Otavalo – Día de los Difuntos
An on-the-ground account of Día de los Difuntos in Otavalo, showing timing, crowds, logistics, food traditions, and real visitor experience.
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Hiking Ecuador – Cascada de Peguche
I finally managed to extract myself from Quito after 3 months of living there and becoming very comfortable indeed! Given that I hadn’t done much hiking for quite a while, I decided to base myself in Otavalo for a week to do at least 2 of the hikes around that area – the Laguna de…
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Center for Contemporary Art – Quito
The Centre for Comtemporary Art is in located one of the most incredible and historically significant buildings in Quito. I’d walked past it a lot while I was living in the Historic Centre during my first month in Quito and had always wanted to see inside the building. So I finally got my act together to…
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Hiking Ecuador – Volcán Pasochoa
There are several hikes that are within reach of Quito on a day trip, but the main issue is getting to the trail-heads on public transport. Given that I’d already hiked to the summit of Rucu Pichincha last year, the one I particularly wanted to do was Volcán Pasochoa, but it seemed like it was going…
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Leyendas Nocturnas at El Tejar – Quito – Ecuador
Trawling the Quito Cultura website last week (as I do every Sunday) I came across the following advertisement for Leyendas Nocturnas (Night Legends) at the El Tejar Convent in downtown Quito. From the description, it seemed as if it might follow the same formula as the awesome night tour I did at the Santiago General…
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Tripa Mishqui in La Floresta – Quito – Ecuador
There is no shortage of places to eat in Quito, including a multitude of restaurants that cater primarily for tourists. And although there is a growing culture around Container Food Parks (ie small cafe/restaurants made from shipping containers) and Food Truck Parks in Quito and other major centres, I have found that in many cases they are quite…
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Hiking Ecuador – Cascada Condor Machay
In my efforts to do a little hiking while I’m staying put here in Quito, I headed out to Cascada Condor Machay this weekend with Laura and Mark. I’d met them at my Saturday night language exchange group a few weeks ago and, given the run of cloudy weather we’ve had recently, we decided to…
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Ecuador National Symphony Orchestra – Quito
One of the best recommendations I can make is that if you are visiting a country for a while, join the expat Facebook group(s) associated with that country. I have been a member of Discover Chile for several years now, and when I knew I was coming to Ecuador for an extended stay I joined…
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Marionette Theatre – Estulticia
Anyone who read my post about visiting the Puppet Workshop in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, knows that I’m completely enamored with puppetry of any kind. It really doesn’t matter if it is just a sock puppet (I’ve made a few of those for bemused people) – I love the artistry and suspension of belief that necessarily accompanies…
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Fiesta da la Luz – Quito – Ecuador
I arrived in Quito on the Independence Day holiday – commemorating Ecuador’s departure from Greater Colombia on August 10, 1830. As part of the festivities around this, and also as part of the “Summer of Arts” in the city, several of the most important buildings in the Historical Centre of Quito were lit up in the…
