We like to arrive a few days early to transition from routine to vacation and, in this case, from sea level to the Andes. We left early on Tuesday, caught a connecting flight in Miami and arrived in Quito late in the evening. Quito is at 9,350 feet and we will be above 8,500 for the next nine days. We have three days to get used to the altitude before riding the sky on our bicycle trip.
We spend Tuesday night in Quito at Villa Nancy and on Wednesday we take a walking tour of the city on our own. The city has a variety of things to see and it is generally a pleasant place to walk. We found that one day in Quito when we arrived and an afternoon at the end of our trip was about enough.
In the afternoon, the Hotel Ali Shungu sends their driver Carlos to pick us up for the drive to the market town of Otavalo, about two hours north of Quito on the Pan American highway. He delivers us safe and sound to the door of the hotel. Villa Nancy was perfect for a one-night stop in Quito; Ali Shungu is perfect for a three-night stop before getting on a bicycle in the Andes.
The hotel was designed and built by its American owners, Frank and Margaret, in a colonial style with a huge patio and garden. It is a place to relax when the mood strikes you and to launch out when you are ready to hike or shop or ….
The hotel has a number of wall hangings by "Jose C." His weaving shop is in Peguche, a small town about an hour's walk along the abandoned railway through one of the newer parts of town and then along a country road. Jose Cotacachi lives across from the town square and his showroom is behind the church. When we told him that Frank and Margaret had sent us, we were immediately made welcome. We bought several hangings and a gray baby-alpaca sweater. We will return to Peguche on the bike tour, but we enjoy the leisurely pace of being on our own and the opportunity to spend time with Jose and some of his staff. We buy enough that we don't want to carry it back so we call the hotel to ask for a cab. The fare is just US$2.00.
The Otavalo area is known for its weavers. Poncho Plaza is near the center of town and has wall hangings, hammocks, caps, sweaters and all sorts of woven items are for sale every day. Weekdays are a great time to shop. There is a good selection of items to buy, but only a few customers. Merchants have time to haggle and you can, if you are so inclined, do some serious bargaining. During the week there is also a nearby vegetable market that is worth a wander.
On Saturdays, the entire town becomes a market. It starts when the animal market opens at 6:00 a.m. There is a large field with hills along one side. The hills provide a place for spectators and a grassy area where sellers of rope display their wares; if you buy an animal, you can get a new rope to lead it home. The sellers and buyers are arranged with pigs and sheep near the entrance then cows then horses at the far end. There are trucks parked along the side of the field furthest from the hillside. Several men are trying to get another calf into a truck that appears to be full. Their struggle is even more difficult than getting those last few items in our suitcases; at least clothing doesn't wiggle and kick. All of the animals at the market are brought in live and are carried out, led out or trucked out alive.
We walk back toward the main part of town. There is a vacant block where smaller animals including chickens, turkeys, rabbits, cuy (guinea pigs) and a few other small animals and animal food are for sale. The area around Poncho Plaza is filled with temporary stalls. The streets are crowded with shoppers and vendors wandering about with their wares on their backs. Most of the shoppers appear to be locals, but there are some tourists.
The streets between the plaza and the vegetable market are filled with clothing, shoes, household items, pots and pans; even shoelaces and ladies fancy underwear. A few of the vendors have microphones and load speakers; technology is rearing its ugly head and taking away some of the ambiance. The vegetable market has expanded in all directions.
Almost everyone in the market it fully engaged in shopping. It is a good time to take photos of people.
Our four-day head start has given us a chance to see some of Quito and most of the area around Otavalo. More important, it has given us a chance to talk to two Americans who have created a business and deal with life every day in Ecuador and several American tourists who shared their experiences. We also had a chance to meet local merchants like Jose Cotacachi and street vendors, to watch people in the market buying and selling horses, weavings, vegetables and their day-to-day needs. We also made a pretty good adjustment to the thin air of the Andes.
After our Saturday morning at the market, we take a taxi to Hosteria La Mirage in Cotacachi to join our Backroad's tour group.
We join our group in a gazebo where a beautifully artistic buffet 
picnic lunch
is laid out. Our guides Nathan and
Andrew welcome us and introduce us to the
other members our group who have come from Quito this morning on a bus provided
by Backroads. On this part of the trip we will bicycle for six days and spend two nights in each of three hotels in the highlands. We will then spend five days and four nights on a yacht in the Galapagos.
After lunch we are shown to our room. Garden setting, robes laid out on the bed, rose pedals scattered about and a fire place. This is clearly first class and romantic.
We change to bike clothes and meet in a secluded area at the end of the driveway where our bikes and equipment are stored. In addition to Nathan and Andrew, we will be supported by Jorge who will drive the van.
This afternoon we have a five mile warm up ride. We ride from the hotel back into town and then out into the countryside and across smooth pavement, cobblestones, hard packed dirt and soft sand. This brief tour is a good introduction to some basic mountain biking. We arrive at the San Nicolas Rose Plantation. Flowers have become a major export for Ecuador. We walk by the greenhouses and are given a brief tour of the area where they are packing beautiful, long stem roses for export. The ladies each receive a rose. After a brief rest, we ride back to the hotel.
The two evenings at La Mirage are the only two where there are guidelines for dress; men are asked to wear a collared shirt. Dinner is a multi-course affair with six waitresses lifting the covers from six plates at the same time to reveal each course. The food is beautifully presented and excellent. There is are small footstools under the table for purses and cameras.
When we return to our room there is a glowing fire in fireplace and hot water bottles tucked in our bed.
We start our second day with a hike around Laguna de Cuicocha at the base of Volcán Cotacachi. The lake is at 10,125 feet and we are always above it on the surrounding mountains. In places the trail is steep, but the view is spectacular. There are two islands in the center that look a bit like guinea pigs or cui. ( We see it spelled both coi and coy.)
We hike around the lake with a stop for lunch. We arrive back at the van and Jorge has our bikes ready to ride. Three of us decide to take the paved road, most take a dirt road and a few ride the van back to town. Our choice starts with several miles of dirt road to give us a little more practice on mountain bikes before we got to the concrete. From that point there are only a few turns and we fly downhill for almost the entire seven or eight miles. There are children holding ropes and vines across the highway in the hope that we will stop and give them money. Our guides say we can safely ignore them; they say the children always let go of the rope. We don't have to test it because Jorge runs interference for us with the van.
The town of Cotacachi is known for its leather goods. This evening is Christmas eve, but the shops are still open so we decide to see what they have. The first shop has some nice leather coats, but they were not interested in bargaining. The second shop had only a limited collection, but the third had what Pat wants and they are willing to bargain. A nice coat and she looks good in it.
A special Christmas meal this evening and then back to our room with the cozy fire and hot water bottles.
Day three is a moving day with culture along the way. Our first stop is Peguche, and this time we look at the falls.* The waterfall is pretty despite the fact they are having a drought. (Ecuador in a drought looks about like Los Angeles at the end of the rainy season.) There are biting bugs in the grass, lots of them. Pat and another lady are almost eaten alive. They learned a lesson; when the guide says put on bug repellent and gobs it on himself, follow his lead.
After the falls we revisit the town just in time to see a Christmas ceremony in front of the church complete with Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus. We make a quick visit to Jose's shop and help our friends pick out some nice items. We ride on just a few blocks to Taller de Instrumentos Musicales, a school for Andean musicians. Andrew has lunch laid out buffet style with a little help from the two Backroads guides that will be leading the walking trip that starts next week. Andean music with lunch. There is a young woman in the band; we haven't seen this before.
After lunch we ride to San Juan Illuman which is know for its felt hats. It is Christmas day, but some of the shops are open including one where they are forming the flat pieces of felt into hats. We are told there is an old traditional way that takes a day to make one hat. These are sold to a village north of here. The second production method, the one we see uses prefabricated wool, which then is shaped and formed. This method provides many of the hats for Spain, Italy and Argentina. One of our group buys a black hat and looks quite distinguished.
We ride a bit further to the Tahuantinsuyo Weaving Workshop in the home of Miguel Andrango. Miguel's photo is in Lonely Planet and we are told that his daughter's picture was on the cover of an earlier edition.
We have one more leg to go before we get to our next hotel. I want some real aspirin so I stop in a farmacia. I asked for "aspirin" and am immediately met with aspirina? I say si and the lady running the shop shows me a very large bottle of aspirin and proudly points out that it was "made in the USA." She asks how many I want and I say diex. She reaches in a drawer and takes out a small medicine bottle, opens it and holds it under my nose to assure me that it is very clean. She counts out 10 aspirina. Uno dollar; somehow I have a feeling that any number between five and twenty would have been one dollar. Mucho gracias, and I am back on the bike.
I enter the grounds of the Hacienda Cuisin in San Pablo del Lago and get off my bike. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a big dog running at me as fast as he can. After a brief moment of terror, I remember the guides talking about how friendly the dogs are at this hotel. At that moment the dog starts to slow and his tail starts to wag. I am able to appreciate his welcome as my heart rate slowly descended back closer to normal.
We have dropped down a notch in elegance, but come up a bit in charm. This was an early hacienda and is now a hotel run by an Englishman who lives in New York and commutes to Ecuador frequently. Tonight, there is a fire in the fireplace in our room but there are no hot water bottles.
We moved about nine miles as the crow flies from Cotacachi to San Pablo del Lago. We have bicycled 17 miles and have climbed 1,600 feet and riden downhill about 1,400.
Day four is a hike of ten and a half-mile with another 1,600 feet of climbing. We work our way around the base of Volcán Cayambe through the valleys and along dirt roads, or in some cases, what remains of a dirt road, or... We meet a young girl with a dog. The dog has branches tied to its sides and is apparently dragging firewood home. Three of us decide we want a picture. The girl asks for money and someone gives her a dime, she smiles and we each take a picture. A little further along there is a horse by the side of the road. Several people talk to the horse and I take a picture. An old woman walks all the way across a very large field to demand twenty five cents for the picture of her horse. Those were the only two times I paid for pictures on this trip. As we walk, we begin to descend through some very nice farms. Jorge meets us with the van and we ride a couple of miles to Hacienda Zuleta.
We are greeted by Isabel, who makes us feel welcome in her family's home. This is her weekend home. We are treated to a lovely lunch in front of a huge fireplace - it is just a bit chilly outside. Our guides know Isabel and we get a bit of gossip. It turns out that a friend of one of the members of our group is married to Isabel's best friend and they are also in Ecuador. Great small world story.
After lunch we are given a tour of the house. There a many family pictures including pictures of Isabel's father who was, among other things, Secretary General of the Organization of American States; her grandfather, Galo Plaza, who was also Secretary General of the OAS and president of Ecuador from 1948 to 1952; her great uncle, José Maria Plaza who was a "distinguished congressman and legendary amateur bullfighter;" and her great grandfather, General Leonidas Plaza Gutierrez, who was president of Ecuador in 1901 and again in 1912. After the house tour, we go to see the condors (photos) that are being raised in captivity with the hope that they can be released to replenish their dwindling numbers. The van takes us back to Cuisin for the evening.
Day five is another move. We get in a bus (the van has taken the bikes and our luggage) for a three-hour trip back across the equator and then along the west side of the Quito area and then further south to Santa Anna de Pedregal where our bikes are waiting. Today's notes from our guides are headlined: It's Big, It's Bad! We're Bigger + Badder! We have been forewarned to bring warm gear. Our ride takes us through Cotapaxi National Park. This fits my definition of the great outdoors. There is outdoors as far as the eye can see and we can see a long way. It is spectacular.
We come around a hillside and Volcán Cotapaxi is right in front of us with sun streaming through clouds - a Shirley McClain moment in the Andes. The dirt road disappears occasionally where it had been washed away. It reappears and then dissolves into a series of less and less defined paths and eventually disappears altogether. We ride across a hard surface that is covered by very small green plants. It is mostly down hill. If freedom had a physical form, it would be very much like this. Ride where you want and as fast as your lungs will let you go. If you go just a little too fast, they will immediately remind you that you are riding in the sky.
We find the road again and the terrain begins to change. We ride close to a herd of horses.
Further along there are areas that fit our pictures
of what the moon looks like and next to them the fields are green. Now we are
on a long gradual uphill and the road is slowly improving. The sign to
Laguna Limpiopungo says "Altiituo 3830m" which converts to 12,566 feet.
The next two miles to the lake and lunch are slightly downhill. The wind has come
up and it is raining lightly. Thank goodness for the advice to bring warm clothing.
After lunch some people take the van and some of us stay on our bikes. It is still cold and wet, but mostly down hill. We reach the park museum. This completes the 13.3 miles on the basic ride. That doesn't sound very far. At home, we ride that far and stop at Starbucks for coffee and conversation in less than two hours. It takes noticeably longer on dirt roads at 12,000 feet. One of our group rides the entire 30 miles to the hotel. The rest of us ride in the van with Jorge to Hosteria la Cienege in Lasso.
La Cienege was a large hacienda with its own chapel. It is now a hotel, with
its own chapel and a gift shop. The staff makes a valiant effort at service, but
all of their scurrying doesn't quite come together. The group christens it
Fawlty Towers!
The guides have prepared a list of selected items from the menu that previous
groups have liked. We discover the extent and complexity of the hotel's menu on
the second evening when - true to form - the staff is unable to find the Backroad's
version.
There is no fireplace in our room, but there is an electric heater that serves double duty as a place to dry some of our clothing.
Day six, our last day in the highlands, begins with a ride to the Saquisili Market. There was rain last night and it is raining lightly off and on. The animal market is a bit muddy but we find the people interesting including a young women with blue fingernail polish - fashion is world-wide. From the animal market we walk into town where there as a street market similar to what we saw in Otavalo, but without the tourists.
We shop for a while and then Pat and I decided to get a head start on the rest of the ride. Today's ride is through some pretty countryside on paved roads. Mountain bikes are fun, but most of our riding has been on roads so this is our kind of bicycling. We pass a donkey with a foal and stop for a picture. Some of the roads have beautiful trees down both sides that form a canopy completely over the road. The rain stays soft so it isn't too bad. Because of the rain, only five us are on our bikes. Nathan is driving the truck. When he meets us he suggests we wait for him in the town of Mulalo because the roads beyond are muddy. We meet there and ride in the truck the seven miles to San Agustin de Callo.
This is another hacienda and it too is different from all the rest. It was owned at one time by the bullfighter who was a great-uncle of Isabella at Zuleta. It is being converted to a hotel. It is located on one of only two major Inca sites in Ecuador and it's Inca origins are being investigated with funding from the National Geographic Society. An ancient Inca room is now the dining room. Lunch starts with a huge bowl of the Hacienda's famous 'sopa de locro' - a rich cheese and potato soup served with slices of ripe avocado - perfect after bicycling in the rain.
In the courtyard, there are a few llamas and a young donkey. Around the courtyard are rooms for guests. The rooms are casual and comfortable. There is a fireplace in one of the bathrooms and ">PG13 murals in most of them.
Jorge drives us and our bikes back to La Cienega. This is our last day on the bikes so we turn in all of our Backroads' gear and say good-bye to Jorge who leaves to take the bikes and gear to Quito. Tomorrow morning we have to be on the bus by 5:00 a.m. to get to the airport in Quito for our flight to the Galápagos.
This is a great group. The next morning bags and bodies are on the bus at 4:55.
At this time of year, high season, there are only two flights a day from Quito to the Galapagos, both on TAME, the airline of Ecuador and both of which make a stop enroute at Guayaquil. We are on the early flight at 7:45. That is why we needed to leave so early. On the other hand, that gives us more time in the Galápagos.
Nathan and Andrew have given each of us a blue ribbon to tie on the bag we want to take to the Galapagos. They have given us suggestions about what to pack and recommended that we pack small enough that we carry our bag onboard with us. (Turns out to be good advice. There isn't much room for stuff on the boat and we don't need much.) The rest of our luggage will be stored at the Hotel Sebastian in Quito.
The main airport for the Galápagos is on Baltra Island. Our hand luggage is searched for food and plants. The Backroads tour price includes our airfare and the $100 entrance fee.
We are met by Vero (Veronica) Mauri, our licensed naturalist and guide for our stay in the Galapagos - Nathan and Andrew are also still with us. TAME airline busses shuttle us to the port. A panga (small boat) takes us from the dock to our boat, the Yate Daphne. We are on board and have met the Captain and crew before noon. This is the first of our five days and four nights in the Galapagos.
Baltra is a small island. We have lunch and then sail for Isla Santa Cruz, specifically, Bahia Borrero on the north coast. We take the panga ashore for our first meeting with the animals. The beach is white sand. Everything we have heard about the animals is true. Some of them appear to be interested in us, most totally ignore us. We have to pay attention to avoid stepping on some of them. Vero introduces us to what we are seeing and distinguish between endemic that are unique to a place such as the aquatic iguanas that are unique to the Galapagos, and indigenous that are native to a place but the same as animals found elsewhere such as the sea lions and brown pelicans. There are some species that are unique enough that they are endemic to specific islands in the Galapagos.
We walk along the beach and see brightly colored Sally Lightfoot crabs, blue herons, yellow warblers and sea lions. We stop at a lagoon and watch three flamingos feeding, marine iguanas lying in the sun and swimming, brown pelicans, a yellow crowned night heron and the tacks where turtles came ashore to lay their eggs. The air is fresh. A great transition from bicycling.
The panga takes us back to the boat and we have lunch while we sail to Caleta Tortuga Negra (cove of the black turtles). We take the panga into a large mangrove swamp. The sun is setting and the evening is very still. In the shallow water we see mustard rays and white tipped sharks. We drift past huge sea turtles mating in the water. We are told that turtles lay 80 to 90 eggs. T here is often one or more male turtles swimming around the couple waiting their turn. As the sun sets we relax and then motor back to the boat.
A great first day that ends with an excellent dinner. We are on the boat for five days and four nights. Every time we come aboard there are snacks and drinks available. There is a well stocked bar, but consumption by our group is pretty much limited to beer or wine with dinner. Meals are served on an outdoor, covered deck. Breakfast and lunch are buffet style. The appetizer and desert for dinner are served, but we help ourselves to entrée from the buffet. Every meal is very good or even better than that.
Our general pattern in the Galapagos is to make major moves at night. The boat gets under way in time to arrive at our new location sometime after dawn. Most days we go ashore in the morning and afternoon to see places and animals that are unique to that island. There are sea lions at almost every landing. Tonight we sail to the east side of Isla Santa Cruz to I slas Plazas. We anchor between the islands. Backroads has its own kayaks. About half are singles and the other half are doubles; room for everyone on the tour. Pat has never been kayaking so Vero invites her to join her in a double.
A trip to the highlands to see tortoises was planned for today, but the road is closed for a bicycle race. We have a leisurely lunch while we sail to the Charles Darwin Research Station on the south side of the island. This is the heart of the efforts on the Galapagos to save some endangered species and to restore others.
" Lonesome George" was sort of hiding the day we were there. We were able to stretch and see his head but a picture was out of the question.
There are other tortoises in a corral where we can get very close. Three men
wander into our group and we began talking. They are crewmembers from a group of
sailboats on an
around the world race. They were from Bristol, Pat's hometown.
Another small world story.
At the research station, there are incubators and pens where
tortoises are
being raised and then returned to the island where their particular species lives.
There are now more than "2447 giant tortoises repatriated to their island of
origin from the breeding program."
We leave some money at the Center's gift shops. We like the shirts and other
items and the profits go to a worthy cause. We wander back through the town of
Puerto Ayora. This is the main town for the islands and the place to buy anything
you need. There are ATM's and gelato. This is also where Vero and our Captain live.
We get under way sometime during the night headed for Isla Santa Maria, almost
due south of Isla Santa Cruz. Our first destination on our third day is
Bahi de Correo. We start the day with a walk on the beach, then kayaking at
Punta Cormorant, then snorkeling at Devil's Crown. Again, high quality gear for
everyone is provided by Backroads. Then we cruise back to the other side of the
island to Barrel Post Office Bay
(photo). "The first chart mark about this 'Post Office'
goes back to 1793." We left a few postcards. Several members of our
group picked up postcards with a promise to everyone to deliver them.
Boats have left signs around the barrel. We see a sign from a boat registered
in Marina del Rey, our home area. When we got home, it took about half an hour
on the Internet to find a reference to the boat on the Web site of a second boat.
We sent an email to the second boat and they replied to us and forward our letter
and their reply to the first boat. The fourth evening we got a phone call; the
owners had flown home for the holidays and were about to return to the boat in
Indonesia. Four days from the start of our search to a phone call. Another story
about a small world made even smaller by the Internet.
We walk up a trail from the mail barrel to a lava tube. There is a ladder that
leads down and then it slopes gradually to sea level. This not for everyone and,
frankly, this is about as close to spelunking (exploring caves as a hobby) as I
want to get. On the other hand, it was interesting and cool.
We go back to the boat, move and then back on shore. We walk to a lagoon and
watch the sun set behind the hills on the far side. It is calm, very quite and
beautiful; we sit and enjoy it all for a while. Then we walk through some small
hills to a nearby beach. There are about a dozen turtles just off shore. Vero says
they are almost certainly waiting for dark before coming ashore, digging a nest,
laying their eggs and returning to the sea before sun up.
Tonight is New Years. Three of our group, egged on by Nathan, decide to do a
night snorkel. They are having such a great time they are not back by the magic
hour. Upon their return, they report that the black sea is full of
bioluminescence creatures that glow
as they swim through the water. Meanwhile, the Captain has turned off all of
the lights near the top part of the boat and the rest of us are up there looking
at the stars. This is one of the few clear nights on our trip. With no interference
from light pollution, the sky is ablaze with stars and the Milky Way. We see
several shooting stars. A spectacular New Year display of fireworks by Mother Nature.
Shortly after the swimmers return, we depart for Isla Espanola. We begin the
New Year with a walk through a bird nesting area. Here we see both blue footed and
masked boobies. There are nests with eggs or chicks and there are young birds that
are exercising their wings in anticipation of the day they will fly. There are male
frigate birds with red pouches extended.
In the afternoon, we go snorkeling. I encounter a medium sized sea lion who
is quite curious. He swims close then leaves to catch a fish or two and then comes
back to check me out. He leaves and I swim through thousands of fish and then over
some of the prettiest starfish I have ever seen.
Tonight, three of us decide to check out the bioluminescence. We enter the
water in snorkel gear and with very bright snorkeling flashlights. Around the boat
there is enough light that there isn't much to see. As we more away from the boat
we turn off our lights and the sea becomes magical. When I move my arms through the
water, I fell like Tinkerbell
when she moves her wand. Stars go in every direction. Stop and there is darkness;
move and there are stars where I have moved. Definitely worth a swim in chilly water.
Tonight is our longest trip, back to the north side of Isla Santa Cruz. We have
one more morning for kayaking or snorkeling. Midmorning we sail back to the port
at Baltra and take the TAME bus back to the airport. TAME has added a third flight
today, non-stop to Quito, and we are on it.
Both flights were Boeing 272-100's. This is a plane from the era when passengers
wore suites or dresses and only took hats and coats on board. The return airplane
is so old that the
overhead racks do not have doors. Everything has to go under the seat. On both
flights, the meals are better than you get on some semi-monopoly segments in the
U.S. Jorge is at the airport in Quito to meet us.
Backroads had made arrangements to store our highlands gear at the
Hotel Sebastian. Most
of the group is staying there and Jorge agrees to take a group of us to the
airport the next morning. They have a room available so we stay there. We have
time to revisit some of the shops and find some new ones in the same area. Then
four of us go for a terrific dinner at La Escondida
restaurant which is owned by a cousin of Isabel,
our hostess at Hacienda Zuleta.
A special word of thanks to Molly Bailey who was our official critter
counter. She sent her list of critter sightings.
Our flight leaves the next morning at 9:45 and are back in Los Angeles late in the evening,
just in time to mingle with the last of the New Year's exodus.
This was a great vacation. Lots of different things to do. Rather like going
to an interesting gym every day then out to a great restaurant for dinner. Our guides, Nathan, Andrew
and Vero were outstanding. The planning and logistics by Backroads were great.
If you are up for a bit of a challenge, we challenge you to take this trip.
Post script: On January 16, the 28 year old tanker, Jessica, ran around
on Isla San Cristobal. Authorities said the cause of the accident was human error.
The pilot mistook a signal buoy for a lighthouse. "What infuriates us is the fact
that the tanker had never been in the Galapagos on a regular basis because the one
that normally does the supply was in repair, … They were ill-equipped. They
apparently didn't have the right charts and they ran aground in rocks that are very
well known. There's really no excuse."
Epilog
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Updated February 16, 2001