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| Quito, Ecuador almost 10k feet in elevation |
We had our first holiday break during the Panamanian Independance week of October 30th to November 5th. As a family we voted to go to Ecuador as our first country to visit in South America. We heard all good things to do in Quito and especially the Galapagos Islands. We booked a flight special from Panama City Airport (PTY) to Quito, Ecuador.
We did nothing else. No hotel reservations, no tour packages - they all seemed so expensive!! We were looking at spending about $2k per person...not a feel good vacation if it was going to make a HUGE dent in our wallet.... almost did not end up going. But, we sure glad we did and we found out - affordably. Ecuador is the most wallet friendly of all the south american countries. Gas is under $2!! Haircuts $5. Massages $15/1 hour. Cab ride from airport to hotel $10. List goes on and on.
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| Locra de papa |
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| Chicken and rice |
Well, once we got to Quito, we took a cab to the area where most hotels were. We decided on the Hilton because of the breakfast included and the area near the El Ejido park. We walked around the downtown area checked out the stores, the salons and restaurants and walked by the casinos. We also stumbled upon the side street travel agency. Galapagos here we come! for 1/3 of the price than the online travel agencies. Not a cruise, but we get to stay on the islands for a couple of nights. We booked for the following day.
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| Ecuadorian beer |
Next, we found a place for us to have dinner. A restaurant called Mamá Clorinda in Plaza Fuch (pronounced "foosh"). Very ecuadorian menu: ceviche, fritada, seco de chiovo, cuy (guinea pig) locra de papa (potato soup) and more. I enjoyed the locra. Chris was tempted to eat cuy. Kids enjoyed the chicken there. However, the drawback for me was the location: VERY popular spot for tourists to whoop it up. Especially if you are between 16-30 years old. Or if you happen to enjoy loud music, large crowds, small restaurants, and an insansely amount of karaoke bars, discotecas (disco bars) and lots of bar hopping. Add that with a bunch of hostels around the area and you have Plaza Fuch. Um, next time we will remember not to bring the kids.
Saturday, we ended up getting up super-duper-crack-of-dawn early to catch a flight to Galapagos from Quito. They recommend a two hour window to check in - I recommend 2 and a half because they are LONG lines to the counter and there is no MVP. If you have a chance, upgrading to first class is free as long as you are patient. There was a small café for you to get your morning coffee and a pastry while you wait. Gates might switch too - ours did. But drinks on the plane and meals are complimentary - like the old days.
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| Icky boat ride |
Flight from Quito via Guayaquil to Galapagos is 3 hours. This includes the layover. Once we arrived on the island, it was nice to be met by our guide because it was chaos trying to jump on the bus, then the ferry, then another taxi, then the boat to take us to Isla Isabelle. Next time, get off the plane and stay on Santa Cruz - relax then take the EARLY morning boat ride to the other islands. I absolutely thank Chris for stopping amidst the roller coaster advernture of Planes, Ferreis, Cars, and Boats marathon run with 2 kids and our luggage to buy me dramamine. That saved me from this boat ride from hell....it was a miracle that I survived with a few bruises and maybe a concussion. Lincoln even felt queasy. It was more of a 26' boat with 14 passengers and 10 foot waves out between Santa Cruz and Isla Isabela islands. Looks small on the map, but really its a 2 and half hour icky boat ride.
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| Baltra where the airport is. |
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| Sea wolves at the marina |
Once off the boat - I could have kissed the sand on the docks, the island was gorgeous. Seals (Sea Wolves known as the local name), crabs, tropical fish, blow fish all surrounded the island. It was super rustic - but fascinating. We stayed at El Coral Blanco. Perfect for our family a one room with 3 double beds, a bathroom (toilet running) and across the street from the beach. We finally have a chance to relax after a full 10 hours of traveling. We went to dinner that was part of our package (meals and hotel for 3 nights).
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| Beach Main road |
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| Restaurant |
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| Fresh fish for dinner |
The next morning we met a guide to take us on a boat to a much CLOSER island - Isla Tintadora. Awesome place to explore. We went and saw penguins, blue-footed boobies, sea turtles swimming nearby, marine iguanas, more sea wolves, missed the sharks though. All this is on lava rocks and coral. We then went snorqueling and swam with sea turtles on another small island.
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| Penguin |
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| Sea Turtle |
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| Crab |
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| Baby Sea wolf |
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| Walking with marine iguanas |
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| Someone was blocking our path |
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| Catch of the day for these fisherman |
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| Crab with chicken bone |
We went back to Isabela after our tour and had lunch at a local eatery (outside our paid meal package). We then had a break and met our guide again for another exploration around the island. We saw flamingos, land turtles that were super huge at a turtle farm.
It was that night that I fell sick after eating some chicken that was not cooked all the way... Ugh!! I was not the same....
The next morning we were suppose to be at the boat launch at 6 AM. Not happening as I was way to sick from food poisoning. We fell out of our package and decided to stay another night. No cash machines on the island but we had enough cash for another tour, meals, and a hotel stay. $15 per person per night - not bad! Thats when we figured out how much we were paying premium on our package.
Lincoln was sick too. Kami and Chris had a full day of touring the island while Lincoln and I stayed in bed at the hotel. We had sprite, pepto and crackers to keep us company. Chris and Kami went exploring caves near the volcano on horseback.
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| These were our "taxis" to and from Santa Cruz |
Next day we went on the friggin' 2 and half hour boat back to Santa Cruz. What motivated me out of bed? um, no cash. The only hospital on the islands was in Santa Cruz. A better bed in a better hotel. and no cash. It was a do or die and I did muster up my strength to get up. Puke. and get on the boat with dramamine to knock me out. This time the boat had 22 passengers (20 was the max) and we were squished. The waves were better - maybe. But Lincoln got sick. I barely survived. I was so happy to be in Santa Cruz - you could not imagine. Lincoln was faring better. I was in dire need to lay down. We found a nice hotel - $25 per person called Fiesta Hotel not too far from the boat docks.
Kids had their own room and we were next door. I was dead the rest of the day. Chris took the kids on another tour - the Grotto on a small island near Santa Cruz. They snorquelled, hiked, and boated around the marina.
The next day the hotel was full - Ecuadorian holiday weekend was approaching and many people flock to the islands. So we ventured down the street to another hotel - Casa del Lago. What a place. It was so tranquil and very zen like. Not to mention very artsy and homey. The place was awesome. I highly recommend this place to stay. The kids had their beds upstairs, we had our bed downstairs, with a kitchenette and a balcony. Super close to walking everywhere. The coffee shop downstairs had plenty of books. Too bad I was to sick to try the food, but the kids and Chris loved it.
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| Chris enjoying the water |
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| Blue Footed Boobie |
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| Hi Kami! |
I was feeling well enough to get up and walk that afternoon. Kami and Chris went exploring around town while Lincoln and I stayed back. I could not leave Galapagos without seeing the Darwin Research Center! I got enough energy that last day in Santa Cruz to go for a walk and visit more turtles and iguanas at the Darwin Research Center. The kids were too hot and complained, but inside the Center was a snack bar. Yay!
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| Café at the Casa del Lago |
Restaurants and night life was aplenty that evening when we went to the internet café and dinner. More fish and chicken for the kids and Chris. I had bread and a couple bites of brushetta at The Rock. Prices were ok. It was off the main street. Great people watching.
Next morning we flew back to Quito. I was sorry to feel I missed out, but I did enjoy seeing the cool wildlife known only on the Galapagos: Blue footed boobies, Sea Wolves, Giant Turtles like Lonesome George, marine iguanas and much more. If I was a bird lover - this would be my stomping ground. I did end up purchasing a book about Galapagos to remember this trip. Its a must repeat - now that we figure out we can do it without the tour guides.
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| The ferry from Baltra Island to Santa Cruz Island |
Back in Quito, we decided to stay our last 2 nights at the Swissotel. Very nice. It had a pool (half indoor, half outdoor) which was a big thing for the kids and Chris. I was finally feeling like I was on the mend, I can drink water without it going through me. We checked in and we had complimentary cold red wine for Chris and I and juice for the kids. They were in heaven. The business center was free. Wifii was available in the lobby. And we had 4 or 5 restaurants to choose to eat. Lincoln and I went to bed while Kami and Chris explored the hotel.
The final day of our trip we went to Mitad del Mundo or The Middle of the World park. It is about 30 minutes from Quito via taxi. We had the hotel provide a driver for us for about $15 per hour. We paid the admission for the planetarium and the park (less than $4 per person). However, we did not last longer than a couple of hours. Both Lincoln and I were still recovering so we sat in the shade while Kami and Chris explored the world tower. We visited a few stores that had tons of souveniers. We even took pictures of the guinea pigs being roasted - practically on every corner and every restaurant had cuy.
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| Cuy asada (Guinea pig on the grill) |
We then went to the real Middle of the world or rather the correct equator line (via GPS proof) at Museo Inti Nan - this was more our style. Its like being on Tom Sawyer island at Disneyland. Everything there was SOOOO cool! Its $9 for the family. You have a bilingual guide taking you through this fabulous outdoor interactive museum. We saw a real shrunken head, learned about the indigenous tribes, lots of totem poles from around the latin americas, equator experiments (Chris got to balance an egg on a nail!), and after an hour in the heat kids had enough. Hunger overpowered the cool experiments, tribe cultures and watching the Coriolis effect.
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| Shopping at the Mitad del Mundo |
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| Chris found us from the monument top |
Kami and Chris and Lincoln all went swimming that afternoon. We even had family haircuts. $7-12 haircuts per person. We did some shopping as well - or rather Chris and Kami did. Looking for last minute souveniers - that is usually my department but Kami was happy to fill in with dad.
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| View from the monument |
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| Kami and Chris somewhere on top of the monuement |
That night we went after our (cabbie and hotel recommended) to Rincón La Ronda in the New part of Town. This was also close to the hotel so not a big trip. Friday night was a little crowded since we sat down and they had no menus for us to look at. But they brought us drinks right away. Our favorite part was the Andes Live music they were playing. We had them come by and play Santana and Simon and Garfunkel for us. That was awesome. It is one hour ahead of Panama time so we were up pretty late with the kids. This was a fun, family friendly restaurant with great live music. The food was not so bad - Chris finally got to try cuy. Kami tried it too!! She said it tasted like duck. Um...definately no cuy for me and Lincoln. Still recovering.
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| Kami learning to balance On the equator - very difficult. Kind of like the sobriety test. |
We leave with the knowledge of having experienced a different culture, cuisine, and respect for new wildlife from this trip. Plus, double checking my chicken to make sure its thoroughly cooked too. Ecuador is truly the center of the world and will hold a dear spot in our heart and memories - one way or another.
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| Our feet on both sides of the equator |
