Ecuador 2016
We overnighted in Santiago, Chile and flew the next day to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. We stayed at a gorgeous hotel located on Plaza San Francisco, called Casa Gangotena, that was originally built in 1600 and subsequently owned by aristocratic families until converted to a hotel more recently.
We toured the city over the next couple of days – both independently and with a guide. Everywhere we went there were lots of fresh roses and these are one of Ecuador’s main exports (along with bananas). During our time in Quito, we had a night-time visit of a nunnery and enjoyed a guided chocolate tasting that was really interesting.
Being on the Equator, the sun sets within only a few minutes either side of 6.00pm all year around. We then travelled out of the city into the Cloud Forest (about 5 hours drive) where we stayed at the amazing and luxurious Mashpi Lodge for the next few days. This mega-diverse private forest reserve has over 400 species of birds, trees, frogs and endemic species found nowhere else in the world.
Every morning and afternoon we explored different areas of the reserve including a SkyBike over the canopy, a bushwalk deep into the valley floor, a 2.5 hour circuit on the Dragonfly Gondola travelling above the canopy of the cloud forest, breakfast and a visit to the Butterfly enclosure at the Life Centre, and one of the highlights for us all was spending time at the Hummingbird Station where we also saw a coatimundi (racoon family) and tucans. Our first night we went on a night-time safari where we saw lots of frogs. Every trip we went on we saw a huge variety of fauna and flora – such a wonderful experience. On our return to Quito, we stopped at a place called Middle of the Earth where we were able to stand with one leg on each side of the Equator line.
After an overnight by the airport, we flew via Guayaquil to Balsa in the Galapagos. This such a special place there is a separate blog on our travels there. When we flew back from the Galapagos, we stayed for a couple of days in Guayaquil and enjoyed a tour of the city and had a good look around the city. We then flew back via Santiago (transit only) on our way back home. To sum up Ecuador – it is a wonderful place to visit to immerse yourself in nature and culture.
