Day-trippin'

The last 10 days in Ecuador have been some of the most enjoyable of my whole trip thus far. I have completely fallen for this country - for its lush green landscapes, laid back atmosphere and incredibly friendly people to name but a few of its assets. This relatively small country is certainly a land of abundance with 84 volcanos (24 of which are active) a huge section of the Amazon as well as coastal lowlands, more exotic fruit than there are names for and more species of plants than the whole of North America. I learnt that Ecuador is the world's biggest banana exporter, second in the rose department with 24 roses costing just $2 and has a growing economy going from the 2nd poorest nation in South America to the 3rd most successful in just 10years since their dramatic switch to the dollar. I decided to take advantage of the small distances between the must-sees of the country and base myself in just 2 towns and day-trip my way around the country - reducing the number of packing and unpacking, hostel booking and bus finding situations. 

My first base of Banos was a welcome haven after my hideous 40hr bus journey - a tiny town set in a steep-sided jungle-clad valley with waterfalls at the end of every street - a South American Lauterbrunnen. I started with a self-guided trip to 'casa del arbol' - a famous treehouse overlooking the valley from which you can swing into the abyss - if you work out the correct camera angle. It was a beautiful place with an array of other swings, balance beams and zip-lines - a play park in the sky! 

The next day I had a near-enough private tour into the Amazon jungle - with only one other girl, our own driver and guide at our beck and call. We visited an animal sanctuary (for all the rescued-from-smugglers monkeys and ocelots), had a hair-raising canoe ride, saw the end of the road into the Amazon basin, hiked through mud and rivers, did a Tarzan swing, bathed in a waterfall, ate termites and ants, had our faces painted tribal-style by 8yr old girls, tried blow-piping and helped make our own hot chocolate straight from the tree! Hard to believe this was all in one day, right? That is the beauty of the organised day-trip - despite being a little more expensive than venturing out alone it generally grants you a multitude of activities you just wouldn't be able to fit in when having to navigate from place to place yourself. 

However, I did attempt this feat a few times in Ecuador as travelling on public buses is just so cheap ($1.25 per hour) although my travel companion on my outing to Mindo (a village in a cloud forest with a fab butterfly park) had her money stolen from her bag by sneaky snack-sellers that got on the bus and took her bag to the back without us noticing. After this, I splashed out on an organised tour to Volcan Cotopaxi - the highest active volcano in the world. It was well worth the money, as the fantastic tour guide Omar was worth his weight in gold, his energy, knowledge and cheeky personality keeping everyone entertained on the bus journey. We hiked up to the refuge at 4864m in hail and on slippery volcanic sand and then attempted to mountain bike down (I gave up after the first corner - Omar hadn't been joking about this being for experienced riders only). 

I ended up spending the following 2 days listening to more of Omar's fascinating histories of Ecuador and its politics (7 presidents in 10 years and they've tried to kill their current one) as I took more day trips to Quilatoa lake (a crater lake formed by the melting of a glacier as the volcano it sat upon erupted and collapsed) and Otovalo (an arts and crafts market where I overloaded my backpack with fantastic textile purchases). 

Oh and let's not forget the equator, the country's namesake, which I stood upon not once but twice on different day trips from Quito (proof that the Incas knew this was the centre of the Earth too as Quito means middle in Quechua). Ecuador, ofcourse, is not the only country on the Equator but the Andes give it a distinct advantage as they can use volcanos as reference points for sunrise and sunset points at the solstices and Equinox. I visited a fab sundial that had lines for every time of year, corresponding with exact locations of Inca settlements, and a huge vertical column in the middle into which the sun shines directly at noon on each Equinox day and your shadow disappears for 3mins - shame I wasn't there for one of those - did see the water spiral in opposite directions on either side of the line though. 

The day-trips, interspersed with relaxing days, great food and brilliant hostels, and, of course, lots of conversation with tour guides, taxi drivers and fellow travellers, left me planning my next, longer, trip to this stunning country as I said goodbye. Might need more than a day for the Galapagos though.