Ecuador – Page 4 – HurricaneMaine

Mindo (from Quito by bike)

I joined a bike ride with from Quito to Mindo. All the riders were school teachers from my school and another international school in the city. We live in the mountains so the ride was up and down some steep inclines.

I wasn’t sure my knee would be okay and in the end I did not do the two biggest hills. It was a supported ride, so there was a trailer carrying our bags and also could take you and the bike up a hill. I did do some hills and the knee felt good though tired. I did not want to find out I hurt myself in the middle of the biggest hills.

We first went through Quito at 5:30 am to the point where we loaded bikes to avoid the first hill

At the top of that first hill, I got on the bike but waited for the traffic to clear!

I stopped along the highway going downhill to get this shot. So cold. It was just under 40 degrees.

We stopped at Nono, the first town, to warm up before continuing on.

From here the road was gravel. On the downhills I went slow as I was not comfortable and also the tight turns. Lots of braking! In the end, going slow let me stop and take some great pictures.

A second stop in Nanegelito. Here I realized the next hill was even steeper and decided to skip it.

At the top of the hill was the next stop at Bellavista. This used to be the old highway and when the new one was put in, the little towns suffered. A foreigner purchased all the land and built the hostel resort and also manages the nature reserve. They had hummingbirds and incredible views.

So many more hours of downhill on gravel.

Finally I noticed that the vegetation had changed and we were no longer in the forests but in the jungle.

I was do glad to see paved road finally which was faster but it was also still downhill! Finally I made it to Mindo!

I finally found a mixed encebollado to try. It’s a fish soup with onions, yucca, and spices. So delicious. It came with plantain chips.

A new friend from the other school, Cotopaxi, met me in Mindo. We had a good time hanging out, eating, and walking to the butterfly garden.

Those little flashes of blue on the left side were very beautiful and active blue butterflies.

Live music in the park. I danced some salsa with him before boarding the bus back to Quito.

More flash of blue at the door. They did not alight anywhere during our stay.

One butterfly that just emerged from the chrysalis.

We packed up our things but went to lunch to wait for the bus to go back to Quito. Devon and Sergio know great friends of mine from Guangzhou. Kathy and Mitch thought that was great too!

The cacao margarita was fresh (no syrup). We ate at Quetzal, which had amazing food.

It was a great weekend. For a small town there is a lot to do and I will go back. It is only 2 hours by car but was 7 hours plus by bike! The full route: https://www.wikiloc.com/mountain-biking-trails/quito-a-mindo-ruta-del-quinde-por-tandayapa-y-bellavista-cloud-forest-22321050

Mitad del mundo, middle of the world

Such a beautiful weekend, a bunch of us decided to go to Mitad del Mundo. Well over 100 years ago explorers sought to find the middle of the world (or halfway between the poles) In 1932 a monument was erected in that spot. Unfortunately, now with GPS, we know they are off a little bit. But the site still stands and you can (technically) put your feet on each side of the equator.

Different neighborhood on the way to the site.

I’m facing east with north being to the right of the picture and south to the left.

Inside is a museum of history of Ecuador and a great view from the top.

A view down where we were just standing.

This is the west side. the O stands for Oeste which means west in Spanish.

In the distance you can see a snow capped mountain near the middle of the picture and surrounded by clouds. That is the Cotopaxi volcano and is south.

I will try many different flavors of ice cream. This is cheese and pineapple. It tasted more like pineapple but with the saltiness and texture of cheese in it.

Technically you are supposed to balance an egg on a nail at the equator. This is really said to be only true in spring and fall. However, this is not true. You can balance an egg like this anytime, anywhere if you are patient enough. But it is fun to try and keeps the kids entertained.

There is no path to peace, peace is the path.

Not sure why they have a guinea pig on the spit here but it is an Ecuadorian custom and delicacy. There is a sign saying not to take it off the spit. That is actually one really big guinea pig.

They had music and live dancers while we were there. I have two videos: https://youtu.be/CgA3CHiZIkI?feature=shared and https://youtube.com/shorts/BeLSEEsi2Sg?feature=shared

I still don’t feel guilty I ate the guinea pig.

Difficult to see but we are all sitting along the sign.

What I love about working overseas is the wonderful people you meet. Even on tours you meet amazing people and get to know about one another.

Centro histórico de Quito

The historical center in Quito is one of the best preserved colonial centers across Latin America. I joined many great teachers from my school to take a walking tour of this beautiful part of Quito. It was amazing to finally go out and start looking at all the fantastic places in this city.

The view from the rooftop of the local hostel.

The first stop was in the market to try various fruits from Ecuador including yellow dragon fruit (Pitaya), golden berry, passion fruit, and others.

A walk through the streets….

In the Hotel Patio Andaluz, we tasted many different percents of dark chocolate and learned about the yellow cacao tree. It is fascinating that it will absorb flavors from other trees planted nearby.

Independence square

Statue honoring those who fought for Independence

Street of the 7 crosses

There are many churches here in the old city, many from Spanish occupation and influence.

Church of the Society of Jesus. This is one of many churches along this street.

Museo numesmatico – this used to be a bank and now it’s a museum showing the evolution of Ecuador’s monetary system.

San Francisco Plaza

The church is said to be spectacular inside but unfortunately we did not go inside.

Calle La Ronda

This street started as part of an Incan trail. Spanish colonists built houses on the trail in the 1500’s. At the turn of the 20th century it was popular among many types of artists and in the 2005 was restored after many decades of neglect. It is really charming with cobblestone streets and beautiful buildings.

We heard the guide mention cuy, which is guinea pig and a delicacy here in Ecuador. Always willing to try something new, we ate lunch at the restaurant, and that is what I had. I did think of my childhood guinea pig pet, Squeaky. Sorry, I had to try it. It was good. Kind of tasted like duck and a bit like squirrel. They actually say it tastes like a cross between duck and rabbit. The slight greasiness reminded me a bit of duck.

1/4 of guinea pig. That is the back leg.

We walked back to a shop we were browsing in earlier. Such beautiful streets.

Besides artisans and street vendors, there were some dressed up as characters. Here Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy is having fun with a small child.

A really great afternoon with some fun colleagues at school. It was a beautiful sunny day and it is pretty hot here in the sun at this altitude.

A different change of pace….off to Ecuador

It was a longer summer than what I’m used to but having that time at home was amazing. Before I knew it, it was time to go to Ecuador.

It is a bunch of flights to get there.

The school put us in the Sheraton until we found an apartment. I had already found mine and committed at the end of June but still needed to sign the contracts, etc. I chose an apartment based upon location and the reputation of the landlord. Here is a link to a quick tour: https://youtu.be/lvdYFYguqrA

Signing the lease. I was happy someone wanted to share an apartment as this space was big and at the top of my office range.

The week was filled with obtaining our bank account, visa, and SIM card. Very different from China. Times that we would meet would change unexpectedly, SIM card activation took a couple days, and we were surprised that we received our bank card in three days and not the two weeks they expected…. By mid week I was moved in.

We were in buses or cars most of the week traveling to the agencies we needed to be at

It wasn’t until later in the week that we had time for shopping and walking around. Some of the views around La Carolina and Batan.

Dinner at the directors house. Great Ecuadorian music and three kinds of ceviche: chochos (Andean soybean), camarón (shrimp), and pescado (fish).

There was an assassination of a minor presidential candidate just before I left the US. The city was calm and there were no protests when I arrived. It was the week before the election and I was surprised to learn that it is required for citizens to participate in elections. They must register and voting is on Sunday. If they do not vote, they are fined $450 which is one month’s wage (minimum wage). In order to have an orderly voting process, no alcohol was allowed to be purchased or served Friday through Sunday. Anyone publicly intoxicated would also be jailed. It is called La Seca (dry law)

This vendor at Mercado Iñaquito had bulk dried goods and even refillable bottles for
natural laundry detergent.

This park is named after the Machalilla culture that over inhabited the area for 3000 years. There is a statue honoring the founder of modern day Turkey.

This park has outdoor sports facilities and great places to walk around.

On Saturday, a group of us went hiking in Parqué Metropolitano. It is the largest park here and is mostly forest hiking. It was a great 6 miles and even better that it is only 300 meters from my doorstep.

Indigenous community that was able to retain their property when the park was created around them.

It was a beautiful hike and that evening our building had a progressive dinner. There are 4 apartments of teachers from our school in the building. Our apartment started and we made roasted potatoes (papa chola) with guacamole and farmers cheese. Plantain chips were also great to dip into the guacamole.

The other apartments contributed with entree and dessert. It was a great way to start in and not be out and about.

Sunday was very relaxing. As it rained off and on and was a voting day, we stayed in and did some work and relaxed. I heard helicopters overhead twice and there was one police car present on a short walk I did. Otherwise, not many people were out and only about a third of the businesses were open.