Our Adventure: Ecuador and Beyond
This blog is an account of our 2022 trip to Ecuador where we visited the Galápagos Islands, the Ecuadorian Amazon, the Andean Cloudforest, the Avenue of the Volcanoes and the historic city of Cuenca I’ll be adding to the blog a bit at a time as I have time. This blog is a work in progress as I’m learning to use word press as I go along. Please forgive any mistakes and let me know what you think. Gordon took most of the good photos.
We set off from Victoria on November 17th. Our dear friend, Sheila, graciously picked us up early in the morning and drove us to Victoria airport. Our long 22 hour flight was broken by an overnight stopover in Toronto where we had a short visit with my daughter, Aleysa.
Arriving in Quito
The next morning we continued our Air Canada flight. After a short stop in Panama City, we landed in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. We didn’t know what to expect except that Quito’s high altitude in the Andes might have an effect on our body.
Upon arriving at the Quito airport, we were warmly met by Jose who delivered us to our hotel, Mama Cuchara, where we would stay for 3 nights before catching our flight to the Galápagos Islands. We would meet Jose again later in our trip as it turned out he would be our personal driver and guide for our trip south to Cuenca along The Avenue of the Volcanoes.
Mamá Cuchara is a restored colonial building at the end of a dead end street. The word, “Cuchara”, in Spanish, means “spoon”, and it aptly describes the dead end street. The staff at Mama Cuchara were warm and caring, the restaurant was excellent and they pampered us with many delightful treats like a small mouthful of dessert in the evenings before bedtime.
The next day, Gordon and I explored the old, historic centre of Quito on our own. This UNESCO recognized city has large public squares surrounded by 16th century churches and official offices. Many galleries and museums are concentrated in this precinct as well.
Gordon hamming it up at an international poster exhibition
Jo Anne taking it too seriously , but who knew that yellow was mellow?
The Monasterio de San Francisco was built on top of a very large Incan temple. The Catholic Church and Spanish Conquistadors immediately began destroying Incan buildings and reused the building materials to build Catholic Churches and monuments.
Food from Quito
Here are some photos of meals during our first three days in Quito. It gives you a good idea of how great Ecuadorian cuisine is. You know me, I love to eat and try new dishes!
Double click on the image to see it in full screen.
Travels and Adventures of JoAnne and Gordon 