Ecuadorian explorations

The country where the food is worth waiting before.

We spent a wonderful four days just watching the world go by and catching up with the paperwork in Cuenca in the southern highlands of Equador, a very Swiss looking environment, green mountains, not nearly as epic as in Bolivia and Argentina. Our cottage was in the grounds of the overland truck parking space in town consequently we ran into a couple of American overlanders heading down to the south for the summer. As well as an epic travelling German couple en route south from Canada. We enjoyed a couple of boisterous evenings testing the local gin.

 The old town of Cuenca is gourgous, we enjoyed a stroll around and were confronted with some of the harsh realities of Ecuadorian life:-
1. The food is worth waiting for...... service here is very very, slow, polite but slow. However when it does arrive  it is very good, so far by far the best we have had in Latin America, except for Donald's BBQ.
2.(Ian.... this one is for you!) No one in the country uses their horn other than in real need. This is a world wide first and as we sit in the center of the capital not a horn can be heard.
3. Ecuadorian road users are the politest we have ever encountered, they wave you across roads... after 11 months of anything but it gave us a very nasty turn.

We stayed longer than intended on the farm because of things like hot springs and advice that our intended destination was a dump from different sources.  Eventually we hightailed it from Cuenca to the recommended village of Ayangue on the southern coast. A cab and three bus epic made perfect by the 2 mile walk in the drizzle at the end. Strangely enough it all went like the wind with not a 5 minute wait at any of our change over periods and were in a hotel overlooking the sea by about 4 pm.

Ayangue is a really delightful fishing and beach town.  We had lobster for dinner for 5$ each, served in a shack on plastic plates with kitchen roll to wipe our fingers and ketchup if we wanted it,  it was gorgeous as it was, so we didn't take them up on the ketchup offer. We resolved that if the drizzle stopped and the sun came out we would stay. It didn't so we headed up the coast 20 km to the surfers party hang out town of Montanita.

The first line of the guide book says bring earplugs or sleep on the outskirts, so we checked into the cheapest room in town above a restaurant and next to the night club...... We had an eventful night! We liked the town and the long beach but again the sea mist and drizzle moved us on up the coast to Purto Lopez from whence you can take the day trip to the poor mans Galapagos the Isla del Plata.

Purto Lopez boasts the best fish restaurant we have ever encountered although again service was slow.

 The green, more rolling hills of the Ecuadorian Andes

 We have been climbing narrow and steep staircases all year and had never come across this design before..... Why not!

 Well here are my Humpback whale shots, all too quick and camera too slow for anything but proof of we were there!

But it was absolutely fabulous to see them, they are really beautiful and so graceful despite being so massive.

 Blue footed Boobies, however, seem to be birds of totally different feather!

 They pose

 They have cute furry chicks.

And they DANCE....Bobbie dance

 The frigates were also very much in evidence, just doing what they do..... just drift and chill on the breeze.......They have an extraordinary shape and look quiet like pterodactyls from underneath.

 And going silly red when they fancied sex.

Apart from when there was the chance of a meal in the offing!

In fact the birds of the Ecuadorian coast come in all variety.... this lot liked to hang out in the noisy part of town all night!

We left Purto Lopez on the '10 hour' ride to Quito, this was apparently a none stop service. Instead we took 13 hours and the bus stopped at every little place along the way. I think it improved the journey as there was always something interesting happening although the later than expected finish was of irritation.

We are currently planning on staying for a couple of days in Quito to do the sights then head by way of the cloud forests in northern Ecuador into Colombia.