I rarely go to museums anymore. Thy tend to put me to sleep. All that walking around and looking at stuff. TV has given us all we need to look at and 86ed the whole walking around thing. But there was one museum I had to take in. And so after a year in Quito I finally got to see the museum of her most celebrated artist, Oswaldo Guayasamin.
Vilcabamba is a small village within the Vilcabamba Valley in southern Ecuador and as famous for its dramatic landscape as for the longevity of its inhabitants. With lush green scenery, a mild year-round climate, and fresh mountain air, it is no wonder that Vilcabamba has been a popular vacation spot for hundreds of years. Once a retreat for Inca royalty, foreigners discovered Vilcabamba in the 1970s after a series of articles was published highlighting the long lives of the locals.
Since then the area has been known as the Valley of Longevity and has turned into one of the most popular destinations in Ecuador. Because most people come to Vilcabamba to relax, the town has managed to keep its small Read more
Banos, in my mind, is one the top spot for tourism in Ecuador. There you have so many adventure activities in one spot, you’re guaranteed to overwork your adrenal glands. No other place in Ecuador can you go from Bungee jumping….Banos by bike offers a great way to take in its scenery and stunning vistas and the freedom to go where you want at your own pace.
Puerto López is a small fishing town with a sweeping, horseshoe-shaped beach located along the famous Ruta del Sol in Ecuador. Fishing boats and sunbathers add some color to the yellow sand beach which gives way to small headlands as you head into town. Quiet and unassuming, there is not a whole lot to do in Puerto López itself, but the town makes an ideal base to explore the nearby Parque Nacional Machalilla, Ruta del Sol, as well as watch the migration of Humpback whales through June to September.
Ecuador’s only coastal preserve, Parque Nacional Machalilla, has protected 40,000 hectares of cloud forest and tropical dry forest as well as 20,000 hectares of ocean since 1979. An entrance fee of Read more
So I’ll round out our little mini guide to Ecuador’s second city with my top three tourist attractions. Like I said before, Guayaquil is easily passed over because it seems like a humid quagmire of noise and rush-hour traffic. But get beyond the grud and you’ll find a few places worth seeing if you are stuck for a couple of days in transit or sorting out visas.
Guayaquil, if you recall is Ecuador’s commercial hub and home to over 3 million people. It is the southern city and the gateway to Peruvian travel. Most people in the past have quickly made their way through in pursuit of more glamorous destinations in the mountains and the coast. But as more more people are straying on, living and working, there becomes a need for a little guide to places to stay, places to eat and places to drink.
The Ecuador Gringo has teamed up with a few other awesome expats to bring you more travel tips. Here is a guest post from N.H.Rosen:
There are few places in Latin America as atmospheric as Quito’s Centro Histórico. The city’s colonial core is the largest and best-preserved collection of colonial architecture in the New World, and it is still the beating heart of Quito. The neighborhood was declared the first UNESCO World Heritage Site, and after visiting its narrow, hilly streets and regal plazas, you’ll understand why.
Any visit to the Centro Histórico, indeed any visit to Quito, should begin at the Plaza Grande. This is the city’s central square, and it is flanked by the city’s cathedral and presidential Read more
Ever wanted to feel like Butch Cassidy or Sundance riding free over the Andean hills of South America? Well, you don’t have to be a bank robber in exile to do so anymore. The Folks at Ride Andes have it all sorted for you. Just book online, fly down and they take care of the rest. Airport transfers, accommodation, horses—and you won’t have to worry about the cops tracking you down. Ride Andes is one of Ecuador’s most distinguished outfitters for Horse tour holiday adventures. Don’t know how to ride—don’t let that stop you. Ride Andes even gives riding lessons.
Most popular amongst the tours is the Colonial Hacienda tour. Imagine setting off on beautiful grassy tracks taking Read more
It was one of those rides that makes you shut your eyes and wait for its end, untimely or the other. Greg, Sean and I sped out of Manta’s domestic terminal, all 8 cylinders of Greg’s jacked up 4×4 firing us into tomorrow, northward up the Ruta del Sol. Quick was the keyword for this trip. Flying to Manta took only 30 minutes from Quito a much reduced version of the 10 hour bus ride. And after the accident last months involving an overloaded bus rolling off the side of a cliff, more highly advisable. But now we were on to Bahia and the beach of Canoa. Two spots on the Manabi map on the verge of an explosion Read more
Each day my eyes drift toward Pichincha
hovering over mighty and still.
I have felt the insides of the earth
clambering on it’s summit. Cut blood
slipping on its surfaces
and trembled at the vertigo.
To be close to the Gods is to be at risk
of falling deep into sharp ravines,
To risk loneliness and slow death,
To be torn inside out by your own isolation.
So I clamber on apart from others
scaling his old peaks,
the ice still frozen from the early morning frost.
To be closer to the unattainable,
To go no further than I possibly could–
the apex peak of ecstasy,
and then there is only the Read more
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