4 weeks later and we are back where we began in sunny Guayaquil. A spectacular drive here through El Cajas National Park with the usual temperature range of 2° to 28°. At one point you all you could see was mountains, blue sky and nothing else except a layer of cloud below. Impossible to capture in a photo but we tried!
Back in Guayaquil it was fun to walk the Malecon with everyone else enjoying the weekend. It was also good to be in shorts again.
Once again Ecuador did not disappoint with hidden treasures. We climbed up Las Penas (444 steps easy peasy at sea level) with beautiful views of the city and river.
A short taxi ride and walk across an 800m long pedestrian and cycle bridge took us to Isla Santay . Who would have imagined a beautifully preserved mangrove forest complete with a small village and resident crocodiles so close to a busy port city. It’s one of Ecuador’s idiosyncrasies that there is a lot of unfinished and half derilect stuff, graffiti covers even some of the loveliest buildings but then there are unexpected jewels like this.
We leave here tomorrow and it’s been an adventure that was very different from the one we had planned. The mountains are more beautiful than any I have ever seen. Even simply looking out of the car or hostel window made my heart soar. I rediscovered a passion for hiking, feel a lot fitter than when I arrived and it has inspired Geoff and I (probably not the teenagers though!) to do more mountain exploration. The people are shy, reserved but gentle and endlessly patient, especially with our poor Spanish. They are not as exuberant as other S. Americans but still just as welcoming. It’s a safe and easy country to travel around, even with Geoff behind the steering wheel. There are lots of incredible places which the guidebooks barely touch on. Hire a car if you can as it allows you much more freedom to explore. Geoff’s favourite phrase was “this would be great place for motorbiking”. The mountain roads made for some interesting drives but they are in the main, traffic free. The cities are easy to drive around with a much more forgiving style than in Europe or the USA. It took a lot of research to find a company who met our budget and Carmax rent a car were not only the best value by miles, they dropped the car off at our hotel and were very easy and helpful people to deal with. The mountain regions are full of colour, both landscapes and people. It seems like it has been untouched by the internet, or any of the usual trappings of modern life. It’s not like anywhere I have been before.
We enjoyed early morning walks along the beach at Canoa discovering what the tide had brought in but on the whole there are much better beaches in other countries and the interior is so special that I would recommend giving the coast a miss.
If you only manage one travel adventure in your lifetime and you love the great outdoors come here and come soon. It’s still uncommercialised with many areas unchanged for generations but geographically it’s quite small. You can see cities, mountains and jungle all in a few hours of travel. Thanks Ecuador we will miss you.
Pirate Travels 