Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude

As some of you may know, one of the highlights of our plans was to volunteer at an animal rescue in the rainforest. We were looking forward to what was likely going to be rewarding and fun.

Unfortunately, due to a few major snafus by the company organizing it (like not telling us an actual name or location until about hours before we were scheduled to start), we were forced to make alternate plans.

Laguna de Quilotoa

That would have been this previous week, and by the time everything went down, it was too late to find another volunteer opportunity.

Therefore, we moved our plans up a week, going to the Quilotoa Loop on Tuesday and coming to Quito for five days. It’s been nice.

Since we started the South American leg with a must-see (Machu Picchu), we decided we might as well end it with another one.

So we’re heading to the Galapagos Islands on Sunday.

Needless to say, we are disappointed about not working with the animal rescue, but trips like this can change suddenly. And I think we made a great decision.

If you don’t hear from us between Sunday and Sunday, it’s because we’re floating about 600 miles off the coast of mainland Ecuador, playing with penguins, tortoises and sea lions. 

Adios, Baños, We Miss You Already

The look on Enrique’s face was heartbreaking. It looked like we gave him the worst news he’d ever heard.

What we told him was that we wanted to decrease our two-night stay in his hotel to one night.

You see, we spent the last six days in Baños, quite possibly the coolest town in Ecuador. We stayed a hotel called Casa Verde and absolutely loved it (and not only because it was the first hotel we'd found in South America that allowed us to flush toilet paper). It was one of those perfect, little traveler places. Not quite a hostel, but the kind of place where everyone gathers in the common area and shares stories over beers.

Have you ever swung out over a cliff in the jungle? 

And Baños, while not the quaintest towns I’ve visited, is nice with friendly people. However, the real draw is the rafting, canyoning, mountain biking, jungle exploration, waterfalls and any number of outdoor adventures, as well as various hot springs and countless spas. Did I mention all of those things are really, really cheap by American standards?

When we finally dragged ourselves out of Casa Verde for the last time, saying goodbye to the kind proprietors and fellows guests, we moved on to Latacunga. We knew we wanted to do at least part of the Quilatoa Loop, and we’d read that the obvious place to find a guide or tour was Latacunga.

Which brings us to Enrique.

After checking Trip Advisor, we found what looked to be a promising hotel. And it was. The place is central, clean, and the owner (Enrique) has gone absolutely out of his way to make us feel at home. He showed us the lounge on the top floor, overlooking a local church and Volcan Cotopaxi. There’s free wifi, and he even called our tour company because they had charged us $5 more than they should have.

The problem is not the hotel, and it certainly isn’t Enrique.

It’s Latacunga. Following a week or so in Baños, it didn’t stand a chance. But it’s also dirty and almost completely void of restaurants or anything to do.

Sorry, Enrique. That’s why we’re going to head straight to Quito after our visit to Laguna Quilatoa and its surrounding artist colonies tomorrow.

We’ve heard good things about Quito. Time to see if stands up to our expectations.