Travel is so often filled with discomfort – hunger, fatigue,
unpredictable bus schedules, gastrointestinal issues, so much can hinder one’s
enjoyment of the journey. Being on the
road for months, we expect to stay in a variety of places. Sometimes the four of us share a hotel
room. Sometimes we rent a house. Sometimes we have a designer bathroom, other
times, we have an outhouse. We did a
homestay for a week. We’ve learned that
we can sleep anywhere (even with traffic and barking dogs), but it’s really
nice to have enough space for our stuff and a common area for hanging out. We
have been cooking our own meals for probably half of our time in Ecuador, which
is a good balance.
After housing logistics and basic needs are taken care of,
the next priority is the perennial “what to do.” What are the attractions and how should we
spend our time? We stayed for a week in
Quito, a big city with churches, museums, and neighborhoods to explore. In Cuenca, we attended Spanish school and got
to know the small city and its environs quite thoroughly. We traveled up the entire length of Ecuador’s
coast and got our fill of the beach. Throughout, we were looking for the perfect
balance of interesting activities vs. down time. Not only is it too exhausting to go
sightseeing everyday, but the kids need at least a couple of hours a day to do
school work. And we all need to rest!
Finally, there’s the question of who to meet and get to
know. We’ve had a chance to meet fellow
travelers, including three families who are on the road for an extended period
of time like us. In Cuenca, we met some
members of the expat community, and got to know Ecuadorians through our tutors
and our host family. We’ve also had a
handful of Ecuadorians to look up. Pablo
Proano was kind enough to show us Quito at night, and Juan Sevilla set us up
with our Galapagos trip and recommended an excellent lodge in the Oriente. Esteban Arévalo was a great host in Cuenca,
taking us to surrounding villages on local buses, and recommending a wonderful
hike in El Cajas. We’ve solicited and
taken advice from everybody we’ve met about where to go and what to see in
Ecuador.
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| Ruby doing homework in the house |
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| Neil in the dining area |
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| The kids hanging out on the porch |
In Mindo, we found the perfect mix of ingredients – basic
needs, activities, and people – at La Lomita. We rented a large, comfortable house outside
of town, up a dirt road and off the grid.
Our hosts, Marjorie and Nano (an American and Chilean), live next door
with their children Silvio and Solange.
Nano’s cousin, Palele, was also there to help out. They are transforming La Lomita into a
beautiful property. In addition to the
main house, which we rented, they are building cabins and a restaurant. The construction is whimsical, with glass
bottles embedded in the walls to bring in light during the day, and turning the
cabins into glowing lanterns at night.
Plans are to build a natural swimming pool and to plant fruit trees and
an organic garden.
Mindo also provided the perfect range of activities. Situated in a cloud forest between the coast
and the high sierra, Mindo is a small town with a plaza, a few restaurants,
local stores for groceries and vegetables, one pharmacy, etc. The tourist attractions are: canopy zip lining,
tubing on the river, horseback riding, waterfalls, mountain biking, bird
watching, butterfly farm, chocolate tour, and most strangely, a frog
concert. With only a few days there, we
did the butterfly farm, waterfall, chocolate tour, mountain biking, and bird
watching. We didn’t feel like we had to
see too much. Just walking around the
property, watching birds or guantusas from the porch, or venturing down the
dirt road to town was interesting. The
kids had time for school work every day, with soccer, ping pong and badminton
breaks. It was a restful period of time
in a beautiful setting.
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| The kids in the Mindo playground |
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| Mountain biking 20 minutes out of town |
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| Solange, Ruby, Oscar, Silvio holding Skippy |
And when it came to the people, we really loved getting to
know Marjorie, Nano, Palele, Silvio and Solange. Marjorie brought us fresh fruit every morning
and eggs from her chickens. She lent us
her cellphone when we went into town.
She also gave me medicine and special soap for my jellyfish sting. Family members drove us where we needed to
go. Palele took us on a hike to the
waterfall, and he and Nano played soccer with the kids. Nano, who has gone to culinary school,
treated us to a delicious barbeque on our last night. The kids bonded over chickens, video games,
and rainbow loom. We felt like part of
the family and were sad to leave. We got
to learn just a little about what their lives are like. We hope to see them again, either in Ecuador
or New York!
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| Nano at the grill |
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| Silvio and a baby chick |
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| Marjorie, Yo, Neil, Nano, Palele |
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