We didn’t know much about Ecuador, only that the equator runs through i tand that de Galapagos islands belong to it. From other cyclists we had heard that it’s a beautiful country, that the climbs are steep and that the people are friendly. So we were anxious!

As soon as we entered the country, we saw the differences with Bolivia and Peru. The houses are nicer and bigger, there’s much less garbage and dead animals alongside the roads and there are many more (expensive) (private)cars. Because of that there are less motorcycles; the people have enough money to buy a car. We hardly saw any stray dogs anymore. We also had to get used to the prices; everything is at least twice as expensive as Peru and Bolivia. The people are indeed very friendly.

Ecuador is the first country where we were offered things. Somebody gave us a bottle of water once and somebody offered us a ride. We were also offered to stay with a few people, all in Ambato. Because we wanted to go to the casa de ciclistas in Ambato (because of some problems with Linda’s bike that needed to be fixed), we didn’t stay with any of those people.

Life in Ecuador also is a bit different from life in the last 2 countries. There also are markets, but also more supermarkets. Everything is a bit more luxurious than before. But the economy is doing well and you can really tell it. The country isn’t as western as for example Chile, but it’s getting there.

The roads proved to be very steep indeed, especially in the South. An average of 8% is very common over there and there also are large sections where it’s 9, 10 or 11%. We were just barely able to stay on our bikes when we weren’t too tired. The scenery is beautiful and changes often. First tropical and green, then rugged and empty and later mountainous and green again. To get to the jungle, we had to get over a pass. It was beautiful over there, but very wet and cold. The jungle itself is green and smelled like a gardencenter or greenhouse, but there weren’t the huge trees we had expected. But is was sticky hot and the musquitos knew how to find us.

In the central part of the coutry there are many (snowcapped) volcanos. Some of them are still active. Unfortunately we didn’t see much of those volcanos, most of the time they hid behind (dark) clouds. We only were able to get a good look at the volcano Cotopaxi when we cycled through the national park and camped at the base of it.

The North (from Ambato on) is a bit less interesting. The hills are less steep, but cycling the Panamericana from there is not much fun. It became a busy, noisy and stinky highway to Quito. From Quito there are a few less busy sections, but not very many.

The Galapagos Islands are the jewel of Ecuador and for good reasons. It’s not about the diversity of animals that live there (there are not very many different species of animals compared to some other places) but the fact that the animals that live there are not afraid of humans at all. Because they never thought of people as their enemies, they let you walk around without running/walking/flying/crawling or swimming away. It’s easy to trip on iguanas and sea lions and you can just stand there and watch how birds sit on their nests. The sea lions are very playful in the water and swim around you without taking notice of you. The species that are found there are unique; they are all different from each other and their ancestors on the mainland. There are 5 species of turtles on just 1 island; they are all different due to different habitats, even though they live on the same island. They have never mixed because they can’t reach eachother.

And then there’s the equator which divides the country in 2. It runs through the north of the country. It’s very strange to know that you’re standing on the middle of the earth.

Ecuador also is the country of the helpful police and firemen. Whenever we needed to know the right direction or something else, we always asked a policeman or –woman. They were always able to tell us the right direction. Sometimes they even escorted us a bit to make sure we went the right way. We also camped next to a policestation once. They firemen also are very friendly and helpful. Usually you can spend the night at the firestations. We once got a room for ourselves and camped next to a firestation once.

Ecuador is the country where Linda celebrated her birthday this year; on the Galapagos Islands

The food is the same as in Bolivia and Peru; here, our diet also existed of chicken with rice/fries or chifa (Chinese food; fried rice). Just like in Peru, they also eat grilled guinea pigs. Very strange and gruesome… What was new to us was that they grill whole pigs (including head and tail) on bbq’s alongside the road.