I could not fit Ecuador into a single post. I talk too much to pull that off. So here we begin part 2 of our Ecuadorian adventure, venturing into the high altitude mountain lands of Central Ecuador. Where the Galapagos was primarily a treat of wildlife and nature and all things waterworld, this part of our exploration was rooted firmly in the stunning mountainous landscapes and beautiful smiles of the many different communities we encountered.
We flew back to mainland Ecuador from Isla San Cristobal itself and landed back in Quito, where we stayed for one night in a local hotel to regroup our belongings and our thoughts. Here we met some domesticated alpacas and a bunny rabbit and the kind owner sent us off with an almost full propane can for our cooking needs. A previous traveler had left it and rather than let it go to waste he simply gave it to us for free. The wonderful world of traveler communities.
Our first stop was the infamous Cotopaxi volcano of Cotopaxi National Park. We could feel the change in altitude as we drove up into the high terrain grasslands, the roads lined by native eucalyptus trees, and the deeper into the park we went, the more we felt the cold settle into our car and bodies. In a 24 hour period, we went from the burning heat of the equatorial islands to the sharp biting cold of the snowcapped Cotopaxi lands. There was definitely some rummaging involved trying to dig out our winterwear as we used it for the first time in our entire trip. Cotopaxi, a stunning but shy volcano stood like a behemoth in the background of our camping spot, a flat grassy area next to a small, unassuming tavern, complete with wood stove furnace and handmade wooden longtables, handled entirely by one woman. Although we were hoping for some beautiful nightsky photography, it would seem Cotopaxi was still too shy to come out from behind the thick cloud cover; still, it was so satisfying to watch the snowy peaks coming in and out of view of the passing clouds. Our jeep was able to make a partial hike up the winding roads of the mountain base - the nightshade purples and burgundies of the volcanic mass were so beautiful against the sparkling white snow atop its peaks. We started to hike up the side, but that was when our bodies really felt the abrupt change in altitude, both of us feeling suddenly dizzy and out of breath. Given that we had not acclimated, we opted to go back down rather than attempt the summit hike this time. No worries, we will be back one day.
From Cotopaxi, we continued our southern-bound drive and moseyed over to the Quilatoa region of central Ecuador. Here the predominant community was entirely indigenous peoples and their stunning farming villages. The agricultural feats of these peoples is something I am still mesmerized by as their individual farms are created up the steep slopes of this most fertile section of the American Cordilleria. This is the continuation of the same mountain range that forms the Rockies of North America and the Madre Sierras of Colombia that we had hiked through back in January. The vast expanse of these beautiful farms created that quilt-like patchwork pattern that we had seen since arriving in North-central Ecuador. I also noticed many wildlife plants and flowers that we find commonly back home in the Petaluma-Tomales Bay region of Northern California, a bittersweet sight that made me miss home.
As we drove through the idyllic villages of Isinlivi, Sigchos, and Chugchilan, we felt a deep sense of intimacy with the surrounding community. It was a slow drive with frequent stops where local villagers would welcome us with handshakes and ear to ear smiles, all dressed in their classic attire, never having abandoned certain traditions. The women wore wool knee length skirts with thick white stockings and black dress shoes, fitted cardigan sweaters and traditional hats, while the men wore essentially the same except for long trousers rather than skirts. The most amazing thing was, despite always looking ready for Sunday Church, these people were trekking up and down those steep muddy slopes connecting all the farms, carrying huge packs of harvested material on their backs in those same dress shoes. Dress shoes, shmessh shoes, the day's work needs to be done and gets done, and it gets done all with neverending smiles on their faces. The women would create carrying packs by wrapping thick cloths around whatever is being lugged (be it harvested crops or a baby or farming gear) and tying it across their torso, very similarly to the women in many Asian and African countries. I could not get over how effortlessly they carried all these different weights up these thigh-burning slopes all day every day. It certainly put us to shame in what we whine about.
Eventually we reached Laguna Quilatoa, this stunning crater lake filled with an everchanging emerald green-blue water at the base. Here we stayed at a local family owned bed and breakfast that was open, where we had our hot shower and sit down meal. The lake, much like Cotopaxi, was initially hiding behind another dense cloudcover, not uncommon for this entire region given our altitude, but once the sunlight broke through the clouds, her shimmering glorious colors and textures came bumbling out for us to bear witness to. What a marvel.
Storytime!
The owner and I got to chit chatting and she relayed the concerns of the locals about how poorly their government portrayed the country to outsiders and the detrimental effects it has had on their local industries because of this inability to control media portrayals. In fact, I could see where she was coming from because with some of the gang related stories in the media and the temporary lockdown to overlanding tourists, many fellow travelers had actually cancelled their trips to the Galapagos and mainland Ecuador out of fear. Even we had contemplated the safety of this segment, yet it could not have been farther from the truth! Ecuador had treated us beautifully since arrival and during the three plus weeks we spent in the country, not a single untoward event occurred, not even heightened police or military presence. Honestly, had the media not made such a hullabaloo about one random incident in Guayaquil, we would never have even known anything was going on. So, yes, I sympathized with the woman and her fellow countrymen with the same woes. (It would be akin to people cancelling their trip to the United States after hearing about a shootout occurring in Southside Chicago or Inglewood or Baltimore or...right, we have many places that could be on this list). The relativity of "safety" or "home sweet home" becomes so much more painfully apparent the more we travel.
We spent the day hiking down to the lake and then back up, fully appreciating the value of normal atmospheric oxygen levels, after which we continued our drive through a few more villages until we reached the main highway bisecting Ecuador down the middle. We drove along the main highway through more stunning mountainous scenery, stopping in a few small towns to rest along the way, until we reached our destination city of Cuenca. Cuenca is a unique city, one of great value from the perspective of architectural and social history. The heavy European influence from Spanish colonization can be seen in every nook and cranny of Old Town, especially near the beautiful Catedral de la Immaculada Concepcion. The shops and restaurants were all small but homey, brick wall facades lined every street, and to remind us that this was still indeed the proud South American Ecuador, the walls were lit up with stunning murals depicting indigenous life and traditional beliefs. Also, bakeries. Enough said.
From Cuenca we detoured to the lesser known but equally awe-inspiring Cajas National Park, a park of nearly 300 individual lakes that form from the intense water-retaining nature of marshy vegetation that covers the entire area. In this region run wild alpacas, beautiful water birds, and so so so many different kinds of plants and flowers. Prakash became increasingly irritated with me as the hike went on because I would stop to take photos of every leaf and twig I came across. Poor guy (Not that protests deterred me from continuing my plant scavenger hunt). What is a girl to do; I was surrounded by so many unique flowers, trees, grass, succulents, and even underwater plant colonies. Enthralling, truly!
After having our fill of the ups and downs, literally, and plethoric landscapes of inland Ecuador, we continued on our way southward toward the Ecuador-Peruvian border at the town of Macara. We passed through a small chocolate shop where we bought a giant bag of pure Ecuadorian chocolate having discovered that Ecuador is THE spot for the best hot chocolate one will ever taste before moving on. As we descended from the high altitudes of the mountains, we were greeted by more and more stunning scenery of cloud formations among mountain peaks which all slowly transitioned to a much hotter, denser tropical rainforest ecosystem. This region was actually the beginning of the entrance to the southern Ecuadorian segment of the Amazon and we plan to one day return to central South America to explore that very Forest.
Onwards to Peru!
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