Our thoughts about Ecuador

Here are my thoughts about what we saw and did in Ecuador.
Ecuador was a really good surprise for me. I enjoyed the country, the people, the landscapes and the colours of the place. It will be a country I would be very happy to come back to.
Before coming here, we were reading about Ecuador and one of the things we read a lot was: be careful with your bags and wallet, there are a lot of pickpockets. And I am sure there are some, but we never had an issue. We never felt unsafe once. Obviously use common sense, but don’t let the warning you see written about this country, scare you. This is a wonderful country to visit.
We started with the Galapagos, which are amazing. The blue of the ocean, the green of the vegetation and the black of the volcanic rocks made such a striking combination. The animals we saw there: tortoises, turtles, sea lions, blue footed boobies and so much more. I would like to come back there in a few years to do some diving with the kids. I love diving and the Galapagos seem a great place to do so. Obviously, it is not the cheapest place to go, but I think it is worth it!
Mainland Ecuador is another place altogether. We didn’t go to the coast side of it. We did the Andean area: volcanos, mountains, waterfalls and valley everywhere. We took a lot of buses to go around, which is not the most comfortable way of traveling, but it was ok. And while in a bus, you can admire the beautiful scenery all around you.
The cities we visited: Quito, Ambato, Cuenca and Loja are all amazing in their own way, but my favourite was Cuenca. I am not sure why: the streets with a mix of Spanish influence and Ecuadorian style, the murals making the place so colourful and just the atmosphere of the city.
Ecuador is also a place where you can do zipline and paragliding. I knew zipline, but paragliding was a new and fantastic experience. I am so glad we all did that. Emma has developed a taste for adrenaline activities. Not as much as Andrew, but she can so much more than at the beginning of the year! I am so proud of her.
As for the food, it is not my favourite (Indian and French are hard to beat), but there are some really good things: cheese empanadas, tamales, kimbolito (a sweet bread), ceviche and juices. It is not as vegetarian friendly as some other places, but they tried to come up with something if they can. I ate a fair few eggs and cheese meals!
I enjoyed learning words (mainly food related words!) in Spanish and I want to learn more, to be able to understand my way around a lot better next time I come back to south America!
To sum up, I loved Ecuador and I really hope I will be back one day, maybe several months at a time to truly live an Ecuadorian life, who knows!
Mel

What are my thoughts on Ecuador? Well, where do I start? You can't compare the Galapagos to Peru, you simply can't. The Galapagos are set up for tourists, so long as you stay on the main path. If you stray however, you will quickly find something a little more local, Ecuadorian. The shore front of Santa Cruz island is lined with bars and restaurants. The kind foreigners are looking for. I'm not sure if other travellers are looking to have an adventure, but with a familiar feeling, but I'm not. Maybe I just say that because I'm on a budget. If money wasn't a worry, would I be overly comfortable at the expensive places on the beachfront, or would I still be happy with cooking at an apartment and finding the local eateries in the back streets? I'd like to think the latter, as I have come to learn that these back street places have the best food. Not just cheaper, but just, better. I don't know what they put into the food, spices, msg, lsd, I dunno. But as usual, when you get the courage to try local street and small restaurant food, you are rarely disappointed. This can be said for everywhere we went in Peru. My favourite word in Spanish is almuerzos. It means lunch. Almuerzos here consists of a soup, a main (usually rice and beans with some salad and meat) and a juice. Every small local restaurant's almuerzos is different. You never get the exact same thing twice. While a few of us have gotten a little over rice and beans, I love it.
I have tried lots of local beers here. Some really good, some less so but still worth trying. I was happy to stumble upon a small bar that sold beer made locally. Especially if it was a dark beer. IPA’s are not my favourite beer and after trying a few here, they're still not.
The countryside here is something else. Like nothing I have ever seen before. It is beautiful. Huge mountains, flowing rivers and plant life all over. I love it.
We read a bit about precautions to take while here. Be worried! Watch your bags, hide your things, cup yourself with both hands! From our experience, it's all bullshit. Maybe we're just lucky, or not stupid. We have had zero issues in Ecuador/Galapagos, while seeing locals leaving bags and phones here and there. Maybe there was a time when Ecuador was less than reputable, but not now. We noticed a big police presence in Quito and other places and feel that they know tourists bring in lots of dollars, so let's not piss them off. Of course if you're stupid and leave stuff lying around someone will take it. That's gonna happen in Townsville too ya know. Overall, I have not felt unsafe for any moment here, even when walking back a little late with the kids. I have found the people here to be friendly and helpful. Even when getting a taxi, we haven't felt the need to “haggle” over the price. Unlike India, everything seems more fair here. They don't just see tourists and double the price. That may seem a little unfair to India, but the reality is that it was a fight for everything, everyday. Anyway, back to Ecuador. We enjoyed our stay in Ecuador, very much so. The food, the culture, the landscape. Not so much the wine though, it's very hard to find an Ecuadorian wine. Mel liked Cuenca so much that they wanted to move there. I have to agree it is a lovely place.
With Peru now in my sights, I will miss Ecuador. It has been a fantastic place to visit and I would recommend it to all. Walking along the streets, visiting museums or monuments. It has been well worth coming here. I will be sad to say goodbye.
Kev

This is my sum-up for Ecuador. My favourite place was by far, the Galapagos. There were so many cool animals there making it an unforgettable experience, there were so many amazing stuff to see. Most of the animals were under water so we did some snorkelling and it was really fun (but cold). The landscape was really beautiful with lots of volcanos and plants, it was awesome. Baños was wonderful because that’s where I went paragliding, paragliding was a mind-blowing experience with stunning view, up in the paraglider there’s nothing in the way so I could see everywhere. There’s so much to do in Baños and I could have stayed there for ages but unfortunately, the bank account didn’t agree with me. Quito was huge and the people where pretty nice, there was lots of mountain around it, well actually everywhere in Ecuador had lots of mountains. There were some really cool stuff to see. The hotel we stayed in was in the historic part of Quito and in that area when we were walking in the streets, we ether walked up or we walked down, no even road it was that hilly. Ecuador was lovely, pretty much everything was good (well the earthquake was a little scary, it was the biggest one I’ve ever been in), but other than that I loved it. Well, goodbye Ecuador and hello Peru.
Andrew (10 years old)

These are my thoughts of Ecuador. I really liked seeing all the animals in the Galapagos. That was a big highlight. It was extraordinary to swim with fish. But I really liked the ziplines and the paragliding in Baños. That was the first time I truly enjoyed ziplines. That was mainly because mum was with me. But I also liked the view. The paragliding was just purely amazing. When I think about Ecuador, I think of mountains and little stalls on the side of the street. My favourite museum we visited in all of Ecuador was a hat museum. I loved how they made the hats. It gave me a thrill when I learnt some new words in Spanish. And that thrill makes you want to learn more. If you want to see splendid views, go to Ecuador.
Emma (9 years old)Read more