Ecuador Recap

Sorry there wasn't a lot of posts from Ecuador, and nothing up to this point in our trip. We are currently in Arlington, TX but I will get to that later. Here are a ton of pics from Ecuador, hopefully the captions will help fill you in on our experience. What a great country!!!!

Em eating ceviche on our first full day in country. We ate this delcious dish every day for at least the first 5 days!

John getting some exercise on an outdoor treadmill in Quito

The Basilica in Quito. The climb to the top of the tower was hairy!

A living wall in Quito

Picnic in a Quito park at dusk

Overnight bus to Canoa

Lazy beach town of Canoa

John the stud

First of many sunsets over the Pacific

Late night hammocking

Early morning fish market in Puerto Lopez

Yum!

Blue-footed Boobie on Isla de Plata (a.k.a The Poor Man's Galapagos)

View from Isla de Plata 

Green Turtle

Boat tour to the island

Puerto Lopez sunset over the fishing boats

Hiking beach to beach in Machalilla National Park

Private Playa de Tortuguita (too dangerous to swim)

Puerto Lopez sunset night 2

To the mountains! Very different weather here. Beautiful hike in Cajas National Park at ~12,000ft

There were lagunas around every corner

From the almost summit of St. Luis after we bushwacked straight up

Hostel in Cuenca

Street vendors in Cuenca. Also, it was laundry day so John was wearing his pajama paints and no shirt under his rain jacket.

View from the mirador in Latacunga. We took a bus from here to Isinlivi to begin our hike to Quilatoa Lake

We stocked up on fruit and bread at the Latacunga market. Oh and avocados. Avocado, hot sauce and fresh roll sandwiches were a staple on our trip. The fresh rolls and croissants were everywhere and are one of the things we miss most!

Start of our Quilatoa trek.

In front of our awesome hostel in Isinlivi where we began our 3 day hike

From the ridge over the Rio Toachi Valley

Flash forward 2 dyas after following an afternoon downpour and hanging out in a wet tent and a short morning hike to Hostal Cloud Forest where we were able to dry our things, recharge and play ping-pong. Here John is looking back towards where we started that morning, still beneath the town of Guayama and a long stretch from Lago de Quilatoa. 

Taking a break.

Above ground cemetery in Guayama

Walking through Guayama. We thought we'd spend the night here but didn't find a hostel so we just went for the lake.

From the Quilatoa rim. We hiked the perimeter the day after we made it to the pueblo of Quilatoa. 

It was beautiful, except for the hail storm that nailed us the last hour of the hike. 

New style

Picturesque lodge in Mindo. 

Televita ride over to the next mountain. 

Back in Quito for a soccer game. Our team, El Nacional won in the final minute. So exciting!

Guayasamin museum in Quito

Cable car from Quito to Pichincha volcano

Awesome pollo a la brasa place we found by accident on our last day

Packing up at our hostel for the redeye home. 

In all, we had a really positive experience in Ecuador. People were very friendly, they embrace tourism and are trying to build the industry. No one bothered us or made us uncomfortable for being tourists or foreigners. It was easy to get by on just our lazy spanish as I like to call it. The food was excellent and the dollar went a long way. Thanks for reading. I will post again tonight to update since we have started heading west with Misha.