Moving on from Quito

After “doing the Eastern circuit” of Ecuador and then visiting the Galápagos Islands, we moved on to the north and west of the country. To be honest there isn’t much north of Quito, as beyond Otovalo is effectively Colombia. So after Otavalo we moved westwards and on to the coast.

Otovalo is a lovely old town in the northern mountains north of Quito. It is home to a huge artisan and animal market, and is set in some lovely scenery. Surrounded by a large volcano, it contains some lovely waterfalls and high mountains.

After a few treks, including to over 4,000 metres with great views of surrounding volcanoes, we moved back towards Quito and the “middle of the world”. Mitad del Mundo is the point where French scientists found the line of the equator two hundred years ago and which gives the country its name. It’s a very touristic place, but important for all Ecuadorians, even if it turned out to be in the wrong place by 300 metres.

After a final, short stay in Quito because Tim was ill for a few days, we headed west to the cloudforest, in a small town called Mindo. It was very quaint and had some great places to eat and stay; but was famous for its diversity of birds and butterflies amongst the Amazon jungle.

We spent a lovely few days in the jungle watching butterflies and hummingbirds, as well as many other birds. We found a place with exceptional service and a pool, to come and go as we pleased, which also allowed Tim to get better too. After being fully fit, we moved on to a real treasure in Ecuador.

Puerto Lopez is another small town, found on the Pacific Coast, and in the middle of a marine and coastal National Park. Set in a lovely sandy bay, it is a mix of relaxed beach living and a party town on the beach. We had a whale of a time – literally.

The trip out to Isla de la Plata was probably the most incredible trip we have had so far. About an hour offshore, we arrived at a small island which was home to nesting blue-footed boobies and frigate birds by the hundred. Walking round was incredible as we got so close to the birds. We then went snorkelling where we swam amidst boobies diving for fish and enormous manta rays showing their huge wings above the sea’s surface.

But we were blown away by the rest of the trip which involved passing through a whole colony of humpback whales. We literally lost count of the number of whales we saw – we know that at least seven “breached” in front of us, including a mother and calf.

At one point, we had two huge whales breaching time and time again as they swam toward us. We counted ten times that each one shot up in the air. Other whales were fin-slapping as they frolicked around the boat. We must have spotted at least fifteen whales in what has to be one of the most amazing experiences so far.

We had a few days relaxing in Puerto Lopez before a couple more being beach bums in the hippy, surfing town of Montanita. This was going to be our last visit to the coast for a while, so we chilled out, before moving on to the rest of Ecuador and south into Peru.