ECUADOR- 31 December 2009 to 11 January 2010

Introduction

Although Ecuador is a tiny country, it has so much diversity, from jaw-dropping landscapes and biodiversity to easily accessible indigenous cultures - and that's just along the Pan-America Highway with the odd little detour! 65% of Ecuadorians are Mestizos, 25% indigenous and the rest made up of Spanish and descendants of African slaves. Although generally reserved, they came across as friendly, extremely helpful, honest and just lovely folk.

Background and History

The earliest clues to early human habitation date back to the Stone Age (9000BC). Sedentary cultures settled the coastal areas and by 11AD the Cara culture dominated the coast, the Quitu the highlands and the Canari occupied the south. These are the cultures the Inca encountered in the 15 th century as their empire expanded northwards from Peru . The Spanish met a divided nation as a result of sibling rivalry when they arrived in 1532 and within 3 years controlled the empire. Until 1739 the area was administered from Peru , then from Colombia . Forced labour practices over the indigenous people led to uprisings in the 18 th century and a decisive battle led to independence in 1822. Initially part of Gran Colombia , full independence was achieved in 1830 and a period of violent liberal and conservative political warfare ensued until the military took control during the 20 th century. Land disputes with Peru resulted in intermittent wars from 1941 until a settlement was finally reached in 1998. Democracy returned in 1979 but presidential politics has seen 7 presidents over the past decade, typical of Latin America 's politics.

Our Experience

The easy, efficient and free border crossing for both us and Tipperdee was over in less than 2 hours with officials very relaxed on the last day of 2009 – music and excitement just everywhere! Ecuador 's border town of Tulcan took over an hour to negotiate as masked, cross-dressed, intoxicated dancing men blocked the roads every 100m with ropes looking for donations for this entertainment. From Ipiales in Colombia to our destination in Otavalo, we constantly encountered these characters, masked children and puppets (often life size and larger). In between, the road meandered over the dramatic Andean landscape with an amazing patchwork of agricultural development. We arrived at a chilly 2500m high Otavalo around dusk. Immediately the cultural riches was evident with men wearing long pigtails, black veldt hats and ponchos while women wore beautifully embroided blouses, shawls and strange folded head cloths.

The buzz in the town's historic heart was alive with loud music and cross-dressers and this convinced us to stay right there. Somehow we landed a perfect parking spot complete with ‘banos' (bathroom) for $3 a night! After a home cooked chicken pasta, we toasted ‘Old Years' with the kids and hit the streets to enjoy the action. The largely indigenous locals roamed the streets quite bemused by these writhing characters as they blocked cars performing for money. Unfortunately we could not find a great party spot to wish in the New Year but at least we were thoroughly entertained even with a makeshift ‘Thriller' enactment. Michael Jackson seems to have made a great impression in South America as huge puppets of him are portrayed all over. Around midnight the streets suddenly got dark, empty and bonfires erupted everywhere, burning branches, masks and puppets – quite a sight!

We spent New Years day enjoying the clear endless Andean vistas around Otavalo. A cobbled road ascended onto an off-road dirt track up to Laguna Mojanda at 3700m, 20km south west of our base in the parking lot. Villages, farms and forests gave way to the ‘paramo' – high altitude grasslands that surrounded clear lakes. A fitting end to a beautiful day was dinner back in town at atmospheric Mi Otavalito with typical local food accompanied by live authentic music. The kids struggled with their soups – chicken consome a la reina with a raw egg, but the llapingachos (potato cakes, spicy beef, corn, eggs and salad) and trucha (trout in a creamy sauce with veg) hit the spot!

The following day we visited South America 's largest craft market that dates back to pre-Inca times. What an enchanting experience in a fabulous setting with stalls radiating from Plaza de Ponchos and traditionally clad indigena selling their colourful arty handicrafts.

By midday we were driving south on the Pan-American Highway through parched mountains to Mitad del Mundo – the centre of the earth! This touristy spot with restaurants, souvenir shops and live bands marks 0 ° latitude. We 'officially' crossed the equator back into the Southern hemisphere after 2 ½ years in the north! We were in the capitals outskirts with concrete blocks hugging the mountain slopes and the drive across the Andean Valley into Quito 's heart to find accommodation with parking, was rather stressful. After checking out ½ a dozen recommended places in the new town, sometimes in low ratio gears up steep crazy streets, we decided to just drive the main roads and rather stumble across something. Within a few minutes the Windsor Hotel with cable TV for the kids and a jetted bath for us, sufficed for the night. We could relax again!

The next day, 3 rd January, we took the electric bus (trole) to Quito 's historic old town that was built atop Inca ruins from 1534. It is a maze of colonial splendour – an absolute pleasure to wander through as Sunday's are traffic free days. It still had a buzz with the constant hum of hollering vendors, blind guitar strummers, mime artists, indigenous women carrying impossible loads and roast pigs peeking out of narrow doorways of traditional eateries.

We did a loop from Plaza Santo Domingo up to the Plaza and Monastery San Fransisco, and to La Merced and then down to Plaza Grande flanked by the Presidential Palace, Cathedral and Archbishop's Palaces. We just soaked up the sights as they unfolded in the many churches (weddings in tow, or just the relaxed form of worship) or plazas. An almuerzos (set lunch) of carne sopa, rice with grilled chicken and beans for just $1.4 from one of those eateries lured us as we headed back to our Hotel – but this time we were allowed to sleep in Tipperdee right outside the Hotel saving $66!

The following day we managed to book a highlight of South America , an Amazon experience! We decided that Ecuador had the best mix of price, wildlife proximity and accessibility without costly flights. Samona expeditions had a fully inclusive four day trip for $700 and we headed north east around noon. The 270km took 7 hours and we nearly did not make it as we climbed the Andes just outside Quito to 4000m with Tippderdee miss-firing in the thin air and steep gradient. In 2 nd gear low ratio, we had just enough power to crawl up at 10km per hour. Just when we thought we were at our limit and at wits end, the road descended the alpine heights to Baeza and we could enjoy vistas as they transformed into jungle.

At sunset we wild camped at a gas station 15km outside Lago Agrio and back at a sticky 300m altitude. The next morning we met our guide Miguel at Hotel Imperial and secured Tipperdee in the parking lot for our onward bus journey. The 2 hour bus trip took us to El Puente and after lunch we transferred to a motorized canoe for another 2 hour trip down the Cuyabeno River to our lodge in the reserve. This rainforest is home to a few tribes with lakes and rivers harbouring fascinating aquatic species while the forest abounds with abundant birdlife, insects and other mammals.

We were in the ‘El Oriente', Ecuador 's slice of the Amazon basin with numerous ecosystems. Passionate, friendly and knowledgeable Miguel kept us busy from the moment we arrived. Once we were settled in our basic accommodation we were back in the canoe for sunset and a swim in one on Cuyabeno's lakes – just magical! Manatees and pink dolphins dwell in these waters but were blipps that only Miguel could interpret. At supper we were introduced to one of the many incredible meals from the basic kitchen that was somehow concocted without electricity. Just when we thought we could relax, we were whisked off for a night hike in the jungle. Kitted with long rubber boos and pants and loads of insect repellent applied to all open areas, we discovered the creatures of the night - spiders, scorpions, numerous ants, bugs and frogs which soon had us paranoid and jumping at the slightest movement in the undergrowth. Dane was in his element as he helped Miguel point out all the creatures, unaware of our fear which solidified the adults newly found friendships.

After a very nervous sleep that night we emerged unscathed from our huts and ventured further downstream spotting monkeys, morphous butterflies and birds. On our jungle walk we spotted tapir footprints and were educated on the magic of ecosystems with ants earning new respect. Great fun was had when we shouted ‘march' to the ants in their nests and thereafter actually heard the loud marching sounds!! We were amazed at the potent bites that ants can cause when some of the group (including Gary and Dane) allowed the fire ant to bite them. But worst of all was the big aggressive bullet ant's toxic bite that Miguel accidentally endured when he demonstrated climbing a vine!

We arrived at the indigenous tribal village of the Siona just as the rain came pelting down. Here we had lunch and watched as they processed a yucca root into a thin bread for us to taste, followed by some local alcoholic brew. We were lucky to meet the Shaman elder who demonstrated his cleansing ritual by chanting and waving dry palm leaves over Natalie (a member of our group) to ward away bad spirits – but without the potent hallucinogenic drink prepared from the sacred yaje plant that allow them to connect with the spiritual dimension during ritual ceremonies.

After another sunset swim in the lagoon we settled in at the lodge for our marvellous supper and Miguel introduced us to a local Ecuadorian fermented sugar cane brew known as ‘puntas' which uses a chicken (feathers and all) to produce a 75% alcoholic beverage that we affectionately called ‘chicken soup'! But too much of it mixed with beers, red wine and Australian peer pressure until 3am, had Gary literally crawling into bed.

The following morning we were up at the crack of dawn for our sunrise cruise and to spot pink dolphins but unfortunately Gary just groaned a reply that he could not make it! After breakfast we continued with another 3 hour jungle walk and still no Gary ! By late afternoon he just managed the piranha fishing (with meat as bait) and caiman (a relative of an alligator) spotting. The last swim in the lagoon was only enjoyed by the kids and Miguel. Dinner that night included the largest piranha that Natalie had caught, but although tasty, it was rather bony. Dane also had another souvenir, the lower jaw with sharp teeth and the ants did a pretty good job during the night cleaning it completely!

On the 8 th we had our last views of this tropical wonderland back-tracking our journey by canoe and bus to Largo Agrio. After sad farewells to Miguel, Americans Tim, Rocky and Sheila, German Anna, Ecuadorian Natalie, Israeli Omri and Tal and Spanish Inaki, as well as members of the second group, we were on our own again. We decided to drive through the Oriente south across the many rivers and small towns at the edge of the jungle. After Coco we climbed a bit to a few kilometres outside Tena, where we eventually found an overnight spot to camp alongside a local restaurant in the jungle about an hour after sunset.

The next day it rained most of the way to Puyo and up to Banos with jagged peaks just appearing between the clouds for the odd photo. The touristy mountain town was rather cold and wet with the famous thermal pools of Piscina de la Virgin looking rather brown and crowded. So after popping in at the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Agua Santa for a look at the bizarre paintings of people being saved from accidents and disasters by the ‘Virgin of the Holy Water' and sampling the famous melcocha (pulled taffy), we were off to Riobamba for another highlight. But the road was closed as a result of eruptions of nearby volcano Tungurahua and we had to huff and puff via Ambato . Riobamba is a typical busy Andean old fashioned city that's the starting point for the spectacular train ride down Devil's Nose, but disappointment struck when we learnt that the train was not operational for the next 2 weeks. After dipping into some street-food (rice with a potato stew and bits of tripe that Gary could not resist!) for $1.25, we were off south. 30km later and after being on the road for 11 hours, we pulled into a gas station outside the town of Cajabamba .

The 10 th of January we decided to drive to Alausi, the last town before the train makes its 500m descent down the Nariz del Diablo to Sibambe on a century old narrow gauge track. All tickets were sold out for the 2 hour return trip but being the lucky people we are, we managed to get front row seats at the last minute! It was quite an experience riding in a bus-like diesel powered noisy clunker that had to negotiate the steep gradients and hairpin bends with switchbacks and reversing some stretches (when the mechanic could find the gear!) - but what magnificent views from a carriage of a bygone era.

At 2pm we were in Tipperdee and hovered around the 3km-high mark, winding our way through clouds and rain to Cuenca . Set along the banks of the Rio Tomebamba, this colonial city had the usual layout and domed churches, and again hostels and hotels had no parking, even outside the old city. After stressful searching and criss- crossing Ecuador 's 3 rd largest city for 2 hours with just a hint of where we were driving, we decided to just park in any descent looking suburb as the sun had set already. Again, an angel named Ricardo Echeverria happened to pass as we were about to park and with broken English he guided us to his friends safer enclosed parking with his vehicle – it just all felt right!

The next day we realized where we were – at an Argentinean restaurant with self contained accommodation – perfect! Ricardo, who is a talented musician (plays 36 instruments by ear!) then guided us to a gas distributor which led to us following a gas delivery truck to the main depot of Austrogas. For the first time on our entire journey, we managed to fill ALL 3 our gas cylinders that we acquired from South Africa , Sudan and Europe – for only $1 each! Hooray for Ecuador !!

An ultramodern shopping centre had all the goodies to stock up on and by 2pm we descended from the Andean clouds through grasslands with diary farms, then arid looking hard mountains into green tropical lowlands with banana plantations – to the soothing tunes of one of Ricardo's CD's. Near Machala we rejoined the Pan-American Highway southwest to just outside the border town of Huaquillas , where Ecuadorian formalities were over in few minutes. It was past 7pm, dark and raining and the friendly customs allowed us to overnight in their parking area.

All in all, a memorable time spent in Ecuador – Adios!!

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