New Years in Ecuador!

I woke up early to prepare breakfast. I was eager to start exploring Ecuador.  The previous night was filled with fireworks, and people dancing, singing and celebrating New Years with loud music and parties.

New Years Customs in Ecuador

Los Anos Viejos
Ecuador has a few different customs that are very interesting.  One of the New Years festivities includes 'los anos viejos' (the old years) and includes people making and burning large dolls.  These dolls are often designed after people or icons that are disliked and the idea is to burn them and put the past behind them.  Some are made after local, political or famous people. In 2017, Donald Trump and an Ecuadorian judge (accused of taking bribes from Chevron to avoid a 19 billion dollar judgement for one of the world's worst environmental oil contamination) were popular.  Some dolls are just for fun.  I've seen Bart Simpson, and superheroes like Spiderman, and DeadPool.

Viudas (the Widows)

Another  new years custom is for brave (or really stupid) men to dress up as women and ask for money for beer because their husbands are "the ones being burned" in the los anos viejos tradition.  Kids will also dress up and ask for candy.

Fireworks

Fireworks is pretty much a universal thing all over the world for celebrating New Years and Ecuador is no exception.  Fireworks will go on all night (and all week) long so there is no shortage of celebration.  I think fireworks is much livelier and louder in the Philippines.

In the evening, Graciela and her family graciously invited me to join them for New Years dinner. Potatoes, pork chops and chicken were the main dishes.  Graciela was like a mom to me and always made sure I was ok during my stay in Guayaquil. Her hospitality and kindness was nothing short of Ecuadorian's hospitality and kindness which I was accustomed to during my entire stay in Ecuador.

The Vince has Landed in Guayaquil!

My first ever trip to South America!  I will be landing and staying in Guayquil for just over a week until I start my backpacking tour through Ecuador starting in the city of Cuenca.

The trip from Vancouver took 15 hours in total and included 2 layovers: 1.5 hour stopover in San Fransisco and a 2 hour stopover in Panama City, Panama.  When I was in the Panama City airport, my ears immediately starting dialing in to hear SPANISH! ¿Que Bueno verdad?  Panama to Guayaquil was a relatively short trip which lasted about 2 hours while the flight from San Fransisco to Panama proved to be the largest part of the trip lasting about 7 hours.  The total flight time was roughly 11 hours to get from Vancouver (Canada) to Guayaquil.

I was surprised to have an unusually long (20 minute) session with the immigration officer before having my passport stamped and allowing me into the country.  The officer asked many questions and when I asked what the problem was, she would not tell me even after having to leave to an office in the back to ask for assistance. A little odd but hey I am in Ecuador now.  I was lucky to have my friend meet me in the airport and she arranged a private taxi to take me to the place I was going to stay for the next week or so. 

Traveller Tip: Taxis in Ecuador are notoriously dangerous especially in Guayaquil (not so much in Quito, Cuenca, Banos and other places).  Taxis have been known to rob passengers and I've even heard of stories where they would kidnap people or hold you or your belongings for ransom while driving around ATM machines while you take out money to give them.  This treatment is not exclusive to extranjeros (foreigners) as it also happens to local Ecuadorians, although the majority of incidents involve extranjeros because they don't know any better. Uber does not exist in Ecuador as it is in a state of debate whether it should be allowed (same as in Vancouver), however there are services like EasyTaxi here that provide services very similar to Uber including having the name of the driver and license plate of your taxi before being picked up. Another interesting thing here is everyone seems to be on WhatsApp.  So with EasyTaxi, you can chat with their operators to schedule rides.  Anyways, the general rule is never grab a taxi from the street in Ecuador (Guayaquil mostly).  Instead, use one of the services provided or get a phone number of a verified taxi driver from friends (most of the friends I have here reuse the same taxi drivers).

In 2000, Ecuador decided to change their currency to US dollars because of their failing economy.  Unfortunately for me the current exchange rate on the Canadian dollar is around 0.74 (1USD = 1.35CDN).  :/

The skies over Guayaquil was covered with clouds and I soon found out it is very common here. So when I see blue skies here, it's a cause for celebration. Other places like Cuenca, Banos and Quito are not like this.

Getting to my apartment was a bit difficult for the driver even with an address.  House numbers are not clearly marked so an address gets you only to the vicinity of the area you hope to get to.  I will be staying with a family in their house, but I get my own private room with my own bathroom and kitchen!  It is a very nice house in a relatively safe neighbourhood and the owners are very welcoming and kind.  They are medical doctors here, so I guess if I get hurt they can patch me up pretty quickly huh. I hope it never comes to that though!  My room was very private and had a large window with a view of the city streets, a huge air condition unit and my own bathroom and kitchen.  I'm guessing it was about 400 sq. ft., smaller than  my condo in Vancouver but very comfortable.  I also had access to the rooftop which had amazing views of the surrounding buildings in the area.

My arrival was on Friday, January 30 at around lunch time.  I stayed in the business district of Kennedy Norte which is about a 20 minute bus ride from central downtown and close to the airport, the World Trade Center and the Canadian Consulate. There are also 3 main malls close by (Policentro, San Marino and Mall del Sol) where I can go shopping.

After settling in, I decided to go to Mall del Sol to stretch my legs and get a feel for Ecuadorian life.  The malls are pretty modern compared to Canada and has similar stores and in addition to their local brands makes shopping fun.  I planned to not stand out if I could help it but I wore my day back to carry whatever I would buy.  The mall was decorated in Christmas decor and there were many people shopping on this Friday night.  I picked up some body lotion and some toothpaste from the pharmacy and checked out GoPro gear and and some clothes.  Prices were very comparable to Vancouver and maybe slightly less in price.  A t-shirt for example would cost 10-20$USD.  The lotion was about 4$USD.  I noticed shampoo was very expensive and averaged 4-10$USD. In the mall, I was bumped into by a young guy in his 20's who I saw met up with his friend shortly after.  My spidey senses started tingling - it was just odd, so I kept my radar on red alert.  I started to notice the same 2 guys coming into the same stores as me. What's the coincidence in a really big mall? I decided to make my way home and avoid any potential problems.

In the evening, I went to Mi Comisariato which is a large grocery store behind San Marino.  I will be in Guayaquil for a week until I set off for the city of Cuenca so I wanted to stock up on some food so I can cook each day.  Eggs, water, sausages (salchichas), milk, yogurt, lettuce, corn and beer were some of the things I picked up.  Graciela, my home-stay mom had given me coffee and some fruits already.

I was pretty exhausted from traveling, so I went to bed early.  Fortunately for me I was very tired and could easily fall asleep as fireworks and celebrations echoed outside.  New Years is coming!

Overview of Ecuador Trip!

Alrite! I am ready for my next adventure! ECUADOR! I have never been to South America and have always wanted to visit!  My previous adventures has pinned me to South East Asia, so this will be a little different but I am so looking forward to see what South America has in store for me!

My reasons for wanting to visit Ecuador can be attributed mainly to learning Spanish.  I have been learning Spanish for the last 5 months practicing for 2-3 hours a day. They say that to get to conversational level of any of the romantic language (ie, French, Latin, Spanish etc) you need to practice for 600 hours (for math wizards, that's about 3 hours a day for 6 months).  Now, those numbers are really subjective and depend on the intensity and level of which you are practicing.  I will be approximately at about 500 hours of practice when I start my journey through Ecuador 2 days from now, so let's test that theory, shall we? English is not common for most native Ecuadorians , so I figured this country would allow me to dive in head first speaking Spanish at every opportunity I have.  For the last 5 months, I have been practicing speaking Spanish with a native Ecuadorian who has helped me tremendously. As a double bonus, Kary has become a great friend which makes learning even more better! :D

Ecuador is known for many things including its nature, active volcanoes, lush Amazon forests, endemic creatures, food, and its beautiful culture and people!


I have planned a back packing expedition which will lead me to many interesting parts of Ecuador including:

Guayaquil: the city of Guayaquil is known as the Perla de Pacifico (pearl of the Pacific) and boasts the largest sea port of South America and is the largest city in Ecuador  home to 3 million people!

Cuenca: Cuenca is known as Las atenas del Ecuador (Athens of Ecuador) located high up in the Andes and is known for its Spanish colonial architecture and food. Favorite dishes in Cuenca include hornado and fritado (roasted and fried pork), cuy (guinea pig... :O), chicken and mote (boiled corn kernels served as motepillo and mote sucio).  Expats apparently love to retire here, so I'll make sure to avoid them at all costs (as I want to learn Spanish you know..).

Baños: Baños is known as the 'gateway to the Amazons'.  Baños is known for its nature with hot springs, active volcanoes and close proximity to the Amazon Jungle!

Quito: Quito is the capital of Ecuador and is known as Luz de America (Light of America).  It is also known as the 'old city' complete with cobblestone streets, history buildings and architecture and open squares. 

Galapagos Islands: The Galapagos Islands are known for their vast inhabitants of endemic species from penguins, tortoises, marine iguanas, blue footed boobies and other birds, other reptiles, sharks and so much more!  The Galapagos Islands is well known for Charles Darwin's studies including his work in the theory of evolution and natural selection.  Exciting!!

Prepping for the Trip

I will be backpacking through Ecuador for more than 40 days, so I've planned to pack light to save on weight. I had to make some sacrifices along the way like selecting ear buds over my Bose over-the-ear headphones and selecting clothes that were lighter in weight, but I think these choices will prove its worth as I go along on my journeys in Ecuador.

On the other hand though, because nature is supposed to be amazing in Ecuador, I wanted to capture as much of it as as I can in order so that I can share them with my friends and family. So, this year I purchased a GoPro HERO5 Black action camera. This is GoPro's newest and best camera out to date and includes a waterproofed housing, voice commands and the ability to shoot in 4k. Now let's see what this baby can do! 

I will also bring with me a set of snorkel gear including mask, snorkel tube and fins. I. borrowed these from my brothers girlfriend and they are good quality equipment. I am planning to do a lot of snorkeling when I hit the Galápagos Islands and maybe some scuba dives also so these will definately come in handy. I read that you can rent snorkel gear on the islands for 5 bucks a day, but I don't really trust the hygiene upkeep or quality as they are rentals. Other gear I will be bringing with includes my Samsung S tablet, wireless speakers (never know when and where you can bust a move) and my trusty Goretex rain armor. 

Another new item I've heard great things about are packing cubes so I picked up a set of these at MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-Op). These are not only great for organizing your clothes but they are also space savers and the other great thing that I like about them is that it limits you from over packing. For example, all 9 or so of my t-shirts fit snuggly in a medium sized packing cube. 

A good general rule for packing an extended vacation is to pack for 7 days. Chances are you will have opportunities to wash your clothes. If there aren't places to wash your clothes, you can also wash them in the sink. So, I am also bringing with me 90ml of laundry wash.  You can buy these at any travel store.The one I have is made by a company called Trek & Travel.  It's really concentrated stuff, so you don't need to use much for each load; I think for one medium size load, you only need 2 small caps full of this liquid.

I am also bringing along an equatorial sleeping bag. The name is fitting for where I'm going, but it's essentially a really thin sleeping bag. I bought this for my Dominican Republic backpacking adventure a few years ago.  I read that hostels are really clean in Ecuador compared to the rest of the world, but i like bringing my own stuff especially when I'm sleeping in it. Yanno what I mean? 

So, this is what all my gear looks like outside of my pack.  It doesn't look like much, but my bag looks stuffed when everything is inside it.

Here is my inventory for this trip:

Essentials

-Passport

-Money

-Credit Cards

-Nexus Card

-ID Card (BC Drivers License)

-PADI License

Clothing
-T-Shirts x 8
-Underwear x 8
-Socks x 4
-Teva Sandals
-Flip Flops
-Shorts x 2
-Swim Suit
-Short Sleeve Dress Shirt
-Jeans (1 pair)
-A.Kurtz Hat
-Sneakers
-Arcterix GoreTex Jacket
-RAB MicroFibre Jacket

Hygiene/Health
-toothbrush
-body wash
-shampoo
-tylenol
-moleskin
-pepto bismol pills
-Hand Sanitizer
-Mouth Wash
-AfterBite
-Biodegradable Kit w/Sunscreen, shampoo anti-bacterial wipes etc (From Ronda)

Misc
-2 Bandanas

-Hand Sanitizer
-Quick Dry Towel
-Sunscreen
-Sunglasses
-Collapsable 500ml water bottle
-Equatorial Sleeping Bag (MEC)
-Gloves
-Playing Cards
-lip balm
-sharpie/pen
-book to read
-book to write

-Money Belt (PacSafe)

Tools
-Leatherman Wave (multi-tool)
-Headlamp (Tika XP Pro)
-3mm guyline (25ft)
-duck tape (2 small rolls)
-Padlock (for hostel lockers)
-lighter
-liquid detergent (for washing clothes)
-water purification tablets

Tech
-GoPro Hero5 Black
+3 way, Grenade Grip, Remo, Charger, Extra battery, Super Suit, memory cards (128GB/64GB)
-Tablet (Samsung S2 8" White)
-Suunto Ambit Watch
-Headphones
-SmartPhone (Note 3)
-Apple IPod Nano
-Raspberry Pi (+HDMI cable)
-Logiix 4 Port USB Wall Charger
-2 USB Type C Cables
-2 USB Type A Cables
-JBL Wireless Speaker
-Samsung 9000mAh charger
-Belkin Rockstar 5-Way
-Joby Griptight Smartphone Mount XL
-GoPro Tripod Mount Adapter
-32 SanDisk OTG Adapter (for transferring files from SmartPhone to computer)
-256GB Lexar JumpDrive USB 3.0 (Flash Drive)

Snorkeling Gear

-Fins
-Mask
-Flippers

My brother told me about Permethrin and advised me to spray my clothes with this stuff before my trip.  The packaging says it can remain in your clothes after 5 or 6 washes.  Permethrin kills mites and insects and with the Zeka problem, I didn't want to leave anything to chance if I can help it.  I found this stuff at Dick's Sporting Goods store in Washington State.  I heard you can also buy this at Walmart stores in the States, but I don't know where you can buy this stuff in Vancouver, Canada.

And voila! This is what all of that stuff looks like when it is crammed into my 55L backpack!