Cuenca: Our Favorite City in Ecuador?

Following our cruise in the Galápagos, we were tired. We returned to our home base in Quito for a couple nights, but we made up our minds that we’d be leaving soon to spend our final few days in Cuenca, an hour flight to the South. 

Our hotel was right in the heart of historic Cuenca. Keeping with the theme of our trip, the center of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its myriad of well-preserved, Spanish Colonial style buildings. 

Similar to our stay in Baños a couple weeks prior, our visit to Cuenca was tranquil. In fact, at one point, over a bottle of wine in our hotel garden, Elizabeth uncontrollably proclaimed, “this is the most tranquil place in the world.” The whole town just had an easygoing vibe about it.

A few things stand out above the rest:

The city center is super close to the airport.

Upon arrival, the cab ride to our hotel took about 15 minutes, and it only cost a few bucks. For perspective, that’s less than half the time it took to get to the airport in Quito. Huge deal!

Walking (or biking) the Rio Tomebamba.

There’s a clean and not-too-busy trail that highlighted our time in Cuenca – we spent an hour or so each day strolling along the picturesque riverwalk. We were told that biking was the way to go, so we tried to rent bikes from a local hostel. Unfortunately, we learned they recently did away with their day bike rental offering, so we decided to lace up our sneakers and stay on foot. Here’s a photo of Elizabeth loving it all:

Dinner at Tiestos (link).

This spot was the bomb. Highly recommended by an American chef we met in Quito, we ate here on our last night. It took us about 30 seconds to decide on the pre fixe option #1 on the menu, and it proved to be the best meal we had in Ecuador. Here’s what we got, to split:

• Sopa de Camarones (shrimp soup)

• Langostinos al Tiesto (prawns cooked in melted butter, served with potatoes)

• Pollo al Curry con Macadamias (curry chicken w/ thin macadamia nuts)

• Lomo Fino a la Crema y Tomate (beef tenderloin)

• Postre (dessert: the most beautifully-plated chocolate cake imaginable)

• Copa de vino blanco (glass of white wine x2)

• Copa de vino tinto (glass of red wine x2)

And last but not least – our hotel was stunning.

After a rather exhausting trip to the Galápagos, we opted for a balcony suite in an upscale boutique hotel called Mansión Alcázar. The rates seemed as reasonable as any 4+ star hotel back in the States, and the location was perfect, so we went for it. Upon arrival, the kind folks at the front desk informed us that we’d been upgraded to a bigger suite built just two months prior (check!). After a short walk through lush private gardens rivaled only by Elizabeth’s parents’ garden back in Indianapolis (aka our wedding venue), we stepped into our suite, which was complete with climate-controlled (heated) tile floors, a stainless steel kitchenette, a king bed (duh) and a master bathroom the size of our old studio apartment back in New York City. Photos can’t do the place justice, but here’s one anyways:

It was a short, three-night visit, but it didn’t take long to decide that we’d be back one day. A beautiful little town nestled between multiple rivers, Cuenca felt far cleaner and better-preserved than Quito. We highly recommend visiting to see for yourself!

Cruising through the Galápagos Islands

Our time in the Galápagos was a blur of jaw-dropping scenery and exotic wildlife. We decided to do a cruise as we realized this would allow the greatest amount of time spent in the most eclectic regions. The islands are fairly spread out, so traveling on a cruise boat is easier than day trips via the public ferries. 

Also, many islands are restricted and can only be accessed by small dinghies with a naturalist guide who has permission from the National Park Service. So, even though we aren’t the biggest fans of cruise boats, we opted for 5 days and 4 nights on the Sea Star Journey boat.  

Our boat took the route below:

The cruise was intimate as there were only 14 guests total, including ourselves. Sailing this way meant loads of time together, and luckily, we got along great with everyone!

Our group consisted of a French family of four and eight Chinese women. We ate every meal with the French family and got to know them well. The dad, Olivier, was fluent in English and his wife, Valerie, had a warm personality and spoke better English than she gave herself credit. Their two boys shared Mike’s love of snorkeling and the six of us enjoyed conversations ranging from politics to the possibility of us moving to Paris to Thanksgiving traditions. The Chinese ladies were incredible photographers, and they sent us all of their photos each night (most of the wildlife pictures in this post came from them...shoutout to Yu and Cally!) and they invited us to visit them during our time in China next spring.  

With a day on each end of the cruise dedicated to getting on and off of the boat, we really had three full days to explore. Each night, our naturalist guide broke down the next day’s itinerary on a whiteboard so the guests were all on the same page. They kept us busy!

Day 1 - Santa Cruz Island

Highlights: seeing blue-footed boobies for the first time, getting up close and personal with the sea lions, and having our dinghy breakdown in a cove while watching sharks swim beneath us.
(click the right side of the photo carousel below to view more photos —>)

Day 2 - Genovesa Island

Highlights: fur sea lions, thousands of birds (so many that Mike got pooped on), snorkeling with too many sharks, and kayaking.
(click the right side of the photo carousel below to view more photos —>)

Day 3 - Bartolomé Island

Highlights: Mars-like scenery, snorkeling with hundreds of starfish, and a penguin sighting. 
(click the right side of the photo carousel below to view more photos —>)

The final day involved an early wake-up call to go see the giant tortoises back on Santa Cruz Island before heading to Baltra airport for our flight back to Quito.  

The giant tortoises were as promised...GIANT!

Galápagos tortoises can weigh more than 600 pounds and can live for over 200 years, and the population of tortoises in the Galápagos is critically endangered.  Unfortunately, explorers and pirates tended to take the smaller of the tortoises because they were easier to transport, but in the end, the smaller ones happened to be all of the females, making reproduction a mechanical difficulty.  The islands now have strict laws about the tortoises; for example, even if a tortoise is on private property, the tortoise itself belongs to the National Park Service.  

We have to admit they were a bit anticlimactic and considering we were watching them at 6 a.m., we were craving coffee and thinking of our upcoming flight, but the tortoises shelled out their fair share of entertainment nonetheless. 

Our trip to the Galápagos Islands served as a healthy reminder of two surprising things: one, it’s fun for the two of us, as English-speaking Americans, to be the odd ones out every once in a while; and two, the more we can do to protect the oceans, the better.

When (not if) we do it again, here are three things we would do differently!

1. Minimize the number of trips between Baltra airport and Puerto Ayora (the awesome, quaint town on Santa Cruz island). Getting from the airport to the city involves a bus/taxi to a ferry to another bus/taxi, which takes at least an hour. It’s just a bit of a hassle, and we did it one too many times. 

2. Visit during the “hot” season, from January through May. Although we were comfortable during the land excursions, the water was COLD! We wore wetsuits while snorkeling and still had a blast, but we would’ve liked to stay in the water longer than we did. 

3. Instead of going so far north to Genovesa island, we would probably explore the western islands that are closer together. Our cruise spent a lot of time sailing, and quite a few people on the boat were seasick. Plus, the less time you spend sailing, the more time you are on one of the 15+ islands!

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Going off the grid in the Ecuadorian Amazon

We just spent 4 days, and 3 nights off the grid in the jungle. It was amazing!!

On Monday morning, we picked up a rental car at 7:30 a.m. to head to Tena – one of the main gateways to the Amazon in Ecuador and located only 120 miles from Quito. With a deceivingly short drive ahead, we hoped to arrive with time to spare before heading to the Itamandi Eco Lodge, accessible only by an upstream, motorized canoe trip.

Around 8:45 am we hit some traffic in a tiny town called Papallacta. As people started to put their cars in park and get out to walk, we realized it might be a while. We'd been warned that the road to Tena is treacherous and that recent landslides "might" be an issue. Turns out these landslides  washed out an entire bridge, and the one-way temporary bridge a few miles down the road would only be open from noon to 1 p.m. 

So, with a solid three hours ahead of us, we watched a downloaded episode of Game of Thrones, found WiFi at the mini-mart to watch the next, not-previously-downloaded episode, and Elizabeth ate a “Cup Noodles” that the mini-mart man heated up with boiling water from the restaurant next door.

The waiting for 3 hours turned out to be necessary rest for the stretch of road ahead. The once fully-functioning-yet-treacherous two-lane highway now included creeks (plural) running over the road between boulders (also on the road), and bridge remnants careened halfway down the cliffside. Did we mention we opted for the cheaper car, without 4-wheel-drive for this trip? 

By the time we got to Tena, we were 3 hours late for our transfer to the river for the canoe trip. Luckily, a friendly person back at the roadblock with a cell phone (silent shoutout to Terry!) called the hotel to let them know our situation. 

Unfortunately, a few things were lost in translation (literally). For one, we thought we’d get picked up at the bus terminal in Tena, and, once there, we assumed we needed to find our own parking. We convinced a hotel owner to let us leave our car in her lot for 4 days and went to wait at the bus stop. 

After an hour spent waiting to get picked up at the bus stop, we concluded that something was amiss and went back to the hotel to use a phone. We soon found out that we were supposed to meet them at a bridge (??), decidedly not the bus terminal, and that there was a plethora of parking at said bridge. 

We left the car at the aforementioned, graciously-offered hotel spot and took a 40-minute taxi to the bridge, which, after multiple trials and a multitude of subsequent errors, we ultimately  identified as the bridge over the Arajuno River. Following one final roadside plea to borrow a phone at what we now knew to be the bridge over the Arajuno River, we saw the canoe headed for us. Hallelujah.

Tired, hungry, and very unsure about our collective decision-making abilities, we boarded the canoe. They say getting there is half the fun, right?!

Fortunately, our epic quest to successfully arrive in the canoe was well worth it – see for yourself:

Jungle Day 1

On our first day at Itamandi, we woke up around 6:30 a.m. and headed further upstream to watch the parrots and parakeets eat breakfast. Hundreds of colorful birds showed up to lick the clay on the cliff; the clay provides them with healthy mineral salts!

After watching their breakfast and eating our own, we visited AmaZOOnica, a wildlife rescue center.  Having wild animals as pets is now illegal, but it was once prevalent. Unfortunately, when the government removes an animal from its former imprisonment (or “home”), the animals can’t survive in the wild. AmaZOOnica is one of many rescue centers that try to save these animals. The goal of the center is to release healthy animals back into the wild.  

That afternoon, we enjoyed a picnic lunch, a hike, caiman and monkey sightings, and a chance to try out the traditional way of hunting with a blowgun (aiming at targets, not real animals!).  Mike hit the target on his third try, Elizabeth did hit the target, but not hard enough so it bounced off (LOL).

Jungle Day 2

The highlight of the week was our visit with the local Kichwa Indigenous Community. The Kichwa women explained their way of life and how they balance their traditions with the modern world. Over an open fire, they prepared fresh Chicha (a local drink that tastes kind of like Kombucha), catfish, and piranha for us to try. Mike chowed down with the guide (Elizabeth tried everything, but was a little wary of the whole fish…).

Afterwards, we went tubing down the Arajuno River. Think, "lazy-river-surrounded-by-exotic-wildlife.” It was such a blast that we forgot to take photos!

We took another hike in the afternoon with our guide, Octavio, learning lots of excellent "Naked and Afraid" tips. Octavio would win the show; we wouldn't survive a single night. 

(Side note: Octavio actually trained people in the Naked and Afraid episode that was filmed in the Ecuadorian Rainforest; link to episode).  

Despite the struggle getting there, we would definitely go back to the Ecuadorian Amazon. We also added the Brazilian Amazon to our list of places that we want to go (...this trip is already causing us to build secondary "bucket list"). We opted for the long way home, since it included intact, paved, boulder-and-creek-free highways. Plus, this route took us through Baños, so we were able to have lunch at our favorite pizza place, Leoni's! 

All in all, a fantastic trip. Next week we'll be in the Galápagos! We've heard it'll be icing on the cake. Can't wait! 

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