One of the most popular day-tours from Quito involves hiking to the glacier of Cotopaxi – the second highest volcano in Ecuador. I’d never done it, despite spending a significant amount of time here over the years, so when Pedro and Raúl came to visit, this was high on the list. Similar to the day I…
I really, really like the town of Loja in southern Ecuador! I was fortunate enough to be there for part of the Festival Internacional de Artes Vivas Loja, but aside from this, I also just really enjoyed the vibe of the town itself. I also love that the architecture is very different to what you see in…
When deciding what I’d do for the 4 days I’d have to wait for Pedro and Raúl to return from the Galapagos, I discovered that the timing would overlap very nicely with the end of the 2nd annual Festival Internacional de Artes Vivas Loja (otherwise known as the Loja Festival). And given that I’d wanted to visit…
My original plan last year was to travel from Cuenca to Loja and Vilcabamba in southern Ecuador before heading to Peru. That was scuppered when I had to hightail it to Peru directly from Cuenca to arrive in time to do the incredible 10-day Huayhuash Circuit trek. So when my friends Pedro and Raúl decided they wanted…
Aside from wanting to stay somewhere less touristy, the other main reason we chose Puerto Lopez as our coastal destination in Ecuador was its proximity to what is touted as one of Ecuador’s best beaches – Los Frailes. It is literally about 10 minutes up the road, so we hopped a bus heading north and…
The not-exactly-great-for-enjoying-the-beach weather during our stay in Puerto Lopez meant that we ended up going on a 4hr excursion to the small community of Agua Blanca. We probably wouldn’t have made this visit if it had been sunny, and that would have been a shame, because it is a lovely 1/2-day trip to an amazing…
In 4 months of living in Ecuador this year (and 1 month traveling through Ecuador last year), I’ve never been to the beach. What can I say? I’m really not a beach person! But my friends Pedro and Raúl most definitely are, so our first port of call when they arrived to visit, was the…
I was hankering for an awesome Empanada de Viento this afternoon so I decided to walk the 45 minutes from where I’m staying to Parque La Floresta and my favourite chefs in all of Quito. Seriously, all the food from these food carts is incredible! An Empanada de Viento is a heavenly mixture of fried…
Along with Volcán Pasachoa, the other mountain that for some reason I desperately wanted to climb while living in Ecuador this year was Fuya Fuya. It was actually for this reason that I decided to base myself in Otavalo for a week – the Cascada de Peguche, Laguna Cuicocha and the Día de los Difuntos were just…
Most people come to Otavalo for the enormous Saturday market on a day tour. They catch the bus up from Quito early in the morning or the night before, shop, and then catch the bus back, without ever stopping to explore the surroundings. Which is a shame, because Otavalo is ringed by volcanoes and there is…