Papallacta + Cotopaxi

I've been trying to check Ecuador's key highlights off my list. While several (including the Galapagos!!) will inevitably still remain to be seen, my hope is to make a decent dent before I leave. This, despite being mostly Quito-bound for various reasons during the week. Ecuador is renown for its widely (and wildly) diverse ecosystems and natural riches: its beaches and jungles, volcanos and cloud forests, lakes and hot springs. So far, I'd enjoyed some of these things at Mindo, the Ruta del Sol, and Otavallo and Cotachani. On the agenda for this - my 2nd to last weekend in Quito - my plan was to visit Papallacta on Saturday and the Cotopaxi volcano (at long last!) Sunday.

I'd signed up earlier last week for a day trip to Cotopaxi with the "Biking Dutchman" (who turned out to be a real man named Yan), but figured I could easily make it to Papallacta on my own. All I needed to do was reach the "mineral, crystalline, hyper thermal, hyper tonic, sulfate, alkaline terreous waters" of the thermal baths for which the tiny village of Papallacta is known, pay the entrance fee and soak in them. This did not require a guide.

There is also a certain satisfaction in figuring out how to get somewhere on your own as a non-tourist. A certain kind of enjoyment that comes with blending in with the locals. While taking the city trolley then the Papallacta bus by myself probably extended the trip by about 2 hours and was pretty tiring, it was worth it. At Quito's Quitumbe bus terminal I made the friendly aquaintace of a woman who was heading home to Banos and we chatted about New York and what I should do in Ecuador.

Then there was the bus itself. Papallacta is located southeast of Quito in the Cordillera de los Andes and the view through the window was of fluffywhite, cloud smattered peaks and perfectly green rolling hills. Getting off the bus, I rejected offers of a taxi ride up to the baths in favor of making the 2k ascent past Papallacta's houses, cows, and trout farms on foot. It had been a longer than anticipated journey since leaving La Floresta early that morning and I eagerly headed straight to the Spa upon my arrival for a long, hot soak - which I thought would be greatly enhanced by a massage.

In contrast to deeply relaxing, wispy green Papallacta, my day in Parque Nacional Cotopaxi was an adrenalin inducing head rush. Um, mountain biking is HARD. Though only Ecuador's second highest volcano, Cotopaxi is the country's most emblematic for the magnificence of its snowcapped glacial peak at 5900 meters. The tour I had signed up for entailed driving up to where this glacial ice began at about 4600 meters then biking our way down ~1500 meters and back out of the park... past open, gold green plateaus, one wide blue lake and herds of wild horses.

By the end of the day, we had biked 40 km and I had promptly fallen flat on my face within the first 10 minutes of my descent. Fortunately, I'd been riding really slowly on the winding dirt path when it happened so I merely toppled over and ate a lot of dust but was otherwise fine. My fellow bikemates - lovely couple Karina and John from San Paolo - were gracious enough not to laugh until much later in the van back to Quito.

I'm glad I've been able to broaden my experience of Ecuador a substantial amount further in just two days -that's what I call a gratifying weekend. Now, I am thoroughly exhausted and going to bed. Hasta manana!

Salsa dancing

I had two of my very first salsa moments in life today. 

The first was the class I decided to take at the last minute this afternoon.  It is no joke that everyone in Ecuador can salsa. This is something they learn apparently shortly after birth, as some Quitoans have informed me. Thus, though salsa actually hails from Cuba, most Ecuadorians like it and can dance it fairly well.

I learned this during my first week at the house with Huayra Causay, when the whole lot of us went out to El Aguijon for salsa night and they all danced for hours and hours. Though I joined in and tried really hard to look convincing, I stepped on way too many feet.  Besides, moving your hips and legs in nonstop circular fashion is really only fun for the first 20 minutes. 

So I wasn't expecting to really like class today - though I was curious to see what the steps actually looked  like when you slowed them down.  Turns out they are pretty simple, and also pretty fun when turned into a sequence played out in time to the music - and depending on the partner (!).  It was a big revelation to discover how much I could enjoy salsa when I could follow along with the rythmn and switch it up and also let myself be led without tripping.

"Basico!" "Atras!" "Traverse!" Gibson, our teacher, kept prompting.  Suddenly salsa wasn't so boring! And the super fast beat suddenly made sense.

The other salsa moment came later this evening, when I was trying to (discretely) show Nuvia my new salsa moves while waiting for our cab at the bar we'd gone to for drinks.  The adorable waiter who'd been serving us offered himself up as a partner and there I was salsa'ing away in a near empty bar at midnight in Guapolo. Needless to say, this guy knew what he was doing and was very helpful and there is nothing like finding yourself dancing with someone who's name you didn't know a moment ago and turns out to be an incredibly good dancer.

I hear rumor that salsa is addicting and I'm not expecting anything like that to happen here. But I will be taking a few more classes in the hopes of making a proper comeback on that dance floor in the Mariscal before I leave Quito.

I have 9 Spanish teachers!!!

For the past 2 weeks, I've been living in this lovely house in the La Floresta neighborhood of Quito, on the corners of Calles Barcelona and Tolsa. I share the house with students that are here thanks to Huayra Causay, the program where I volunteer every weekday afternoon teaching English. When I finally settled on volunteering with Huayra Causay, I was torn between living at the house with the students; staying at a hostel where I could meet other travelers; or else doing a homestay. Staying here is proving to be the best decision I could have made. 

Not only is La Floresta a pretty neighborhood and the house nice and spacious, but the students are amazing housemates. Mostly in their 20s and early 30s, they are here from all over Ecuador to participate in Huayra Causay because they are either farmers or have been studying something related to the field of agribusiness. Most importantly, each of them has demonstrated the ability to promote either the practice or principles of sustainable agriculture in their respective communities. Soon they will be heading to the States to stay on whatever organic farm has agreed to host them for 8 months through the US agriculture program, MESA - the Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture.

But for now they are in Quito for 5 weeks to improve their English. That's where I - and one other volunteer, Hannes - come in.

They are a small bunch, and only 9 of the 11 students actually live in the house.  But we have a great time in between all the classes they are here to take.  Dinner is a communal activity, prepared by 2 different pairs of students each night (with a meal budget provided by Huayra Causay) and everyone is an amazing cook.  So I am eating well.  Besides which I am hearing and learning LOTS of Spanish, which was part of the plan.  Speaking Spanish is a big struggle for me still (!!) and sometimes I wish I could just patter on into the kitchen for tea and shoot the shit in English.  But they are all incredibly patient with me and appreciative of the effort and I guess, if anything, can relate to my struggle.  As Ketty proclaimed over dinner tonight, as I struggled to tell them about my weekend in Otavallo, "You have NINE Spanish teachers!!!"

But lovely dinners and Spanish chitchat aside, the biggest highlight at the house so far was my introduction to Carnival last week. It was the Friday before I left for my long weekend on the Ruta del Sol and we had a massive cookout with every variety of meat thrown on the grill. I'd received plenty of warning that this big festive meal would be followed by the true "raison d'etre" of Carnival which is to make sure everyone gets extremely wet. I was told that everything from water to shaving cream to eggs get thrown and the streets become pure mayham. Which was what happened to the house.  Think Halloween when you were 13 years old x 100. Innocently believing everyone was too drunk and full of meat by the end of the meal to actually start a waterfight, I learned the hard way how Carnival is played: Ruthlessly!!

No doubt the experience (which is of course so much more fun in the telling) will be one of my fondest memories of Ecuador.

Carnaval, Ruta del Sol and Riding the Ecuadorian Roads...

Just back in Quito now from several days away on the coast to visit the Ruta del Sol.  It was Carnaval this past weekend so the entire country was on four day holiday, when most people like to head for the beach. This is not an easy feat - even in a relatively small country like Ecuador - since most of the roads are narrow, windy and oh-did-i-mention unpaved (!) through the hills of the all encompassing selva or forest. We left Quito before sunrise to beat the traffic on Saturday morning - only to spend two unanticipated extra hours driving on muddy backroads when we discovered that a main road had been washed away by an overflowing river.  FUN!

Ahhh but it was an adventure.  And arrive on the coast we eventually did, hitting Jama, Canoa, then Manta, where we spent the first night. I was glad to be there, seeing yet another, very different part of Ecuador but I was also disappointed by what seemed like a indistinct succession of one scrubby fishing village after another.  Canoa, I had been told, was beautiful, and I really didn't think so - though it was also overcast along with chock full of Carnaval crowds when we arrived.  And surely my American standards for "beautiful coastal towns" like Newport or Santa Cruz or Miami where coast = money had something to do with it too?? These communities and those living along the small windy roads that ran between them were distincly just making ends meet, substisting off fishing, what they could grow, or the influx of tourists that supported their assorted tiedras, hostels or restaurants.

I liked Agua Blanca more, where we stayed the second night in the Parque Nacional Machalilla and were greeted by goats in the front yard the next morning. In Salango we jumped on a small motorboat tour to Isla Salango where we saw many bluefooted boobies (of Galapagos fame) and snorkeled among some purple-striped fish.  Puerto Lopez was pretty and Ayampo the most impressive of all, with its clean, sandy, near empty beach. It's were we ended up staying the longest to actually relax, since the ocean beckoned and Fabian's friend ran a very comfortable, bungalow-style hostel there. 

And along the way I ate very well, sampling coconut, some cantalope shaped fruit that tasted like mango only better, shrimp ceviche, and the ubiquitous, very tasty light white fish, corvina.  Most meals were washed down with a cold Pilsener, which is the national beer.

So while not quite living up to its fancy Ruta del Sol name, my trip to the Ecuadorian coast was satisfying and enjoyable in a lot of other ways.  As traveling often is.  Now its back to my temporary casa in Quito and the beginning of English classes when the students all return as well fom their long Carnaval weekends tomorrow!

The cloud forests of Mindo

On Sunday, Tim and I planned to meet up in the nearby cloud forests of Mindo, population 2500.  World famous for its spectacular assortment of birds (~400 species), butterflies, and orchids, and also just a 2 1/2 hour bus ride away from Quito, Mindo seemed a good way to maximize Tim's short visit to the country beyond the city. 

That morning, whilst explaining the bus route to me, Fabian had the inspired idea to give me a lift there instead on his motorcycle. It was a bright, sunny morning after a full day of rain, and a bike ride sounded like a GREAT way to make up for my previously comatose bedridden state. It was an exhilirating ride through the surrounding hills and jungles of Quito and a great way to make a grand entrance into tiny, quiet Mindo - where soon enough everyone did know my name (though surely being one of just 4 gringas there during the low tourist season helped). 

The Lonely Planet compares Mindo's "laid back" vibe to that of a "coastal surf spot" and the town, with its unpaved dirt roads, handful of family run shops, midafternoon rainshowers and hushed sense of quiet, felt very laid back. And everywhere on the hills all around was the lush, green forest interspersed with wispy clouds and fog.  Our first morning consisted of a crack of dawn bird watching tour, led by William and his khaki birdwatching hat and a telescope almost as long as he was tall slung over his shoulder.  We followed William up the long road leading out of the town center, across the Rio Mindo and up into the hills, dutifully scrambling to point our binoculars in the direction of whatever unseen speck he had managed to spot in the dense trees.  Thanks to William we caught sight of a satisfying number of pretty birds, including the very special choco tucan who's nose really is spectacular, especially mid flight.

After what felt like hours (!!) later, Tim and I were returned to the center of town.  The sun was up and the day was already midafternoon hot although it was only 10 am.  After a few hours rest and a lunch, we headed back up that same road into the forest, this time for a Mindo canopy tour and a few hours of zipping high up over the forest in the light afternoon rain.  It felt nice and refreshing once we were convinced the equipment attaching us to the cables wasn't as dubious as it looked (at around cable #6 out of 10).

But between the bike ride and the beauty of Mindo, another key highlight was the great people we met there, especially the two couples (American wife, Ecuadorian husband) who had come to open up some manner of cafe/hostel/restaurant. At El Quetzal, Barbara and her husband (and their adorably precocious 11-year old daughter, Emily) made their own chocolate and offered up some of the best brownies (and coffee)  I have ever had the highly caffeinated pleasure to enjoy. And Susan and Luis told us how they had met in the Peace Corps in Quito in 1987 and returned to Ecuador to open up Caskaffesu after braving 15 cold Chicago winters.

And this is probably my favorite thing about traveling, how quickly you can fall into exciting conversations with people about things like life paths and life choices, and how open they are to sharing their stories with you. Which can be almost as inspiring as the scenery, or at least a nicely complementing balance!!!

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!"

This trite little expression takes on new meaning when faced with the seemingly neverending heaves of food poisoning. Which I unfortunately was last night, thanks to some innocently purchased made-to-order spinach and ricotta ravioli and homemade tomato sauce. (Yes I am still in Ecuador!)

I thought that if anything got me in South America, it would be the ceviche. Which I had already discovered I liked when I tried it for the first time a few months in Cusco (ahhhh, Cusco!). Had it again just the other day for lunch with Fabian, who has been such a lovely host to me these past few days in his home in Guapolo (along with his rambunctious super hairy golden retriever, Pisco). To repay the favor of his patient hospitality I thought to buy some fresh pasta from the gourment pasta store on my walk back to his place (Quito has everything!). Unfortunately, the ravioli got us both and now I will forever be trying to live down being the guest that tried to poison him.

Aside from this little tidbit of news, my few days in Quito so far have been quiet and peaceful. I've spent them strolling about, slowly taking things in and trying to get myself oriented in no particular rush. It's such a different way to experience a city when time seems to be less pressing. I've visited the Mariscal neighborhood and checked out a potential Spanish school there. And yesterday afternoon, I went to the Museo Guayasamin which houses the most extensive collection of art by this artist. Guayasamin is Ecuador's most famous painter/sculpture, a contemporary of Picasso, and I was especially surprised I'd never heard of him when I discovered how much I loved his work. The museum was small - just a collection of three modest-sized houses on a green lawn - but perfect for absorbing everything, without losing focus. Always a problem for me at the Met.

In true New Yorker fashion, I am trying to walk everywhere but it's not easy as Quito is quite hilly. The city sits in a valley high in the Andes surrounded by the peaks of assorted hills and mountains, including Volcan Pichincha. By early afternoon, the clouds and fog rolls in and hug the mountainsides. Today it rained all day, which suited my food sickly self just fine. The only time we left the house was in the late afternoon to visit Fabian's parents in the fancy Cumbaya neighborhood for Saturday dinner.

Things should be picking up soon though. For one, I am already FINALLY feeling better!! :) For another, my friend Tim has decided to pay me a spontaneous visit in honor of his 40th birthday. So tomorrow we are going to visit the cloud forests of Mindo with its waterfalls and exotic birds, for a few days. Then next week, too, I begin my volunteering with the Huayra Causay school. Between all of this and the number of things there are to see and do within just a few hours of Quito, these next few weeks will surely fly by.

Yes I'm BACK

Yes I am BACK in South America. It is all as I warned per my last post, I suppose.

This time I have returned with lots of ideas, but no set plan. I only know how much I loved it here the first time and how happily I fell into the rhythm and the flow of backpack travel, despite some strong pre-trip trepidation. Opportunities for open-ended, make-it-up-as-you-go, commitment-free travel don’t come around often, and having experienced it once I now appreciate what an important luxury it is. Back home in NYC, I developed a strong addiction to rooting out and following the blogs of chronic or closeted world travelers who wrote extremely well about why they loved to travel or longed to. These fed my urge for more and also made me feel a little bit less crazy. Blogs with descriptive names like www.stopleadingaboringlife.com , www.travelingsavage.com, www.nomadichick.com , and www.liveafearlesslife.com were both inspiring and vindicating. No, t'was true there was no real reason I had to stop traveling just yet. While I wasn’t brave enough to sell everything I owned in exchange for the open road, I did actively shirk the overtures of headhunters in favor of a 1-way ticket back to South America.

So YES I AM BACK FOR MORE LIFE EXPERIENCES AND ADVENTURE which I hope to record and do justice to here. First stop Ecuador. Hurraaaayyyy!!

LOVE,
me