ECUADOR: HACIENDA CACAO & MANGO AND CHURUTE MANGROVES ECOLOGICAL RESERVE

 March 28, 2022

After hours of winding roads and then dirt roads, which were hard on me but didn't seem to affect anyone else (I'm so wimpy), we finally made it to our last destination of the trip, the Charute Mangroves Ecological Reserve and Cocoa Farm. The Ecological Reserve covers about 220 square miles, and is about 25 miles from the city of Guayaquil.

Map adapted from one found here

We stopped first at Hacienda Cacao & Mango, a farm focused on agritourism.

Our first item of business was a stop at the WC. I don't usually mention that in posts, but this one was extra cute.

Next up was lunch. All the food is grown locally and organically (or so they say). I loved the use of tree sections for placemats.

ECUADOR: ANDEAN FOOTHILLS

 March 28, 2022

On our last morning in Ecuador, we had to have a Covid antigen test, required for entry into the United States. Our guide Javier arranged for someone in a lab coat who was supposed to be a "medical" person to come to our room to administer the official test. He did some pretty light swishing around in our nostrils with a swab and headed off with our samples to the lab. Later in the day we got the certificate certifying that we were negative for Covid in our email.

We had one last delicious breakfast in the hotel--eggs benedict and some bread for me, complete with a little pighead butter pat.

We got on the road towards Guayaquil, with a couple of planned stops.

We really enjoyed our time in Cuenca, where even the overpasses are artsy.

We basically retraced our path of two days prior, just going down instead of up. Javier confirmed that the shorter route was still impassable. 

ECUADOR: CAJAS NATIONAL PARK AND THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE

 March 27, 2022

I mentioned in a previous post that Cuenca means "basin" in Spanish. What makes Cuenca a basin are the tall Andes Mountains that surround it. Our guide Javier took us on a drive high into the Andes to visit Cajas National Park and the Continental Divide. The name Cajas is derived from the Quichua word cassa, meaning "gateway to the snowy mountains." An alternate meaning is "cold." The average temperature is about 55° F (not that cold), and the average rainfall is about 42 inches. That's pretty warm for the elevation, but Javier reminded us that we were pretty close to the equator, and the snow level is 16,000 feet!

Buenos días, Señor. Como está usted?

The park covers about 110 square miles and is between 10,170 and 14,600 feet above sea level. We stopped at an area called Toreadora, or "bullfighter." 

I suppose this serene, stunningly beautiful lake somewhat resembles a bullring--it is round and has sloping slides that somewhat resemble bleachers. 

ECUADOR, CUENCA: OLD TOWN

 March 27, 2022

The historical center of the city of Cuenca has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The official name of the city is Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca. The name Cuenca, which means "basin" in Spanish, refers to its position in a broad valley in the Andes. Cuenca was built by the Spaniards atop the ruins of Tumebamba, an Incan city destroyed in a civil war just before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors.

The city's coat of arms includes the words Primero Dios y Despues Vos, which translates as "First God and then you." 

There are many beautiful buildings in the older part of town, and some date to the colonial era. Others are more recent. Our first stop was the San Francisco Church, largely constructed in the 19th century. The clock tower was added in 1930 and includes the Latin phrase Ora Pro Nobis ("Pray for us") just above the clock.

 

ECUADOR: FAREWELL GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, HELLO CUENCA (A WALK THROUGH THE UPPER CITY AND A VISIT TO THE MARKET)

 March 26-27, 2022

The Alya crew had one more wet landing on Bachas Beach (Santa Cruz Island) planned for the morning, but I was hesitant to get wet just before leaving so I didn't go. I wish I had as Bob said it was one of the best walks of the trip. He was most excited by the fact that they actually saw a flamingo--just one, but what a setting!

I should know better than to miss an opportunity. 

After they got back, we were returned to the tiny Galapagos Airport, where we waited for several hours for our flight to Guayaquil. We were reminded not to neglect wearing a face mask, maintaining social distance, and washing our hands because "The pandemic is not over."  Darn. We had hoped it had disappeared while we were in the wild.

Our group of four couples split up at the Guayaquil Airport, with two couples continuing to Quito and then home, and Bob, Terry, Geneil, and I continuing our adventure. We were picked up by a driver who didn't speak English and who was not terribly interested in trying to understand my attempts at Spanish. He drove us to Cuenca, a drive we thought would take 2.5 to 3 hours, but that he said would take 5, and that actually took 5.5 hours. Terry looked up the route on his phone and saw a long way and a short way to Cuenca, the shorter way having tolls. I tried to clarify with the driver that we wanted the shorter one and would pay the tolls, but he said there was only one road. That really bugged us. (We later learned that the shorter way had been closed since the previous August because of a  massive landslide, so there WAS only one road!)

ECUADOR, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS: SANTIAGO ISLAND, Part 2

 March 25, 2022 - Afternoon

We had one final snorkeling adventure planned on the afternoon of our last full day in the Galapagos Islands off Espumilla Beach on Santiago Island. This last snorkeling trip was, in my opinion, the best of the many snorkeling opportunities we had. I wish we'd had a better underwater camera, but these posters at least illustrate the wide variety of fish in the Galapagos ocean.

ECUADOR, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS: SANTIAGO ISLAND, Part 1

 March 25, 2022 - Morning  

We were feeling a bit waterlogged after a lot of snorkeling on this trip and decided to opt out of the morning snorkeling trip in anticipation of another snorkeling trip planned for the afternoon. We planned to just stay in our room and get caught up on reading, journaling, etc. 

However, one of the employees came to our cabin to tell us Fernanda had called and asked him to see if we wanted to go exploring in a panga. That sounded like fun, so off we went.

The panga traced a path along the shoreline, and we saw all kinds of animals--boobies, sea lions, pelicans, diving birds, and more.

I had fun taking pictures of Bob taking pictures.