Back to South America
 

This is the beginning of what will probably be a very long trip report spread over the next few months. We leave Heathrow on Sunday for Quito and six months in South America, a continent we fell in love with when we spent some time there on our travels back in 2008. This time we are travelling with the primary objective of deciding whether we would like to settle in this part of the world, if not permanently, then for at least part of the year.

We are basing ourselves in Quito, Ecuador for the first two months where we will be taking intensive Spanish lessons in order to build upon the language skills we have been developing over the last six months we have been living in Spain. We have rented a room in the South America Explorers Clubhouse and from there we will explore the northern and central parts of the county from the Andes to the beaches and "El Oriente, Ecuador's piece of the Amazon basin.

From Quito we will work our way south through the country and into Peru searching out paths less travelled and places we have not visited before as well as revisiting some old favourites. Continuing south we aim to cross into Bolivia via Lake Titicaca and from there head to La Paz and hike, bike and canoe our way down into the Amazon basin probably to Madiddi national park before continuing on a rough circuit of the country with a possible side trip into Argentina and Salta province ( who knows, we may even meet up with flintstones - is there a fodors prize for meeting both her and avrooster??). we plan on crossing the border into Chile via the Atacama desert and San Pedro, a place we sadly missed on the last trip.. We will then head back north along the coast stopping at various places along the way until we reach Lima and our flight back to London. We are hoping that our eldest son will be joining us for a couple of weeks somewhere along the way.

Our aim this time is to experience some of the more out of the way places. Our "bucket list" of things to do/activities/places to go etc. now runs to over 30 items and is still growing. Once again, we plan to carry out some voluntary work along the way as and when the opportunities arise.

Last time we travelled for a long period we made the mistake of taking everything but the kitchen sink. Having learnt our lesson the hard way by humping ridiculously heavy backpacks around for a year and barely using 75% of the contents, this time we are travelling with hand luggage only and are limited to 10kg apiece by the airlines. Despite the usual packing stereotypes, my wife is finding this new packing regime easier than me!

I will be blogging this trip and will post a link here and on my profile page once I have finally decided whether to use Travelpod or Wordpress ( Thursdaysd - still struggling with the latter!). I will post an abridged version of the blog here as we travel along. Many thanks to those of you who responded to my request for information during the planning of this trip, , notably mlgb and Thursdaysd, much appreciated.

Crellston - who do we phone if you stop posting for a month?

911. LOL!

Looking forward to reading your reports as you travel. We have a trip to Ecuador planned for February 2014, and are really excited about it.

Que viaje increible - que se disfrutan!

Sounds like a wonderful adventure. Look forward to following it - especially that Madidi part!

The two of us geezers have whittled down our luggage for two month winter trips to a single weekender softside bag each and smallish hand bag for use on the plane etc. We couldn't be happier - and still each trip we find an article of clothing or two never used and a candidate for abandonment next trip. . .

Buen viaje!

Can't wait to read your reports Crellston.

RE Wordpress, I've found Twenty Eleven to be a decent free theme and not too complicated.

Crellston and Mrs. Crellston: this made my day. I was so enthralled with your reports the last time you ventured into South America - and DH and I made good use of so many of your suggestions, that I am chomping at the bit to get you on the road and me onto your blog.

Safe and wonderful travels !

Marnie: are you going to call 911, as I suggested, if they don't report or eat too much egg salad?? Please disregard, just one of my silly jokes. LOL!!!

Looking forward to reading about it! Sounds like a great trip.

What problems are you having with Wordpress? You can email me at mytimetotravel at gmail if I can help.

Yet another amazing adventure Crelleston, I covet your trip:)

AV, you are scrambling my brains...they are soft. Hold the Mayo.

Crellston,

Great update on what's to come. I am really looking forward to reading your updates because as you know I am heading off at the end of the year for similar travels!! one thing I am really working on and changing my mind constantly is what to take... It would be an awesome help if you could give a run down on gear your packing and pack size etc.. I have hiked a lot in the past but always seem to take too much and definitely don't want to be overloaded for the whole year.

You mentioned you are staying at a room in the South America Explorers Clubhouse.. are these a cost effective way of travel in South America?

Cant wait for your updates.

Estoy muy interesado por sus impresiones y experiencias en el cono sur. Buena suerte!

Looking forward to traveling along with you via your blog.

Many thanks to all of you for your kind words!

A few specific replies ( in no particular order)

Glover. The primary reason for including Madiddi on the itinerary was reading that article you posted previously, so many banks for that. Can't wait as the current plan is to start our trip there by a 3 day mountain bike ride from Sorata in the Andes to Rurrenbesque in the Amazon ( all downhill fortunately!)

Thursdaysd and mlgb thanks for the additional info on Wordpress etc. I think I need to give both WP and Travelpod a shot this trip. I have gotten used to TP I suppose I just need to give WP a fair chance and will probably post in parallel for a short while jus to see how I get one ( Thurs - I will probably take you up on your offer and email some questions.)

Brenden - I will certainly post a packing list in a few days. Having jus got here and unpacked I have already come across a few things I am thinking " I didn't really need that!" In the meantime, our packs are Lowe Alpine 40 litre TT Carryon. We are really pleased with them and have now used them on several long trips. They fit within the max allowance for 95% of airline for carry on luggage so we don't get the hassle of check in baggage and all that that entails.

SA Explorers has 3 rooms for rent here in Quito. We are paying $300 US per month for a large double room with shared bathroom and a very comfortable bed. At $10 per night for the two of us, it is a bargain. I think they have a reduction for single occupancy. It compares very favourably with hostels on price and quality and is clearly outstanding in terms of traveller facilities. I AMS not sure hours whether there other locations have rooms. I will ask the manager here.

colduphere - stop posting for a month!! As if! If I do, call the British embassy as I will almost certainly have been kidnapped and send for Avrooster as an interpreter.

Anyway, we arrived safe and sound here in Quito albeit very tired after exactly 24 hours travel door to door. The journey was fairly uneventful but involved an 80min Tube raise from Cockfosters in north London along the whole of the Victoria line to LHR terminal 5 ( one of the most impressive airports I have ever flown from!). From there it was a 2 hour flight to Madrid on Iberia, which is now apparently a no frills airline for short haul which I wasn't aware of. A good flight on a brand new plane - very impressed. Even more impressive was the Spanish pilot who broke into song as we took off with his rendition of Come Fly With Me. On landing we were treated to Dancing Cheek to Cheek ?? Presumably his two favourite Karaoke songs..

After a wait and a very long ride through the tunnels underneath Madrid airport, we checked in for our Lan flight to Quito. The good news was that they gave us a centre row of three with the middle seat blocked off - very thoughtful. The bad new started when we boarded. As I approached my seat a lady was already sitting there and clearly reluctant to move. After a while she moved to her correct seat in the row in front - next to a mother with two very small and very loud children? I could see what she was reluctant to move! After a while, I was alerted to that fact that there were also two small and very energetic children in the row behind by the incessant kicking of the back of my seat. The mother had already lost control and the father, very sensibly, has secured a seat in another part of the plane. I attempted to keep one of the kids occupied by playing peekaboo for a while but clearly would not be doing his for the next 12 hours. Usually, I have found that kids tend to play up for a while and then sleep on long flights ( mine certainly used to) but these just didn't stop, much to the consternation of all those around. We had found ourselves in a sort of badly behaved kid sandwich where we were the meat and from which there was no escape!

Earplugs and a little meditation lessened the kid problem but the service on this Lan flight was something else. We were fed soon after take off with a choice of veggie pasta or chicken but even though we were amongst the first server, they ran out of chicken! During this 12 hour flight, not once did they offer a drinks or snack service. Getting dehydrated on planes is a problem for me and I lost count of the number of trips I made to the back for a glass of water ( no way to summon cabin staff") . The drinks offered with the meal were very limited soft or wine, nothing else. They did offer another meal service before landing, again, chicken or pasta, again they ran out of chicken.

I could not fault the quality of the aircraft, the in flight entertainment system or the seating, but this level of service is simply not acceptable and I doubt that I will ever choose Lan again for intercontinental flights. Such a marked contrast to the last time we flew with them from New Zealand to Chile in 2008 when they were excellent.

Enough of my ranting. I am going for some breakfast and then to have a look at some language schools. Hasta Luego.

Does the British embassy have an 800 number? LOL!!

Glad to hear you've arrived! That really sounds like the flight from hell, I will will definitely avoid LAN for long haul flights. Settling in for a fun ride...

Av, not since the deficit reduction program!

If you guys return the Malvinas Islands to Argentina, in exchange we'll let you hire our great economic team. LOL!!

" an 80min Tube raise from Cockfosters in north London"

A positively titillating start, crellston.

I have had many problems with LAN customer service, but I'm surprised to hear about your onboard experience.

Funny pilot though.

Can't wait to hear more.

That was an unfortunate typo! Should read 80 min tube ride!!! Aka London Underground. Dam this iPad, it has a mind of its own..

Can't wait to read your blog, loved your last one.

crellston - try turning auto-correction off - Settings, General, Keyboard.

Looking forward to reading this. Have so enjoyed all your TRs and picked up great tips.

Thanks yestravel, I really enjoyed your SEA odyssey TR. good to read about some of my favourite places from another perspective.

Brenden. As requested, I have posted my packing list here http://www.fodors.com/community/trav...ry-on-only.cfm

Believe it or not it does all fit in to a carry on bag, whether it will all go back in now I have unpacked is and entirely different question!!

Crellston- Ha ha its always the case when you remove things and try to get them back in. Hope it all worked out. Thanks very much for the list I will head over and check it out.

QUITO - FIRST IMPRESSIONS
We decided to take it easy for our first few days in Quito so as to get used to the altitude (2800 m)although this hasn't affected us too badly, we just get a little breathless going up hills etc. The new town, where we are based, is not the prettiest in South America and has a reputation for being a little dangerous ( but it seems perfectly ok to us so far). I would say that most of it was built in the 60s & 70s, not the greatest architectural period in many countries, but this is where the tourism infrastructure is.

We have been wandering the streets In search of a language school of which there are many. Eventually we narrowed it down to four, La Lengua, Christobel Colon, Simon Bolivar and Yanapuma. In the end, La Lengua impressed us the most, so we went with. at $6.75 per hour with our SA Explorers discount, it was pretty good value.

Apart from seeking out opportunities for further education, we have been exploring the city on foot, trying to gain understanding of its layout. It is a long (35kms) city surrounded by mountains including the, still active, Volcan Pinchincha. With a population of 2.5 million it is a busy place and already we are growing to like it a lot. The street maps seem only vaguely accurate so finding our way around has been a challenge but we are getting there.

Three different bus and trolley-bus systems plying the main routes throughout the length of the city. This is in addition to the local buses which seem to go everywhere else. So far we have only used Trolebus which was to go from where we are staying in Mariscal Sucre to the Centro Historico or Old Town. Having seen the how busy the buses are in the rush hour and how they are apparently infested with pickpockets I think we will give them a miss for now!

Our first foray into sightseeing involve jumping on the said Trolebus and 15mins later jumping off at Plaza Grande in the heart of the Old City. After wandering around aimlessly (often the best way to get to know a place) for an hour or to we went into the tourist office to grab some details of walking tours we will take over the next few weeks. the primary tour seemed to be one conducted by off duty policemen, but then Carolyn discovered Quito Eterno, an organisation of actors and scholars which provide walking tours conducted by guides who dress up and act as either historical or fictional characters, which sounds much more fun, so I think we will go for that.

The Centro Historico proved to be much more like the Quito we were expecting, lots of very impressive colonial architecture and elegant squares. After grabbing a drink in a cafe on Plaza San Francisco and people watching for a while we head off into the maze of smaller streets surrounding the main Plazas and, almost immediately, we leave the sight-seers behind and are amongst the local people going about there daily life. After a while we stop for lunch in a cafeteria type place, Menjages de Higos, which was very busy with local workers. Excellent and inexpensive food.

Apart from wandering the streets in search of further education, our only other foray out has been to Santa Clara, a traditional market here in the new town. This was at the suggestion of Javier, a tango teacher who has been teaching Tango to a few of his students here at club. We were chatting over a bite to eat and he came up with a wealth of suggestions, much better than any guide book, one of which was this market. Santa Clara is the premier vegetable market in Quito and has lots of stalls piled high with geometric pyramids of a huge variety of exceptional fresh vegetables and fruit, some familiar, some entirely new, all looking as though they had been picked that morning. I think we have found our new local shop!

Also in the market are lots of food stalls offering all manner of soups, chicken, pork, fish etc. all looking delicious, especially the pork which comes in the form of whole roasted pigs laid atop the counters from which the proprietors were carving off hunks of pork and crackling and served with with rice, potatoes, mole ( a traditional sauce) and whatever else takes their fancy. It all looked fantastic, but just looking for something light we shared a plate of Corvina ( aka Sea Bass) and patatas fritas with a free bowl of ceviche de camarones thrown in for good measure. It was simply delicious and at $ 2.50, a bargain

Elsewhere, we have been sampling the Almuerezos, or meal of the day, at the many small restaurants that are everywhere around the city. They all seem very busy, but few tourists seem to frequent these places, which is a shame because the food is excellent and very cheap at between $2 and $4 and consist usually of a hearty soup, a main course, usually, meat, fish or chicken, with rice, potatoes, salad or veggies, all of which can be spiced up with the ubiquitous Aji salsa which is on every table and ranges from mildly spicy to blow your head off. All this is rounded off with a fresh juice and a dessert. Incredible value. So far, the food here has been a very pleasant surprise.

Mmmm, that pork with mole and crackling sounds delish!

Sounds like a good trip so far!

TELEFÉRIQO

Waking to blues skies, we decided today was the day to take a ride on the Telefériqo, ( cable car) up the slopes of Volcán Pichincha to the peak of Cruz Loma at 4050 metres above sea level. The cable car ride starts at the base station on the lower slopes at 3050m and the ascent, in six person cars, takes 8 mins., which, given the foreigners fare of $8.50, works out at $1 a minute. Expensive by Ecuadorian standards but still a good deal.

Before we get on the cable car we have to pass through VulQano Park, surely one of the highest fun fairs in the world? Upside down in a roller coaster at 3050m? I don't think so as I am not great with heights at the best of times.

Once in the cable car we begin to see the true extent of the size of Quito, a long thin city sandwiched between the two mountain ranges and creeping up the sides of the mountains. When reaching the top, the difference in altitude is not immediately noticeable, but as we start to walk upwards along the pathways away from the cable car station, we do notice the 1200m difference in altitude from Quito city.

We all slowly along up the ridge passing an enterprising local selling photo opportunities of her llamas to passing tourists for 50 cents a shot. A bit further on there a coral full of horses with there owners selling rides around the mountain. The horses look so miserable we decide to give it a miss. Close to the horses is a ramshackle hut housing a parrillada selling all manner of grilled meat, but, bearing in mind the proximity to the horse corral and the recent horse meat scandal back home in Europe, we decide to forego the delicious aroma of grilling meat and eat when we get back to Quito (plus, the meat and charcoal seemed indistinguishable!)

After a couple of hours we head back into Quito and wander back down through the residential neighbourhoods we passed through on the way up. Even in the residential areas, every fourth building along the main streets seems to be a restaurant. We settle on a small place and are seated at a small table with two other diners, 5 minutes later, another two join us around the VERY small table and we all tuck into the best locro, we have had yet. Followed, by Corvina ( Sea Bass) and a dessert of cheese and blackberry at. $ 2.50 one of the best meals we have had to date.

All in all a great day out and a rest from the intensive Spanish lessons. A must do for any open visiting Quito, although bearing mind the altitude at the top, best left for a few days after arrival unless acclimatised. We chose to walk from the club in Marisacal as we do enjoy walking and find it the best way to get to know a city. However, my pedometer informed me that we had walked a total of 8 miles ( my feet told me long before!), I could now see why others suggested we get a taxi to the base station..

Sounds like you are enjoying Quito so far! I have been studying abroad here for almost five months and will be leaving on Wednesday, May 22nd. If you have any questions about things to do/see/eat in or outside of Quito, just let me know! I'd be more than happy to give you some advice and pointers. Safe travels!

Many thanks Drew, I have just read your suggestions on Brenden's thread, some are already on our list, the others have just been added!

Any suggestions for places to eat in Otavalo and places to stay in Latacunga & Banos would be appreciated.

Also, do you have any experience, knowledge of the border crossings from southern Ecuador into Peru? We are thinking maybe via Macara or Zumba.

Have a good journey tomorrow.

Love your report so far. I am heading to Puerto Cayo, a small beach town next week. I will be baking for a small hotel on the beach starting June 1st. Be sure to stop by if you swing through that area. The beaches are gorgeous!
Martha

Hahaha... a prize for meeting me? Who knows... maybe...
I will be following you, Crellston!!!

OTAVALO

After a couple of weeks studying hard at our Spanish school right in the hustle and bustle of central Quito, we decide it is time for a break and head off to the town of Otavalo, famed for its Saturday market which attracts vendors from as far away as Columbia.

Every guide book tells you that it is a couple of hours by bus from Quito, but what they tend to omit is that it first takes an hour to get from Mariscal to the northern bus station at Carcelen in the national holiday traffic! After around 4 hours we arrive and, before heading off to our Hostál in the mountains outside of town, we decide to wander around and get a feel for the place. Walking through Plaza de Ponchos and its' surrounding streets the main sound we hear is of the many street vendors shouting " blah, blah, un dollar, un dollar!" seemingly, every 10 seconds or so. After a while we retreat to a small cafe for a beer before heading off to our hostal. Sitting a table in a courtyard savouring our beers, a VERY small and elderly Kichwa lady (and I do mean small, sitting down I am still taller than her!) stands next to us bowl in hand clearly looking for scraps of food. As we're are not eating, we have none so, against all our volunteer training, we give her a dollar coin. This elicits the biggest smile I have seen in a while. She then smothers me in kisses and strokes my, almost non existent, hair before wandering off into the streets, no doubt in search of her next target gringo.

We grab a taxi and head off on a $4 ride 4 kms into the mountain overlooking the town to our home for the next three nights, La Luna, http://www.lalunaecuador.com/ . A small but beautiful place, set in its own gardens with horses, chickens, dogs and cows all around. The views from the property are breathtaking as is the silence. It is a long, long time since we have been anywhere so quiet.
Our room in a small bungalow away from the main house. Small but nice with beamed ceilings and its own log fire, an unexpected bonus as we have become used to some very cold nights in Ecuador.

On the Friday before the market we get a lift up to Lagos Mojanda about 10kms further on into the mountains. We agree with the driver to return to pick us up in 5 hours which should be enough time to hike around the lake and around Cerro Negro, one of the highest peaks in the area. The lake itself is at an altitude of 3700m people and Cerro Negro even higher at 4300m. Even though we are now acclimatised, we notice the difference in altitude, especially as we climb higher on the walk.

It is a cloudy day so the peaks of the mountain are shrouded in cloud so we take the decision not to climb to the peak of Cerro Negro because there would be no view ( OK, that and because the pathway to the top seemed almost vertical!). Instead we set of around the lake, more or less on our own. It is an incredible walk and relatively flat and an easy around the lake and so, so quiet!

After an hour or so we start to climb inexorably higher up and around Cerro Negro and once again the effects of the altitude become more noticable. Every so often we get a waft of Eucalyptus, the tree which is spreading everywhere in South America after being introduced from Australia. Walking ever upwards we finally reach the Mirador or viewpoint on the ridge close to the summit of Cerro Negro which is still in cloud and even steeper close up! It is now three hours since we started off so we stop for lunch and meet up with another hiker walking the same route in the opposite direction - we later realise that this would have been much easier as the really steep parts would have been at the beginning! We always seem to follow the natural inclination of those that drive on the left to go clockwise around route as we would drive around roundabouts. Why?

On the way around the mountain thankfully much of the route is downhill but by now are legs are starting to feel the strain (first long hike for a few months). A kilometre or so along the track we stumble upon a VERY large fox playing on the track. It seems a bit shy, but playful as we approach. Maybe it is a youngster. If so, it is much bigger than a fox back home and I am not sure I want to meet its' daddy!

The views on this walk are amazing and it really is so peaceful. In parts it gets very cold because of the altitude and especially so on the windward side of the mountain. Having walked around most of Lago Mojanda and all of the mountain we finally head back down to our starting point to hoping that the taxi driver who dropped us off remembers to return to pick us up, otherwise it is another 10 km walk back to the hostel. My pedometer registers a step count of 20,000, not that I need to look as my feet are already telling me this! Thankfully the taxi arrives just as we do and we head back down to the Hostal and a very cold beer.

MARKET DAY

Saturday is THE market day we have heard so much about that we wonder whether it will live up to the hype. First, we head off to the animal market market on the outskirts of the town. Still in full swing, there are auctions of pigs, who, judging by the squealing, don't seem to happy about their imminent fate and, cows who could couldn't care less. All around the market are vendors selling Guinea pigs and chickens from large plastic sacks ( not sure the animal welfare people would approve!). After chatting to a few vendors to ascertain the going rate for pigs, guinea pigs etc., we set off for Plaza del Ponchos, the main square in town. The market has extended from the square along several locks in each direction and the streets are jam packed with people. Along the way we encounter our first attempted pickpocketing as four fat women sandbag us from all sides. Hands firmly on our valuables we survive the attempt unscathed and carry on looking around the countless stalls a wide variety of artesiania. The goods on sale are of pretty high quality, particularly the knitwear and leather goods but it does seem to be the same stuff on every other stall.

In essence, the artesania markets have not lived up to the hype so we head off to the food and produce markets which make no allowances for tourism. The stalls here are piled high with pyramids of the freshest fruit and vegetables and again, every stall holder is shouting ...... un dollar, un dollar! Getting hungry after an early start we settle down at one of the many counters in the "restaurant" section which is sporting a whole roast hog. The aroma is just too good to pass by. A generous portion of roast pork, accompanied by 4 types of corn, salad, potatoes fried in the pork juices topped off with the crispy pork skin. Probably not the most healthy meal in the world but very tasty!

All in all a nice experience but the market, although apparently one of the largest in South America has become a bit too heavily focused on tourists ( although the quality is very high) and we much preferred the food and animal markets. The true beauty of Otavalo is to be found in the surrounding countryside and it would be a shame just to come here for the market although the food and animal markets are definitely worth a look.

Thanks for the report. Pity about the market but the pork sounds delicious.

"the natural inclination of those that drive on the left to go clockwise around route" - also the inclination of Buddhists, right? Need to keep the right, not left, shoulder towards the sacred object/statue.

Enjoying reading about your trip. You are more adventurous with food than we were in Equador but our trip was so short we were overly cautious I imagine.

In Banos, have a look at La Chimera - people we met raved about the place.
We also liked the feel of La Posada del Arte.... Ate there and enjoyed their small gallery and had them ship a painting to us in Canada after we were home and realized we could not live without it. Free movies at Cafe Hood in the late afternoon if you get a rainy day there.

I am looking forward to hearing about Cuenca. And some of the beach towns. So much to see and do in Equador.