local shamans. Earlier I sat in a hammock on the porch of my bungalow and watched the most intense rain fall all around me! Amazing!

However, if I had to pick one area to return to in Ecuador, it would be the cloud forest! I was so drawn to this area both for its amazing beauty and, of course, the wildlife! There are even bears, although we didn't see one. But the mountains, the hot springs, the clouds, the birds and WOW!! the beauty of this area around Papallacta was just breathtaking and I hope I am able to return and spend some time here looking for the odd species of wildlife that inhabit this region. (Look up Cock of the Rock if you don't believe me!)

All in all, if I have a complaint about Ecuador, it's that I didn't spend enough time there!