Guía de Oro Ecuador -24-If you want to see a bit of how the country lives day to day, take a tour of a banana, coffee or cacao plantation – Ecuador and Madagascar
are by enthusiasts considered to be the two countries that produce the finest chocolate in the world, and the banana is a prime crop. On the
coast, you can visit a prawn farm, and sample the best and freshest prawn dishes.
If you are really energetic, you can hire a bike and travel the entire length of the Pacific coast, from Esmereldas to Salinas, or try hang-gliding
at Crucita or Canoa.
You can enjoy a fascinating insight into the ancient indigenous culture of the high Andes at the Thursday market at Saquisili, near Latacunga
(which is also where you will find the majestic Quillotoa volcano, with a dramatic emerald coloured lake at its centre). You can see unique
pink river dolphins sporting in the flooded forest of Cuyabeno, in the north of the country; and take a dip in the River Nangaritza, the only
river that runs from the Amazon to the Pacific, high in the Cordillera del Condor; and from Nangaritza discover the “Ciudad Perdita”, the lost
city – but only with a local guide; this is real off-piste adventuring.
The magnificent Galapagos islands need no introduction; but try scuba diving off Wolfe Island, with (friendly!) hammerhead, reef and whale
sharks, and snorkel off Floreana Island with the world’s smallest penguins.
Take a natural mud bath in the dry forest of Machalilla National Park, or splash about to your heart’s content in the hot springs at Papallacta,
in the high Andes.
When you visit the bustling port city of Guayaquil, the nation’s financial and business capital, make sure you go in the crab season, for one
of the many gourmet treats that you will find in the cuisine of the “Costa”, the whole long stretch of the Pacific coast. There are excellent
hotels in Guayaquil, as there are in Quito, and the suburb of Samborondon has many fine houses reminiscent of Beverley Hills or Marbella,
and the best shopping malls and high end restaurants, with both a national and an international flavour, and reasonable prices.
Montanita, a couple of hours from Guayaquil, is the surfing capital of South America, but before that, you can visit the more established,
sophisticated resort of Salinas. You will find, as everywhere along the coast, fine beaches with attractive local restaurants serving the best
seafood on the glamorous Malecon, or boardwalk, at Salinas, and you may well find Salinas so relaxing and enchanting that perhaps you
will go no further! The great Pacific ocean lives up to its name along the Ecuadorean coast; the hurricane belt is far to the north, and the
sea is usually calm.
There is a lot more to do on the coast. You can drive a quad bike along the beach from Valdivia, the region of origin of the mysterious
Valdivia Culture, of 4,000 years ago, to the small upmarket town of Olon, where you will see villas and beachside mansions which could be
at home in Malibu. And from Playa Bruja, the wide sand beach at Valdivia, in the migrating season, you can see the great whales on their
journey to Antarctica.
For a tour of the coast, you may like to fly into the modern international airport of Guayaquil and rent a car, or hire a car and driver on a daily
basis, which is not expensive, and head up the coast. Visit another top beach at Punta Blanca, near the provincial capital of Santa Elena,
and if you are there on New Year’s Eve, there are bonfires and parties on the beach till the small hours.
After a couple of days relaxing on the beach at Salinas, take a 40 minute drive to “lobster bay”, as Ayangue is sometimes called, where there
you can also participate in an organized scuba dive. Make sure you sample the freshest of seafood at one of the beach stands. Puerto
Lopez is another small town near Valdivia, with magnificent beaches. Finally, for a coast based trip, travel for 2 hours to the attractive resort
city of Manta, and from Manta you can fly to Quito, and home.
If you are into the surf world big time, as are many visitors, you have come to the right place. Besides Montanita, the premier surfing resort,
which has a vibrant night life and party scene, you can follow the rollers from Guayaquil right up to Canoa and Mompiche.
Stop on the way at Playas, and then just west of Playas, Engabao. And then, after experiencing the rush of Montanita, head up the coast to
Ayampe, and the more challenging Tunas, where the empty beaches offer a striking contrast to busy Montanita. And if you want to complete
the Surfer Tour, you can still head further north, to Puerto Cayo, Canoa and finally Mompiche. Budget allowing, you can even start a surfing
tour in the crystal clear ocean at San Cristobal, in the Galapagos.
And we still haven’t finished with everything there is to do and see in Ecuador – there are the empty beaches of Esmereldas to visit, the
water battles in Cuenca during Carnaval in February, all-in evening river boat cruises at an amazingly low price leaving the Malecon in
Guayaquil every afternoon, elegant dining in Quito, white water rafting at Tena, the wonderful cuisine of the coast (oysters the size of a plate,
crabs in coconut milk), and above all, the friendly welcoming people of Ecuador.
Mark Sikes