Getting to the Islands - Stopping in Ecuador

People generally travel to the Galápagos via route through Quito or Guayaquil, Ecuador. Quito has a better reputation for being safer, while Guayaquil seems to be known as a "rougher" coastal city. We have no idea if this is true or not. Quito was about a 4-hour flight from Miami. Many tour operators schedule a couple of days in Quito just in case someone's bags don't make it. This allows some time for them to catch up, as once you are on the boat, there is little chance of you seeing them for the rest of your trip. No one in our group had any problems with lost baggage, and we were coming from various areas around the U.S. Even though everyone is anxious to get to Galápagos, don't overlook the opportunities for exploring mainland Ecuador.

Quito is a rather large city, with a population of 2 million people, and situated at 9,000 feet altitude. It is surrounded by five active volcanoes, and absolutely beautiful mountainous countryside. Quito is truly a very unique place with a lot of culture and history influenced by the ancient Inca people. The primary language spoken is Spanish. There is some English spoken, mostly at the hotels and restaurants that cater to tourists, but it certainly helps to know a little bit to help you get by in the local markets. It is nice to show an effort to at least speak some of the local lingo. The US Dollar is widely accepted as a form of currency, but make sure your bills are in good shape. Some establishments have been known to reject wrinkled money.

The city has everything from traditional South American architecture to high-rise hotels and buildings. Driving around the city was usually an experience in itself, similar to Mexico, where the speed limit is… however fast you can go, or as close as you can get to the guy next to you. As we traveled around this city, it was interesting to note the many "Internet Cafés" that existed. There was one practically on every block in the main city, an apparent booming business there. The standard of living within Quito seemed quite high when compared to other destinations we have been to. We stayed at the Hotel Alameda, which put to shame many of the hotels we have stayed at in the US. The Alameda is a four-star hotel by any standard. The local cuisine was varied, and sometimes included the unique item of guinea pig!

During the stay in Quito, our tour group offered a few options on things to do while we were there. The main option was a city tour, with local history and site seeing. As an alternative, arrangements could be made for a tour of the Maquipucuna Cloud Forest Reserve. We opted for the latter since we were more focused on the natural aspect of things and would be seeing much of Quito with the market tour the following day.

The journey to the Maquipucuna Cloud Forest was lead by Juan Carlos Guerra (jclandscapes@hotmail.com), freelance tour guide, arranged by the local Aquatic Encounters representative, Carmen. Juan Carlos is an expert on the many aspects of the cloud forest, an avid birder and naturalist. In between showing us in his field guides what we could expect to see, we got a limited education on his rather unique interest in shrunken heads!! Momentarily there was an uneasy feeling since we were being taken to one of these remote regions of Ecuador, and could be "shrunken" quite easily! Juan Carlos assured us the practice had stopped long ago, and his family interest was for archeological intentions only. Whew! (p.s. if you know a collector of shrunken heads, I am sure Juan Carlos would love to talk to you)

The journey to the Cloud Forest was a very bumpy, almost nausiating, 2 hour long ride from Quito over some fairly primitive roads, overlooking cliffs and valleys of the Ecuadorian landscape. If you want a good idea of what this region looks like, rent the movie "Proof of Life" starring Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan. This movie was filmed in this area, and Juan Carlos acted as a guide for Russell himself (with pictures to prove it). The scenery on the way there was spectacular; lush jungle hillsides, sometimes covered with Guava trees, and velvet-green covered rocky peaks. You also get to see various views of the several volcanoes in the area.

The Cloud Forest has a main research station that houses many volunteer students to study the area. The entire reserve is enormous, and we were only able to cover a fraction of it in our 3 hour-long hike. Other hikes were available, up to 8 hours into the jungle, but we were limited to just the day trip. In walking through the Cloud Forest, you are surrounded by dense brush and an unimaginable number of plant species. Though there were reported to be hundreds of bird species known there, we saw few but heard many; mostly toucans perched high above in the canopy.

The following day was taken up with a tour of the Otovalla Marketplace, where local merchants and artists marketed their crafts extensively. Needless to say, Americans walking around this place tend to attract attention and become the focus of their marketing efforts. Bartering is the norm here, and can be fun as well. Resistance was futile, and we came back many dollars poorer, but with many local crafts at excellent prices. Lunch was at a quaint little villa nearby, however, no guinea pig on the menu.

Prior to departing for the Galápagos, all of your checked baggage is inspected at the hotel by Galápagos National Park personnel for any non-endemic species (plants, seeds, or animal) you might be carrying onto the islands. The inspection was done in the hotel lobby, and was very quick and painless.