For spring break this year, my family and I (Margot) “took” a virtual trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos. For the entire week, we read books and watched videos & documentaries about the destination, its culture and flora & fauna. We even arranged a webinar with one of our expert partners in the destination; feel free to contact us if you’d like a replay of that webinar.
We enjoyed Ecuadorian food, music and dance all week long. Each of us worked on a research project exploring the region and presented his/her findings to the rest of the family in a slideshow presentation during the final weekend. Below is the summary of our “trip”.
Days 1 & 2: Ecuador
We took a virtual red-eye from SFO to Quito, Ecuador — about 13 hours including a 3.5 hour layover in Panama City. During the flights my husband and I dove into our Insights guide book while the girls watched movies, slept, played cards, and read their own books about the Galapagos. Our 3rd grader even organized her trip notebooks by category with a separate book for each: animals, plants, weather, and “everything else”. We arrived late morning the following day and checked into Quito’s boutique hotel Casa Gangotena.
Day 2: Quito
We arrived in the late morning and had arranged an early check-in at the hotel so that we could set our things down and clean up a bit before setting out to explore Quito.
Lunch was fanesca, traditional Ecuadorian Easter stew. Typically it includes beans, corn, squash, lentils, peanuts, cod and cabbage but this varies depending on the restaurant; usual accompaniments can include hard boiled egg, fried plantains, cheese, and empanadas.
Since we arrived at the very end Semana Santa (Holy Week), we had missed most of the major festivities as the big festivals and proceedings take place on Palm Sunday (when you see processions of purple robed penitents), Holy Wednesday and Thursday, and Good Friday. Easter Sunday is relatively calm and the day for mass.
Dinner tonight was a traditional Ecuadorian meal. Churrasco and accompaniments.
Day 3: Quito
On this, our last day in Quito, we did a privately guided walking tour of the city. Quito, the highest capital city in the world – at over 9,000 feet above sea level – was founded in the 16th century. As the first city named a UNESCO Heritage site, it has one of the best preserved old towns in Latin America featuring Quito Baroque architecture, blending Spanish, Moorish, Italian, Flemish and indigenous influences.
Highlights of the city include:
- Old Town colonial center with its grand plazas, historic churches and Presidential Palace
- Basilica del Voto Nacional – climb to the top to get the best views of the Old Town
- Parque Metropolitano sits on a hill for different views. This park is massive so you can hike or bike and even see llamas
- Ride the Teleferiqo gondola for yet more views from an even higher perspective
- In the evening, visit Calle La Ronda, an ancient thoroughfare with cobblestone streets which is now a fun destination to grab a drink and watch the street performers
- Otavalo Market – this is actually 2 hours drive from Quito but an amazing place to shop for traditional crafts and see/meet indigenous people
- Take a ride on Tren Ecuador for a spectacular train ride to take in the scenic views and surrounding countryside of the Andes
Late this afternoon we had a cooking lesson which started with a market visit and ended with a scrumptious dinner. The traditional Ecuadorian menu consisted of llanpingacho with salsa de mani (potato pancakes stuffed with cheese and served with peanut sauce), roasted veggies with achiote (traditional spices), fritada de chancho (pork braised in orange juice), and flan de pina (pineapple flan). So good, but we had to roll out of the restaurant.
Day 4: Choco Rainforest
Today we transfered 2.5 hours to the Mashpi Lodge, a luxury contemporary eco-lodge set in a 6100+ acre cloud forest reserve. AMAZING for bird (500 species of birds, including 36 endemic to the area), butterfly and nature lovers. Monkeys, peccaries and even puma make their homes in this reserve.
Our challenge was deciding which activities to squeeze into our two days here: ride the mile-long Dragonfly cable car, “bike” in the sky over the forest canopy, take in the views from the observation tower, take guided hikes along rivers to waterfalls (day or night hikes), visit the Life Center butterfly farm, or just enjoy the lodge to relax, spa, and dine on gourmet meals.
Day 5: Galapagos
Early this morning we said goodbye to Mashpi and headed back to Quito for our flights (3.5 hours total including a brief layover in Guayaquil) to San Cristobol Island in the Galapagos. We met our cruise guide who accompanied us on our transfer to a trimaran yacht the Camilia, our home for the next 3 nights.
This afternoon we visited Kicker Rock and Lobos Island, aptly named after the many sea lions that reside here. It is also home to many different birds such as pelicans, frigate birds and yellow warblers. Within the small channel the waters are very clear, making it easy to find sea turtles, sea lions, sally lightfoot crabs, stingrays and perhaps even white-tipped sharks. We had time for swimming, snorkeling and a short hike.
Our dinner this evening featured homemade empanadas.
Day 6: Galapagos – San Cristobal Island
Today we ventured to Pitt Point and upon arrival, it felt as if we’d landed on another planet. On our hike, we could see how the volcanic activity had formed and changed the land over time. The day was packed with activity. In addition to the hike, we also took a ride on a panga boat, kayaked, swam at a beautiful beach, and snorkeled. And the wildlife we saw: blue footed, Nazca, and red footed boobies; sally lightfoot crabs; sea lions; and a variety of shorebirds.
Inspired by all the volcanos in Ecuador and Galapagos, we created a volcano today! Travel meets art… I’m sure you can guess what we’ll do tomorrow.
6th night of Ecuadorian cuisine: Garlic shrimp, achiote salmon with mango salsa, quinoa and sauteed broccoli.
Day 7: Espanola – Suarez Point, Gardner Bay & Osborn Islet
This is the only site in the Galapagos where the Waved Albatross nests. They return only once a year to meet the same mate, year after year – true love! Apart from these amazing birds are the Galapagos Hawks. We also hiked out to the other side of the Espanola island to see amazing formations and an impressive blow hole. The highlight for us was visiting Gardner Bay to see the sea lions up close, but not too close – you have to stay 6 feet away (sound familiar?).
By this point, my family and I had now virtually been in Ecuador for a week and we were still enjoying ourselves. Today (in real life) we made pineapple muffins, successfully made our volcano erupt, prepared and ate a scruptious seco de pollo (slow cooked Ecuadorian chicken stew), and watched the last episode in the 3-part BBC Galapagos documentary.
Check out the results of our volcano experiment, inspired by the geologic activity in Ecuador and the Galapagos.
Day 8: Guayaquil
We said goodbye to the Galapagos, flew back to the mainland and headed to Hacienda La Danesa (outside of Guayaquil near the Andes) for our last night in Ecuador before heading home tomorrow. The hacienda is small, charming and family-owned. We packed in a lot in a short amount of time: river tubing, a bike ride and learning how to milk a cow, a stroll through the cocoa plantation, and fantastic food. Wish we had two nights here!
As part of our virtual spring break trip, each of us was tasked with creating a presentation about some aspect of our trip.
Individual Presentations:
Presentation 1 Galapagos and Ecuador. Here is our older daughter presenting her slideshow.
Presentation 2 Nature of the Galapagos. Here is our 9 year old presenting her research. By the way, the last bird is actually a frigate…
Presentation 3 Dynamic Soaring of the Albatross. Going back to his roots… My husband used to be a bio-physics professor, so he was in his element with this presentation.
If we can’t travel, taking a virtual trip is the next best thing. If you are interested in hiring Journeys Unparalleled to customize a virtual trip for you, contact us and let us know where you would like to “go.”