ECUADOR - Beautiful people and culturaly rich
We arrived in Ecuador at the end of February during their low season (Dec-May) which means rainier days, cooler temperatures in the highlands and hot and humid near the coast. After spending approximately 4 or 5 weeks in Columbia, we were amazed to see the lack of trees and the enormous agricultural fields covering almost every foot hills in sight. Short on time as we had plans to ship our vehicle back from Guayaquil to Vancouver BC, we had approximately 2 weeks to visit as many sites as possible.

​Our first stop: Otavalo Market.  Fresh produce (live or dead), vegetables, fruits, grains, beans and crafts were of abundance.

Many Otavalenos today still wear their traditional outfits. The men are usually seen wearing a blue poncho, fedoras, white calf-length knickers, and a shimba, a braid that hangs down almost to their waist.

The women wear white blouses, blue skirts and shawls with jewelry being a staple of their traditional outfits.
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Native women & man selling their harvested grains and beans in the streets of Otavalo.
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The fruits and vegetables of the Otavalo Market.
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The pig section of the Otavalo Market.
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Native women selling their harvested products in the streets of Otavalo.
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One of the fruits found in Ecuador - Achotillo a.k.a. Rambutan
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A native Otavaleno at the animal and craft market.
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The women leaving the Otavalo animal and craft market.
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The Otavalo animal and craft market.
After a long day walking around the markets, we continued on to our first camping spot before moving onto discovering the rest of the country. 

As we moved further South, we stopped in at the true Equatorial line, which is directly off the highway on the way to the city of Quito in Cayembe. It is said that this location is the proper location to read 0'0'0'.

​We made our way to the big city of Quito for a quick stop to visit the Cathedral and then onto the much anticipated stay in Cotopaxi National Park. 

Cotopaxi, about 50 km south of Quito at an elevation of 5,897 m, had great camping.
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Overnight camping stay at Hosteria Rose Cottage just south of Otavalo.
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Cayembe, 0'0'0'
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Learning about the Equatorial line in Cayambe.
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The Cathedral in the city of Quito.
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Front doors of the Cathedral in Quito.
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The breathtaking Cotopaxi Volcano, Cotopaxi National Park. We had heard that getting a good picture of the volcano was not alway possible. We made sure to wake up bright and early and patiently wait for the best moment to capture it. Luckily, it presented itself in the best way possible.
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As we prepare to hike part of Cotopaxi Volcano. Elevation of 5,897 m
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Camping at Cotopaxi. Far from warm, make sure to have warmer clothes.
The many Toyotas we came across throughout Ecuador.
In the southern part of Ecuador this time of year the weather was particularly hot and humid to the point of making us feel really uncomfortable and wanting to spend our days inside where the air conditioning made everything better.

As we prepare for the shipping of our vehicle, we were fortunate to stay at this great B&B Tangara Guest House in Guayaquil as camping would of been too hot for us. We spent our last days walking around the city and spending some time with the Iguanas in Parque de las Iguanas in the city center of Guayaquil.
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Parque de las Iguanas, Guayaquil.
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Parque de las Iguanas, Guayaquil.
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Parque de las Iguanas, Guayaquil.
Unfortunately with the amount of time we had in Ecuador, we missed travelling the coast and the Galapagos Islands. As we plan our second part of our trip, we will most likely be able to come back through southern Ecuador to visit the places we were not able to see this time around.

Top 5 places in our opinion you do not want to miss visiting while in Ecuador:
  • Cotopaxi National Park
  • Otovalo Market
  • The Galapagos Islands
  • The western coastal region
  • The city of Cuenca and Banos