The travelers we had met in Peru had all spoken of how different Ecuador was to Peru in terms of being cleaner and having better roads but nonetheless our first 100km took us totally by surprise, the change was truly significant.
Not only were the aforementioned claims true but also drivers used indicators for the purpose they are intended and didn’t just leave them on and even more surprising to us was how quickly the environment changed – during the last kilometres to the border in Peru we had started to see some more greenery but it still remained very much a dry desert like place but almost as soon as we crossed the border we began to see larger trees and grasslands and in fact we spent our first night only 20km inside Ecuador in a large tropical forest reserve. That night and the following morning it quickly become apparent that something else we hadn’t seen much of in Peru was birds, as the forest was alive with them, resulting in a rather early morning wake-up.
Entering a new country always brings a new challenge, usually it is the “simple” things like getting used to a new exchange rate in order to calculate what is affordable and what is not, while shopping. Ecuador however presented us with something entirely new – our Garmin GPS had no map coverage even though we have a South American “continent” map set installed on it which should in theory cover us all the way to Colombia, so the moment we crossed the border we could no longer use the GPS for navigation. Ecuador gets its name from the fact that it straddles the equator and Stuart initially assumed that perhaps Garmin map considered Ecuador to be in the northern hemisphere and therefore to be part of the North American mapset. Subsequently we have discovered that there is in fact no maps for Ecuador but have no idea why not.
By a huge stroke of luck we had downloaded offline google maps for Ecuador onto one of our phones before crossing the border, this is something we usually don’t bother with as we prefer navigating on the GPS (except in cities where live google maps are better) but something had prompted the idea while in Peru and it saved our bacon, enabling us to navigate hassle free to the nearest cellphone shop in order to get a local SIM card. With our ability to “google” restored, it was time to head into Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil, for some shopping before moving on towards the coastline. It had been a long day and we were really looking forward to a quite evening when pulled into Finca Gloria which based on iOverlander reviews had nice swimming pools and plenty of place to camp – our experience was to be a little different. Finca translates to “estate” in English and in this part of the world is often used to refer to a farm type establishment, in this case it was more of a daytime party venue for the residents of Guayaquil and when we arrived they were just busy cleaning up after one such event and they asked us to park next to the fiesta hall and bathrooms. In order to keep themselves motivated the workers blasted Latin music until they finished around 10pm and just as they went quiet a noisy petrol-powered pump started up which we very quickly discovered (based on the aromas that drifted our way) was being used to pump out the septic tank! The icing on the cake for the night was a couple of dogs that were kept in a yard nearby that started barking incessantly at 3am. When nobody appeared to make any effort to shut them up, Stuart eventually shouted out the window at them and incredibly they went quiet. The peace and quiet was relatively short lived however as the morning crew arrived at 6:30am to start setting up for the next fiesta which included cranking up the music once again. As one can imagine, when we left, our review on iOverlander was not nearly as complimentary as the ones before us and hopefully we help to forewarn other travelers.
Our rough plan for the first month in Ecuador was quite simple, to spend an extended period along the coastline, surfing and hopefully enjoying some good beach time as we worked our way northwards. Our first stop was at the small fishing village of Engaboa but sadly only for lunch and a brief look at the surf point as none of the camping options held any appeal.
It was good to have Mr Jones when leaving Engaboa as we had two routing options, one being a fairly lengthy drive back to the main road before doing a dogleg northward or the alternative being to follow a narrow dirt track through the dunes which went directly to Santa Elena. We opted for the latter, which part way through did leave us wandering how many vehicles actually come this way but also had us smiling with fond memories of some of the smaller tracks we have followed in parts of Mozambique. Once back on the tar it was a short hop north to Montanita and the pleasant surprise of seeing a South African flag flying next to a statue of a surfer.
Montanita is a “bipolar” town, it is very popular with the backpacker crowd and has a bit if seedy reputation for being a party destination where anything and everything happens and is acceptable, in fact the main part of town reminded us very much of Phuket in Thailand with its narrow streets crammed full with hostels, bars, nightclubs and little restaurants. In total contrast to this is the little suburb of La Punta at the northern end of the beach which has a very serene and tranquil vibe with no all-night parties or loud music. No prizes for guessing where we opted to stay, it also helped that La Punta has a nice surf scene and that for Tania, the camp offered a very nice yoga class in the mornings.
World Oceans day is on the 8th of June and that day while sitting on the beach admiring the late afternoon sun, we got invited to join some of the expat crowd in a small ceremony to honour the ocean. Rice and various beans including indigenous corn varietals plus a few other offerings were made to “give strength” to those that come after us to protect the ocean. The boat filled with the offerings plus what was scattered around it was left at the high-water mark to await the incoming tide, at which time it would get to set sail.
The most amazing aspect, was as part of the ritual everyone had to walk around the small boat, with the inner circle been made of the men and the outer circle of the women and with the drums beating and shell horns been blown the 3rd small wave that rolled in swamped the boat and moved it closer to the ocean. Who knows maybe the ocean had heard the endeavor to ensure that she stay protected and that all that live in her stay safe.
Ten days passed by very quickly before we started to get itchy feet and feel the need to move on, even if was to just move 30 minutes north in order to experience what was meant to be an equally funky village called Ayampe. In principal Ayampe should have appealed to us even more than Montanita but we found the vibe to be a little offish – with people trying way too hard to be shuwei. The one exception to the overt efforts to be cool and tranquil was the Russian caretaker at the campsite we stayed at, perhaps he was trying to provide balance to the environment. It is also meant to be a very popular surfing beach but Stuart found it to be very messy and not much fun, so after only one night we moved on.
The good thing about this section of coastline is that distances are really short between spots, making it very easy to pack up and move a little bit each day if you want and, in this case, it meant only a 15km drive to a spectacular peninsula camp just south of Puerto Lopez.
We found a beautiful spot on a peninsula overlooking Salango Island where initially we were only going to stay for one night but the breeze and been elevated allowed us to escape some of the oppressive heat, humidity and pesky biters that had been munching on us. So, one day turned into two and it was just what we needed to get our sense of “humour”tranquilo” back.
One of Ecuador’s most popular tourist destinations is the Galápagos Islands and rightly so for the unique variety of bird and sea life it offers, however a trip to the islands does not come cheap. In our case, what we would spend for 3 – 4 months travel is equivalent to a 5-day cruise with flights around the islands, there was however an alternative and that was to visit Isla del Plata which is the so-called “poor mans” Galapagos. It most definitely does not offer as much variety of wildlife as the Galapagos but you do still get the opportunity to see the different varieties of birds which are endemic to the islands known as “boobies” and it also has a healthy variety of sea life around it.
Puerto Lopez is the launch point for tours to Isla del Plata and so after a few days of chilling on the aforementioned peninsula we moved into town so that we could join a tour the next day. The island sits 45km offshore and depending on which source you wish to believe derives its name as the silver island either from its silver appearance when the sun reflects off the bird guano on its rocky cliffs or from the fact the infamous English pirate, Sir Francis Drake, used the island to hide his plundered loot when fleeing from the Spanish. Just as occurs along South Africa’s east coast at this time of the year, the Southern Right Humpback whale migrates north from Antarctica to the warmer waters off Ecuador in order to breed and raise their calves and as we neared the island some large splashes were seen in the distance. The captain did a great job of getting us close, in some relatively rough seas and between the bobbing and rolling of the boat we were fortunate to get a few photos of them breaching. It is pretty impressive how much of a splash a 45-ton mammal makes when it belly flops into the ocean.
Unfortunately, the rolling seas meant we couldn’t hang around too long with the whales before heading into the calmer waters on the lee side of the island where we disembarked for a hike to seek out the various boobies and frigates that nest on the island followed by a post-lunch snorkel to marvel at the marine life below the surface of the waters.
Next stop along the coast was at Swiss Jardin, run by Samuel, a very interesting man who had so many stories to share with us about his interesting escapades in the merchant navy and specifically about the travels to South Africa in the mid 60’s – 70’s. Stuart managed to get in a surf with the local surfers as the sun was setting, a perfect way to end a hot and interesting day.
In our travels in Ecuador we have come across a number of foreigners that own campsites and that are desperately trying to now sell them. We think that the common denominator is that most of them have spent 30+ years living between their home countries and Ecuador but now the amount of work involved in owning and running a place in a tropical environment where everything grows in abundance is truly been felt & then if you add to this the advancement in age and not having all the amenities that Europe / America provides and sadly the love affair is waning. The campsite on the peninsula with it numerous cabanas, is on the market for a few million dollars and so is Samuel’s but not for as much according to him.
Our last stop on the coast before heading inland was at an amazing campsite and we mean a proper campsite with a fire pit complete with heaps of free firewood and a lapa with table and benches to sit at. It is amazing the things that bring joy and after camping in parking lots and the equivalent in all the various formats that we have experienced, this was a spot we knew we could stay at for a few days. It also helped that it had a wonderful outlook onto a private little bay. It’s yet another campsite run by an expat and when we get back to SA for a holiday we think we could dine out a fair amount on the incredible life stories of these campsite owners.
We had got spoilt meandering along the coast with availability of spots to camp at and the fact that we could move 15 km’s and experience a new environment, so heading into the mountains was a big wake up call. Although the distances are not massive the time that is required to traverse them is disproportionate in the hours vs km’s, in addition add the scarce availability of accommodation and then what was available was either very sub-par or was closed, meant that we had to, on some days push further then we intended. Tiredness and mountain passes are not good travel companions!
Our first mountain stop was Mindo and a number of people including Samuel had said you have to visit it and that it was definitely on the top 10 list of places to visit in Ecuador. After all these years of travel we should have learnt to ask the relevant question and that is what is it about the aforementioned place that makes the person recommended it and not the guide book version of why they think we should go there.
We arrived to the ultimate of tourist towns with heaps of accommodation on offer/restaurants/ bars / funky coffee shops and tour companies and all at the “cheap” price beyond the wallet of long term travelers. That been said on arrival we found the local version of the woman’s league, they had a great local dish of spit roasted whole pig accompanied by local corn /potatoes and salad been sold outside the church to raise funds. After our impromptu early dinner we took a walk around the small town, got to watch a local live band performing in the plaza and then took ourselves on a self-guided walk into the forest to see the hummingbirds and butterflies that the area is known for.
The next day we went on a walk around town exploring the various tourist shops offering the wares of the local artists but due to the fact that as much as we would like to at times buy some of these, Mr Jones doesn’t have space and as we don’t have a house we have no idea if when we do have a physical home again if there would even be space for our trinkets. So to make Tania feel better about not been able to indulge in any art buying we hit up the local artisanal ice cream shop. Stu decided he would go with the offerings of the area and as this is a very big coffee and cacao growing area, he had coffee/cacao and honey ice cream whereas Tania decided to be adventurous and had a passion fruit with basil and chili sorbet topped with tamarillo sorbet.
Thereafter we ventured into one of the chocolate shops that offered a chocolate making experience: in theory from start to finish so you would get to roast the cacao bean and eventually produce your own chocolate bar – we opted out of that but we did get to taste a number of flavours of chocolate and its percentages of cacao. So, despite the feeling of dread when we drove in thinking that this wasn’t really going to be something we enjoyed, we had a good time plus we had some amazing sightings of hummingbirds close-up but sadly the little buggers move way too fast for any identification or even to get a decent photo.
Leaving Mindo we had found this back road to take, along which we hoped to find some wild orchids. Initially the road was amazing but sadly lacking in orchids! Then google maps decided that were not on a road and gave up directing us and seeing as Garmin doesn’t have coverage of Ecuador we could not rely on the sat nav. Thankfully Stuart has a really good sense of direction and can read contour maps because if it was left to Tania we would still be wandering aimlessly around the mountains. The bonus of the journey of discovery that we found ourselves on, was we got to really look at things while orientating ourselves instead of the sometimes being in the switched off state we find ourselves in when driving.
The intended overnight stop was at Termas de Nangulvi and when we drove into the parking lot and looked around we initially thought our choice of back roads and destination was the wrong one, but like many things in life first impressions can be wrong and sometimes you just have to sit back and observe for a while before committing to not liking..
We were shown to a big patch of grass right next to a rapidly flowing river that drowned out any noise from the road, not that there was much of that, as while a tar road ran past the termas it ended only a few kilometres down the road at the “back roads” we had followed in.
The pools were quite busy but after setting up camp we decided to brave them seeing as that was why we had come this way and enjoyed a pleasant soak while moving between the different temp pools before heading back to Mr. Jones to make supper. The pool complex closed at 9pm so we intended to come back for a final soak before bed and as we were already above 1500m and so knew the evening would be fairly chilly and given the location, expected the pools to be quite empty. Boy did we get a surprise when in fact they were even busier. In the course of conversation while been crammed into hot pools with other tourists and locals, led us to finding out that Ecuador has the largest Quaker movement in the world beating out the USA rather substantially – pretty sure this will be a useful tidbit of knowledge in a game of trivial pursuit one day.
The next morning, we headed up and out the valley, climbing over some very steep roads as we ascended up and through the “cloud forest” (a forest which is almost constantly sitting in the clouds and therefore very wet with a large variety of plant and bird diversity) and onwards to the crater lake known as Laguna Cuicocha, a 3km wide caldera and crater lake. Ecuador has no shortage of volcanoes, in fact it has 98 and Laguna Cuicocha is the result of its second highest (Cotapaxi) having an explosion many thousands of years ago. Cotapaxi itself was hidden in clouds so instead we admired the lake scenery and watched some navy divers practising in the lake with our take away being that the lake is freezing cold and very deep.
In the past it has been very popular for overlanders to “free” camp near the crater rim but iOverlander had a new warning for the location from a couple that had experienced a very scary armed robbery there a few weeks prior so we decided to rather head straight to Otavalo and a formal campsite.
We had not realised that it was the Inti Raymi celebration when we headed to Otavalo. This is a traditional Inca Festival that celebrates the Sun God Inti, with lots of festivity’s, including music, dancing and fireworks that culminates on the Winter Solstice on the 24th June. The campsite is owned by a couple of Inca heritage so we got to see the woman dressed in traditional wear for the week of celebration.
For most overlanders Otavalo is either the first or last town they stay at when either heading north to Colombia or coming south from it, in our case it was to be our northernmost point in Ecuador as we would now turn south. Visiting Colombia is definitely on the cards but first we want to explore the Brazilian amazon and Brazil’s north atlantic coastline which means heading south for now, so that we can enter Brazil in a month or two.
Below are links to the other pages that complement this travel diary entry:
Captain(s) Log: June 2023 (an insight into the emotional highs and lows of life on the road)
Practical Information: Ecuador (Satellite navigation, cellphone providers & 3rd party vehicle insurance)
Overnight Locations (an overview of the various spots we stopped for a night or more and thus an overview of the route we travelled this month)
Maintenance Log (everything it takes to keep Mr Jones purring)
Discover more from HippySquared
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