Ecuador was the last country I visited on my trip. There’s lots to do and see in this relatively small country- there’s the Andes, the Amazon, the Galapagos and the cloud forest. The highlight of many peoples’ trip to Ecuador is the Galapagos- I didn’t go because I told myself I wouldn’t fly at all on my trip besides getting to and from Canada in order to reduce my carbon footprint; and it’s also very expensive in the Galapagos. I didn’t go to the cloud forest either because I already went in Costa Rica. I wanted to spend most of time there in the highlands.
I arrived in Quito on March 2 after around 48 hours of busing from Colombia, so you could bet I was pretty exhausted. I arrived at the hostel where I would stay for a little while, and eventually come back to. It was one of my favourite hostels I stayed at: it was called Community hostel, and they really did a good job at making it feel like a community. Every night we would eat together and there would always be activities and other stuff going on to bring people together. The day after I arrived I did a walking tour of Quito. Unlike a lot of other cities I visited, Quito has a very cool climate because it is so high in elevation which makes it much more pleasant to walk around in.
The next day I did a hiking tour to Volcan Cotopaxi, one of the many volcanoes in Ecuador. We hiked up to the base of the glacier on top of the volcano. There was a basecamp there where people would stay so they could get up early and summit the glacier the next day. Some of the pictures from the summit look incredible. I would have liked to have summited some glaciers on my trip but it was hard as a solo traveller because I needed to find another group to join which wasn’t always easy. After checking out the glacier we walked back down a bit and then biked the rest of the way down the valley. We saw some llamas and wild horses on our way down. It definitely was a beautiful place.
The next day I left for a 4 day tour in the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon was something that had been on my bucket list for a while so I was glad I finally got to check it off. We arrived in Lago Agrio after taking an overnight bus from Quito, then from there we took a motorboat down the river to the lodge where we would stay the next few nights. We did a lot of boating around and trying to spot different animals. We saw lots of wildlife including monkeys, different kinds of birds, anacondas, sloths, tarantulas and river dolphins. Someone at the lodge even went fishing and caught a piranha! We also did some hiking, including a night hike to see all the spiders and other creatures that come out at night. We spotted some caimans (similar to alligators) while boating around at night. The best way to find them is by shining a flashlight as their eyes light up in the brightness. We also got to visit a local Indigenous community and meet a shaman.
After the tour we took the bus back to Community hostel in Quito. The day after I got back I went to the famous Otavalo market. There’s loads of vendors there selling woven fabrics and handmade jewellery. Saturday is its busiest day; I was there on a weekday so it was a lot quieter.
The next day I left for Latacunga to hike the Quilotoa loop trail with 2 friends that I met on the Amazon tour. The Quilotoa loop is a 4 day hike that takes you through little villages, farms and over mountains. We did it without a guide as do most people, which was a nice change. We stayed at different hostels in towns along the way. The best part of the hike was on the 3rd day when we arrived at Laguna Quilotoa, a beautiful massive crater lake. The next day we rented kayaks and went kayaking on the lake for a bit.
(Enjoying some pizza back in Latacunga after our hike)
Throughout the hike I had been following what was going on with COVID-19 and it seemed to be getting worse and worse. Around this time the Prime Minister told any Canadians abroad that they should come home while they still have the chance. It took me a couple days to think about it but it soon become apparent that I should try to get home right away or risk being stuck in Ecuador for an undetermined amount of time. I booked a flight to Toronto via Bogota the next day but they would not let me on because Colombia had just closed its borders. I stayed at a nearby hostel/hotel that night where I ran into my friend who hiked the Quiolotoa loop with me. The hotel quickly filled up with people whose flights had been cancelled and had no way home. I tried to get the same flight again the next day but no luck. So after 2 long days of waiting in line at the airport I took an uber back to the Community hostel in Quito.
Not surprisingly the hostel was filled with other travellers who were also stranded and in the same situation that I was in. I stayed there for a bit over a week and had lots of fun while I was there. My first day back to the hostel was my birthday. It was a fun day and 2 people even made a cake for me. We did lots of activities over the next week and a bit while I was there to keep ourselves busy including karaoke, card games, trivia, yoga, movie marathons, morning workouts and improv. The hostel had a rooftop with a really nice view of the city where we could go and do our yoga and workouts or just hang out and get some fresh air. Besides that we didn’t go outside at all besides to get groceries or beer. I even did a short presentation of my thesis while I was there.
Over the week, more and more people started to leave as they found flights home. I eventually got a government flight from Quito to Toronto. I flew back to Toronto on March 27- exactly 5 months after I landed in Antigua in Guatemala. I had intended on travelling for another 2 months in Peru and Bolivia after Ecuador, but obviously that didn’t happen. It was too bad in some ways because I was really looking forward to those countries, especially Peru. But at the same time I was looking forward to being able to do some things back home that I couldn’t do while travelling like cooking and playing guitar. Looking back I did a lot of things and saw a lot of places over those 5 months. I remember being a bit nervous on my flight to Guatemala; I’m proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and seeing what the world has to offer. I may go back one day and pick up where I finished off, but who knows what the future holds.
Calvin Beauchesne 