Condor Parque

Posted on July 8, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

July, 2012

Another great day in Ecuador! We left the condo this morning and took the bus to Otavalo (our favorite bus terminal so far). Then we got a taxi to take us to the Condor Park. This is a beautiful setting for the rehabilitation of rescued birds of prey. “Birds that find refuge here have been rescued from inadequate sites, donated from other centers, or put under our care by the Ministry of the Environment.”

There were birds flying free, and then returning to their handler, lots of birds just tethered so that we could get great pictures of them, and then many owls in enclosures. We enjoyed our time there so much! We got a ride back to Otavalo, and had him drop us off at Plaza de la Ponchos so we could have lunch. We found a restaurant that we had been to before, so we knew it was good. After lunch we browsed around the market and I bought gifts for Faye and Ella and Ron bought a tee shirt.

Then back to the bus station and home. One funny thing was that a guy got on the bus holding a rooster in his arms, cradling it like a baby. That rooster sat quietly in his arms til time to get off . No end to the unusual things you see when you travel outside your comfort zone.

Going to Ibarra

Posted on July 7, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

Published July 12, 2011

We started out in the morning to go to Ibarra to go to the big supermarket, the Supermaxi. But we decided to stop at the travel agency on Bolivar street to see about tickets to Manta, so we can get to Puerto Lopez, where we can go to the “poor mans Galapagos” Isla de la Plata, or go whale watching.

Well, the travel agency was not like the ones we are used to. We were there for at least an hour and a half. Some other Americans that are staying in our same complex were there trying to buy tickets for his sister and her boyfriend and having a hard time with the language barrier. But finally we got our tickets and the girls were very nice.

I was surprised to see them pull out a piece of carbon paper to copy the numbers on our credit card! I haven’t seen carbon paper since the late ’60’s. We took the bus to Ibarra, about 45 minutes away, for $.45 each. Ibarra is a pretty big city, with more to offer. But since we got there kind of late we didn’t do anything but eat lunch and shop at the market. We bought diapers, detergent, and bar soap for the pre-school, as well as some things we couldn’t find in Cotacachi.

Verda had bought a chicken at the Supermaxi, so she roasted the chicken, we cooked the little fingerling potatoes Ron and I had found at the produce market, I made a salad, and we had fresh peas. What a good dinner! Except that the potatoes tasted like dirt. I didn’t care for them. We will try another variety. No plans for Tuesday. Wednesday we are off to the beach!

Off to the Coast!

Posted on July 6, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

July, 2011

Got up when the alarm app on my iPad sounded out the cuckoo’s song. Had two cups of coffee and a banana and we were off. The bus ride to Otavalo was routine, now that we have done it so many times. One of the dozens of bus hawkers came to fetch us for the bus to Quito. It was a comfortable bus, and I actually slept a bit on the way to Quito.

When we arrived at the bus terminal, there was a taxi line and we had no trouble getting a taxi to the airport. The Quito airport is small and we easily found the Tame Airline desk. However, we were told that there was a problem with our reservation. We had to go outside and get in a different line to get it straightened out. When we gave the agent our ticket, she explained that the travel agent had failed to confirm our reservation, so we had seats on the way to Manta, but not to return. So now we will have to fly back to Quito on Saturday morning at 8 am instead of at 1:30 pm. Which means that we will have to go back to Manta Friday evening.

The flight to Manta was only about 30 minutes, but I can’t remember when a flight hurt my ears so much. It took hours for them to pop enough that I could hear. Once we landed, there were taxis, and we got a driver to take us a Hosteria so we could make a reservation for Friday night. Then he took us to the bus terminal.

What unbelievable chaos! We were so recognizable as “rich American tourists” we were almost trampled by men trying to get us a room, or a bus, or a tour, or something – I never found out what exactly, that it was almost frightening. I yelled at Bill that we needed to eat – it was 1:30 and I hadn’t had anything since that banana in the morning. You know what that meant – hangry! We found what looked like a restaurant, but the selection was pretty slim. The other three ordered fish, which they said was good, but it was fried, and I didn’t know what they might have used to fry it in, so I ordered chicken and fries. The chicken was so-so, the fries were mediocre, but they can’t mess up Pepsi in a bottle.

We went back into the bus terminal and didn’t have too much trouble buying tickets to Puerto Lopez, our final destination. Our plan is to take a boat tomorrow to do some whale watching, go to Isle de la Plata, and I guess they take you snorkeling, too. Then, we have Friday morning here at the hostia Nandu before we have to check out and go back to the madness that is Manta.

A Day at the Beach

Posted on July 2, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

Published July 28, 2011

We had arranged for a moto-taxi to come pick us up at 9 am to take us to the “prettiest beach in Ecuador.”

Once we arrived at the beach, it was as advertised. Very pretty, no people at all, and hordes of little crabs scuttling from their holes to the water and back again. Bill and Ron hiked up to the lookout at the top, while Verda and I sat on the beach. Then we rode the moto-taxi back to Puerto Lopez. We picked up our luggage at the hosteria and all piled back into the taxi for the ride to catch the bus to Manta. What a miserable ride for 2 1/2 hours! And without food! I had some fruit and a roll for breakfast, then nothing for lunch. By the time we got to Manta, I was ready to scream. We checked into our hotel and pretty quick went to eat. Found a restaurant, and everyone had something good. I had fried shrimp and it was yummy. Good French fries, too. Now, it’s time for bed cause we have to get up at 5 to get our flight back to Quito. It will be good to get back to our condo.

Humpbacks and Boobies

Posted on July 1, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

Published July 27, 2011

Thursday This morning we had reservations to go out on a boat tour, guaranteed to see whales. I was a bit unnerved to see that we had to wade out to the boat to get on board, but it turned out that it was only calf deep, so no danger of the cameras getting wet. It took about a half hour of pretty fast motoring to get out to where the whales were hanging around. It was really exciting when we saw the first spout and the humpback breached.

We took a lot of photos, and we each got one terrific shot; a whale in front of one of the other boats, and a fluke. After about an hour or so of chasing whales, we turned around and zoomed back toward Puerto Lopez.

The captain drove the boat right up to a rocky cliff, and pointed out all the blue-footed boobies on the rock. There were thousands of them! I must have taken 100 shots. A few are framable. A few people on our boat went snorkeling, but not us. It turned out to be a very nice tour. The people were great, and we met a girl who is in the Peace Corps here in Ecuador. Her name was Nickie and we saw her again at the hot dog place for dinner. When we got back to the hostel we asked for a blanket. The guy brought us a quilt and we slept so much better. Don’t know why we were too stupid to not ask them for one the night before.