The Beginning:

 

Well...Ecuador really hasn't been on my "must visit" list. However, in keeping with my thrill of booking flight deals and letting that dictate the majority of my travels- it was a no brainer when Delta had this deal pop up in Oct 2017 for a round trip ticket out of Ord to Uio for $297! How can I pass that up? In true booking form- I booked first and asked folks to join afterwards! There were about 8 people that booked (including myself and two other friends). In the end we never did get to meet up with the others (such is life) but we had plenty to do once we touched down! A great sell for visiting South America is that many of the places are inexpensive (not all but many). Ecuador was no exception- the USD can go far in many cities within the Country! Since we knew that- it meant we would be able to pack in a lot during our short 5 days there.

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ORD to OUI: 

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The trip itself is about 6 hours but of course it wasn't a direct flight- I had a 2hour layover in ATL. No biggie! My arrival time into Quito would be 10:35PM. Once touching down- the process was pretty quick. *Note* There was an announcement made prior to landing that if you have multiple electronics (laptop/iPad/phones) that you have to check in with security once off the plane. Due to our arrival time we were able to get through customs in roughly 20mins. We found a Taxi (be sure to discuss price up front) it was about $25 to our Airbnb in "New Town" (near Jardin Mall). The drive was about 40mins (no traffic) to the city. 

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We started the next morning off with a breakfast at this café around the corner at the recommendation of the Airbnb owner.  The restaurant was called "Cafeteria Restaurant Bolivar" and it was pretty good. I had coffee and the Seafood Bolones- it was different but good. The price was reasonably- which is the case for most spots there that aren't in the tourist area. Afterwards we went to Carolina park (La Parque Carolina) to find the meet up for the Hop on/Hop Off  Tour bus. Along the way we happened upon a gelato spot. Since someone in our group insisted on getting some, we all ended up ordering it. While we indulged in the goodness, the owner sent over a gelato float and chocolate cookies (seen in the picture carousel). Man, we were so full but still shared in eating it. How could we turn down such a gift?! Thankfully, we had more of a walk ahead of us to help us burn a few calories.

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We finally found the pick up location and those without tickets were able to buy on the spot (I think it was around $15.00). The Hop on/Hop Off City Tour Bus: 11 stops total: 1. Naciones Unidas Blvd (Malls), 2. Botanical Garden, 3. La Mariscal (Foch Plaza) a tourist spot and location for pick up for most tours at Magic Bean Restaurant. Next, 4. El Ejido (craft market), 5. Contemporary Art Center, 6. Basilica Church, 7. Church of La Compania, 8. Panecillo ( called lookout point), 9. La Ronda (different cuisines), 10. Plaza Grande, and last stop 11. Garcia Moreno Park. 

The tour was from 9AM until roughly 4 or 5PM. You pretty much try to see as much as you can in that time frame. By the time we finished up, we went on the hunt for food and headed back to our "home" for the next 5 days. The plan was to rent a car in the morning and head to Banos depending on the weather. 

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The morning started off hopeful but clouds rolled in and it was pretty much a full out storm. We found a spot for breakfast called "The Pancake House" which was pretty much a Spanish version of "Denny's". The rest of the crew wanted to go see Infinity Wars and I opted out to chill and do work. Long story short- the movies were sold out in sold out in advance for all showings the entire week. We had to settle for the mall since the rain didn't want to let up. El Jardin Mall had just about everything including a grocery store. There was a Juan Valdez coffee shop too which is really good coffee (surprisingly so to me). We wondered around there then went out looking for food and came across a restaurant called "Koko Riko" and it looked kinda like a Churches Chicken. They had full out meals for under $2.50 USD. You basically received soup, a little salad, big piece of chicken (fried or baked), rice, fries AND a drink. It was so much food- I was good with the soup and chicken. It was enough to have leftovers the next day. We wrapped up the night early since we had to meet early in the morning for our hiking tour at Quilotoa Lake!

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The struggle was real... we had to be at the meeting spot at 7AM. I had purchased a spot in advance but one of the guys with us decided to go and was able to purchase directly once at the meeting point. This would be an all day tour returning by 6pm depending on traffic. We started with a visit at the market along the route. We were able to purchase lunch there was like $1.50 USD. I got soup, chicken, and a bunch of stuff that I can't really can't name off- and a drink. The marketplace was really busy and had everything imaginable. There were also a ton of places to purchase trinkets and stuff for pennies on the dollar. It was a quick stop of maybe 45mins then, we continued on our way to Lake Quilotoa. We were given advance instructions to dress in layers because it may be chilly and if you hike you will be hot. The camp area at the lake had people selling stuff (of course) including food (grilled corn seems to be popular everywhere we went) and cheap. 

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The lake itself was incredible to see from our starting point. We were told the hike down would be roughly 30mins and the hike up depends on your fitness level. The average is 1.5 hrs- 2hrs which to me seemed crazy until we started heading down. The angle was almost straight down, rocky, uneven, full of horse and mule manure! The guide told us most people opt to take a horse or mule back up ($10) instead of attempting to hike back up. It literally took me 35mins to get to the bottom and I was burning up! I took pictures and chilled for a minute, there was an option to rent a kayak for like $4 for 20mins. Due to our meet up time I chose to make my way back to the top allowing myself 1.5 hrs (being optimistic and hopeful that they wouldn't leave me LOL). It was the most intense and challenging climb to the top. I mean, it was rough for me and I had to take a few breaks along the way. It felt like it was a never ending climb... every time it seemed like the end was near it wasn't. I understood why people were choosing the animals. This was suppose to be my physical activity of the day and it delivered. I was able to complete the hike in 55mins! While I was patting myself on the back- I see one of my friends who I had a head start on- already at the top chillen. To his credit he is former military so his time of 45mins should be expected I guess. Our other friend (who smokes on occasion) was no where insight. When it was time to depart the guide had to locate him and a few others which delayed our departure time. On our ride back just about everyone was tired and knocked out. It started raining so our timing was perfect. We got back by 6pm, grabbed a taxi (they run about $2-$3 to go just about anywhere in the city) and headed home. Since the chicken spot was nearby we just grabbed food to go and called it a night.

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The next morning was our Culinary Cooking Tour and Class. I felt this tour was special enough to give it a section under "experiences". You can read about it here: Culinary tour. Enjoy! 

The Culinary tour was a half day that ended around 2PM or so. We were able to request a drop off at Foch Plaza were we hung around the tourist spot briefly and stopping for some Juan Valdez coffee (good stuff). 

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The next day was another early morning meet up (7AM) for our day tour to Otavalo Market and Laguna Cuicocha. To be honest this was pretty similar to the Quilotoa tour with the exception of the hiking piece. This tour had some walking involved but it was nothing like the hiking that took place in the other tour. I would consider one or the other based on how active you plan to be during the tour. The market place was cool and you can really haggle with folks over the merchandise. This particular day was cloudy and rainy towards the end of the tour and we were ready for it to be over. Don't get me wrong- the market place is always interesting and this one offered different things from the last tour. However, I was disappointed with Laguna Cuicocha since I expected a more physical tour. I would suggest looking in the Cotopaxi Volcano tour instead since that includes bike riding and hiking. This tour worked out well for us because we were leaving later that evening. This tour lasted until about 5:30PM which gave us plenty of time to return to the house and shower, change and finish packing. Since we weren't sure about traffic we left three hours early for the airport (it took 40mins to get there) and then we had to wait in line for security to open up. The process went pretty quickly and we ended up sitting around waiting and waiting to board. The prices were kinda high at the airport too for everything down to a coffee. 

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Overall:

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I LOVED my trip to Ecuador and highly recommend it- especially if you are new to traveling/solo traveling. It was super easy to get around, no currency exchange to worry about, mostly Spanish speaking but I did encounter English speakers more often than expected. There was plenty to do and see- I wish we would have made it to Banos for all the outdoor activities! I will put this on my list as a future trip maybe with my family for our family trip next year!

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