Goodbye to Ecuador

If getting into Ecuador proved diffcult because of passport control, for a while it looked like leaving might also be problematic.  We were booked on the 1745 plane to Madrid and had all day to get to Quito airport from not very far away, visiting Cotopaxi National Park on route to see the 5,900m high volcano.  However the road out of the park was very bad due to heavy rain in recent weeks and the journey became much longer than planned.  With time to spare there seemed no need to worry until, at the end of a long cobbled country lane, we found the exit closed. There was a rally in full swing with cars screaming down the road that we wanted to use and they told us we would not be able to go through until after 4pm - too late to get the plane.

So we doubled back and found another rougher cobbled track that in half an hour brought us to...the start of the rally!  In the narrow, steep street there were lots of rally cars, drivers in helmets waiting to start their time trial - and some other people trying to get up the hill to what looked like a wedding reception.  After a few minutes of gridlock we got through and our driver/guide, Lenin, started a rally time trial of his own to get us to Quito - first to the hotel to get the rest of our luggage and then the airport.  We made it thanks to him.

So, rather more excitement than we needed at the end of a quiet few days unwinding in mainland Ecuador.  We received some wonderful hospitality from our friends in Quito.  Yolanda and Macarena each cooked us a marvelous dinner and Pippa and Rob made us very welcome at their wonderful home in the valley.  We spent a couple of nights at the very friendly Hacienda Hato Verde near volcano Cotopaxi where we had a real wood fire in the room and a herd of cows for company just outside.

While the weather allowed only fleeting glimpses of the volcano, we did see a number of interesting Ecuadorian towns which gave us more insight into how the people live.  The highlanders seem hard-working with thriving local markets run mostly by the indigenous population, like the one we visited in Saquisisi.  The "mestizo" (mixed Spanish/native) people live mostly in the bigger towns which often specialise in some form of industry.  Almost every shop in Pelileo for instance sells jeans and Lenin said there are more than 200 ice cream shops in Salcedo (population 10,000).  He may be right - I gave up counting at fifty as we drive through.

Flight of the condor

The national park was enjoyable with wild bulls and horses roaming the cold 3,800m high plane below the volcano (hidden by cloud mostly) while Lake Limpiopungo sustains a variety of bird life.  The highlight of this last day was not one but two sightings of condors circling above us with their enormous wingspans silhoutted against the sky.  This was an appropriate way to end this wildlife-filled trip and good to see the condor still breeding in the wild despite modern contamination of its habitats.  The condor was sacred to the Incas and remains a symbol of South America - a continent that we have come to love in the last few months.