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Linda Barber, CTC, Virtuoso Travel Advisor, Travelwizard.com Familiarization Tour Of Ecuador March 2008
Ecuador is a very pleasant surprise.
We came in when it was dark (the sun sets at 6pm ish and rises at 6pm ish) so couldn't see much.
Driving is on the right side of the road and the drivers here are very good.
Vehicles similar to what is at home but could use a few emission controls.
Our driver yesterday, Louis was an expert.
Our guide Andrea was knowledgeable about the entire geography, plants, birds, butterflies, bugs, rocks.....she is very good and absolutely sweet and adorable.
The vehicle we had was an 11 passenger bus for 5 of us plus guide.
The roads here are in excellent condition, even better than at home where we have potholes and winter frost damage.
The shoulders of the roads are very narrow with steep drainage ditches.
Cycling is dangerous here and must be accompanied by a safety vehicle.
Ecuador sits right on the equator and is split by the Andes Mountain range.
We drove from south america to the northern hemisphere in 5 minutes from our hotel....the Hilton Colon.
There is a huge modern monument marking where the equator is PLUS there is a huge ancient Incan archaeological site on top of a mountain that also marks the exact equatorial line....how did the ancients figure it out?????
The temperature here is like spring all year round because of the elevation and its location on the equator.
Very comfortable.
Yesterday we went to the cloud forest.....in two hours we were in an entirely different climate zone.
Steep mountains, narrow valleys...if you have ever seen the movie Romancing the Stone with Michael Douglas when the bus crashes in Columbia in the steep mountains.....the scenery here in Ecuador looks exactly like in the movie. Absolutely gorgeous!
Hummingbirds, hummingbirds, hummingbirds....everywhere!!!!
Orchids growing wild, bromelaids....(you have probably seen the plants that live on air with no roots and take moisture from the "clouds" ), huge fern trees, lush plants, toucans (we didn't see one), parrots (didn't see one)....found out later that if you want to go bird watching it is much like going on a safari...you must see them mainly either very early in the morning (best time to see -4am get up time), or sunset (not as good as early morning)...the large birds Crac de Roc (big red bird), Macaws, parrots, etc come to eat a certain clay/salt in the morning...next time we come to ecuador I think it would be worth the trouble to see the large birds.
Visited 3 hotel properties in the cloud forest....All are for lovers of nature only....
Mindo Lago - very rustic few cabins by a lake on a butterfly farm....one step above camping but a great area to stay in if you are a butterfly lover. Owner doens't speak english but was kind to show us around.
Sachatamia - again very basic cabins. hummingbird lovers would do well here...the main house has rooms also but the smell of wood is very strong and the ceilings are so low I could hardly walk in there and the doorways are so narrow it was a tight squeeze even for me!! Definitely a place for short skinny people who love hummingbirds!
BellaVista - now here is a winner!! You have to drive into the mountains on a dirt road for about 40 minutes through the most spectacular "rain" forest...I was reminded by our guide that this was not the rain forest but is a cloud forest...the rain forest is in the Amazon!! In a small country the size of Colorado, every geographic zone is well defined. The drive up to the BellaVista alone makes it worth the journey.
The place was built by a Brit by the name of Richard who came to Ecuador fell in love and stayed....the accomodations are a great combination of private rooms with private bathrooms plus an assortment of dorm style rooms in the "treehouse"...you climb up a ladder in the center and get off on which ever floor you are staying on....in addition to this there are seperate houses where you feel like you are living in the rain (oops..... cloud) forest all by yourself.... hummingbirds galore...you just can't imagine how many hummingbirds are zooming around here.
This would be a fabulous place for a honeymoon to really get away from it all....horseback riding, cycling (is ok on the mountain roads), bird watching, miles of hiking trails...loved this place...definitely NOT Virtuoso nor luxury but non the less very interesting for the right clientele.
This would also be a fabulous place for families to come and be immersed in nature...perhaps even a school group would enjoy this!
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