We emerged out of the Ecuadorian jungle! Our next destination was Cotopaxi, one of Ecuador‘s crown jewels. Emerging from the jungle definitely made me feel better temperature wise and I began looking forward to our border crossing to Colombia, only 2 weeks away. I figured everything was going to go great. I didn’t anticipate any cloudy skies, bugs, landslides, or additional van issues to come up.
As we approached Cotopaxi I could see the weather wasn’t going to cooperate. We disregarded the clouds and rain and went for a nice lagoon walk where we saw lots of waterfowl and paramo plants and a hummingbird nest!
After our quiet time in the national park, it was time to go into Quito, Ecuador‘s capital. Big cities are always daunting for us because of the convoluted streets, surprise one way streets, and the lack of safe parking. We found a popular parking spot that has been deemed safe by many other Overlanders. We visited the historic downtown and gorgeous gold plated churches. We even found some nice micro-brew made by an Oregonian and New Mexican duo!
Knowing that our time in Ecuador would have to come to an end in 10 days, we decided to sprint to the coast for some remote beach time. Since we were in the rainy season, we didn’t have too high of hopes. Playa Escondida was pretty buggy and mostly overcast, but the ocean water was warmer than the shower water!
Our sudden need to pick up the pace was because we’re getting visitors in Colombia!
Todd’s parents must have a thing for “C” countries, first Chile, now Colombia. We were pretty excited to see them, it had been 5 months since we were home. All this rain on the way led to some landslides. Nothing crazy but we did experience a sudden landslide ahead of us that blocked the road for 30 mins. Kind of scary but also kind of cool. You don’t see stuff like this in the US. But it quickly reminded me not to get complacent about our safety.
We had an Equatorial Photo shoot. The realization that we were getting closer and closer to home definitely hit hard here. Now we’re officially back in the Northern Hemisphere! Watch me as I conquer my new fear of heights, one of the benefits of getting older I suppose.
In between the coast and the highlands we stopped at a bird reserve, Bella Vista, outside of Mindo. This town is bird tourism central. Ecuador is home to over 1600 bird species. It has more variety in foliage than North America and Europe combined due to its greatly varying altitudes! Thankfully the reserve we stopped at was a bit off the tourist track and thus, a bit more chilled out. We saw lots of birds and interesting cloud forest foliage. We saw tons of HUMMINGBIRDS! This would be one of those times that I wish I had a $1,000 lens to capture the magnificent birds. Instead, I left it to the professionals and found some awesome pics online for your viewing pleasure:
After being away from the States for 5 months we were looking forward to Todd’s parents bringing down a couple of van pieces for us, for which we’re extremely grateful. Included would be: backdoor locking mechanism, pump piece, a bikini, a bottle of rye whisky, and a new phone.
But this delivery made me realize that it had become very easy to get complacent about our daily needs and state of things:
-On numerous occasions I have convinced myself I really don’t need a shower today. No one ever died because they delayed showering for another 2 days maybe 3, depending on how good the scenery is.
-Sink pump broken and we have to flip a switch and the handle every time we want water? No problem, I don’t mind an ergonomic workout! At least the water is flowing.
-Phone with our only connection to data dies? It’s OK, we’ve still got Todd’s WIFI only phone. I’m sure there will be wifi somewhere going north.
-Custom USA camp stove regulator leaking propane? Switch the rubber gasket so it gives a tighter seal. Still leaking? Spray WD40 or maybe just plain old cooking oil. OK, let’s just get the Whisperlite camping stove out, I need my morning coffee.
-Getting super hot in the van because our A/C has a slow leak? Well, if we’re not in a hot climate everyday, what’s the point of spending half a day at a repair shop? We can just continue to roll down the windows (we only drive at 20mph) and turn the fan on if it gets to 90F.
-Alternator not functioning properly and battery slowly losing charge?
No problem, we’ll just keep driving until we hit a big town to figure it out.
Well, sort of on that last one. But the thought did cross my mind. We have so many little things working for us in this lovely van, that I frequently take it for granted. So just as we were getting near to the Ecuador-Colombia border we noticed our battery light come on and that the voltage was very low.
We haven’t had many mishaps with the van, so when they do happen Todd takes it very seriously. I on the hand, try not to ask too many questions and try to be very supportive. Usually this means going to make snacks or lunch when we arrive at the repair shop 🙂
Thankfully San Gabriel, the small city we decided to pull into, had a nice man working at the car battery store. After 3 hours of work and an additional helper, Todd and the car electricians figured out the alternator’s brushes had worn down A LOT. So, they simply replaced the brushes. Didn’t even take the alternator out of the car! $40 later along with some maneuvering and clever thinking, we had a working alternator! Now, in the States, we would have had to buy a new alternator. We’re hoping that’s the only thing that is wearing out is the alternator. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Life in a custom built van is always interesting, you get complacent or you spend half the day looking for a fix (sometimes several days). But the real reason we don’t worry about things being perfect all the time is because we just want the experience of the people and the places in these beautiful faraway countries. Wouldn’t you?
After some clever timing, we successfully crossed into Colombia at 2 AM on 2/21/18.
We were in Northern Ecuador, visiting Cotopaxi, Quito, the EQUATOR, Mindo, Playa Esmeralda and San Gabriel from February 6th until February 21st, 2018.
Down to a mere corner’ah Rye – that’s THE END – horrifying!!!! Lol Loved the pictures, as always. I’m heading to Cuenca, Ecuador 6/20. You all really covered Ecuador well; nice traveling!
Someone told me to have my AC checked out on the Sprinter before this trip. He said the compressors go out on these things, but wow, that’s a lot of money. I think I’ll just have the freon or whatever charged/ replaced or whatever, then just hope it works.
Interesting list of items needed: bikini & more rye a good start. Lol
Travel safe and well…..
Thanks John.
We have recharged our A/C twice now. Before we started out trip we found out in the US that there was a small undetectable leak. We decided to recharge the system. In the States we paid $200, in Guyaquil we paid $100. There are LOTS of A/C places down here. We suggest waiting till the A/C isn’t sending cool air. (Even fully recharged our A/C is cool but not frigid). When it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Your blogs are always fascinating and beautiful! But what is”infamous” about that statue of Mary?
Thanks for reading John! We hope you are doing well. We can’t wait to see you this fall and be back with family at all the holiday celebrations. As for what makes this statue of Mary infamous, well, she is just HUGE and visible from most spots in the city. To add to her grandeur, she is on one of the big hillsides overlooking Quito. Her hillside is also a popular tourist destination, supposedly the best place to see the entire city, sort of like the Rose Garden.
Wow, Ecuador looks like a great place to visit!