Ecuador Wrap-Up

Facts and Figures
Length of Stay: 21 days
Miles Traveled: 750
Cities and Towns Visited: Quito, Quilotoa, Baños, Riobamba, Cuenca and Loja
Intercity Buses Taken: 5
Typical American Housepets Eaten: 2

Rankings and pictures in the full post.

Jeff's Top 3s
Meals
1. Seco de chivo, Hasta La Revuelta Señor, Quito. The restaurant itself wasn't great, but the typical Ecuadorian dish of goat stew served over rice was delicious. I had this for my first dinner in Ecuador and didn't have it again before we left. I'm blaming that on Magge.
2. It's tough to pick between all the Ecuadorian comfort foods I had, so I'm going to go with a lunch our homestay mother in Quito made for me consisting of rice and beef marinated in lemon juice.
3. Moroccan chicken at Café Mariane, Baños. Obviously not Ecuadorian, but very good, and the restaurant itself was probably the best one we went to in the country. The only downside was that I was jealous of Magge's dish, which was even better than mine.

Stays
1. Hotel Santa Lucia, Cuenca. Magge covered it.
2. Homestay, Quito. As part of our Spanish lessons, we were put up with a local family. Elsa and José were extremely friendly, helped my Spanish tremendously and fed us some great food.
3. Hostal Chimenea, Baños. Cheap and clean hostel with free internet and a deck on the roof, where breakfast was served, and our room had a terrace with a view of a waterfall.  However, a serious deduction must me made for the rooster that crowed every morning. I thought it neat the first morning; being the city boy that I am, I've never been woken by a rooster. It wasn't neat the second morning when the crowing started at 4am, and by the third morning I was ready to make him my breakfast.

Experiences
1. Lake Quilotoa, the hike that almost killed me.
2. Bike ride along the "Waterfall Highway". Magge and I had planned on biking from Baños to Puyo, a city just inside the jungle. The route was flanked with waterfalls, many of which had hiking trails. We spent so much time walking around that we never got even close to Puyo.
3. Wandering around the old colonial centers of Quito and Cuenca.

Magge's Top 3s
Meals
1. Beef Stew, Café Mariane, Baños.  Jeff wanted to get this as well, but for some reason he refuses to ever order the same meal, so he missed out on this awesomely delish dish.
2. Huevos Rancheros, Casa Hood, Baños.  I have eaten a lot of huevos rancheros, and after my mothers, these are the best I´ve ever had.
3. Sopa de papas con aguacate, Mercado Central, Quito.  This was our first lunch in Quito.  In Costa Rica I found that the central market is where you can find the essence of the community, so I insisted that our first meal be at the mercado in Quito.  Jeff and I were not disappointed.  We even got a really cute picture of Jeff with the lady from whom we bought our lunch.  She volunteered to be in the picture!

Stays
1. Hotel Santa Lucia. ¡Por supuesto! (That means "of course," Lucie)
2. Our homestay in Quito.  Definitely the best way to learn a language is with a homestay.  Our family was really wonderful.  A great experience!
3. Hostel Chimenea, Baños.  I had called to make reservations at another hotel, but during our weekend excursion, a couple of the people with whom we were travelling said they had stayed at Hostel Chimenea when they were in Baños and really loved it.  So, despite the darkness, I made Jeff wander around Baños when we arrived to find this hostel.  He was not very pleased with me while we were walking, but I think he thought it was worth it in the end.  Breakfasts on the upstairs terrace were delish!

Experiences
1. Our walk around Quilotoa.  Ok, maybe I should say finishing our walk around Quilotoa.  The blisters and every bit of pain was more than worth it though - breathtaking.
2. Playing translator at Guayasamin Museum.  After Spanish classes one day, one of the teachers took Jeff, me and another student to the museum of Ecuador's greatest artist, Oswaldo Guayasamin.  Unfortunately, the only guide available could only speak Spanish and our teacher did not know enough English to translate.  So I got to play translator for Jeff and the other student.  I was pretty darn pleased with myself and how well I did.  The guide said he needed to give me a job there :-)
3. Our bike ride to all the waterfalls in Baños. We wanted to make it all the way to Puyo, but unfortunately we were too enamored with the waterfalls.  We more than got our exercise in that day as well.

Favorite Pictures

Magge walking off into the clouds

One of the few redeeming moments from the "Devil's Nose" train ride

  

The Machay Waterfalls

Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción in Cuenca