FettyFun: February 2014

Plaza Grande

Quito

So I never thought I would make it to Ecuador until I was old, retired and wealthy enough to roam around the Galapagos Islands and chase the animals... but after reading awesome things about mainland Ecuador (and getting a relatively cheap airplane ticket), I decided to give it a go. The good news... what I read was correct! The bad news... I might need to take more than just that trip to the Galapagos to experience all Ecuador has to offer!

Quito... Wow... I was not sure what to expect, but what a brilliant city. Roaming around Quito felt like a combo of Spanish, Central American, Euro and South American charm all wound into one city that sits just under 10,000 feet. My first day in Quito was unusually sunny (and a perfect 75 or so) and with the excitement of touring around I neglected to put on sunscreen, which proved fatal (11 days later still peeling from that day...).

Basilica

So many random towers

After touring that day I matched my shirt

El Panecillo - La Virgen de Quito


Basilica

After getting a good feel for Quito (and knowing that I would be back there at the end of the trip to fly back) it was time to move on to the cloud forest in Mindo. Mindo is a very small town a couple hours out of Quito and significantly lower in elevation.

It was a beautiful area and an up-and-coming outdoors adventure destination in Ecuador. Mindo had some great scenery, hiking, food and even a zip line course through the canopy. Supposedly Mindo also has over 400 species of birds too (which draws bird watchers), but I only noticed the rooster that woke me up in the morning... Overall Mindo was a worthwhile stop.

Waterfall!

Canopy!

Hike!

Mindo, not too sexy, but cool

After Mindo it was a long, long journey to the beach. Ecuador looks like a very small country on a world map, but the terrain is so rough that it takes a LONG time to travel from place to place. It took about 10 hours to get from Mindo to one of the nearest beaches.

Bahia

Bahia de Caraquez was the next stop, which proved to be a nice jumping off point for exploring some of the Ecuadorian central/northern coast. Touring Bahia, spending time at the beach, relaxing, visiting surrounding towns and eating wonderful seafood made up most of my time in Bahia. Bahia also had a massive population of expats and yachties who reminded me of my time living on the boat many years ago. I could see why people would be into settling down in this beautiful area.

Bahia

Canoa

Bahia Cross

Sadly, one of my last cervezas in Ecuador

After Bahia, it was a quick four hour bus trip down to Manta where I spent the night before flying back to Quito (and avoiding a REALLY long bus trip). Manta was another cool port city and the self-proclaimed "tuna capital of the world."

Though also impressive, Manta proved to be a buzz kill, literally... This is where I learned that on Friday at noon all sales of cerveza (and any other booze) had been cut off until Sunday night in the ENTIRE COUNTRY. This was all due to the election that weekend... Since people were voting, no alcohol could be sold to ensure all voted with a clear mind (and there would be no trouble). All I could think was how poorly this concept might go in America... HAHA. So I had a dry Friday and Saturday night in Ecuador, not to mention almost everything shut down during this time too.

Manta's tuna statue!

The 50 minute/$55 flight back to Quito from Manta was awesome! The Andes and volcanoes of Ecuador were amazing to see from the air. Well worth the price of admission.

Manta sunset

Though not as sunny, the last day of touring Quito was equally as successful. The day was spent eating great food, touring neighborhoods and riding the Teleferiqo (a gondola up the side of a mountain in Quito that goes to about 12,000 ft). The city was peaceful at night with everyone preparing for the Sunday election day. I was lucky enough to find some live music, good dinner and hot cocoa to top off a wonderful time in Ecuador.