Whale Watching Trip

From June through October each year humpback whales journey from Antarctica to mate in the warmer Pacific waters of Ecuador's coast. Although they can be spotted from as far north as Esmeraldas all the way south to Salinas, prime viewing of these magnificent creatures is enjoyed near Puerto Lopez on Ecuador's central coast.

Early Sunday morning our TerraDiversa group of 15 plus guide and driver (on a trip co-sponsored with GringoTree) set off for that destination. Here's a shot of the "Sea of Clouds" as we went through the Cajas mountains.

The total drive time is 7 hours, so the trip was broken up with a stop at the Guayaquil Historical Park.

The park, set on 20 lush acres smack in the middle of an extremely prosperous neighborhood, is first class all the way. It's divided into three sections.

The Wildlife Zone is home to indigenous plants and animals.

Young coffee buds grow right out of the bark. Who knew??

This homely looking mammal is a tapir.

The Urban Architecture Zone preserves historical turn-of-the-century buildings that were actually moved from downtown into the park and reassembled.

And the Traditions Zone celebrates the cocoa-producing culture of the Ecuadorian coast. The park was so big we kind of rushed through this part to continue our journey but stopped to take a group photo.

After lunch at a nearby mall we continued up the coast and arrived late afternoon at our lodging in Montanita. Most of the group spent the rest of the day exploring the shops and restaurants of this lively town known as the "Surfer Capitol of Ecuador."

An early start the next morning took us to Puerto Lopez, a fishing village that enjoys a tourism windfall during whale watching season.

We donned life jackets, climbed into the boat, and were on our way.

Some of the group thought we'd see whales quite near the shoreline. Wrong. We kept going out, out, out and amazingly, although we rode a couple of hours and about 25 miles before the first whales were spotted, no one got seasick.

Our guide guaranteed we'd see whales. Did we ever!

It was unbelievable we could safely get that close. We spent about an hour enjoying our good fortune.

Then we continued on to Isla de la Plata, or Silver Island, so named by the Spanish when they first saw it gleaming on the horizon. Words cannot describe the disappointment they must have felt when they discovered upon disembarking that the silver color was due to massive amounts of bird droppings instead of precious metal.

In modern days the island is nicknamed the "Poor Man's Galapagos" because numerous species from that famous archipelago also reside there. Most notably, the blue footed booby,

also named by the Spaniards not for having large breasts but because of their clumsiness on land. And perhaps because they wander around as in this pic clueless to the possibility that they could be dinner in the wrong species' eyes. Fortunately on this island and the Galapagos no such predators exist.

Isla de la Plata has a rugged and wild look that made for some nice photo op's.

After a long and bumpy ride back to Puerto Lopez we returned to Montanita, ate dinner, and crashed. On our last morning we stopped off briefly in nearby Olon to admire the amazing and completely deserted beaches

then stopped at a craft village to shop for some lovely merchandise created by local artisans. An example are these napkin rings made from tagua, or vegetable ivory, packaged in a cool balsa wood box.

Tuesday evening we were back in Cuenca from an amazing whale watching excursion that exceeded all expectations!

TerraDiversa Featured in International Living

It was an honor for TerraDiversa's Edd Staton to be recently featured in International Living's "Fund Your Life Overseas" series. Here's a reprint of the article.

A New Life in Ecuador
By Suzan Haskins

Just four short years ago, Edd Staton and his wife Cynthia, were working in sales jobs in Las Vegas. Then they were both laid off. They were in their 50s. Things didn’t look good.

It was Cynthia’s second time being "downsized"—and she and her husband decided that enough was enough. It was time to stop putting life on hold...and time to start living it.

"We saw the value of our savings plunge as we were nearing retirement age," says Edd. "Rather than continue to work for too many more years trying to correct this problem, we decided to retire, relocate, and enjoy the rest of our lives."

They decided to pursue the things they’d always wanted to do: writing...painting...sculpting... They also wanted to be of service and in some small way to leave the planet a better place...maybe even start a new business if the opportunity presented itself.

To have this kind of life, they knew they’d need to move to a place with a lower cost of living. After lots of research they decided on Ecuador.

In 2010, Edd and Cynthia moved to Cuenca—a vibrant city of about 500,000 people in southern Ecuador. They quickly fell into the rhythm of life, exploring the city and making new friends.

One of these new friends was Ecuadorian Juan Heredia, who had begun his career as a Galapagos Islands tour guide before developing his own tour business. Juan wanted to share his love of Ecuador and to tap into the growing market of expats in Cuenca.

"Our involvement with TerraDiversa happened organically," Edd explains. "Juan had other business commitments, and he mentioned that he really needed a partner he could trust."

Edd and Cynthia considered what it would mean to jump back into the workforce...and in a foreign country. But one of the reasons they had left the U.S. was to lower their monthly expenses so they could travel more. This interest, they decided, combined with their skill sets in sales and marketing, were a perfect fit for TerraDiversa's needs.

The partnership combines the "best of both worlds," Edd says. "There would be no clock-punching required, so we offered to come aboard and Juan readily accepted."

Edd wrote and designed the new website that launched recently while Cynthia has been helping the staff learn how to better advise clients in choosing the best travel experiences possible. In March, the Statons represented the company at the New York Times Travel Show.

"For expats in their later years, I believe this is the time to follow your passion," Edd says. "Too many of us, me included, pursued careers more for money than enjoyment. I feel blessed that we and TerraDiversa found each other. We’re having a blast."

Avenue of the Volcanoes---Days 3 & 4

As mentioned in the last entry, the place we stayed in Salcedo was so cool in an Ecuadorian way. It's called Rumipamba de los Rosos,

and it appears to be one of those old haciendas you occasionally find that was converted into a hotel after the majority of the land surrounding it has been sold off. Our room was large and excellent and had a fireplace that was thoroughly enjoyed after a long day.

What made this place so interesting were the grounds. The spaces around the rooms were meticulously manicured,

but a walk around the surrounding grounds revealed, in addition to horses, ponies, and a random ill-tempered ostrich, a hodgepodge of curiosities.

How many hotels have an airplane in the front yard?

On the way to the Quilotoa crater lake, in addition to more spectacular scenery,

we got to do something really special. Our tour guide Juan has a friendship with a local indigenous family, and we were allowed to visit their mud hut home, which is called a "choza."

This igloo-shaped structure could not have been even 15' in diameter, and 12 people lived there. Pitch black inside and lit with a single candle, the primitive life we witnessed was amazing. Guinea pigs roam freely around the home and are held close for warmth at night (and occasionally eaten, of course).

This tiny space is the "kitchen."

The grandfather proudly showed us the device he uses to grind flour.

And family members were proud to pose outside before we left.

We felt so honored to visit here because even most Ecuadorians will never have this experience. The happiness of the family in such crude surroundings was quite humbling.

Then on to Quilotoa crater lake, once again surrounded by remarkable vistas, including White Canyon, a geological oddity.

Quilotoa is the westernmost volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes. The two mile wide lake was formed after an eruption 800 years ago.

It was quite cold up there, and the descent into the canyon was steep and slippery because of the sandy soil. Still, we figured we wouldn't be back here anytime soon, so down we went.

We hiked down for about 30 minutes until the terrain became too challenging. Here's a video taken of our view (sorry about the wind noise):

After this remarkable excursion it was on to Quito, Ecuador's capitol and our final stop.  Along the way we saw mighty Cotapaxi, the Mac Daddy volcano of the Andes.

 

We took a night tour of Quito's historic district, then ended our journey visiting some stunning churches.

Think the Temple of la Compania de Jesus looks ornate on the outside? It is estimated the inside walls are adorned with up to 7 tons of gold!!

We relaxed and reflected on the privilege of being in such a gorgeous country on our return drive to Cuenca. What an adventure!!

Avenue of the Volcanoes--Day Two

We awoke to discover this lovely waterfall outside our terrace welcoming us through the morning mist.

This turned out to be a preview of the treats we had in store, because after an early breakfast we were off to see the Route of the Waterfalls. It's not hard to guess how this road got its name.

Our destination was the well-known Pailon del Diablo (Devil's Cauldron) waterfall, but on the way we noticed an awesome zipline adventure across a L-O-N-G and D-E-E-P river gorge. Next thing you know, much to the amazement of our guide, we're suited up and ready to rumble.

Here's a video of TerraDiversa's Cynthia riding across:

Once we got to our destination, we had to hike down, down, down to the bottom of the waterfall.

The Devil's Cauldron is one powerful force of nature.

After viewing the waterfall we enjoyed a delicious lunch in a beautiful setting.

Good thing we did. The hike back sure seemed longer than the one going down. Here's a look back at the place we ate lunch.

We spent the afternoon exploring Banos, the adventure capital of Ecuador.

With activities like canyoning, white water rafting, horseback riding, ATV'ing, and jungle tours, as well as more relaxing thermal pools and spa treatments, this town is a destination all to itself. It's definitely worth a return visit for more fun!

Different towns in Ecuador are known for specific things. Banos, in addition to being an adventure center, is also renowned for its taffy.

Another oddity like this was awaiting us in Pelileo, our next stop. On the way we saw Tungurahua, an active volcano outside Banos.

Pelileo is the "blue jean capital of Ecuador."

People come from all over the country to shop at the dozens of stores here. Could these possibly fit anyone you know?

Before leaving we were able to capture a pic of the rarely photographed "Tomb of the Unknown Mannequin."

We rolled into Salcedo late and checked into a wonderful, quirky hacienda. Pics of that in the next blog as well as a visit to a very unusual lake and mighty Cotopaxi volcano.