Blogpost: The Sovereign State of Ecuador

Greetings! We recently returned from a trip to Ecuador (country #82), where we were able to experience Quito (the capital of Ecuador), parts of the Amazon Rainforest, the Highlands, and The Galápagos Islands. Below, you will find information and photos from our trip.

QUITO

Quito (key-toe) is the capital of Ecuador (which means “equator” in Spanish), and is the second highest (in altitude) capital city in the world (2850m/9350ft; second only to La Paz, Bolivia, which is 3640m/11,942ft). Quito is surrounded by the Ecuadorian Andes Mountains, which also surround Colombia and Peru. Within this mountain range are many volcanoes, and the Cayambe (ky-ahm-bay; which means “where the sun rises/was born for the day”) volcano is the highest point on the Equator. Temperatures in Ecuador vary from 11C to 25C (51F to 77F), with glaciers as close as one hour (5000m) away from Quito. Despite the multiple peaks around the country, there are no places to ski in Ecuador because the snow/ice is melted by the sun during the day, making it solid ice and dangerous for skiing. However, many people come to Ecuador to hike those peaks, as doing so is good preparation for hiking other high peaks due to the altitude. Those who climb have a certain timeframe in which to climb due to the weather conditions and aforementioned melting.

Interesting Fact: Because of the Andes Mountains, the winds come from the North and the South and meet around Quito, which accounts for significant turbulence, and makes it difficult to land an airplane. We were told that it is not unusual for people to be crying by the time the plane lands (especially in the summertime) if the winds are particularly strong.

Citizens of Quito are called Quiteños (key-tay-nyohs), and see themselves as “a simple people.” Quito has a population of just under two million people. There is also a healthy presence of expatriates living in Ecuador (about 14,000), though most of them live outside of Quito due to the pollution. We were told that poor people live in higher elevations (3400m; 11,154ft), while the Middle Class lives at lower elevations (2800m; 9,186ft).

Interesting Fact: Quiteños live on $21/month, and a 150sqft house costs $75,000, on average.

Ecuador was controlled by Spain for many years, until Simón Bolívar and José Martí pushed them out in 1820. Since then, there has been a social hierarchy that still exists today (from most privileged/access to power and means, to least privileged/no access to power and poor access to means):

• Spanish;
• Criollos (cree-oh-yos; don’t have the right to power);
• Mestizos (mess-tee-zohs; Spanish + Indigenous blood);
• Indigenous (primarily Spanish descent;
• Mulattos (half Spanish, half black);
• Black people (Afro-Ecuadorian).

We were told that blacks are respected a bit more now because they helped the football (soccer) team become better (the national Ecuadorian football team is number 3 after Brazil and Argentina).

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Interesting Fact: Ecuador does not produce any money – their banks are now museums. In addition, the Ecuadorian mail system is “broken.” They have a post office, but none of the buildings are open. They have to use FedEx or some other delivery service to send or receive any letters or packages.

The original Equator monument was built by a Frenchman, and was erected 240m south of the actual Equator. The new monument (which is the Equator according to GPS) was established 20 years ago. They do not know if the original was placed by mistake, or if the Equator line shifted due to the tectonic plate movement of the continents.

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Interesting Fact: 70% of tourists to Ecuador are from the United States.

We visited various sites around Quito, and then drove to Tena, one of three cities that is considered an entryway to The Amazon Rainforest.

THE AMAZON RAINFOREST

The area of the Amazon that we visited was near one of the three biggest towns that borders the Amazon. The heart of the Rainforest was another 3-hour drive (or 40-minute flight) from where we were. Ecuador is known for its cacao, chocolate, bananas, and roses (they can grow to 2m tall, and are considered to be the best roses in the world), and we were able to see/experience all of those except the roses.

While many people in the Amazonian villages will stay within the village and work the land or do other skilled work (as shown in the photos below), there are others who will take advantage of opportunities to work away from the village, in nearby towns or sometimes even further away. There are also villages (many of which [including the Guarani] were at least 6 hours away by foot, as they are not even accessible by boat) that do not allow outsiders into their community, and adopt a “shoot first, ask no questions at all” approach to outsiders wanting to access them.

Interesting Fact: The oldest woman in this village does not speak Spanish – she speaks Quichua (kee-choo-ah; not to be confused with Quechua (kay-shoo-ah), which is spoken among indigenous people in Peru). Ali Poonja (alee-poon-jah) means “hello,” Ali chichi (alee-chee-chee) means “good afternoon.” It is also not unusual for girls to have babies when they are 13yo or 14yo, and they can have three children by age 18.

Ecuador was the first country with cacao, but the last one to make chocolate, yet they see themselves as the best at making chocolate. They make their chocolate with cacao beans, water, sugar, cinnamon leaf, and lemon. It’s just sweet enough, a bit gritty, and very delicious!

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In this particular village, they have a pond that is full of caiman (below). Caiman can get to 2m (6ft) long, and lay up to 30 eggs, which will hatch after six months. Ten of them will survive because the mother eats the others before they hatch.

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We went to a place called AmaZOOnico, which is an organization that was founded in 1997 to help rehabilitate animals that were trapped, and transition them back into nature. The animals that we saw were those that were too used to human interaction to be released back into the wild.

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Peru took half of the rainforest in 1985 because they wanted more land. It resulted in a war, but Ecuador won because their indigenous people knew the rainforest so well. Ecuadorians and Peruvians now get along.

THE HIGHLANDS

The Highlands is an area that is 3000m/9800ft above sea level

Between the Amazon and the Highlands, there are several swing sets that draw tourists in, one of which is touted as the “swing at the end of the world.” That particular swing is featured in the ñ in Baños (above). While baño is the Spanish word for “shower” and “bathroom,” Baños is so named because of the presence of thermal pools that the indigenous people went to after the war with the Peruvian Incas.

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Interesting Fact: There was an earthquake in 2016 (7.8 on the Richter Scale, almost a minute of shaking up and down, not the typical side to side), the center of which was in the Pacific Ocean. It killed 600 people, and 2-3 towns were destroyed. Phone lines were down for about 30 minutes, and afterwards, the only way people could communicate was using WhatsApp, and that is the primary way that people communicate with each other now in Ecuador.

We visited the Highlands on the way back to Quito. From there, we flew to The Galápagos.

THE GALÁPAGOS

We took a two-hour flight from Quito to Baltra, a former United States military base (which was closed in 1959 and made into a national park), and our first Galápagos island. We took a bus from the airport to the dock, and then took a 5 minute boat ride to Santa Cruz Island, which was our base for the duration of this portion of our visit.

Ecuador was an ally to the United States in World War II. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US had a contract with Ecuador to build up Baltra, originally to protect the Panama Canal. The base was built and used from 1942 to 1946. It eventually became home to the jail of Ecuador, and the prisoners were tasked with building the jail.

Santa Cruz Island is the second largest island in The Galápagos, and the largest town is Puerto Ayora (population 18,000). 97% of the Galápagos is protected park, and 3% is the airport and other government entities. The flora and fauna of The Galápagos are either native (arrived by themselves and did not have to modify or change; e.g., blue footed boobies, sealions) or endemic (arrived by themselves, but had to adapt to survive; e.g., tortoise, finch, penguin, mockingbird, giant cactus). There are ongoing efforts to keep species from being introduced to the current environment, as this can cause many problems with the flora and fauna that are already thriving. Some of the biggest threats in this regard include black rats, insects, and larvae and, as a result, luggage is sniffed by a dog upon arrival – to try to intercept any potential threats to the environment.

The scenery changes from the highlands area of the island to the coast, which includes a change in the flora and fauna. These scenes are from Santa Fe Island (1 hour boat ride from Santa Cruz).

Sea Lions are endemic to The Galápagos. Most females have one baby each year after one year gestation.

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Interesting Fact: Tortoises stay on land (don’t swim), while turtles can swim and can be on land.

Interesting Fact: While significant efforts are made to keep foreign species from being introduced to The Galápagos, scientists did introduce the Australian ladybug in 1999 to control another invasive species – an invasive bug whose feces creates a black mold that chokes the mangroves. The ladybugs eat the feces, and this has saved the mangroves. This was the first intentional introduction, and it has been successful, thus far.

Interesting Fact: Male Marine Iguanas have two penises – one that they have for 40-45 years, and then another one develops that they use for the rest of their lives. The female carries four eggs at once, and then will bury the ones that she will not carry. They will hatch in the sand three months later, and those that are not targeted by predators will need to learn to survive on their own.

A visit to The Galápagos would not be complete without a visit to the Charles Darwin Center. Charles Darwin was from a family of doctors in England, but he could not stand the sight of blood, so, knew that he had no future in medicine. He was invited by a professor to join a voyage to survey South America and collect specimens. He left England in 1831 and arrived in the Galápagos in 1836. He only stayed for five weeks, returned to England, and never left again. Despite being a college dropout, his writings (including a book he wrote in 1959) reflected that sole visit to The Galápagos Islands, and his ideas were shared/spread by other scientists. The concept/theory most attributed to him is “Survival of the fittest by means of natural selection.”

A visit to the Charles Darwin Center would not be complete without seeing Lonesome George. Lonesome George was a saddleback tortoise who was the lone survivor of Pinta Island after the fertile goats arrived and created an environment that was not conducive to life for the tortoise. He was found and rescued in 1975, and scientists attempted to find a female mate for him of the same species but were unsuccessful. They also tried to get him to mate with other species but were also unsuccessful in that endeavor. Lonesome George eventually died without siring any offspring, and was sent to the United States to be preserved before being put on display at the Charles Darwin Center. Scientists have his DNA, and we were told that there is talk of possibly cloning him or artificially inseminating another tortoise, but there is no clear understanding about what they will do with the DNA.

Ecuador is an amazing country with so many facets that are extremely difficult to capture on a one-dimensional platform. The people are some of the kindest I’ve ever met, the food is delicious, and the scenery is simply incredible! This was another adventure that was well worth the visit, and a place that I hope to visit again.

Until next time, take care and be well…