Ecuador: an overview
When we crossed the border into Peru’, a Peruvian told us a joke about Ecuador: “ It is the day of creation of all things on Earth and a Peruvian complains with God: God, this is not fair, look at all the things you gave to Ecuador, you gave them forests, rivers, beaches, natural resources, gold, petrol etc.....God looks at the Peruvian and calmly answers: “my dear Peruvian, yes, I gave Ecuador all those things but you have not seen yet what people I am going to put into that country....”
Beside the huge rivalry between the 2 countries there is an element of truth in the joke. Ecuador is a beautiful country however we had the impression that the people where very reserved.
In particular after coming from Colombia where people stop you in the street to talk to you we barely managed to speak to anyone.
Tourism
As bike tourists we really enjoyed our month in Ecuador.
The roads are in perfect conditions and even though you have to pay a toll from time to time the amount for motorcycles is absolutely negligible (20 cents).
Compared to other countries in South America, this country is relatively small, therefore moving from one place of interest to another is relatively easy.
The price of petrol is outrageously cheap (30 cents of dollar per litre) and as the country is only 700 kms long we pretty much covered it all from north to south with £20 of petrol!
The currency in the country is the US Dollar. Maybe it is because the exchange rate between pound and dollar is currently favourable, however we found Ecuador VERY cheap. We spent 1/3 less than what we spent in other countries and yet we managed to maintain the same standards if not even better (food accommodation etc)
As the country is sitting on the Equator the weather here is not really defined by seasons but by the altitude. We barely saw any rain and the temperature has always been stable around 20 degrees.
In Ecuador you can really find anything you want: The Amazon, the Andes, with plenty of volcanoes and national parks, rivers and canyons, beaches, modern towns and also colonial towns.
In our opinion the highlight of the country must be the Galapagos Islands. Nature here is at its best. We were under the impression than you must use a tour agency to visit the islands. This is not correct. The truth is that you can catch your flight from either Quito or Guayaquil, you can move around using buses or taxi, you can hop from one island to another using ferries ($25 per ride per island) and once you are on site you can decide whether you want to spend time on the wonderful beaches in the islands or whether you want to join a daily tour for any specific excursion.
Finally there is plenty to choose in term of hotels and restaurants.
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT
Just like in Colombia, also in Ecuador it appears that both the government and the civilians are well aware of their interest in protecting the natural environment.
Wherever we went we noticed that everyone would make an effort in protecting and preserving nature.
On the road from Banos to Cuenca for example (nariz del diablo) we saw endless signs on the road reminding people to take care of the environment.
On the flight to the Galapagos the magazine was also all about protecting the environment and so all the signs on the islands (including the benches in town)
STATISTICS
And finally some statistics:
Price of 1 ltr of petrol = 30 cents
Avg speed per hr = 39 miles
Avg price of hotel = £22
Avg price of meal for 2 = £12
| Hotels
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Travel Distances
| Town | On the clock | Miles covered | Hrs | AVG miles/hr |
| Border | 2240 | |||
| Otavalo | 2358 | 118 | 4 | 30 |
| Quito | 2416 | 58 | 1.5 | 39 |
| Cotopaxi | 2458 | 42 | 1.5 | 28 |
| Latacunga | 2480 | 22 | 0.5 | 44 |
| Banos | 2542 | 62 | 1.5 | 41 |
| Cuenca | 2773 | 231 | 5.5 | 42 |
| Guayaquil | 2896 | 123 | 3.5 | 35 |
| Border | 3060 | 164 | 3 | 55 |
| 820 | 21 | 39 |
Daily cost of travelling for 2 people (not on a budget, excl Galapagos)
| Purchase | Amount | Per day |
| Hotel | £529 | £22 |
| Ticket | £305 | £13 |
| Dinner | 280 | £12 |
| Lunch | £143 | £6 |
| Shopping | £80 | £3 |
| Drinks | £50 | £2 |
| Taxi | £44 | £2 |
| Ferry | £34 | £1 |
| Breakfast | £25 | £1 |
| Petrol | £21 | £1 |
| Mechanic | £12 | £1 |
| Laundry | £9 | £0 |
| Bus | £8 | £0 |
| Tip | £7 | £0 |
| Toll | £1 | £0 |
| £1,548 | £65 |
